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  1. This list won't feature the VNs in order of "how good they are". Rating them would be way too much of a clusterfuck to me. The VNs are not in their respective order. Meaning number 1 is not the best, and so on. 1_CHAOS; HEAD 2_Cross Channel 3_G-Senjou no Maou 4_Fate/Stay Night 5_Forest This Visual Novel is the easiest visual novel translated to get a bad ending without using a walkthrough- which just adds to the fun of it. It makes a massive amount of references to common literature, which makes it even better. 6_Katahane It may seem like an ordinary moege- the atmosphere is light, the story is full of cuteness, which you can note by the character design and soundtrack. It gets really good in the middle, and you'll be dying to know what happens in the end. A game with multiple perspectives, it's definitely one of the most enjoyable Visual Novels I've ever read. 7 Majikoi 8_Little Busters! 9_Tsukihime "You shouldn't tell lies that you can't even fool yourself with" 10_Swan Song A post apocalyptic Visual Novel. 11_Symphonic Rain It may seem like your ordinary moege. Trust me, it's not. 12_Sharin no Kuni, Himawari no Shoujo (and sequel) 13_Sekien no Inganock Steampunk. An atmosphere full of mysteries and references that will make your head blow up. 14_Steins; Gate A visual novel that deals extensively with time travel and it's consequences. 15_Utawarerumono 16_Fault: Milestone (1 & 2) 17_Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni 18_Kara no Shoujo 19_Umineko no Naku Koro ni 20_Planetarian 21_Ever 17 Another top 10. 22_Remember11 It lacks in the ending, but otherwise the story of this VN has enough to easily become one of my all-time favorites. 23_Zanmataisei Demonbane 24_Rewrite "Could it possibly be rewritten, this fate of hers?" Another one that enters the top 10. 25_Narcissu 26_Grisaia no Kajitsu 27_Saya no Uta Only if you enjoy dark and messed up settings. 28_Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni 29_Eien no Aselia 30_Rose Guns Days (1 & 2) There are small sections of gameplay on this one, but you can skip them by pressing the space bar, so this still qualifies. 31_Sengoku Rance I feel obliged to comment on this VN before suggesting it to anyone. It's an Alicesoft title, which speaks a lot for itself... If you don't know how it's going to be like, well.. Kind of tough to describe. Lots of sex, including comedy rape. Alicesoft tends to make the whole story a comedy until right near the end, where things actually do get serious. It's worth checking out, if you don't mind Rance's personality. 32_Phenomeno Want a short VN that can captivate you for their whole duration? Here is it. Visual novel adapted from the youth horror novel written by Hajime Ninomae and illustrated by yoshitoshi ABe. 33_Ef- A Fairy Tale of the Two 34_Dysfunctional Systems Another one great for those who want short Visual Novels. 35_Daibanchou Another Alicesoft title. While Rouga is not near Rance's level when it comes to pissing off people, alicesoft's style is something which often doesn't please people. 36_Yume Miru Kusuri The endings pack quite a punch. 37_Kikokugai- The Cyber Slayer 38_Eden 39_Hoshizora no Memoria 40_Katawa Shoujo Yep, it's somewhat overrated. Still, the fact that it is substantially easier for those who are starting to play visual novels to read should not be discarded, and overall, the story was good. 41_World End Economica 42_YU-NO 43_Shikkoku no Sharnoth Yep, there is a minigame on this one. If you download a save data you can skip the minigame, though. So it still qualifies. Another VN that enters my top 10. 44_Muv Luv Alternative The first Muv Luv didn't have enough to enter this list. You should still read it, though~ MLA is definitely awesome. 45_Dangan Ronpa 46_Comyu - Kuroi Ryuu to Yasashii Oukoku 47_Hanachirasu 48_Ayakashibito 49_I/O 50_Deardrops
    80 points
  2. Rose

    "Here at Fuwanovel"

    I was bored. I did this. This was probably a terrible idea but LMFAO wHo cAREAS HAHA Xd. Yeah my mic is a potato, hope you enjoy it. (✿◠‿◠)
    47 points
  3. Aiyoku No Eustia (https://vndb.org/r24024) A fan transation project by Eustia Translations Partial Patch is out! https://mega.nz/#!no0DyQza!DZShSFgME_-iW6vaEdYy3oek-794a1yiuiW48U05dBQ Covers up to Eris' chapter (Chapter 2). Opening Movie: Description (modified VNDB description): Personal words: Translation Video Sample: Team: Project Lead/Translator/TLC: eplipswich @eplipswich Head Editor: Desertopa Head QC: Angeldeath Reserve/Former Members: Translator (Reserve): TakoRin @TakoRin Editor (Reserve): kumada Translator (Former): goodluckmyway/Be Water @goodluckmyway Editor/QC (Former): Vermillio @Vermillio QC (Former): Esham @Esham Progress: You can check out detailed real-time progress update at the following link: https://1drv.ms/x/s!AhHDq_NSwaAqgSnImaDDLTME-lmi?e=ai9dey ---------------------------------- You can follow me on Twitter: @eplipswich Job Opening(s): None at the moment, but feel free to PM me if you feel you can contribute to the project.
    35 points
  4. MAITETSU 18+ DEMOSAIC STEAM AND FAKKU PATCH Did you mistake the quote "100% DRM free and completely uncut with no scenes removed" as "TOTALLY UNCENSORED!"? Do you hate to see squares in beautiful art? Are you from the golden era (JAST USA, Peach Princess, G-Collections) and expected from an localized eroge to get an fully uncut, uncensored and without mosaics game? ... Then this patch is for you. You read it right, the patch does what it says. It removes the mosaic in hscenes from the beautiful artwork. Original MAITETSU 18+ Fakku edition -> you can buy it at the official page: https://www.fakku.net/games/maitetsu-english -> PLEASE SUPPORT english localization by buying the game ! OR BUY FROM STEAM Maitetsu 18+ Release Restoration Patch - FOR STEAM OR BANDAID removal PATCH + restoration patch - FOR FAKKU 1. [Q]: Is it legit? [A]: I can't believe it myself either. But YES! It is real and it does what it says. Try it before reporting or commenting. Thank you. 2. [Q]: Where are the hscenes? I can't find them in the game? [A]: There are no hscenes in the common route, except provoking pictures which the Maitetsu 18+ Release Restoration Patch restores and the actual hscenes won't trigger by default, but during a heroine route, a message will popup at bottom right side of the screen saying that you gain access to a hscene, then you have to manually open the hscene in the menu. It is a game design, not a bug or glitch, it is how LOSE company makes the games. Rarely you will gain access for hscenes during a route, most hscenes are unlocked AFTER finishing the game with that particular heroine. 3. [Q]: When does the DLC hscenes show up? [A]: After you complete the previous hscenes, the DLC hscenes will eventually show up. 4. [Q]: STEAM support? [A]: At the moment I don't own the STEAM version so I can't test it and I don't know if it works. If someone can help me I will make an steam support patch, but you would still need the FAKKU 18+ DLC patch. 5. [Q]: Can we see some screenshot/examples of patch? [A]: Because of the nature of the game as being an loli game I can't post pictures because of the policy of the forum. But if someone wants to see the results before buying the actual game I can send you 2 example pictures. Just send a PM and I will reply with those 2 example pictures. Examples of non-loli characters are in the gallery section. 