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[Aura]

What made you guys decide to have Iwanako write a letter to Hisao instead of having her either visit in person, or just never make a reappearance at all?

I wanted closure to her "subplot". She didn't visit Hisao because she didn't want to.

[Aura]

to everyone involved in this project:

I'll assume that my previous question was buried so I'll just repost. What are your general reactions with the SOPA and PIPA?

4chan is definitely against it, with all their banners and whatnot.
TPB is... I think just acting unaffected.
megaupload definitely was hit hard.
wikipedia made a boycott act for I think 1 day

In the worst case scenario, KS will only be limited to a few countries. Or worse, it will trigger another "rapelay incident".

I think those pieces of legislation were not thought through very well, but I have no idea why you think either of them would affect KS in any way. Either way, it's rather off topic.

[Aura]

What do you guys think that on gamefaqs KS is rated #3 on top PC games and #11 for all platforms? Also, I thought that the game was amazing, but I'm sad that you guys decided not to make another game. If you made a game that sold for money and was as good as this one I think you could make a lot of profit :) Couldn't you make another game even if it takes 10 years because you're doing other stuff and the game dev would be when you could?

Popularity is of course nice. Sure we could, and will, make more games if we ever feel like it.

[Rivan]

I almost forgot! Any chance for additional wallpapers anywhere in the future? (Close or far).

[Benkei]

Two music questions! Well ... a little more than "two" since each of the two has a lot of sub-questions that go with it.

Question 1: Ah Eh I Oh You
When I first heard the nurse's theme song, "Ah Eh I Oh You," it gave me a sense of foreboding. Despite its jazzy smoothness, it seemed a little too ... sinister at parts, particularly from 0m08s to 0m16s. No other song gave such an impression and because of this I was left wondering, very early on in my playthrough of KS, if the nurse might not turn out to be a villain and/or a possible rival for Hisao. Fortunately, the first path I docked onto was Emi's, the path perhaps best suited to quickly dispelling any such notion of the nurse being either a villain or a rival for Hisao; and as I have completed more and more routes, it seems all but certain now that the nurse never was nor ever will be an antagonist in this game. But I was just curious: what sort of mood were the composers for this tune trying to evoke in first-time listeners? Was the piece intended to be a red herring? Or am I alone in thinking that the song sounds kinda menacing?

Question 2: Stride
Another musical question, this time about the song "Stride." This one starts off a little melancholic (from 0m00s to 0m09s) and then, nine seconds in, quickly seems to dive into "brace yourself from some bad news, bud " territory -- territory we stay firmly rooted in from 0m09s to 0m22s. But then, from 0m22s to 0m26s, the song undergoes a transition which results in a complete emotional 180°, going from ominous and tense to pleasant and ... I dunno, kind of like a mellow "the days of our lives in high school" kind of feel. It's certainly not dark or ominous. Maybe a little wistful in places? But on the whole, the character of the piece from 0m26s forward feels completely different to the feel of the piece in those first twenty or so seconds. So my first question again, this time for Nicol, is: what sort of mood(s) were you trying to evoke in players with this particular piece? A second question would be, do you perceive the schism in tone that I've described (and if so, was it intentional)? or do you have no clue what I'm talking about? I don't know if other players have had the same experience or not, but for me, this song is the only song in the entire game which draws me out of the moment -- because either the first twenty seconds are inappropriately ominous for what I'm about to see or else the remainder of the song is inappropriately spry. But the fact that this is the only track, out of over 40 melodies in this game and most of which you worked on, is really a credit to your genius at crafting the right melodies which establish the right emotional tones for the right scenes.

To all of the composers, I want to say -- thank you for a job fantastically well done! Your work is a precious treasure. I hope that each of you finds great success and happiness in your future musical endeavors.

[kagamiseki]

I'm planning on doing a small project with my friend, and after playing through KS, I really wanted some information about what was used for production.

Art: Any specific program(s) that you used? Any art tools you recommend?
Music: What synthesizer(s) did you use?
Ren'Py/coding: Did you use a lot of Python in the coding? Would you mind sharing the code for some of the effects you used, such as the falling snow/cherry petals, or "animating" the characters on screen for sitting or bowing? (I want to study what you did, and how you did it, but I don't intend to use the same code in my project. I know the snow is documented in the Ren'Py wiki/userguide, but I want to see how you went about it.)

Also, just curious, who wrote Iwanako's letter? Or was it typed?
Absolutely loved Katawa Shoujo, it was probably one the most emotionally moving experiences I've had in my experience with literature/games.

[Nicol Armarfi]

Question 1: Ah Eh I Oh You
...
what sort of mood were the composers for this tune trying to evoke in first-time listeners? Was the piece intended to be a red herring? Or am I alone in thinking that the song sounds kinda menacing?

Question 2: Stride
...
So my first question again, this time for Nicol, is: what sort of mood(s) were you trying to evoke in players with this particular piece? A second question would be, do you perceive the schism in tone that I've described (and if so, was it intentional)?

Ah Eh I Oh You was never really written for KS. Way, way back in 2007, someone had made a post on OCRemix as a call to composers looking to help with the game. In response someone named OverCoat posted a couple tracks and said we were free to use them, and Ah Eh I Oh You was one of them. It wasn't written with any knowledge of the game or particular intent in mind, it's just a nifty piece of music.

This isn't the first time someone's mentioned that Stride felt ominous. That was never my intention, so I was a bit surprised. As a whole I intended the track to just be relaxing, but this is one of the first tracks I made for the game, back when I was 14, so I didn't really have a good grasp of effect back then.

Music: What synthesizer(s) did you use?

I sequenced all MIDIs with a mouse and keyboard in Finale, and sampled and mixed them in FL Studio. The samples I used were mostly a mix between free soundfonts and the Garritan Personal Orchestra VSTi. I didn't use any hardware synthesizers.

