Estimated length

[Csihar]

>3 acts before any H-scenes

Yeah, I don't see that happening in an H-game.

>3 acts before a confession

Hahaha, no. This isn't "Generic Shoujo Romance", bro.

Depends on the character, though. I really don't see any H scenes happening before act 3 for most of the girls, except maybe Shizune and/or Emi.

[neumanproductions]

Well I wouldn't say my prediction is on the mark but the majority of my said events might happen in those scenes. Maybe the confession at the end of the 3rd scene and most of boyfriend/girlfriend stuff in the 4th. I'm still thinking the main focus of the game isn't the H-scenes; for some maybe and it probably will vary by girl.
Oh, otherwise something tragic in the last scene in the case of a bad ending. Perhaps another death scene un/related to Kenji. Who knows, until the final is published.

[EternalLurker]

>3 acts before a confession

Hahaha, no. This isn't "Generic Shoujo Romance", bro.

I can see Emi's or Lilly's taking that long, though it looks like Hisao's going to confess to Shizune in about thirty seconds after the start of act 2.

[Csihar]

I can see Emi's or Lilly's taking that long, though it looks like Hisao's going to confess to Shizune in about thirty seconds after the start of act 2.

No way dude, Lilly's totally got the hots for Hisao by the end of act 1, she's just subtle about it (mostly). And we all know he just liked the way Shizune's boobs looked with her arms spread like that.

[EternalLurker]

I was quoting the "confession" part, not the "H-scene" part, since the order in which those occur is dependent on the girl and other situations.

[Tahtorak]

Well, when I recently asked of the KatawaShoujo, I don't know who runs under that name, on the blog I was confirmed that there will be 4 acts in total for all of the main characters.
My speculation involves:
Act 1 = picking the path to follow
Act 2 = getting to know them better
Act 3 = Learning about how their disability has hindered them or came to be
Act 4 = H-scenes and final confession

I think that is pretty sound reasoning from what I have found thus far and what I see from your wordcount estimates Suriko, is that one of these acts might be highly centered around text; probably #2 with #3 being somewhat short or more event based.
Sorry, if this isn't the correct thread for this but I thought I would put it out there.

4 acts? Really? Logically, that means that Hanako and Lilly's storylines are halfway done (according to the recent blog post). Unfortunately, I cannot say this with full confidence. After all, "In every experiment, in every scenario, there is the factor of chance. The unpredictable -- the variant or mutation for which you cannot prepare. That hiccup on the quantum level that throws everything off..." In other words, there's always chaos throwing things off.

BTW, Based on my personal experience with virtual novels, this is my prediction on the acts:
Act 1 will be the same as neumanproductions said
Act 2 will be "getting to know them better" + "Learning about how their disability has hindered them or came to be" + confession + maybe an H-scene
Act 3 will be progress of the relationship + H-scenes
Act 4 will include some kind of crazy event with a dramatic conclusion + H-scenes + a look at where the relationship will take the characters in the future
But like I said, there's always chaos throwing things off.

[Member22 cannot log in]

I agree, an epilogue at the end of the 4th act showing Hisao and his girl living as a couple in the far future would be nice

[neumanproductions]

4 acts? Really? Logically, that means that Hanako and Lilly's storylines are halfway done (according to the recent blog post). Unfortunately, I cannot say this with full confidence. After all, "In every experiment, in every scenario, there is the factor of chance. The unpredictable -- the variant or mutation for which you cannot prepare. That hiccup on the quantum level that throws everything off..." In other words, there's always chaos throwing things off.

BTW, Based on my personal experience with virtual novels, this is my prediction on the acts:
Act 1 will be the same as neumanproductions said
Act 2 will be "getting to know them better" + "Learning about how their disability has hindered them or came to be" + confession + maybe an H-scene
Act 3 will be progress of the relationship + H-scenes
Act 4 will include some kind of crazy event with a dramatic conclusion + H-scenes + a look at where the relationship will take the characters in the future
But like I said, there's always chaos throwing things off.

To be honest, I like your prediction better than mine. You seem to have given this a lot more thought than I did at the time. I just thought of getting something stable but it does make more sense that the main focus in the later acts is the H-scenes and probably the full relationship; rather than ending the game with confession as it seems Act 1 really did destroy that idea by already setting a path course. I probably should have thought about taking that into account. I also like your idea of an Epilogue at the end. But I have heard that multiple endings for each girl will exist so that might throw off any prediction either of us can make.

Speaking of the Act 2 paths of Hanako, Lilly being done and almost Emi being done. That means to me that their paths, Lilly and Hanako, might contain some of the same scenes together so they are able to finish that part faster. As the Act 1 ending of Lilly has Hanako around with you. They might branch more off in the 3rd Act. But aside from the prediction it just means that we are that much closer to the RELEASE of the game and speculation will become reality.

[Tahtorak]

...I have heard that multiple endings for each girl will exist so that might throw off any prediction either of us can make.

Like I said: there's always chaos throwing things off.

Now that I think about it, there might be some sort of unlockable at the end after you complete all acts with every character.

[Xuan]

Well, for Act 4 to be Confession + H-scenes sounds a bit fast. The time between confession to H in my country takes between two months to ten years, if you exclude bad romance.

[neumanproductions]

Well, for Act 4 to be Confession + H-scenes sounds a bit fast. The time between confession to H in my country takes between two months to ten years, if you exclude bad romance.

Well the game is said to have time-skips which could help counter this, but remember. We are the ones excited about a game, about romance, with cripples and a guy who could die from having sex. We can afford to extend into the realm of fiction. Because it gives us the ability to do all sorts of things that would be considered wrong or impossible in the real world.

[Xuan]

That's true, but since there is a medical condition in the way of their love (Both sides) wouldn't you expect maybe an earlier confession as early as in Act 2? Then we might see the struggle to maintain their starting love.

[Csihar]

Well, for Act 4 to be Confession + H-scenes sounds a bit fast. The time between confession to H in my country takes between two months to ten years, if you exclude bad romance.

Really? It seems pretty normal in America for sex to come pretty early in a relationship, like within the first week - even before any kind of confession of love a lot of the time. Maybe not quite so quickly in high school, but even then I think a lot of people would be throwing out "I love you"s by the end of the first month, with sex coming pretty soon after. Maybe Americans are just really big sluts though.

I agree the confession probably would come towards the end of act 2 though, since it would make sense from a storytelling standpoint - i.e. each act needs to build to a suitable climax. Act 1, realize you're interested in a particular girl. Act 2, realize you're in love with them/start going out. Act 3, have sex with girl - or maybe that could come earlier, with some kind of major Drama Moment instead, the resolution of which would be the bulk of act 4.

[Member22]

I hope there are epilogues too (in a similar style/context to the Katawa Haha thread)

[G3n0c1de]

There's also the fact that this isn't real life. The romance in this game, and fiction in general is highly idealized. Expect things to move at a faster pace than in real life. What this says about how the romance flows through the acts, I don't know. To be honest, the concept of the 'confession' is alien to me. Granted, I have only played Narcissu and YMK in addition to KS, so my knowledge of VN structure may be lacking.