6. [Q] : What was changed in the new Fakku edition? What's the difference between the OLD and NEW download? [A]: Jacob from fakku has a good description -> https://www.fakku.net/forums/games/maitetsu-fixes-and-updates .Everything written in the section "what has not changed" WAS already fixed already by heliosaurus by his patch and the same fix is present in the new "BANDAID removal PATCH + restoration patch" 7. [Q] Why is there a difference in size between Heliosaurus Restoration patch and "BANDAID removal PATCH + restoration patch" Both patches work perfectly fine and shouldn't have any problems. You can use Heliosaurus on the OLD and NEW version but the BANDAID patch is only for new FAKKU download ONLY. But... the original restoration patch includes fixes which are already fixed in the new version of FAKKU's edition and the BANDAID removal patch just removes this fixes from the PATCH to be less in size. The reason why you could still use the original restoration patch on the old and new version of fakku is that technically the patch is in original form a "patch.xp3" which contains mostly PICTURES! Yes, pictures. And it just replaces those pictures from the original data files which are located in "data.xp3" / "emotedx.xp3", and so on. The KiriKiri engine works like that. When FIRST run, it loads first files from, data.xp3, and all the main xp3, and then LOADS patch.xp3, patch2.xp3, patch3.xp3... and so on. That's why we don't need external programs to patch the original data files, and we can put everything in PATCH.XP3, or PATCH2.XP3, and so on. You can literally replace the whole game with a single PATCH.xp3 file. The restoration patch was made by using resource files from the JAPANESE version and replaces the resource files from the ENGLISH version. So the original restoration patch just OVERWRITES fixes-pictures present in the MAIN game from the NEWEST fakku edition download.... 8.[Q]: That isn't the game we were promised / it is disappointing / don't want to buy the game .... [A]: Well, it isn't a question, I just want to express my opinion... I understand that the release a disappointment, and like everyone, even I would wanted a TOTALLY uncut and uncensored version. I hate the CUTS in western releases, but that was going on for decades not just in VN's look in the old days of SNES games with JRPGS. And in east they get the same results with some western games... Thanks to that, we have two types of ppl - one who are complaining and the the other one who are making uncut/undub/uncensored version of games, from snes to psp/psvita and so on. What I mean is that you shouldn't lose energy in complaining on fakku and denpasoft/sekai, yes even sekai. I understand that sekai don't take releases seriously but at least we got the translated version, whish is a huge WORK. And be thankful, we got "OMG!" Maitetsu! I can't expect newcomers and the ones on fakku to stop complaining ( and I am not saying that you have to start editing, and join the community of moders, but you are always welcome to join ), but at least you at fuwanovel you have no more reasons to complain. At the end you got the complete 1:1 japanese uncut release with english text, and even a little more, with the demosaic patch ( which in the japanese edition they don't have ). .... please ask questions and I will put most common questions and answers here ... STATUS : COMPLETE ! ALL SCENES MOSAIC-FREE ! Hachiroku's Route Hibiki's Route Paulette's Route Reina's Route Fukami's Route Nagi's Route Kisaki's Route Makura's Route FOR STEAM USE: HELIOSAURUS PATCH for STEAM FOR FAKKU USE: HELIOSAURUS PATCH for FAKKU or down below the BANDAID removal patch 1. Just extract the file patch2.xp3 from the ZIP file in the main maitetsu folder! !! the patch2.xp3, should be in the same folder as the Restoration patch (patch.xp3) and the Maitetsu.exe file. !!! 07/23 - Released the patch with the 5th scene included, and fixes the bug in Hscene 2 07/24 - Released the patch with the included 6th scene 07/25 - Released the patch with the included 7th scene 07/26 - Released the patch with the 8th scene included 07/27 - Hachiroku's Route COMPLETED!!!! 07/28 - Released the patch with Hibiki's HSCENE 01 without mosaic! 07/29 - Released the patch with Hibiki's HSCENE 02 without mosaic! 07/30 - Released the patch with Hibiki's HSCENE 03 without mosaic! 07/31 - Released the patch with Hibiki's HSCENE 04 without mosaic! 08/02 - Released the addon patch with Hibiki's HSCENE 05 without mosaic, you still need the OLD "Maitetsu 18+ Demosaic Patch 7-31-2018" patch. In your folder you should have patch.xp3 (bandaid fix), patch2.xp3 (old 7-31 patch) and patch3.xp3 (this new addon patch) 08/03 - HIBIKI's ROUTE COMPLETED !!! 08/04 - Paulette's new hscene released! 08/05 - Paulette's new hscene released! (Hint: This is the new release which includes HSCENE 03. Skipped Hscene 02 because here isn't any mosaic! Hence the name v0.3 - which represent the hscene completed ) 08/06 - Paulette's new hscene released! 08/07 - Paulette's new hscene released! 08/08 - Paulette's new hscene released! 08/09 - Paulette's new hscene released! 08/10 - PAULETTE's ROUTE COMPLETED !!! 08/11 - Reina's new hscene released! 08/12 - Reina's new hscene released! 08/13 - Reina's new hscene released! 08/14 - REINA's ROUTE COMPLETED !!! 08/15 - Fukami's new hscene released! 08/16 - Fukami's new hscene released! 08/17 - Fukami's new hscene released! 08/18 - Fukami's new hscene released! 08/19 - FUKAMI's ROUTE COMPLETED !!! 08/20 - Nagi's new hscene released! 08/21 - Nagi's ROUTE COMPLETED !!! 08/22 - Kisaki's new hscene released! 08/23 - Kisaki's new hscene released! 08/24 - Kisaki's ROUTE COMPLETED !!! 08/25 - Makura's new hscene released! 08/26 - Makura's new hscene released! 08/27 - COMPLETE PATCH released! Mosaic removed from all scenes! 08/30 - COMPLETE STEAM PATCH released! Mosaic removed from all scenes in STEAM FINALLY!!!! Complete FAKKU Patch ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| COMPLETE PATCH Maitetsu 18+ Demosaic Patch - v0.9a.7z Installation guide: - if you have downloaded the partial update - patch3.xp3 just manually delete it ( you don't need it anymore because its already inside the complete patch! ) ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Complete STEAM Patch ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Maitetsu 18+ Demosaic Steam Patch - v0.9a.7z ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ThugShiro - mega big thanks to ThugShiro. He donated the Steam Version! BIG THANKS TO marcus-beta - with his tremendous help he found out the problem and fixed it, without him there wouldn't be a steam patch! Ulysses - big thanks to Ulysses, without his tools ( https://github.com/UlyssesWu/FreeMote/releases ) this wouldn't be possible. Tools used: PsbDecompile - for decompiling PSBs, PsBuild - for rebuilding back to PSBs FreeMoteViewer - to view rebuilded PSBs (after PsBuild) number201724 - of course, also big thanks to number201724 for the psbtools https://github.com/number201724/psbfile/releases Tools used: emote_conv - decode and encode psb file Heliosaurus - special thanks to the master of the Restoration patch and his helpful guiding SPECIAL extra patch: BANDAID removal PATCH + restoration patch integrated into a single patch ( patch.xp3 ) For the newest FAKKU edition and STEAM! 08/1 - Released the BANDAID removal PATCH + restoration patch integrated Restorationa Patch ( as PATCH.xp3 ) 09/20 - Released the BANDAID removal PATCH + restoration patch for STEAM ( as PATCH.xp3 ) Optional download ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| FAKKU edition Maitetsu 18+ Restoration & Bandaid Removal Patch.7z ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| STEAM edition Maitetsu 18+ Restoration & Bandaid Removal Steam Patch.7z ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ANY COMMENTS, MEANINGFUL CRITICS, GRATITUDE, ADVICE, SUGGESTION RELATED TO THE PATCH ARE HELPFUL. THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Want to support the project?
