hey I hope everything is okay, you've been a couple months late with the update, I was just wondering if you had quit the project?
No, I haven’t quit the project. I never will! ｡ (*^▽^*)ゞ
I’m really sorry about not answering this ask, but please take a look at this post! It’s an extensive description of where I’ve been and an update on the project.
I was dreaming about Free! otome game. Then I just saw randomly on facebook someone posted link with it and I just so happy! I played demo version, it's perfect for me. I can't wait! Don't push yourself too hard while making it also. ^^
I’m really sorry that I haven’t answered this but thank you so much for your support! Please continue to look forward to it, I hope I can exceed your expectations! ♥
Idk if it's too late but I really like the idea of a secret route for all the characters. They all need a different ending :)
If anyone is too late, it’s me. (*ﾟｰﾟ)ゞ
There will be different endings for all of the main routes already, but please have a look at this post. I’ve written about where I have decided to go with the secret routes!
If we could have the secret routes, then that'd be really exciting! I love Easter eggs and the like, so trying to unlock the routes would be a blast!
I’m really sorry that I haven’d had the time to sit down and answer this ask, but thank you so much for your input! Please take a look at this post to see where I have decided to go with the secret routes!
TL;DR: THE PROJECT IS STILL ALIVE! PLEASE READ MORE TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON.
To all of my followers, the fans of the project, and even those who are following for laughs: first off, I’m truly sorry for not being able to sit down and actually sit down and talk to everyone about what’s going on with the project. I hoped to keep my personal life and this project separate, but the more I tried the more difficult it had become to do so until I realized that it is no longer possible to keep the two separate.
Bottom line is, the project is still being worked on, although I have missed a lot of my deadlines for the last couple of months. Production has slowed down (but not stopped!) greatly, but I estimate that I’m behind 3 months of progress. Under the cut I will explain why production has slowed, what I am doing in terms of progress, as well as what the future of the project holds.
So, why has the project slowed down?
I guess this really has to start from why I even started the Free! VN project in the first place. Although many fan-made visual novels were already in progress, the majority of them have also been in progress for quite some time. For a while, I dabbled in the idea of creating one myself; it would be (and still is!) a fun experience and I thought it would be a great idea to relieve the want of a visual novel surrounding the Free! universe.
Please note that even though I have some real-life friends who beta-test my VN for me, the project as a whole is the effort of a single person -- me.
Although I cannot give you guys any physical proof other than my word to provide evidence about my situation, I wholeheartedly ask for your benefit of the doubt.
As some of you may know, I balanced my studies with the project. Being a full-time student is no joke -- for a while I took a part-time job and my grades suffered, so I switched my focus to school. I started the project on the final year of my studies but I would not be finished with studying. After I graduated, I had to study for a licencing examination that was scheduled 3 months after my graduation. This licensing examination would be 8 hours long with an hour long break in between -- this was the biggest test of my life and determined whether or not my studies in college was worth anything.
The test came and went -- I still worked on the project while I studied for it and kept at the pace I wanted to develop. But I didn’t stop to take a break after all of my studying: as soon as I went home after completing the examination, I went and searched for jobs in my field. A month later I got the results of my test. During that month I searched for jobs and went to interviews. I passed the test and became a licensed practitioner. I also started a new job. Everything seemed to be going my way and the project was going at the pace I wanted it to.
At this point in time, I think this is where everything started to get a bit more difficult.
My job became very demanding; at one point I was required to work until from 5PM until 1AM in the morning with only a 15 minute break. I was asked to stay longer. If I had, I would have been working until 8AM in the morning and would have to come back at 1PM for my next scheduled work day. Not only was that illegal, but also insane! It was also during the holiday season, so I was constantly balancing between work, the project and the general holiday business.
At the beginning of the year, at random chance, I decided to visit the doctor. It had been quite some time since my last check-up (we’re talking years) and it wouldn’t hurt to know where I’m at in terms of health.
I dread to think about what would’ve happened if I didn’t visit the doctor’s that day. After a simple, routine procedure my doctor noticed an unusual hardness on my abdomen. In addition to the physical examination, I also underwent some more tests. A week later, my doctor called me back and one of the tests showed that I had an abnormal mass in my abdomen. And we’re talking large -- at least 16cm/5inches in diameter.
