oelvn project Siren's Call: a psychological horror/denpa game about leaving home. [Free] [Denpa] [Coming of age]

[ThePenSword]

Siren's Call: A free Denpa visual novel where you escape from an actual tourist trap.

Siren's Call is a Denpa visual novel loosely based off of my experiences living in (and escaping) Central Florida as an adult on the autism spectrum. The game was a passion project made by myself, my wife, my best friend, and a couple other close friends and freelancers. It took us roughly four years to complete and is now out on Steam for free. While your millage may vary on how scary you find the game (much of it is based off of my own personal fears), I can say with conviction that you will feel the love and effort put into this project.

Steam Download: here

Features and stuff:

• 7+ hours of Visual Novel Gameplay with dire consequences for how you choose to spend this final day of yours.
• 55 journal entries and and 60 unlockable gallery images for those who want to explore everything this town has to offer.
• An original story centered on saying goodbye to friends rather than saying hello to strangers.
• A dynamic, original soundtrack meant to perfectly capture the feel of central Florida music.
• A cast of lovely characters that only want what's best for you.
• A 94% positivity rating on steam with 150+ reviews! (not a feature, but I'm proud of this one}

Characters:

Judith, the exceptionally sweet (and extraordinarily intense) sovereign of Siren’s Call!

Andi, the sovereign’s sassy twin sister whose strength and spunk speak volumes on their own!

 Ashton, a hero in training whose sizable fist is matched only by the size of his heart!

Emil, the once timid boy turned man who will not stop until he reaches absolute perfection...

and, of course, Violet: your actual girlfriend.

We've finished the main game which you can find on steam right here, but my team and I are also making extra story content as well! 

Prove You Aren't Dead: A Epilogue

While it is true that our team succeeded where many others have failed and got Siren's Call out in a playable state, it is far from being "complete." Over the course of the past five months, I've released a few bonus stories acting as a prequel of sorts to the events of the main game. But in terms of the true epilogue...that is what I'm going to be working on for the foreseeable future. If you would like to support this project, there's a link to the kickstarter right here, but I mostly just wanted to create this post as a little home where I can post updates on not just this new content, but Siren's Call as a whole.

If anybody has any comments or feedback on the project, I am very excited to hear them and discuss your experiences. This VN has been my wife and I's life for the past few years and if ya'll have any thoughts, don't hesitate to share them. Until then, enjoy your stay in Siren's Call.

[ThePenSword]

12/19/2022 Update

So the kickstarter did  end up failing. And, true to my word, I'll be using this space to provide updates and share my thoughts on the project going forward.

Ultimately, I did end up finishing the story for Prove You Aren't Dead while the kickstarter was running. In a lot of ways, it feels like the kind of ending I always wanted for these characters. After four+ years of working on this, the story finally feels complete.

As to if I ever have the chance to fully program it into the game is another matter entirely, however.

With the kickstarter having failed, I've fallen back on my regular day job as a cellphone salesman to help pay the bills. In that time, it's become quite apparent that I'm not going to really have the time to develop like I used to. Honestly, the fact that Siren's Call even got done in any regard is nothing short of a miracle, so I'm happy it exists in any way at all. And I still might be able to find time here and there to program, but with the somewhat lukewarm launch of the game/lack of marketing power and influence I have in general, I'm not even sure releasing Prove You Aren't Dead in the state its in would do much good.

I feel like if I'm going to release this epilogue, it has to be in a way that in more meaningful than a cold, quiet update.

I've been stewing over the idea of releasing a version of the game with voice acting, new cgs, new gameplay mechanics, and a new (true) ending in the form of Prove You Aren't Dead. My hope would be that I can learn from my mistakes in marketing and present a more "official" release that would potentially put the game in front of more people's eyes. I already know I have a damn good VN with a strong foundation, so having a new version that uses voice acting, new gameplay mechanics, and new art to enhance what is already there just makes sense. To do that though, I'm going to need a publisher with the means to fund such a project, so that's what I'm going to spend what little free time I have now looking for. VNDevelopment is all about time equity. Sure, I could spend what little time I have grinding away at programing the script, but I feel like that likely won't matter too much if people don't even know the game exists in the first place.

So I'm going to try and create more opportunities for success.

Honestly, it's an exciting change for me. I do think Siren's Call has the potential to be something larger than just a small, passion project. But it means I have to kind of swap hats for a little bit.

After all, I sell shitty phones now. How hard could it be for me to sell a publisher the idea of a visual novel I've been obsessed with for years?

Ideally the next update will be a big one.

What I've done:

+Tried crowdfunding
+Finished PYAD's Script

What I'm going to do:
+Find a publisher that sees in this game what I see

 

See you soon, everyone.

~Jacob

 

Edited December 20, 2022 by ThePenSword

[Emi]

16 minutes ago, ThePenSword said:

Spoiler

12/19/2022 Update

So the kickstarter did  end up failing. And, true to my word, I'll be using this space to provide updates and share my thoughts on the project going forward.

Ultimately, I did end up finishing the story for Prove You Aren't Dead while the kickstarter was running. In a lot of ways, it feels like the kind of ending I always wanted for these characters. After four+ years of working on this, the story finally feels complete.

As to if I ever have the chance to fully program it into the game is another matter entirely, however.

With the kickstarter having failed, I've fallen back on my regular day job as a cellphone salesman to help pay the bills. In that time, it's become quite apparent that I'm not going to really have the time to develop like I used to. Honestly, the fact that Siren's Call even got done in any regard is nothing short of a miracle, so I'm happy it exists in any way at all. And I still might be able to find time here and there to program, but with the somewhat lukewarm launch of the game/lack of marketing power and influence I have in general, I'm not even sure releasing Prove You Aren't Dead in the state its in would do much good.

I feel like if I'm going to release this epilogue, it has to be in a way that in more meaningful than a cold, quiet update.

I've been stewing over the idea of releasing a version of the game with voice acting, new cgs, new gameplay mechanics, and a new (true) ending in the form of Prove You Aren't Dead. My hope would be that I can learn from my mistakes in marketing and present a more "official" release that would potentially put the game in front of more people's eyes. I already know I have a damn good VN with a strong foundation, so having a new version that uses voice acting, new gameplay mechanics, and new art to enhance what is already there just makes sense. To do that though, I'm going to need a publisher with the means to fund such a project, so that's what I'm going to spend what little free time I have now looking for. VNDevelopment is all about time equity. Sure, I could spend what little time I have grinding away at programing the script, but I feel like that likely won't matter too much if people don't even know the game exists in the first place.

So I'm going to try and create more opportunities for success.

Honestly, it's an exciting change for me. I do think Siren's Call has the potential to be something larger than just a small, passion project. But it means I have to kind of swap hats for a little bit.

After all, I sell shitty phones now. How hard could it be for me to sell a publisher the idea of a visual novel I've been obsessed with for years?

Ideally the next update will be a big one.

What I've done:

+Tried crowdfunding
+Finished PYAD's Script

What I'm going to do:
+Find a publisher that sees in this game what I see

 

See you soon, everyone.

~Jacob

 

Real shame with kickstarter and so.  but im happy to see that you dont give up 

marketing and all so hard. hope you can find a publisher !

[ThePenSword]

7 minutes ago, Emi said:

Real shame with kickstarter and so.  but im happy to see that you dont give up 

marketing and all so hard. hope you can find a publisher !

Can't stop won't stop.