    33 points
  5. So this past week I was kind of bored and decided to dedicate a lot of my free time to this one level ROM hack I did about the Fuwanovel community. Basically I just hacked into one of my favorite video games (Fire Emblem 7 for the gba) and completely customized the text, events, characters, etc. It's just a parody of the VN community with a particular focus on Fuwanovel and with Tay as the main character. Here is the entire Intro and first chapter: Part 1:
    29 points
  6. Disclaimer : This guide is still very rough, I'll try to edit it and improve it gradually. Also keep in mind that I'm not pretending to be holding any universal truth, the advices that you will find below merely comes from my own experience. Hello everyone! So, I finally decided to create this guide about creating a Visual Novel, since I got a fairly decent amount of experience after managing this rather big group that is Fallen Snow Studios after nearly a year of trying to develop the Lucid9 VN. Hopefully it will serve to guide any person that would be interested to create a Visual Novel without knowing how to start!^^ Also, this guide is quite long... But surely, if you're motivated enough to create a Visual Novel, going through this wall of text will be a breeze for you, right? 0°) Introduction 0a°) Should I try to create my own VN? So, you just finished reading what just became your favorite KEY Visual Novel, or got your mind blown by G-senjou, or even Steins;Gate… You’ve also heard of Katawa Shoujo and how it was all started by a bunch of amateurs on 4chan… And a little part of you is whispering : “I want to create a story like that as well!” And it also happens that your resolution for this new year is to try to create a Visual Novel... While many of you might just decide to ignore this little voice, some brave people might be ready to take up the challenge. That’s when you start to wonder “But is it really worth my time?” I’m only talking from my own experience, but the answer is definitely “yes”. It sure takes a lot of free time away from you, but it’s an experience that is both rewarding, and interesting. You will probably make new friends in this big adventure that is the creation of the VN. Feel very proud of being able to overcome all the hurdles that were in the way. And probably very satisfied! Except, successfully manage to release a complete game is a privilege that is reserved to only a few. Only to the most determined, but more importantly, to the people the most organized. And I’m here to give you a guideline about how you should organize, and what steps you should follow to start properly your project. 0b°) Why Visual Novels? You don't need any heavy programming knowledge With only sprites, backgrounds, writing and music, you can create some of the most touching stories ever. You can technically manage to release a VN without any money. If enough effort is made and with the right people, the quality of a VN created by an amateur team can easily get close to professional quality level VN (see Katawa Shoujo) Visual Novels is a growing market in the west, and if you do things correctly, and with a bit of luck, you might be able to get money by selling your VN. It requires less work globally than your regular video game to create, and all the tasks can be handled by different people that have specific knowledge. You can do it as a side thing, while still having a job and other occupations in your life, granted you have enough people working on it and granted that you're organized enough. 1°) Deciding about the scope of your project So, you finally decided to cross the line, and to become a developer / creator. You’re full of hope and ambition, hyped like you’ve never been, and ready to even move mountains! That’s good, but let’s not rush things. You have 2 possibilities at this point : Decide about the scope of your project on your own, and submit those general guidelines you’ll have created to the people you’re going to recruit (meaning that they will have to accept those choices you made before joining). Recruit people first, and decide about the scope of the project together with all those people, probably by voting. I personally strongly advice to go with the first option, the second might make you find people more easily for your project, but it is more likely to create disagreements, and sometimes, it’s better to not use democracy. I will also try to touch a word about paid project and kickstarters, but since I’m less experienced in that, what I will say regarding them might be incomplete. 1a°) Short, Medium, or big project? It’s one of the first aspect you want to decide before any recruitment or creating any content. It will basically decide how much involvement will be required by every member to complete the project. Keep in mind that the longest you want your VN to be, the more you will have to work on it, and that not everyone can work during 2 years or more on their free time until completion of your project. If you plan to create a short VN (2-3 hours for example), expect several months of work on it. If you plan to create a medium length VN (10-15 hours), expect at least a year working on it. If you plan to create a rather lengthy VN (20+hours), expect to work on it for several years, 1.5 or 2 years if you’re lucky, more if you’re not. It’s something important to decide before anything else, and you will have to make the people you recruit aware of that, to make sure that they will and that they can involve until the end. 1b°) Status of your VN Some people will want to write a Visual Novel only by sheer passion, and will just want to be able to share it with the world and spread Visual Novel love (most of the time by releasing a VN for free). That’s perfectly fine. But some people might want as well to try to get some money out of it by selling their creation. that’s perfectly fine as well. Added to that, you have the possibility to try to get crowdfunded or not by a kickstarter. If you do decide to go with a kickstarter, you might want to check section 1c°) before this one. Let me try to summarize the different advantages or issues for each possibility. i°) “I want to release this for free, without kickstarter.” Example : Katawa Shoujo That basically means that you will work by sheer passion, and that no one will get paid or get commission with your work. Keep in mind that the most skilled artist and composers are generally only willing to work with commission, however, it’s still possible to find hidden gems willing to work by pure interest for your project and for free, if your project is interesting enough that is! You will have to look for people as passionate as you, and ready to involve a good chunk of their free time for something that won’t bring them any money. It’s not necessary hard to find, except it might take more time for you to find such people for your team, and most of all, if passion ever runs out, there will be nothing to convince them to stay in the team. However, imo, it’s with this type of project that you are the most likely to meet very interesting new people with the same passion as you, and possibly the same goals, ambitions and mindset, and in the end, they will probably become your friends as time goes on. ii°) “I want to release this game for free, with a kickstarter” Example : Sunrider You already have a few example of Visual Novels released with this system, it’s not a bad idea and can be very beneficial for your project, but only if you manage to handle the kickstarter correctly. It needs a rather huge amount of planning and organization, you need to know how much budget you’ll need, and create a kickstarter page attractive enough so you can get enough funding. Best way to go is generally to recruit the members of your team first, ask for their prices, and calculate a budget from that, and while you’re recruiting your members, ask them to work for free to create enough assets for the kickstarter page. There are several articles on the internet about how to create successful Kickstarter campaigns, so take a look at them, also, my best advice is to go look at successful VN kickstarters and try to see how they did things. On the bright side, having money allows you to aim for a higher quality when it comes to asset as you’ll be able to pay to get more skilled people. iii°) “I want to release a commercial game” Example : pretty much every VN on Steam currently. You have two choices at this point : With kickstarter : it’s basically the same as previously, except the people working for your game might ask you to get a set percentage of the benefits from the sales of the game. This might require further organization and further arrangement / agreements to make, but it’s essentially beneficial if you want to get money for yourself through the creation of your VN, or if you want to create funds for a future game you’ll create (that would mean for your team to become an indie game studios). Without kickstarter : If you have prior funding from the sales of a previous game or personal funding to create this game and that you’re willing to pay people from your own pocket, then, this is probably the easiest way for you to interest people when going for recruitment, as they are sure they will receive money (while in the other case, the kickstarter might fail). If you don’t have funding and that you’re only betting on the sales of your game, you’re basically nearly in the same situation as if you were releasing it for free without paying anyone, some people might not want to wait so much before getting paid, especially since how much they’ll get is completely dependant on how much the game sells (and if the game reaches completion in the first place^^) 1c°) Type of story? i°) Genre So, it is now about time to decide about what kind of story you want to make. that’s where you decide about the genre of your game : Sci-fi, Slice of life, School life, Mystery, Romance, Drama, Comedy, Fantasy, Historical... Bishoujo, Otome, Yaoi, Yuri Charage, Moege, Nakige... H or non-H Kinetic, Choices, Routes, True route, True heroine…? Will it have gameplay elements? Will it be a rpg? Point and click elements? What plot outline do I want? How many heroines? How many routes? It is definitely something you’ll have to put a lof thoughts on, and it will take time for you to decide, but knowing where you want to go is something essential if you don’t want to get lost later on. I will also add this very interesting thread from Clephas here : https://forums.fuwanovel.net/index.php?