I am scheduled to go to a specialist and to take an MRI scan at a hospital to determine what this mass is, but the bottom line is -- I’m going to have to get it surgically removed.
The thing that upsets me the most isn’t that I’m going to experience surgery -- it’s the fact that I have to basically put everything in my life on the backburner, including this project.
So where is the project at this point?
First off, I’m truly sorry I don’t have any progress pictures to show! (*´∀`*) It would honestly been a screenshot of the coding file for Ren’Py, which would be really boring to look at in my opinion. Secondly, thank you so so so much to all of the supporters who provided me all of the feedback on the direction of the project! After all of the feedback I got after I asked the question of what should I do to implement secret routes, I have decided that:
Secret routes will ONLY become available after the completion of all of the routes as a separate option.
I would like to thank the user @soumako-fangame for the idea, and it has certainly helped me with the time it takes to code each route. Shameless plug, but also please look at the development of their Free! fan game as well! Secondly,
The project will be available as one, completed file containing complete main routes and secret routes.
Because of the way I decided to to the secret routes, it has helped me focus on completing the importing and coding of the main routes one by one. I think it would be most efficient if I focused on the huge chunk of work beforehand than doing tiny amounts of progress on each route when I can, and it certainly has helped me complete a portion of the project at a pace that I am satisfied with. But for the most part, 2/6 main routes are already completed 100%.
So when can I expect to play this game!?
As I have always said, I don’t really have a set release date, although my original goal was to have it completed by either Valentine’s 2016 or March 6th, 2016. I have missed both of those.
If you’ve read this post until this far then you know that I still have quite a way to go until the project is completed. Even with all of these complications, I am still trying my absolute best to complete this project between my work and my health. As it stands, I really have no idea when I can release the project due to all of the unexpectedness that has happened.
I truly thank every person who has shown interest in this project and I really, really hope that once I complete it that it exceeds everyone’s expectations -- good or bad.
Man, the more times I am late with the newsletter, the worse I look...
But it’s coming! Within the next day or so. This newsletter will be different than all of the others. Of course, I will be posting progress news but the latest newsletter will be a lot more personal that I’ve ever been before.
Thank you for all of your support. I sincerely hope I meet your expectations and that you enjoy the VN!
Hi! I found your VN a few weeks ago, and I instantly fell in love with it! With the boys, too, of course, but I'd fallen for them a long time ago. XD About the secret routes thing, I personally am fine with the five options available currently. I think adding more love interests isn't necessary, looking at what you have going already, and might even only be a hindrance for you, as well as us lazy players. :') Regardless, good luck! Looking forward to playing the whole thing. ;D -Aoi
I am so sorry for replying to this so late, I had a really busy week this week...But thank you so so much for your feedback! Please look forward to the full release!
#Free!VNnews Monthly Newsletter - Issue #7
[Download the Demo] [More #Free!VNnews news]
Other Issues: [i] [ii] [iii] [iv] [v] [vi]
I’m not late! It’s still October 2nd where I live... Although this newsletter will be a bit short and sweet because this month I spent a lot of my time planning on how to code the visual novel and not a lot of time actually coding it. Next month I have a lot of good stuff planned to show you guys so please be patient! This month’s newsletter only contains a progression update and a reminder to please give me your feedback on secret routes, as I had planned to publish my decision in next’s month’s newsletter.
I. Progression Report
Well, there isn’t much to report...I really just looked at the demo and took in some feedback and decided what I needed to change from there. I also did a few edits to a couple of the main routes. Just a few grammatical and syntactical changes. Nothing too major. Very underwhelming progression made this month.
II. Feedback Request
Please read this post and contact me on the future on the project. I will be posting my decision next month.
III. Conclusion
Sorry for such a dry newsletter this month, please look forward to next month’s newsletter which will be much more exciting!
As usual, I would like to thank everyone who is following my blog so far. I’m happy to see that people have jumped on board with this ship (no pun intended). It’s so awesome to know that the Soumako fanbase is growing and I’ve found pretty awesome things on Tumblr to reblog. Be looking forward to more general Soumako posts.
