Ask!

[Aura]

If you could go back in time and change one thing in the game, what would it be?

Dunno. I might nuke the epilogue from Lilly's path. The asymmetry it creates is annoying.

[Aura]

If you had hired voice actors, would you have done it in English or in Japanese if it were just as easy for you to do it either way?

English, no question about it.

[Aura]

Ok, I have a few questions that I don't think have been asked, if I'm wrong though, just let me know.

Along the same lines of a question that was asked a few posts ago, what are your regrets about the game? I know a blog post said there were quite a few, but I don't recall any specific examples.

In direct opposition to that question, what parts do you think worked? If you could go back in time, what wouldn't you change, if there's even anything like that?

I'm working on a Visual Novel project of my own with a group of people. It's the same genre as KS. What advice could you give us?

Lastly, *cough cough* might you possibly be interested in working on the aforementioned project? *cough cough * (hopefully, it does indeed not hurt to ask...)

I don't regret anything. There are many many things that could've been done better or even are outright bad, and also many things that could've been made but never were. However, feeling regret over any of that stuff won't help anyone. KS is done, it is what it is, and that's that.

As for advice, the most common generic piece of advice I give is to be aware of what you're doing and the way you are approaching it. Self-consciousness is a virtue in projects like these. Don't just start writing or drawing without a good picture of the end result. Plan, communicate, document, think. Also, I'm probably too late with this, but make a very small project first. It helps a ton to know all aspects of producing a VN before you spend years on making one.

I don't think any of us (or in fact, anyone at all) would be interested in working on a project they know nothing about.

[Silentcook]

I don't really *do* regret, so I'll answer somewhat obliquely. There are dozens and dozens of little and big parts of KS that could have been better, too many to count. But along the way of development we had to be realistic and either release the game we had or never release a better game.
We released what we had, and I'm glad we did.

As an editor, my advice to you is: plan everything, document everything, backup everything, and triplecheck everything. Never go to the next step until you're done with the current one. Whenever something in this chain fails, go right back to its beginning.

Life concerns and the translation of KS prevent me from doing much any "moonlighting", but a title in my native language can't help but tickle my curiosity.

[Camoufrage]

Is there any particular reason why you guys are openly saying that you will probably not work together on another project again?

I supppose I can understand the complete clusterflunk that was working online from so far away, must have been amazing to see . But I would think you would have bonded with the people somehow, yet you were so fast to say that there was almost definitely no chance of another project happening. Just wondering, because seeing more would be awesome, though I fully understand why you wouldnt do it again.

Which is sad really, because KS is brilliant and I do want to congratulate you on making it. I think its such a brilliant way of writing a story. VNs are alluded as being naughty and disgusting and sick all of the time. This game is a great example of, while a lot of the time they are correct, the platform can still be used in a genuine way to create a story worth experiencing. Frankly, I dont know if it would have been as gripping on paper in a book (or even be possible with the way you guys were working ).

There's another question, do you think KS wouldve made a good book?


Once again, love KS, and was certainly worth the time I've spent in it (which is quite a bit). You guys did a great job of making a serious story despite the flak Im sure you were getting for making a VN on such a concept. Sounds very strange when you pitch it to the general public, huh?

[ProfAllister]

Just noticed that "Lullaby of Open Eyes" is credited to NicolArmarfi & CplCrud. How much of a role did CplCrud play in that track?

Do any of you have any personal theories as to why KS seems to have such a remarkable resonance? As you've noted before, cripple porn games aren't known for their propensity to dramatically change someone's life for the better.

[TheHivemind]

Is there any particular reason why you guys are openly saying that you will probably not work together on another project again?

I supppose I can understand the complete clusterflunk that was working online from so far away, must have been amazing to see . But I would think you would have bonded with the people somehow, yet you were so fast to say that there was almost definitely no chance of another project happening. Just wondering, because seeing more would be awesome, though I fully understand why you wouldnt do it again.

Which is sad really, because KS is brilliant and I do want to congratulate you on making it. I think its such a brilliant way of writing a story. VNs are alluded as being naughty and disgusting and sick all of the time. This game is a great example of, while a lot of the time they are correct, the platform can still be used in a genuine way to create a story worth experiencing. Frankly, I dont know if it would have been as gripping on paper in a book (or even be possible with the way you guys were working ).

There's another question, do you think KS wouldve made a good book?


Once again, love KS, and was certainly worth the time I've spent in it (which is quite a bit). You guys did a great job of making a serious story despite the flak Im sure you were getting for making a VN on such a concept. Sounds very strange when you pitch it to the general public, huh?

This was a five year project which was great at times and at other times was the worst goddamn thing ever. So we're understandably a little hesitant to ever work with such a large group again--not for reasons of hating one another, but because really you don't need as many people as we used to make a game like this--in fact it just made things way more complicated than it might have been otherwise (would the finished product have been as good if we were a smaller team? I don't know, that's a silly hypothetical. Shut up). That said, some of us are kicking around ideas for one thing or another, and it's not out of the realm of possibility that more stuff will get released under the 4ls name or, if nothing else, by 4ls people. I at least would not say no to working on something else with these fine ladies and gents, but it would have to be a totally bitchin' idea (and maybe not even a VN). Who knows?

