06-20-2015: MAJOR updates and...weight loss?

So, it's been almost a week...

Just-Kimchii speaking! So...time flies by so fast! It has been a week since my last update...well, I do have some things I have to report for today ;) so what have I been doing this whole week?

Website

So the website went through a pretty big "makeover." I had to delete some posts and make them into pages instead. I think it'll be easier in the long run (not to mention that I feel like a total idiot for not noticing the "pages" feature from the beginning Dx). Luckily, I've fixed about 95% of the site, I might have missed a few details/posts that need proper hyperlinking, but I'll find them as I go along ;)

Project Black Coffee

I have a couple of updates for the game. First and foremost, I am almost finished cover 2 for the game. Here's the completed image :)

I still need to add the logo and it'll be complete, but that is my lowest priority as of now. You can view more artworks I've done for this project under the "artworks" page, which I created today. 

As for the game itself...it has been a little slow because of work and other responsibilities (plus I spent more time on cover 2 than I should've). However, I have been working on the sprites...and I do admit it's a ton of work...especially since I'm doing these from scratch, from the sketch to the finished product. Let me give you a glimpse of what I mean....

This is a folder which contains one of Makoto's sprites. He has four different outfits and eight different expressions...so, it does take some time to do all this. Mind you, this is only ONE sprite. I've got two more for him and two for Sosuke. This is pretty exciting stuff x) but it does take a while to do all this... it's totally worth it  though x)

I'll be working on Sosuke's sprites for a change of atmosphere (sorry mako-chan!). Be looking foward to more updates! I've been investing a lot of time into the art and so far I'm liking it!

Real Life

I've been working a lot...it's pretty exhausting no matter what you're doing. I've also been having a lot of issues trying to lose weight. I swear...college is the place where you can easily gain weight and have a hard time keeping it off...ugh. I've been trying to take control of my life in the "weight loss" department, but it's been so frustrating thus far...I'm not the type that hates exercise, but now that I need it more than ever my body is like "Nope, too tired for this. Fuck you exercise!" But this only means I have to find a better solution to motivate myself to lose weight....

06-14-2015: Good morning lovely people (it's actually 12 pm...)

Time to work on some sprites this lovely morning (it's noon...)!

I slept late last night reading yaoi working on the lovely Makoto. I'm still not done with all his sprites, but I've been working relentlessly on them!

Today I'll shift my attention to Sosuke's sprites! x) 

Other news:

I watched Jurassic World last night and OMG it was amazing! I recommend it passionately!!!!!

06-13-2015: First blog post and first updates

*Sigh* So Much Stuff to do...here's some updates on what I've been doing and future plans!

Just-Kimchii speaking! So if I'm going to be taking this crazy VN-making journey, I might as well write about it. So what's been going on so far? Well, I've established this website and have decided to take on my first Visual Novel project called "Black Coffee: Lovers & Memories," a Free: Eternal Summer fan game. 

[Since I'm a control freak] Here's a list of some things I intend to do at some point if not today (plus some things that are on my mind).

 Website/Blogspot 

• I've officially made the Site "public" which worries me a little because I will be editing this site A LOT. This is the first site I've ever really "made," so it's still a very new concept. Adding hyperlinks and stuff are a pain in the ass you know!  
• I might be editing the "ABOUT" page pretty soon. I will add an extra page talking a little bit about myself in case anyone is interested in that. That is very conceited but fuck it, it's my blog anyway ;)
• It would be so great to add like some sort of music playlist for people to listen to, but I think I'll try adding that when this blog is more "stable" and I'm not constantly editing links and whatnot
• I will also add some links to other Indie VN makers. There's some great stuff out there I want to share with everyone!
• The "Tutorials" page won't be edited any time soon (sorry!) so expect that "TBD" to be there for some time....resources will also be neglected for a while...
• Maybe make a cute avatar? Who knows?!

 Project Black Coffee 

This game is still under development, so a lot of things are no complete...but here's a small update on what I DO have:

• I have posted the info page, where I'll be updating the info until the game is complete!
• I have a Tumblr page dedicated to the project x) it is easily accessible to anyone and it should be on the main page
• I have been working (tirelessly!!) on Makoto, Sosuke and Haru's sprites. I've put a lot of effort onto these sprites and their expressions, I just need to edit the shadows/highlights/textures on Photoshop
• I have the fanfic as reference for the script. I also have sorted out how I will present the decisions and some tricks ;)
• Finished the first cover page of the game. I will begin working on the second cover (featuring Sosuke) in due time
• I have at least one sketch of a background. I admit I am ABSOLUTELY horrible at doing backgrounds, but I really don't want to resort to using other sources xD that's just me 

 Real Life / Other 

• Summer vacation! Sadly I have to spend it working....
• Been catching up with some anime and manga I've been meaning to watch
• JURASSIC WORLD 3D!!!!!
• Draw, Draw, DRAW!!
• I've been having a hard time playing visual novels recently...but I'll squeeze in time when I can! I'm STILL waiting on the Lamento full English Patch!!! x)

Inspiration: Project Black Coffee

"So, Kimchii, explain yourself please...."

I'm so happy you asked. So this is my first fan game called "Black Coffee: Lovers & Memories." It sounds cute and fluffy RIGHT?!