Now, as for the visual novel I am currently working on….
So it has been officially two weeks since the first update I published about my Soumako fangame. As promised, I will be posting updates on the game every two weeks and today is the day!
Also, just another reminder to click these tags in my blog:
#Soumako Visual Novel
#Soumako!fangame
#Project Black Coffee
Originally, I had promised that I would talk about the story for this week’s update, however, I think I will hold off on that for the next update for now, since I would like to thoroughly revise the script before releasing an “official” summary.
Also, just to reiterate from the last update (in case you’re too lazy to click it), I had decided to focus on three main categories in every update. These are the main categories: Script, Art and Programming.
(Script is the story itself. Art is…the art. And programming is the code/music/sound effects that go into the Ren’Py engine.)
Now with that out of the way, let’s get started! : )
I love your dating sim! It's so cute! You've done a really nice job with it!
Thank you so much for your feedback! It really means a lot to me, and I really hope you’ll enjoy the full version! Please look forward to the official release (ﾉ≧∀≦)ﾉ
If this post reaches 100 reblogs from 100 unique users by 9/14, we will lower the price of the next upcoming story for a limited time!! ( ˊᵕˋ )♡.°⑅
About the next story:
You’re hanging out with the guys at Conte, when suddenly the subject changes to “How to make a girl’s heart race”?!
Will you learn things about the guys that you wouldn’t normally know?
**All five guys will be in this story!**
Hi so I've just read your newsletter, and I really agree with the idea of having the games routes released one after another. I think it would keep people more interested. I don't know if you've ever played a voltage inc game, but its the same thing with that. Where they release routes one by one, and it keeps people interested and more excited! But i think you're doing a great job, and it's your game so you have every right to choose how you do it! Best of luck to you! I cant wait!
I have played lots of Voltage Inc. games (and I mean a lot, it’s a little embarrassing really... (๑•́ω•̀๑)) and that’s really the whole inspiration that for releasing the routes one after the other haha!Thank you so so much for your input and support! It means a lot to me and I hope the visual novel will make you happy at it’s full release!
On a funny note, I think I mixed up your ask with another one and answered it there as well...oops. (///Σ///)
#Free!VNnews Monthly Newsletter - Issue #6
[Download the Demo] [More #Free!VNnews news]
Other Issues: [i] [ii] [iii] [iv] [v] [vi]
Hello everyone! I’ve made quite a bit of progress since the last newsletter and I’m very eager to share it with you all! Aside from the big announcement that I’ve shared earlier, I’ve also got a progression report and a teaser for Rin’s route! I’m also going to repeat last month’s feedback request just as a reminder.
If you haven’t already, please read my big announcement!
I. Progression Report
I am very proud to say that the written stage for all of the main routes are complete! o(≧∇≦o) Now all that’s left to do in the writing stage of the project is to write the secret routes, and unfortunately I don’t think it would be wise for me to post teasers of these routes. (￣ω￣;) But I’m not sure if I should continue writing the secret routes, given that I’m not sure if everyone wants them or not (please read feedback request below). So I’m not sure if I should even start the programming stage yet. Perhaps the return of Iwatobi-chan will happen as well...(￣^￣)
II. Feedback Request
I’m just going to repeat what I said in my last newsletter:
In my FAQ, I did mention that I planned to have secret routes for an additional five other characters. I had planned for the secret routes to be in the direction of short and sweet side stories involving these characters, nothing too intensive but would require multiple playthroughs in order to unlock.
As I continue to write the main routes, they are quite extensive already even without coding the portraits, backgrounds, animation and music. I realized that if I were to include the secret routes, I am sure that there would be problems compressing the game because of how much data it would take. The only way to rectify this problem is to completely split the game into two versions. Three routes in each version which would also include their respective secret routes. This would also mean I have to spend more time writing and coding the secret routes.
One anon suggested that I release the game on a route by route basis. The way I’ve written the game would make this idea very plausible and would possibly have me complete the game even sooner. However, there are two issues that come with this idea: that would completely ruin the way I planned to incorporate the secret routes. And if I were to release the game on a route by route basis, I would have to prioritize the coding of the male protagonist much higher.