[Guesty-Guest]

Before my question, I'd just like to say this:

I've never been much of a VN-fiend (having played a handful before and detested them) nor have I ever had a real interest in anything anime-ish. I do love games, however, and the idea of what collaboration can do; especially over the internet. I only stumbled across this game recently and played it out of sheer curiosity, and for something that would normally have me uninterested immediately, this had to be one of the most rewarding experiences I've had with a game in recent memory. Well done to those involved. Well done. I know you've all heard this a lot recently and are probably unfazed by it by now, but so impressive was this game, that it has influenced me in upping the quality of my own projects with hopes that it will be as influential (as your game has been to me) to others.

Now onto the question:
If 4LS ever decides to make another game or collaborate together on something else, would you like to just stay the size as you were/are now or would there be a possibility of expansion? It's a tightly knit group and planning for something so vague and only slightly possible is a tricky thing, but would the dev team like to see what it could pump out again with just the people involved currently or would you folks be interested to seeing what a larger group would be able to do (carrying over what you've learned about organization/management/motivation previously)?

[Suriko]

Now onto the question:
If 4LS ever decides to make another game or collaborate together on something else, would you like to just stay the size as you were/are now or would there be a possibility of expansion? It's a tightly knit group and planning for something so vague and only slightly possible is a tricky thing, but would the dev team like to see what it could pump out again with just the people involved currently or would you folks be interested to seeing what a larger group would be able to do (carrying over what you've learned about organization/management/motivation previously)?

Smaller, if anything. Coordinating 20ish people from across the world on a free creative project is a complete logistical nightmare.

[AnonAnother]

I am a bit disappointed that I only heard of this project after its full release. After completing the game, looking through the entire Shimmie, reading the comments of the history of KS, reading the blog, I only wish I could have been a bit more of a follower throughout the five years of its creation, or even a part of its development. As someone who has done a bit of organizing of a small, niche non-profit through forums, I always kind of had a small yearning of banding together with others on the internet. Regardless, I feel a bit sullen that though I've spent about 2 and a half weeks of KS addiction, it really is over and not going anywhere from here, which is a bit saddening.

Anyways, I just wanted to mix that bit in to the developers with my question. My question is when Kenji reads Iwanako's letter, why does he call her "Rock Fish Kid" chick, when her name is clearly written in hiragana? I understand the kanji with the same pronunciation, 岩魚子, is probably what Kenji was referring to, but how would he necessarily know? Or is it just my lack of knowledge in Japanese showing, e.g. she wouldn't have learned how to write this kanji yet (Though, I think these are some pretty basic kanji a high school student would know), or it's simply a way people would sign off a letter less formally? Barring that, maybe 岩魚子 was even on the back of the letter that wasn't shown?

In the same vein, why is the title written かたわ instead of 片輪, as per the original panel?

[lblf]

A question for NicolArmarfi (although any of the music composers are welcome to answer, just seems Nicol is most active),

I really do enjoy the music in KS. I've always thought that I enjoyed the melodies and instruments more even when a song has lyrics, and listening to the soundtrack made me think that that is indeed the case.

Do you have any suggestions of other instrumental music that I might enjoy since I like the music in KS (a very subjective question I know but just shoot out some right off the top of your head perhaps to give me a general direction to start looking)? What kind of music influenced you when composing music for KS?

Apologies if this has been addressed before.

Edit: Ah, I found your youtube channel NicolArmarfi, brilliant! But feel free to suggest any still.

[Nicol Armarfi]

Do you have any suggestions of other instrumental music that I might enjoy since I like the music in KS (a very subjective question I know but just shoot out some right off the top of your head perhaps to give me a general direction to start looking)? What kind of music influenced you when composing music for KS?

You might like Joe Hisaishi: Or Oscar Peterson: Or Chopin:

[ThaGuyWithCake]

After once again briefly reading the forums/FAQ to make sure I don't ask a question that has already been spammed on this website, I've found that (so far) it hasn't been answered. So...

What do you guys do for a living? I.e Uni/college, work, hobbies etc. Are you all proficient with programming?

Sorry if it sounds intrusive, I just find the writers (Well, all developers involved really) to be extraordinary people (And are rather patient as well.. judging by the other questions that they receive).

[cpl_crud]

Anyways, I just wanted to mix that bit in to the developers with my question. My question is when Kenji reads Iwanako's letter, why does he call her "Rock Fish Kid" chick, when her name is clearly written in hiragana? I understand the kanji with the same pronunciation, 岩魚子, is probably what Kenji was referring to, but how would he necessarily know? Or is it just my lack of knowledge in Japanese showing, e.g. she wouldn't have learned how to write this kanji yet (Though, I think these are some pretty basic kanji a high school student would know), or it's simply a way people would sign off a letter less formally? Barring that, maybe 岩魚子 was even on the back of the letter that wasn't shown?

In the same vein, why is the title written かたわ instead of 片輪, as per the original panel?

In reality I don't think Kenji would have worked it out, but the joke about Iwanako's name was out from long ago... Interestingly enough, the Japanese don' nativity know how to pronounce the kanji ( there is a read-through of Act 1 on Youtube yhat shows this).

From memory the reason we went with hiragana for かたわ is because the ariginal artist for the logo couldn't draw complex kanji all that well, so he simplified it...

[person132]

I'd like to hear from the writers about the decision points in their respective paths.

To what extent did you write towards a choice you already had in mind? Were there choices that just arose from the scenes as you wrote them? Were there any reasons besides the obvious for putting in some decisions?

Was there an overall plan for the choices in the route? How early/late in the process did it come about? Were you looking to have some sort of "theme" for the good and bad choices?

You guys have made a pretty cool VN for a first effort. Thanks for it.