/topic/7930-thoughts-on-vns/ I’d advise you to read it, as it is very interesting and might give you original ideas for the creation of your Visual Novel. ii°) Prioritize plot or characters? A very interesting question that doesn’t have an absolute answer, since it basically depends on what type of VN you want to create. If your aim is to create a Charage, or a Moege, then it might be better to think about creating your character first, elaborate backgrounds and such, and fit them in a story that works with what you created. But if ever you want to create a plot heavy story, then it might be better to try to create the setting you want to work in first, decide what twist you want to include as your main mind-blowing plot twist, create characters as plot devices first, and after only elaborate on them and create a background and a personality that is convenient for you. 2°) Recruitment and roles I’ll start by talking about recruitment. Depending on how you decide to organize, you might have decided to go with recruitment first, and recruitment is definitely one of the essential part that will determine whether your project will be successful or not. It’s not only finding the people with the right skill, it’s also finding the people with the motivation and the passion! Be warned though, recruitment is a very tedious thing, as the only way to know if someone is really a good fit for the project is trial and error. There will probably be a lot of people you will recruit, and that will either go MIA because of various reasons, or that you will be forced to kick out of the team because they have a bad influence, or because they are not productive… Sometimes, even during the middle of the project, you will have to replace someone and go through the recruitment phase again. It cannot be helped, and you have to be ready for it. The second thing I’ll explain in this section are the different roles, where you can recruit them, what is expected of them and how they should work. 2a°) Define a clear hierarchy Once again, sorry for democracy’s fans, but the best way to get things rolling in a team is to get a clear hierarchy. That means you need a leader. Or at least a core group that will take the final decisions. Careful, I didn’t say that you need to organize like some sort of dictatorship, and have the leader force his decisions upon others all the time. Hell no, that would condemn your project. The best organization is to have the members plan and discuss together, while the final decisions is taken by the leader(s) in case there is a disagreement. It’s easier said than done though, a leader needs to be respected by his members in order to make sure no argument happen and that everyone follows his final decision. Ideally, a leader should be : Responsible Worthy of trust Respectful when talking to the other members Willing to discuss and compromise Organized Good at dialoguing, good speaker Also, the leader is one of the few members that has the duty to know everything about his project, whether it is art, writing, music, programming… He has to know what progress has been done in all the different areas, he is also the one that tries to solve the problems some members might have regarding the project. And ideally, he is also responsible for recruitment. And also firing people. I know, it's a tough job. It is also better if the leader is someone versatile that can understand as much as possible about everything that might be technical about the VN. For example, it's better if he knows at least how sprite drawing process works. It's also better if he knows or can understand how programming works. this way, he can gauge what time it will take to create X feature / Y asset, and can tell the people who asked him (most of the time the writers) if it's doable or not. Note that someone can without any problem accumulate the duty of leader + another role (writer, programmer, artist…). However, I’d strongly recommend against that for bigger projects, as the more people you have to manage in the team, the more work the leader will have. Note also that the leader role can actually be a leader “team”, in which case you can have 2 or 3 people discussing between each other to take the final decisions and guide the ship. It has advantages and defaults, for example, being 2 to decide might bring disagreements, but at the same time you’ll have someone to point out your flaws when you’re doing something wrong. It is strongly advised to team up with people that share the same mindset as you if that’s ever the case. 2b°) About recruitment in general i°) Stay humble and stay honest If I have only one thing to say about this, it would be stay humble, and stay honest. Whenever you try to recruit someone, either on a thread or either on a private message, it’s important to convey those two things. Do not try to promise stuff you’re not sure of to the person you’re talking to (Like, don’t tell him that your game will sell by million copies and that he’ll get rich, or famous). Don’t hide things in your message, try to explain what you want to achieve, what you need, and what you expect from this person. And most of all, be respectful. Try to show what potential your game / ideas have to that person (because at this point, you’ll have probably only ideas and concepts in store). Also be ready to get numerous refusals. Sometimes, the person won’t even answer your message, or no one will reply to your thread. Don’t get discouraged, and keep trying to find people. ii°) Don’t accept anyone Finally, even if you’re the one that contacts the person in the first place, don’t accept everyone that will show interest in your project! I know that it’s very tempting, especially at the beginning when you get started with recruitment, but you need to make sure that this person will be a good fit for the team and that he will fill your expectations. Make sure to have them take test to gauge their skills, and don’t be afraid to refuse the people that you judge not skilled enough. I know that it’s sometimes hard to reject someone’s good will just because of his lack of skill, but it can’t be helped, and accepting such a person might be a disservice for you in the long term. iii°) Be professional It might seem a bit controversial for some people, as professional messages might sometimes seem too "business like" (well, if your VN is a commercial one, it's probably better this way), but sending something that looks professional is definitely a must. It will show the people you are recruiting that you are someone serious, able to organize his posts (and as a result someone who has a sense of organization) : "This guy seems serious. He might be able to succeed!". Also, one important rule is to never neglect the first impression you give when first contacting someone. You most of the time only have one chance : the first message. So you might as well want to take all the precautions to be successful in your recruitment. What do you think is the difference between : "hey, you're really good, I like what you're doing, are you interested in creating a VN with me?" "Hello, I've just seen your message and noticed that you were interested in creating a Visual Novel! I've read what you did, and I think your writing is very clever and agreeable to read, it would be a perfect fit for the VN I'm trying to create with my team. *Add explanations about your project*. Would you be interested in joining? I'm pretty sure someone with your skills would be a great addition to our team, and definitely improve the quality of our VN!" iv°) Where can I find people to recruit? Start a thread on the “Fan Project & Translation Discussion” board. Try to have an explicit topic name and try to give a good description of what’s your goal and what VN you’re trying to create. List the roles you need. Go on http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewforum.php?f=58&sid=3e3d4e1c6075671bec1bf2250f6dd19c and either post a thread, or PM the people that are proposing their services. More generally, Lemmasoft is a very nice place when it comes to OELVN creation, and there is a lot of people willing to give their time in order to create Visual Novels over there, so don’t hesitate to bookmark this site. Keep in mind that some people won’t accept to be recruited if there is not enough apparent progress made on your game. That’s how it is, and sometimes, it’s better to have a script prepared in advance so that the people producing assets are sure they won’t waste their time creating stuff for something that will never come to completion. 2c°) Writers i°) One or several writers? One of the first question you want to ask yourself about writing is : “Do I want only one writer to take care of all the writing, or do I want several writers?” Each has pros and cons. One writer : Writing is more consistent overall No difference in writing styles Only one person to create the plot, which makes it easier to create a coherent and non conflicting plot line. No arguments or debates about how the story should progress. Several writers : The writing gets done much faster than with one writer (you generally use one writer per route) Each route feels more “personal” when it comes to the writing. Easier to brainstorm ideas with other people. More diversity in the characters personalities, ideas related to the story… ii°) What should I expect from writers? The writer is basically the cement of your project. It’s the most vital piece. None of the other area can progress if the writing doesn’t. As a result, your writer(s) will have to be someone trustworthy, passionate, and hard working. It will have someone that can get in touch with the other members to give directions as well (What should this character look like, what music should play during this scene…). Also, someone pretty much organized as the writer will have to plan ahead a lot before starting to write. (You’ll notice that it is pretty much similar to the position of leader, hence why writers, often make good leaders). When I say planning, I’m not necessarily talking about the story. For example, a good writer must plan his story according to the limited number of locations because of the limited number of backgrounds he has at his disposal. In a lesser way, same goes for the sprites. He also has to consider the music that is played during the scene to a lesser extent. You need to recruit writers in priority, since no art or music should be created before the story is settled and the characters cast decided. Even with that, it’s better to have them work on a script right away. The writing should always be the part that shows the most progress, it always has to be ahead of art creation or music creation (ofc, since art and music assets should be based on writing). If you’re working with several writers, it might be good (but not mandatory) to have someone be the “lead writer”, generally the writer that will write the most of your VN, and will be used as a reference for the writing style. Also, you need to have the writers constantly share their ideas and progress with each other, in order to keep the story consistent. It’s not a good idea to have some of the writers work while being isolated from the others. iii°) Where can I recruit writers? Lemmasoft is your best bet, except a lot of the writers here are female. It isn’t a bad thing or anything, but guys and girls most of the time have a different view on how to create a story and characters. You can always try Fuwanovel, even though I have no idea if there are people experienced in writing out there (it would be great if we could have a list somewhere). https://www.fanfiction.net/ is another possibility, however the people you will find in here might be less interested in anime culture, and might not know what a Visual Novel is. Final tip, when recruiting a writer, don’t hesitate to ask both for a sample of their past work (recent if possible), and to give them a writing test. Visual Novel has “novel” in it name, so you’ll have to make sure the writing is of sufficient quality. 