So, with all of that said, there are two ways that I see are both practical to the way I’ve already designed the visual novel. Here is my proposition:
Would you like me to completely discard the idea of secret routes and release the game on a route by route basis or shall I release two separate, complete versions of the visual novel at a specific launch date?
Please remember to send me an ask or tweet me so that I can determine what is the best way for everyone to enjoy this visual novel! I will continue to take suggestions and will announce the decision I’ve made on the November newsletter.
III. Teaser
Last but most definitely not least, it’s everyone’s favourite pseudo-Australian; Rin! Indecision is what brings the MC and Rin together. But how can uncertainty and hesitation bring people together? How can indecisiveness teach swimming?!
P: I sat beside Matsuoka-senpai on the train.
I sighed under the setting sunlight that seeped through the train windows.
Then Matsuoka-senpai laid back in his seat with his hands behind his head.
Rin: “Nothing yet, huh?”
P: “No, nothing.”
P: And then it was silent.
Maybe Matsuoka-senpai took comfort in the silence, we were the only two inside this train car.
He closed his eyes and the sound of the train riding along the tracks was all that filled the air.
But I did not take comfort in this silence.
“It’s not that I think you’re--”
Rin: “Don’t worry about it.”
And then it was silent again.
I held my bag tightly for the remainder of the train ride to Samezuka.
How could this train ride be so familiar and unfamiliar at the same time?
But then Matsuoka-senpai got up at another station.
I rushed to follow him.
“Where are we going?”
Rin: “I’m going to show you something you’ve never seen before.”
IV. Conclusion
Thanks so much for your support for this project! I’m not quite sure what the next newsletter would contain but please look forward to it nonetheless. (≧ヘ≦ ) Please don’t forget to message me about which way you’d like the project to progress!
After much frustration, countless copy and pasting, and lots and lots and lots of googling later, I am very pleased to announce that the non-profit, fan-made, ‘Free! Eternal Summer’ Visual Novel Demo is NOW AVAILABLE TO PLAY ON MAC AND LINUX as well as RELEASING AN UPDATED VERSION FOR WINDOWS!
STILL INSPIRED by the 'I Only Date Free!' project, Nana's 'Free! Otome Game' project, and FifthDimensional's 'Swimming Anime Dating Sim’; I decided to bite the bullet and learned basic coding in Ren’Py. I have since then ditched Novelty for producing the visual novel and will now (and forever) produce the game using Ren’Py. Unlike Novelty, Ren’Py is able to build distributions for all desktop platforms. Ergo, I am able to create and distribute Mac and Linux compatible versions!
Also, in the midst of converting the demo into Ren’Py, I also created an updated version for Windows users as well! So if you were having problems such as crashing or glitching, this version is a much more stable version than the last and resolves those problems!
More info, AS WELL AS DOWNLOAD LINKS, are under the cut. You can view the original post here.
For those of you who have already played a previous version of the demo, here is the list of differences between versions:
Mac and Linux compatibility, duh.
A default MC name.
Fixed mulitple errors involving names and speakers.
Fixed the portrait visibility issue in Haruka's route.
Removed the log for a 'back' button.
Removed the opening gif due to glitch issues :(
Stable fast-forward function as well as the brand new skipping option for previously seen text
Minor changes to the script.
Feel free contact me if you have any questions or concerns, but please be sure to consult the (updated) FAQ first!
Demo (still) Features:
The Prologue
6 Routes to Choose From (Makoto, Nagisa, Rei, Sousuke, Haruka, and Rin)
Customizable MC Name.
Plot Summary
Due to health complications, you spent your first year at Iwatobi High in isolation. Because of this, you don't have many friends and being more active will improve your health. The game starts off in the beginning of second year and you decide to join a club in order to kill two birds with one stone, meeting some cute guys in the process ;)
System Requirements:
70MB of Space
A File Decompressor (such as Winrar or 7Zip)
Notes:
This game does not require installation. It is a stand-alone executable.
Please read the 'Info' file included. It contains helpful information such as the version you are playing. This makes troubleshooting easier should you have any problems!
Thank you for your support! If you like the game, please be sure to check out the monthly newsletters that I post on my tumblr. Be sure to share the demo around by linking back to this post!
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