It's not (completely).

"Black coffee" is an ongoing fanfiction I wrote some time ago. I have not finished it, although I know exactly how it's going to end (why haven't I finished it then? Not sure. Classes were brutal at the time I was writing it...I will eventually finish it).

"So why did you pick some fanfiction you wrote?"

Good question! Well, visual novel making is a very new concept to me. I have never coded a complete visual novel. I did have a few other original ideas that I had started coding...but the stories just didn’t fully “click.” While I do love writing stories from scratch and making original characters, I needed some sort of base to start coding something off of! So I looked at my fanfictions and picked the plot that was the least complicated and not as brutal.

“Black Coffee” was the one.

What I love about this fanfic (I sound so conceited saying this…) is that it is very flexible and there are many possibilities that could happen within this story. That was why I picked it, it was easier to work with, plus even if it is not completed, I already know exactly how it’s going to end x)

Kudos to me! (you narcissist!)

"Why Soumako? Why not rinharu/makoharu/[insert OTP here]?"

I explained earlier that I picked “Black Coffee” because it’s easier to work with. I also wrote it so that the main couple is actually Makoto and Sosuke.

I’ll be honest here: I am not a Makoharu fan. I don’t hate the pairing, I just don’t ship it the way the general fanbase does. If anything, I’m a huge shipper of headcanon ships mostly because the fanbase have very interesting insights as to WHY such pairings would make sense. That in mind, though, I am a HUGE Rinharu shipper (Rinharu fan for life!). I am also a huge Soumako shipper! Like, AVID shipper…!

(There was this brilliant post on Tumblr that explained Soumako and headcanons in general so beautifully! I’ll link it as soon as I find it!)

Unfortunately, I feel that headcanon pairings are so overlooked and underrated, I wanted to deliver something for the fanbase. I mean, let’s face it, there’s plenty of Makoharu/Rinharu/Sourin stuff that one more artwork won’t really make much of a difference.

Still love them all though ;)

In any case,  I wanted to dedicate this FIRST game to the Somako fanbase because they’re all so great. This isn’t to say that no one else can play it, but not many people are into Soumako so….

"Wait...but Sosuke and Makoto don’t ever interact in the anime (save for the OVA)!"

Heh heh...the beauty of headcanons is that you can pretty much do whatever you want with them ;) Especially with an amazing pairing like Sosuke and Makoto.

That said, I wanted to establish some things about the story. First of, and this makes me a bit worried, it is an alternate universe [AU], so it does not follow the Free! storyline per se. This makes me a bit worried because I might as well just make this my own story and change the characters’ names! But I really don’t want to do that...so I’m just making this a fan game.

I want to apologize beforehand if it disappoints you that it doesn’t really follow the series (I will gladly provide some links to Free! fan games that follow the series a lot better, though).

"Will there be any other characters other than Sosuke and Makoto?"

Yes, expect Rin, Haru and....someone else ;)

"Since there's a fanfiction, does that mean that I can use it to get the true end?!"

That would be nice, but no. First of all, it's not complete. Secondly, the way I approached the fanfiction and the game are pretty different. The idea is pretty much the same, but the fanfiction is not a "walkthrough" per se. I MIGHT provide one though ;)

An insight on Psycho & Drama Visuals

Psycho & Drama Visuals had a bit of an interesting development when it came to the name. Individually, “psycho” and “drama” seem like obvious signs that my games will be dramatic and even “psychotic.”

Well…it’s not that simple.

I remember sitting in the bus once and as I’m thinking about the games I want to make, I realized that I needed to have some sort of logo…like a company name (such as the Sakevisual team, check them out!). So I’m thinking and thinking and thinking of all the possible names and visual representation of my logo.

(Mind you, I am terrible at designing logos and my knowledge on Typography is next to zero.)

Initially, I was going to name my productions “Instrospect.” (Yeah, I know). The reasoning was my primary goal to develop games that have interesting storylines or at least do not have common subjects (such as simple otome games or RPG/action). My goal is to go beyond that and create/portray characters who are, well, introspective.

But I didn’t like that name. So I searched deeper!

So once again, I’m thinking and thinking about this and I’m thinking of something related to the word “introspection” but not the word itself. So then I had another clever idea!

Catharsis.

Thank goodness for this word! I was one step closer to finding a name for the production. In the wise words of the dictionary, this is what this amazing word means:

"The process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions."

I almost opted for using this name, but for some reason it didn’t quite feel…right. Catharsis Productions? Catharsis Visuals? It didn’t have a nice ring to it, so I kept researching a bit more on this word. It was then that I found the medical use of the word catharsis and discovered an interesting word I never heard of: Psychodrama.

Now, psychodrama is a therapy for reaching catharsis. The session involves a group of people who act/role-play/etc. a certain scene of their lives in order to gain further insight of themselves.  This requires seeing other people act as them in order to see themselves in a different perspective and grow from what they have learned. As I am reading this, I found it interesting that some visual novels can exhibit this same sensation.

So, ultimately, I opted for this name and this meaning. However, because I felt that Psychodrama was too literal and too formal, I added an “&” between Psycho and Drama.

Thus, this is the story of how “Psycho & Drama Visuals” was born in one bus ride.