2d°) Artists i°) Should the artists get involved with the story making? It’s a very legitimate question to ask, and I don’t really have a definite answer to that. The only thing I can say is that it’s up to the artist to decide whether they want to involve themselves with the story creation process or not, and that you should not force them to do so. Artists behaviors can vary greatly, some of them will just provide you the art asset you need without any question, nor without knowing for which purpose it will be used, some might take a little interest in it, but won’t ask because they want to keep the surprise for themselves (read : they don’t want to be spoiled), and some might just involve themselves heavily with the content of the plot while they create the art. Even though the third type is the type that is likely to be the more passionate about your project, be respectful and don’t force an artist to involve more into the project than what they wish to. One thing that is sure, is that artists won’t be able to get anything done without a character cast being set. I strongly recommand to have part of the script ready when creating the first sprites, so you know in advance which sprite expressions you’ll use. Also, some artist might ask to either provide written a description and details, or a visual reference before creating a character. It’s the role of the writer to provide him with those. It’s also always a good idea to give some freedom to your artists while they are drawing. Finally, the most important piece of advice I can give here is : Know what you want. Whenever you make a request to your artist, you need to have a precise idea of what you want as a result. Approximate directions will give an approximate result that might not please you, and the artist will have to start again the drawing which can be very frustrating for him. That’s also why most artist won’t accept to have free reign over the design of a character : they don’t want to have to redraw until it pleases the writer. Also, it’s always a good idea to ask the artist to share his work during the intermediate steps : don’t wait for when the sprite is done coloring to say that you want the pose to be changed, it’s something that has to be done during sketching phase. i°) Sprite/CG artist For this, you might need one or several artists, depending on how you want to organize. It’s important to know at least the basics of how a sprite or a CG is drawn : First, the artist starts with a sketch, that is often a concept based on the description they received. Once the description is done, they lineart the sketch to create smooth lines that they’ll be able to color after that. After that comes coloring with basic colors the linearted sprite : Once all of that, the artist proceeds with shading the sprite (= adding shades and shadows to the coloring) : After all of that comes all the expressions, ofc. Don't forget also that each new pose for a character is basically redrawing a completely new sprite and might take time. Also, several sets of clothes are also additional work to your artist(s), even though more easier to do if the artist is working with a lot of layers. Based on that, there are two possibilities : One artist draws everything. You divide the different steps among several artists (one for concept art, one for linearting, one for coloring + shading). Take care though, some artists might have preferences about what role they have, and some might just prefer handling the sprites/CG creation from the beginning to the end. I strongly recommend to not split the art between your artists by characters (for example, X characters for artist A, and Y characters for artist B ) unless you are sure the two artists will be able to match each other’s style. ii°) Backgrounds artist This one is tough. There are very few BG artists, and it’s especially true if you’re looking for someone willing to work for free. Expect to spend countless hours skimming through forums and deviantart looking for the hidden gem. Fortunately, that’s not the only option you have : You can try to recruit someone willing to learn how to draw BGs. It will definitely take more time though. There are a bunch of tutorials you can find on the net about that. You can try to get your BGs done through 3D modeling software, such as Blender 3d, Google sketchup, and add effect on photoshop over them to get an anime BG feel. (See the videos and tutorial of Uncle Mugen) You can try to use normal pictures and use a paint over technique in order to make them look like anime backgrounds as well (using this kind of tutorials : http://lemur3s.deviantart.com/art/Anime-Visual-Novel-Backgrounds-from-photos-371395755) Finally, if worst comes to worst, you can use regular pictures and apply to them effect and filters in your favorite image editing software. This time, I strongly recommend to plan your writing in a way that you don’t end up having to produce a tremendous amount of backgrounds for your VN. iii°) GUI artist Not much to say about this one, you will need someone able to create game user interface graphics, meaning a petty menu, nice looking logo, buttons, etc… Sometimes the people that know how to create GUI have also programming knowledge. Take care though, artists that can draw game interfaces, and artists that can draw anime style characters are generally two different type of artists. Sometimes, you'll luckily find an artist able to do both. But don't expect it to be the case most of the time. iv°) Where can I find artists? Lemmasoft is a good bet, and it’s where the artists are the most available. However, the quality of the drawings might not be good enough depending on what you’re looking for. Also the best artists often seek commissions here. As usual, you can always try your luck on Fuwanovel, I know that there are at least some artists lurking in the shadows in here. http://www.deviantart.com/ is also a very good idea, since it’s where you’re the most likely to find hidden gems (= skilled, available and interested). If you’re seeking someone willing to work for free, try to look for the artists with less exposure and less watchers, as it will be less likely that they will be busy with projects. 2e°) Composers i°) Recruit real composers! Music people. What makes Visual Novels so great : being able to listen to emotional music while you read. Not much to say here, except one thing : don’t believe that people playing individual instruments can replace a composer. Having a pianist + a guitarist + a drummer in your team doesn’t mean you can create a soundtrack. First, everyone doesn’t have (good enough) recording equipment. Second, it takes an awful amount of time to create an OST this way, and it might just end up with a “meh” quality. It’s just much easier to have someone that has a synthesizer and that can use music softwares such as FLStudio or GarageBand, and that owns VST effects to simulate instruments. You can have several composers working on your soundtrack if you feel you will need a lot of tracks, but you’ll have to make sure that the VST used by each composers are somewhat similar. ii°) Where can I find composers? Lemmasoft, once again has a good amount of composers willing to work on projects and even for free. Once again, you can try your luck on Fuwanovel, who knows?^^ https://soundcloud.com/ is the place where most composers gather. You might be able to find someone interested in working on your project if you pm composers here. Composers might ask for different types of stimulation to get inspiration. Some need artwork, others need writing, and some just need a musical reference. It’s a good idea to know what does your composer need for inspiration, and plan in consequence. 2f°) Programmers i°) Should I use ren’py, use a custom engine, or…? It mostly depends of what type of VN you want to create, and how much time you have. If you already have skilled programmers ready to participate in the creation of your VN, and if you want your VN to have original gameplay elements, it might be interesting to try to create an engine from scratch. (It’s probably better to pay the programmer for that, since it’s quite a big amount of work) Else, if you’re going for something more simple, it’s better to use ren’py. It uses Python as a language, except the engine has it own specificities. It is very capable, and create very nice things (Katawa Shoujo was made on ren’py, same goes for Sunrider), and allows both the creation of standard VN, or gameplay oriented VN. If you’re aiming for a VN without gameplay elements rpg like, there is another alternative we are using for the project I’m working on, an engine in development that doesn’t require any programming knowledge and that is user friendly, called Cloudnovel (formerly Joilly). It’s very intuitive to use, and allows you to create your VN much faster since you don’t have to write any line of codes (it basically works in the same way as a video editor). The only thing being that it’s still in development, so there are some features and functionalities missing. (If you’re ever interested in using Cloudnovel, feel free to pm me) ii°) Where can I find programmers? Lemmasoft is a forum created for all the VN that were created with Ren’py, so you’ll most likely find a good number of programmers ready to help over there. Learning to use ren’py yourself is possible if you have the motivation and at least some very basic knowledge in programming 2g°) Editors, proofreaders, beta-testers i°) Editors Not very high on the priority list, but essential if you want to save time, editors will be the people who will take a look at the writer’s drafts once it’s written and to suggest corrections and improvements to the flow of the writing (whether it is narration or dialogue). They also try to fix any plot hole they might find that the writer isn’t conscious of. That might require the editor to have a bit of knowledge concerning the plot and the characters though. If needed, the writer himself can serve as a editor as he goes back on his past work and edit it. To a lesser extent, they will be responsible for correcting grammar, syntax and vocabulary issues. Good level in english required. ii°) Proofreaders They will mostly correct typos and orthography / grammar problems that might have slipped past through the eyes of the editor. A good level in english is preferable as well. iii°) Testers Those are required only when the game is out, or at least when a demo is ready. their role is to test the game in every way possible in order to find some potential bugs / typos / issue and report them to the rest of the team. iv°) Where can I find them? You can find plenty of editors / proofreaders / testers on Lemmasoft, and on Fuwanovel. Don’t put too much emphasis on looking for proofreaders and testers though, since it can wait until the later phases of your project. With all of that, your team is now (hopefully) complete! Now in the next section, I’ll try to present some little tools and software that will make communication among the members of the team go smoothly. 