Ask!

[Azure Henry]

Does the student in Hisao's class who uses a cane have a name? He sits in the back and is noticed by Hisao on his first day, but never seems to come up again.

[Kon22]

I know you get a lot like these, but, what would you say is the most common mistake rookies make when they want to make a visual novel (Or a similar project, really)? Trying to chew more than they can swallow? Lack of organization? Lack of focus on the project?

[Suriko]

I know you get a lot like these, but, what would you say is the most common mistake rookies make when they want to make a visual novel (Or a similar project, really)? Trying to chew more than they can swallow? Lack of organization? Lack of focus on the project?

Scope.

Just writing and seeing where it goes leads to tremendous amounts of problems. If you can plan out the scenario and roughly how each scene will play out, you can get a good idea of assets required (in terms of sprites, CGs, and music). Even if it's a small VN, having a shopping list of what's needed helps dramatically in terms of having a common goal in mind between everyone, and an easy way to keep tasks available for everyone involved.

Given how stupid KS's development process was, "let's make something like KS" saddens me every time I see it.

[Klefx]

Who wrote the scene names/descriptions and the act names?

[Zykes]

When approaching the steps for writing the story, did you feel comfortable with the ability you had, or did you feel you had to touch up on it with a guide book to help some of your weaker points or even take writing classes?

And in any case, would you suggest doing either of those things for anyone else looking to improve their writing?

[Silentcook]

Who wrote the scene names/descriptions and the act names?

The scene and act titles were a joint effort, but the path writers took care of most of their respective areas of responsibility.

The scene descriptions were mostly written by me, but the path writers pitched in, particularly in act 1.

[Aura]

When approaching the steps for writing the story, did you feel comfortable with the ability you had, or did you feel you had to touch up on it with a guide book to help some of your weaker points or even take writing classes?

And in any case, would you suggest doing either of those things for anyone else looking to improve their writing?

I knew I was bad, but it didn't occur me to go take a course at that stage. So yeah I guess you could say I felt comfortable.

[cpl_crud]

When approaching the steps for writing the story, did you feel comfortable with the ability you had, or did you feel you had to touch up on it with a guide book to help some of your weaker points or even take writing classes?

And in any case, would you suggest doing either of those things for anyone else looking to improve their writing?

I knew I was bad, but it didn't occur me to go take a course at that stage. So yeah I guess you could say I felt comfortable.

I guess I have a similar story.

I was fairly confident in myself when I started, so I didn't really study anything.

However, the "school of 4LS" taught me more than I realised, and looking back on early stuff is pretty cringe inducing for me.

I suppose that the standard adage of "if you want to get good at something, do a lot of it" applies, but you also need to have some trusted advisors to move you out of your naive mindset and help you perform.

[Kon22]

Happy new year, y'all!

During the development, did you ever feel like someone was trying to implement their ideas over the rest? Did everyone, artists included, have a say on the direction the project was going or did you all simply resonate well and it never became a problem? Do you feel like this could be a problem in a project of this scale and these characteristics (Non profitable, for example)?

[Aura]

Yeah. The KS project didn't have clear creative leadership, so the people who spent the most time or most vigor into the creative discussions and feedback clearly had more influence than others. I was one of them, but even though I was the head writer I didn't want to drown out the creative voices of the rest of the script team. I had to consciously dial down the pressure I was putting on others and learn to let things slide. In a project of KS's magnitude it's not possible for everyone to be satisfied with everything anyway, so it was good to learn to pick my fights.

And yes it absolutely can be a huge problem. If some people feel their concerns and ideas aren't being heard, it can lead to frustration, feelings of alienation and lack of motivation.

[baskervald]

I'm sorry if it's been asked before, but what're your opinions on fan "spiritual successors" to Katawa Shoujo that, while technically adhering to your license, are clearly inspired by KS?

(not because I want to make one -- I personally think they're fairly unoriginal, and now that KS exists there's no point in another visual novel featuring an all-disabled cast and that more imaginative angles should be taken -- but just because I'm curious about your feelings on it after recently finding out about Full Hearts)

[Nicol Armarfi]

I'm sorry if it's been asked before, but what're your opinions on fan "spiritual successors" to Katawa Shoujo that, while technically adhering to your license, are clearly inspired by KS?

(not because I want to make one -- I personally think they're fairly unoriginal, and now that KS exists there's no point in another visual novel featuring an all-disabled cast and that more imaginative angles should be taken -- but just because I'm curious about your feelings on it after recently finding out about Full Hearts)

Besides featuring disabled characters, I'm not sure you can accuse Katawa Shoujo of being original to begin with. I guess what bothers me more is the fact that they considered the disabilities of the characters something worth emulating.

[Aura]

Popular things have been imitated forever. Take a look around google play store. For every popular mobile game there are about 500 clones of it, trying to mine the same vein the original struck. Maybe it's a scumbag move, maybe it's not? There's no point getting worked up over it either way. Aside from that, I do think emulating KS too closely is a bad idea for the same reason I'm not interested in making a sequel myself, and these superficial aspects are some of the worst parts of KS in the first place, but pursuing bad ideas is everyone's prerogative.

[ArcCain]

This is a weird question but: Have any of you played, read or seen Higurashi before or after making KS? I learned recently that some of the images used for KS backgrounds were taken in the same area as that VN. Other VN's tend to reference or draw inspiration from it, or so they say, did it have any influence on KS? And whilst it's a side note and not relevant to KS, why do you think it has made such a big impression on the VN community?

I have only seen a few clips from the anime and people/games reference it so my personal knowledge about it is limited.

[cpl_crud]

This is a weird question but: Have any of you played, read or seen Higurashi before or after making KS? I learned recently that some of the images used for KS backgrounds were taken in the same area as that VN. Other VN's tend to reference or draw inspiration from it, or so they say, did it have any influence on KS? And whilst it's a side note and not relevant to KS, why do you think it has made such a big impression on the VN community?

I have only seen a few clips from the anime and people/games reference it so my personal knowledge about it is limited.

Yes, that would be my fault. Higurashi is one of my favorite franchises. It did influence my earlier paths for Hanako but they were all safely removed before we went to the "real" release.

From memory, only the "Road To School" background is from that area, but I took a lot more photos in Shirakawa-go (the village that became "Hinamizawa"). In a way you can say that the "photo-filtered Backgrounds" is something that we did that Higurashi did as well.

If you've seen the series or played the games then these photos will be familiar:
http://cplcrud.deviantart.com/gallery/1 ... izawa-Tour

Here are some blog posts about Higurashi's influence on me:
https://cplcrud.wordpress.com/2013/08/0 ... f-history/
https://cplcrud.wordpress.com/2013/09/0 ... l-of-what/


I guess you could probably say that my newer stuff is also very much more on the Higurashi side of the fence than the KS side.