Once Again From the Top of Hexagon
"Here we go again..." - Avalon
Overview
This week was a triumph, mostly because I finished the stage directions for all existing scenes of /Conspiracy/ Girls! Basically, I am at the half-way point (it's always the halfway point/ two weeks for you)! And I am committed to getting the art done for /Conspiracy/ Girls! So there really is no turning back, design-wise, so we have to play solid!
It's Not Over Yet
After finishing up the stage movements, I have a pretty good grasp on what is missing in the book. First of all, there are a lot more backgrounds that I am missing (have not concepted). The airship of "The Black Flight" is completely blank because it was a very late addition to the story, so I'll have to scramble to put something together.
Also, Annalie and certain characters have really flat/ unbecoming faces, so I have to fix that too.
To top it off, I tihnk that the fight scenes have to be redone, so I'll have to look into that. I am currently leaning towards YGO and how they do their fight scenes, so there's that.
Overall, getting the stage directions done was a major coup, going through the story once let me see the flaws in the current story and I kept asking questions about the Central Conspiracy. I do want the story to be partially shrouded in mystery and fog, but it has to make sense in a simple way; if even I, Author-kun needs to take notes on how the story progresses, then the story is probably indecipherable to the average reader.
Once More, From the Top
So! After doing the stage directions, it is time for refinements! In this run of the story, I'll add in the sound effects, BGM and various cut-ins for real. All the things that make the story stand out. Once again, I'm doing it from the top.
Honestly, it's pretty scary because I am probably my own worst editor, (that's why I have a real editor-san to help me out), so I keep second-guessing myself whenever I want to add a new story element, or when I think a story doesn't make sense I am tempted to scrap the entire thing. Change is good, one shouldn't get too attatched to a storyline if it doesn't work, but sometimes when you read through the story multiple times, you kind of know where the story is headed, so the impact doesn't leave you in giggling fits all the time now, but rather it's a very calm "Oh.".
I still feel pretty humored when I read through /Conspiracy/ Girls, but I don't bowl over in laughter anymore. Perhaps this is a subtle blessing because that would interfere with my work.
Art, Art, Art
I also realized that in order to meet my July schedule, some small miracle or outsourcing of art to multiple artists have to happen. With 14 sprites to be drawn, and a production time of two weeks (literally), it would take about 7 months to get everyone done. That's... unacceptable. So certain people (minor characters) will have to be outsourced for sure.
I also had a little bit of hesistation before I hit the red reboot button; I was a little afraid that the artstyle might not fit what I wanted to convey, a million other thoughts invaded my mind and banished my extra deck. Would I be able to convey to the artist what I want? Will the artist get what I want done...? What if they disappear halfway and I can't get all the characters done? Stuff like that. Also, I decided to have Oracion drawn first, so it was a little like handing over your waifu to someone else to take care of temporarily.
Maybe one day I'll learn to draw for myself, but that day is a long way away. I'm definitely more of a writefag than a drawfag, even though I have tried getting into it many times.
In the end I still decided to go with the original artists for this. At least, for now. Step by step, I'll get the art done. Plus, in the downtime between the art sketches and the final product, I have two weeks to get things done. So there is this extra incentive to make the VN as good as it can be so that it is worthy of the art that I am comissioning.
Last Scene
We are at the halfway point! Almost there...! It's all very mechanical stuff from here out, I WILL meet the July schedule, and I WILL be happy when that happens!
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