3°) Useful things to improve communication among the team members Now that we have all of our members, we have to make sure that they keep interacting between each other. Remember that creating a VN is a collaborative effort and the last thing you want is to have everyone working on his own, without any exchange or discussion. This section will be pretty short, but very practical. 3a°) Skype Make sure that all of the members have a Skype account. If that’s not the case for some of the members, ask them to download and install it. Create a general chat with all the members invited in it, and make sure to tell the members to use the skype command /alertson [keyword] in order to receive a notification only when “[keyword]” is written (where keyword is replaced by the word you want ofc, it’s a good idea to use his own pseudo here). Try to encourage your members to discuss and participate on the skype discussions on a regular basis (if possible, a daily basis). Ofc, don’t expect the discussion to be 100% of the time productive, the Skype discussions are also meant to be chattery and to have people get to know each other. You can also create separate conversations for serious talk and chatter. It’s also actually possible to create moderated chats on skype, just check : https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA10042/what-are-chat-commands-and-roles Also, I recommend to give priority to written chats over voice chats, especially at the beginning, since most people might be uncomfortable with talking with strangers. When you get to know other people well, voice chat has some advantages though, mostly it is faster to share information through voice than writing. 3b°) Trello This one is an awesome tool. It’s called Trello : https://trello.com/ It allows you to create boards where you can create different cards under different sections. Those cards contain a title, a description, and can contain various attachment such as audio file, youtube video, picture that you can upload on the card, and that everyone who has access to it can download. People can also comment about the content of the cards. You can also add checklists to the cards, to know what you need to do and complete it the more you progress. You just need to have all the members of your team to register on the site, to create an organization and add everyone in it. Purposes of trello : Very useful to have recaps and explanations, and it’s a good way to have information accessible to every member of the project at any time. Can allow you to organize all the information concerning the story in a condensed way (our story board for our own project looks like a wiki). An easy way to store and organize assets, whether it is for art or music. A great way to comment other’s people work, and to make one’s opinion visible on the card. A great way to have asynchronous talk if people cannot be free during the same time frames. It will be the primary support for conversation between members working on different aspects of the game (writers can comment about the art, the music…) I cannot stress enough how useful trello is. It might be just the tool that make it that people will want to work for your VN or not. 3c°) Google drive. Google drive is mostly useful for writing. It allows you to share the content of the writing with the other members, in a way where they’ll be able to comment or edit in real time the documents. Extremely useful, especially for editors. It’s also a good way to be able to monitor writing’s progress. 3d°) Have your own development forums I’d recommend that mostly if a lot of people on the team are allergic to Skype and Trello. Basically, most of your exchange will be done on some sort of “private” forums divided in sections where the members will create threads and post in those threads. It has some advantages, mostly : It’s the best for asynchronous talk (especially useful if people live in different timezones) It always keep a written trace of what has been said / made You can add attachments to your posts It is however much slower and reactive than the other options mentioned above (I personally prefer trello over this. 4°) How to be efficient as a team Now that you’re all set, I’ll just give some tips gathered from my personal experience in order to get a better efficiency from your team. 4a°) Importance of communication It feels kinda obvious when I say it, but it’s strongly underrated, communication among the members of the team is the key to success. It is generally the responsibility of the project leader to ensure that everyone on the team communicates. The leader has to coordinate the whole progress of the project, and make sure he’s available to discuss with any member about a problem he/she might have encountered, and if necessary, be the relay / intermediate between the different members of the group. (For example, if an artist encounter a problem with drawing a sprite, the said artist talks about it to the project leader, who will himself question the writer concerned, and if needed will ask the writer to directly talk with the artist. Also, as it’s the project leader role to make sure everyone is okay with what they are doing, and to make sure that no one feels too shy or scared to share their concerns about any topic. He has also to make sure that everyone tells him when someone has to leave for a determined or undetermined period of time. It’s also his duty to make sure that everyone is aware of the latest news concerning the project, whether it is meetings, deadlines, goals, etc... One other issue that you might encounter, is people that are not reactive on Skype, and only send a message every 2 weeks before going back MIA. Generally, it’s not a good sign concerning the involvement of the person on the project, but if ever that’s the case, try to send a nice but firm message explaining how you’d wish that this person would involve more on the project. If no effort is made, it’s your choice to whether kick out this person out of the team, or to keep him. Just remember that having someone slack off on his duties (communicating regularly being one of those duties) can be harmful for the whole team if this person has an important role. Sometimes, it will be necessary for you to set up meetings through Skype in order to share info to several people, or to have them communicate with each others. It’s an important thing to do and is a good way to create teamwork spirit in your team. 4b°) Plan ahead! Be a master of planification , create checklists, try to think of every hurdle in advance, and try to take preemptive measures to counter those possible future problems. As a general rule of thumb, try to avoid putting all your eggs in the same basket, especially if there’s a lot of work to do. Time isn’t your ally, and the more time goes by, the more it is possible that something might happen to one of your member IRL. So try to have several people work on one same thing, so that one can replace the other if ever something happens, and so that progress doesn’t stall. Everyone is not easily replaceable though, so sometimes you might not have a choice. Don’t wait the last moment when you have something to ask to someone. Always try to do things the earliest as possible, but at the same time, don’t ever plan something you’re not sure to use (never ask a composer to make a track you’re not 100% sure you will use for example). Try to always have a plan B and a plan C for every issue that you might foresee in the future. You might prepare yourself for nothing sometimes, but the more you’ll be ready when an issue appears, the more smoothly you’ll be able to deal with it, and the less it will stall your project. Another important thing : get to know who you’re working with. Every member of your team is a human being with different sensibilities, different way of working, different organization, and different work speed. Try to gauge what you can reasonably expect from that person, and plan in consequence. If a composer believes he needs at least two weeks to create a decent soundtrack, don’t expect to have more than 2 tracks per month, and plan in consequence. 4c°) Deadlines Some people find it bothersome, others like them. I have only one thing to say : Set deadlines for your project. They are your bread and butter, what will make that your team will work to reach your common goal. Without a deadline, one's mind will waver, and might succumb to procrastination (your worst enemy). A deadline is meant to positively “pressure” someone to make him do the work, it is meant to be like a reference or a checkpoint for the person working. “Am I late compared to the deadline? Will I make it in time?” A good set deadline is meant to pressure enough the members of your team so that they can have motivation to accomplish their jobs, and at the same time should never feel too overwhelming (which would have the opposite effect). Also, a good deadline is set never too far in the future, but never too close at the same time. If your goal is to release a demo, don’t put the deadline 2 weeks after the current date. Give it at least a month or two. It’s however always a good idea to have an estimated time of release for your full VN, as it gives a good idea of what intermediate deadlines you need to set to reach this goal. For example, if I want my game to be released on Spring 2016, it might be a good idea to consider a release of a demo as an intermediate deadline in Summer 2015. You might also want to micromanage your team, and set individual deadlines for each precise task. It’s definitely doable, but is a lot more work as a project manager. However, it is definitely a good way to make sure work is done at a regular pace. You might even want to set deadline for people even if there is no practical goal for that, and it’s totally okay to set deadlines just for the sake of seeing progress being made. A final word on this topic : sometimes, some people might not be able to respect the date of the deadline. It will definitely happen, and that’s something you should expect to happen. That’s why you should always try to give yourself a margin when setting a deadline. If you want something to be released by June, set the deadline in May. And don’t be harsh on the people that are late, especially if you see that they are hard-working. If the deadline was not respected because of pure laziness from the member, or because of a lack of communication (aka : you only receive a message from this person once every month), that’s another story. 