KS would have made a lousy book, I think. Part of the effectiveness of its storytelling was because we had good art and good music to cover for shitty writing in spots (and good music and good writing to cover for shitty art, and...you get the idea). Not only that but it would be a huge ol' CYOA novel which wouldn't work as well without more choices.

[Waytfm]

Another question that just sprung to mind. I've noticed that writing for a VN is nothing like writing a novel or purely text-based work. What did you do to fit the VN format?

[WorldlyWiseman]

If you had hired voice actors, would you have done it in English or in Japanese if it were just as easy for you to do it either way?

Actually, I'd like to ask: how much would the visual presentation and such have changed if you'd had access to whatever you guys needed to provide decent voice acting for the game?

[amale555]

Had Misha decided to become a sign language teacher before she attended Yamaku or after she started?

I'm not sure whether she decided to become a sign language teacher and then enrolled in the school, or she enrolled in the school, took some sign language classes, and then she wanted to teach. She says that she didn't really want to go to Yamaku in the first place and wasn't very good at sign language until she met Shizune. If that's true, then why did she go in the first place? She doesn't seem to have any physical disabilities and the tuition is supposed to be really expensive.

[Aura]

Is there any particular reason why you guys are openly saying that you will probably not work together on another project again?

I supppose I can understand the complete clusterflunk that was working online from so far away, must have been amazing to see :lol:. But I would think you would have bonded with the people somehow, yet you were so fast to say that there was almost definitely no chance of another project happening. Just wondering, because seeing more would be awesome, though I fully understand why you wouldnt do it again.

Which is sad really, because KS is brilliant and I do want to congratulate you on making it. I think its such a brilliant way of writing a story. VNs are alluded as being naughty and disgusting and sick all of the time. This game is a great example of, while a lot of the time they are correct, the platform can still be used in a genuine way to create a story worth experiencing. Frankly, I dont know if it would have been as gripping on paper in a book (or even be possible with the way you guys were working :P).

There's another question, do you think KS wouldve made a good book?


Once again, love KS, and was certainly worth the time I've spent in it (which is quite a bit). You guys did a great job of making a serious story despite the flak Im sure you were getting for making a VN on such a concept. Sounds very strange when you pitch it to the general public, huh?

As Hivemind says, the KS team was big, too big. It was inefficient and if we made another project it'd definitely be with less people. Further, some 4LS members feel like making KS was enough for the VN development experience and have no intentions of carrying on with this hobby, so we know for a fact that all 21 of the KS team won't work together again. That's the thing that Suriko wanted to say, but somehow miscommunicated to say that we have permanently split and there's no chance of seeing any of us again. That's not true, we simply had no immediate plans to start another project right away. Maybe we will do more projects at some point, with less people, or with new people, or whatever. Many of us like VNs, and making VNs, and working together. So why not, if an opportunity arises?

[Aura]

Just noticed that "Lullaby of Open Eyes" is credited to NicolArmarfi & CplCrud. How much of a role did CplCrud play in that track?

Do any of you have any personal theories as to why KS seems to have such a remarkable resonance? As you've noted before, cripple porn games aren't known for their propensity to dramatically change someone's life for the better.

Crud didn't compose any of it, but he is a sound engineer so he remastered it. I do think he did the same for some other tracks as well.

KS is not a very remarkable visual novel in the wider scheme of the medium, but the response to it is indeed pretty remarkable. I don't really have an explanation or even a coherent theory, just some stray ideas. I think some of it is from the fact that KS was the first VN for many people. VNs, more than any other medium, make the reader identify strongly with the PoV character and maybe (if well executed), get stronger emotional response from the experience that way too. As for the "changing life for the better" thing, if KS has any message, it's that disabled people are normal people just like anyone else. In the context of the game, you can see many of the characters have, or will overcome really terrible things, and Hisao is the foil to every single one of them, with his depression over his illness and struggle to come to terms with it. It could be seen that a reader identifying one's own problems with Hisao (as above) and comparing them to those of Emi, Hanako, or whoever makes for some kind of revelatory experience that could spur on a desire to overcome whatever hurdle there is in one's own life.

[Aura]

Another question that just sprung to mind. I've noticed that writing for a VN is nothing like writing a novel or purely text-based work. What did you do to fit the VN format?

I felt it's like writing a theatre play script. Visualization is the biggest thing that changes the way one must write, and the branching structure the next after that.

[Aura]

If you had hired voice actors, would you have done it in English or in Japanese if it were just as easy for you to do it either way?

Actually, I'd like to ask: how much would the visual presentation and such have changed if you'd had access to whatever you guys needed to provide decent voice acting for the game?

Visuals, probably not at all. Script, a little, but not significantly. It's like with visualization, which makes it unnecessary to describe what everything looks like, adding voices (auralization?) would remove the need to describe what everything sounds like.

[Aura]

Had Misha decided to become a sign language teacher before she attended Yamaku or after she started?

I'm not sure whether she decided to become a sign language teacher and then enrolled in the school, or she enrolled in the school, took some sign language classes, and then she wanted to teach. She says that she didn't really want to go to Yamaku in the first place and wasn't very good at sign language until she met Shizune. If that's true, then why did she go in the first place? She doesn't seem to have any physical disabilities and the tuition is supposed to be really expensive.

Iirc, before.