4d°) Have fun! Sometimes, trying to have too much productivity kills productivity. Forcing people to work on something might result in a lack of quality, because your members will be working on something without motivation. It’s just better sometimes to take breaks, or to laugh and joke together. Heck why not even play online games (that’s what we’ve been doing recently)? It’s always better to not force the chat to be serious 100% of the time, try to be a bit lax from time to time. Take some time to have people get to know each other. To create friendship. Don’t underestimate the contribution of bonding to your team’s moral. You’ll be always more motivated to work for friends, than working for “clients” or “strangers”. Also, seeing the people you enjoy being with motivated and giving their best to accomplish your goal is a huge motivating factor. Finally, at some point, it might happen that someone don’t feel like working on the project because he doesn’t find the motivation. Maybe that person will feel that currently, workin gon the project is a burden. It’s something that can happen to anyone and that is perfectly natural. The best I can advice in those cases, is to take a break from the project, a short one, and do something else instead. Play a Visual Novel. Go back playing to the new extension of your favorite MMO. Go spend some time with real life friends. And (hopefully) come back with your spirit renewed and with full motivation! 5°) Create some awareness for your project Well, everything is all good and all set, but let’s not forget our primary goal. You obviously want to create a Visual Novel, but you also want it to get recognition, to be read by people all over the world, and possibly to be sold. So basically, you need to do PR job. Don’t believe that PR and marketing are things should be addressed only once the game is created. It is something that should progress at the same pace as the development of your VN. Here are basic things to do to ensure a solid foundation for the marketing and PR of your future VN. But, what is awareness? It's very simple : it's having people know that your VN exists. Your goal is basically to create a system like this : - At the top, a source : basically you and your team : you are yourself the main advertiser of your own project, and most of the content you release has one goal : create some sort of "fanbase" (see next point) - In the middle, a "fanbase" : people very interested in your project that will do their best to support you and share the word because your project is awesome. Most of the time, it will be them who will retweet your messages, share your facebook posts, create forum threads about your project, create let's play and reviews... They are your most valuable help in advertising your VN, so don't neglect them! - At the bottom, normal fellows : they will be the people that will skim through your website and different pages briefly, without necessarily taking a lot of attention, or without being very interested. It's fine that way, the only thing you want is to make sure thosse people know about the existence of your VN, and that the title will stay in their head. This way, the day when your VN will launch, it is most likely that this person that, at the time, saw your project developing, will say "I think I've heard / I know about this game... Might as well give it a try." Keep in mind that those should be done only once you actually have content to show or tease about, and if you’re sure that your project is going in the right direction, or at least somewhere. Also, don't expect your different advertisement pages to be swarmed with messages and followers as soon as you create them. It's only the beginning, be patient, and have low expectations. Don't try to create the buzz by all cost if nothing tangible has been created yet. Don’t put the cart before the horse 5a) Create forum threads i°) Where do I create forum threads? Fuwanovel : https://forums.fuwanovel.net/index.php?/forum/87-ongoing-projects/ The ongoing project section is where you want to create your thread. Make sure to create an intro post organized with sections, pictures, screenshots, a synopsis about the story, information about the characters, what you’re planning to do and what is the current progress. You can also list any role open for recruitment in this post. Here are some good examples : https://forums.fuwanovel.net/index.php?/topic/2957-violeta-hill-community-based-visual-novel-project-demo-released/ https://forums.fuwanovel.net/index.php?/topic/4543-demo-available-lucid9-project-a-mystery-vn/ Lemmasoft : http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewforum.php?f=43 Same as previously, make sure to take care of the look of your thread. ii°) Tips and advices : Be respectful with all the people that will take the time to read what you wrote on your thread, and take some time to comment it. Some people will support you and encourage you, don’t forget to thank them. Some people might come and try to give their opinion about your project : Sometimes it will be interesting and constructive criticism, and if that’s the case, you should try to open the dialog with that person, and thank him for sharing his opinion. Sometimes, it will merely be someone voicing that the game is not to his liking. Everyone has different things they like and dislike, and I can’t help but share a wise quote about that : “You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”. Assume the choice that you made, and ignore the complains that you might receive. Take care though, if several people complains about the same thing, it has to ring a bell for you and it might be a good idea to question yourself if your decision is a good idea or not. Sometimes, you might meet trolls, or haters. It’s unfortunate, but it happens. Just ignore those people. Or tell them that you read their messages and that you will take what they said into account. In any case, always stay polite, and never start a flame war on your own thread. It would send a very bad image of your project, whoever might be the responsible for starting it. Don’t spam your own thread. When I say spam, it means don’t write post several messages next to each other without a reply from someone else in between (unless you have some juicy news to share, ofc). Don’t post a message only for the purpose of bumping your thread. It is not very well seen in forum communities in general. if you bump your thread, always have a valid reason to do so (relevant information, replying to someone’s question…) 5b°) Get yourself a blog / website It will basically become your public window display for your VN. Make it attracting visually, try to have a visual theme that fits your VN. Also, try to make it so that the name is easy to google. You don’t exactly need a website to start with, a dev’ blog is probably enough to start with. (An example here : http://katawashoujo.blogspot.fr/) What will you be talking about in this blog? The progress being made so far by the team, teasers about features to come, publish assets in exclusivity… If you try to get yourself something more looking like a website, it’s different. You should organize and create section, like what you did in your forum thread. Also, make sure that people can find what is the VN about. An example here : http://lucid9.weebly.com/ Try to update your blog/website regularly (at least bi-monthly), even if you don’t seem to have any follower. Having regular posts and updates show that you’re serious about your project and indicate some professionalism coming from you. 5c°) Social medias They are your best allies, granted you know how to use them correctly and granted you know the different "codes" and specificity of each social network. One thing to realize is that followers will come naturally as your VN progresses, so don't be too obsessed by trying to get the highest number of followers as possible in the beginning. Also, one thing that will make you much more succesful in social networks, is that you need to "give and take". If you want other people to share your messages and to take interest in you, you need to interact with the countless other actors of the social sphere first. Meaning that you need to reply to the messages people send you, and you also need to show interest in other's people projects, to comment their status / tweet, to share yourself other's people posts... A facebook group is always a good idea to have. A twitter account is a must have, since it’s a good way to grab the attention of people if you get re-tweeted. Tumblr is also something you can think about, even though I’m not too familiar about it. deviantArt is surprisingly a very good place to garner attention if you share art assets from your Visual Novel with the artists in there. Having a soundcloud account for your project might be a good idea as well, since it will allow you to embed music in your various twitter / facebook / blog posts. Note that getting more people to follow you and take interest in your project is sometimes tedious, and probably won’t happen before you get content release. 6°) Conclusion Creating a Visual Novel is definitely something that is not easy, and that requires efforts. You will have to be patient, be extremely organized and clever if you want to avoid your project to fail. But in the end, it’s something you won’t regret doing, as it will make you learn how to work in a team, and as it is certainly thrilling to know that you might be able to share one of your creation with the entire world! As for myself, I know that I’d be very proud to be one of those artisans that contributed to spread and share this wonderful thing that is the Visual Novels love.
    28 points
  7. Note: Okami is no longer coming around (20/01/2015), so less he comes back I'll be taking care of the list -Eclipsed Note2: Okami is back (8/11/2015). The following list contains all VNs that have been translated into English and are non-nukige (aka the story is NOT focused solely on the sex). See the next post for the Nukige VNs!And the post after that for All-Ages / No Sexual Content VNs!Or Hackrabbit's list if you want to see VNs listed by Original Release Date!Lastly, visit Decay's thread for the Partially Translated VNs! Date Translated - Name of VN - Translation Group [Platform of Translated VN] /// [Status of the VN] [Licensed] means the VN was translated/localized true official means. [Fan Translated] means that fans have done translation and hold no rights over a VN. [Abandonware] means the developers no longer care or are no longer in a position to care about the product. You're free to basically do whatever with it. 1988.12.09 - J.B. Harold no Jikenbo #1 - Final Mystery - Murder Club - Riverhill Soft inc. [FM Toms] [PC Engine] [X6800] [DOS] /// [Licensed] 1993.10.25 - J.B. Harold no Jikenbo #2 - Manhattan Requiem - Yami ni Tobu Tenshi Tachi - Pioner LDC [Pioneer LaserActive system] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 1996.XX.XX - Sakura no Kisetsu - JAST USA [PC] [Web] [DOS] /// [Licensed] 1997.XX.XX - GLO-RI-A ~Kindan no Ketsuzoku~ - Himeya Soft [PC] [Web] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 1997.XX.XX - Sotsugyou 2 ~Neo Generation~ - Mixx Games [PC] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 1998.04.15 - Mugen Yasoukyoku - The Asenheim Project & RCY America & JAST USA [PC] [Web] [Linux] [Mac OS] /// [Licensed] 1998.04.15 - Divi-Dead - Himeya Soft [PC] [Web] [Xbox] [PSP] [Dreamcast] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 1999.01.XX - True Love ~Jun'ai Monogatari~ - Otaku Publishing, Ltd. & JAST USA [PC] [Web] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 1999.XX.XX - San Shimai - JAST USA [PC] [Web] [DOS] /// [Licensed] 1999.XX.XX - Desire - Himeya Soft [PC] [Web] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 2000.XX.XX - Eve: Burst Error - Himeya Soft [PC] [Web] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 2001.03.31 - Phantasy Star Adventure - Aeon Genesis /// [Fan Translated] 2001.05.07 - Snow Drop - Peach Princess [PC] /// [Licensed] 2001.07.XX - Viper-V16 - Hobibox Europe [PC] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 2001.08.31 - Gin'iro - NekoNeko Soft [PC] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 2002.07.02 - Kana ~Imouto~ - G-Collection [PC] /// [Licensed] 2002.08.01 - Love Hina Advance ~Shukufuku no Kane wa Naru kana~ - Unknown [GBA] /// [Fan Translated] 2002.11.20 - Private Nurse - G-Collection [PC] /// [Licensed] 2002.XX.XX - Shinpi no Sekai El-Hazard - Rob Jinnai [PC] [GBA] /// [Fan Translated] 2003.04.11 - Brave Soul - Peach Princess [PC] /// [Licensed] 2003.04.15 - Radical Dreamers: Nusumenai Houseki - Demiforce [Super Nitendo] /// [Fan Translated] 2003.04.25 - Houkago Ren'ai Club ~Koi no Etude~ - Libido [PC] /// [Licensed] 2003.06.20 - Shinseiki Evangelion Koutetsu no Girlfriend - Unknown [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2003.09.12 - Bloody Bride Imadoki no Vampire - Bloody Bride Translation Project [PS1] /// [Fan Translated] 2003-10-21 - Crescendo ~Eien Dato Omotte Ita Ano Koro~ - G-Collection [PC] /// [Licensed] 2003.XX.XX - Phantom of Inferno - Hirameki International [DVD] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 2003.XX.XX - Adam: The Double Factor - Himeya Soft [PC] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 2004.02.17 - Yu-u-e-n-chi - Hirameki International [DVD] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 2004.07.28 - Kuro no Tsuki - Levender Cross [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2004.07.XX - Natsuiro no Sunadokei - Hirameki International [DVD] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 2004.09.XX - Majo no Ocha Kai - Hirameki International [DVD] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 2004.10.10 - Famicom Tantei Kurabu Part II: Ushiro ni Tatsu Shoujo - Demiforce [Super Nitendo] /// [Fan Translated] 2004.11.17 - KoiYoubi - Hirameki International [DVD] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 2004.12.07 - Ishika to Honori - Hirameki International [DVD] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 2005.02.28 - Planetarian ~Chiisana Hoshi no Yume~ - Haeleth & Insani & Sekai Project [PC] [PSP] [IOS] [Linux] [Mac OS] /// [Fan Translated] [Licensed] 2005.03.01 - Castle Fantasia ~Seima Taisen~ - BTAxis [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2005.03.28 - Shiawase no Katachi - G-Collection [PC] /// [Licensed] 2005.05.15 - Natsu no Hi no Resonance - Insani [PC] [IOS] [Web] /// [Fan Translated] [Licensed] 2005.06.24 - Another Code Futatsu no Kioku - Nintendo [DS] /// [Licensed] 2005.08.21 - Narcissu - Haeleth & Insani 2005.09.15 - Gyakuten Saiban - Capcom [DS] [3DS] [Nitendo Wii] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2005.09.26 - Ai Yori Aoshi - Hirameki International [PC] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 2005.10.04 - Chain Ushinawareta Ashiato - G-Collection [PC] /// [Licensed] 2005.10.08 - Words Worth - Fun Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2005.10.11 - Io [Christmas Eve] - Zalas [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2005.11.28 - Exodus Guilty・Virginal vol. 1 - Hirameki International [DVD] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 2005.12.20 - Ever17 -the out of infinity- - Hirameki International [PC] [Android] [DS] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 2005.XX.XX - Juusou Koujo Metal Princess - Fun Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2005.XX.XX - Fortuna - Fun Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2005.XX.XX - Yukibana -Kira- - Haeleth [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2005.XX.XX - Nineteen - Fun Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2006.04.02 - Tokoyo no Hoshizora - Insani [PC] [Linux] [Mac OS] /// [Fan Translated] 2006.05.19 - Flood of Tears - Insani [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2006.05.31 - Animamundi ~Owarinaki Yami no Butou~ - Hirameki International [PC] [Mac OS] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 2006.06.21 - Wind -A Breath of Heart- No Name Losers & Insani [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2006.08.19 - Adagio - Insani [PC] [Linux] [Mac OS] [Android] [Web] /// [Fan Translated] 2006.08.19 - Mukou no Yume - Insani [PC] [Linux] [Mac OS] /// [Fan Translated] 2006.08.XX - Hitonatsu no Yume - Deja Vu [PC] [Linux] [Mac OS] /// [Fan Translated] 2006.09.15 - Exodus Guilty・Virginal vol. 2 - Hirameki International [DVD] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 2006.10.26 - Gyakuten Saiban 2 - Capcom [DS] [3DS] [Nitendo Wii] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2006.10.30 - Yo-Jin-Bo ~Unmei no Freude~ - Hirameki International [PC] [Mac OS] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 2006.12.10 - Exodus Guilty・Virginal vol. 3 - Hirameki International [DVD] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 2006.12.28 - Tsukihime - Mirror Moon [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2006.12.31 - Zettai Fukujuu Meirei - Peach Princess [PC] /// [Licensed] 2006.12.XX - Gadget Trial - AstCd2 [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2006.XX.XX - Koisuru Oukoku - BTAxis [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2007.01.21 - Piece of Wonder - Hirameki International [PC] /// [Licensed] [Abandonware] 2007.02.06 - Ar Tonelico ~Sekai no Owari de Utai Tsuzukeru Shoujo~ - NIS America [PS2] /// [Licensed] 2007.04.25 - Yume Miru Kusuri - Peach Princess [PC] /// [Licensed] 2007.04.28 - Melty Blood - Mirror Moon [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2007.04.XX - 40 Nichi 40 Yoru no Ame - Deja Vu [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2007.05.07 - Jesus - Niahak [Famicom] /// [Fan Translated] 2007.06.07 - Phantasy Star II Text Adventure: Kainz no Bouken - M.I.J.E.T. /// [Fan Translated] 2007.06.07 - Phantasy Star II Text Adventure: Shilka no Bouken - M.I.J.E.T. /// [Fan Translated] 2007.07.19 - Kagetsu Tooya - Beast's Lair / Lunacy [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2007.07.20 - Youjuu Senki A.D. 2048 - Peach Princess [PC] /// [Licensed] 2007.08.23 - Gyakuten Saiban 3 - Capcom [DS] [3DS] [Nitendo Wii] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2007.09.12 - Tsukihime Plus-Disc - Mirror Moon & Beast's Lair / Lunacy [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2007.09.15 - One ~Kagayaku Kisetsu e~ - astCd2 [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2007.09.23 - ef - First Fan Disc - No Name Losers [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2007.10.24 - Phantasy Star II Text Adventure: Anne no Bouken - M.I.J.E.T. /// [Fan Translated] 2007.11.06 - Kenshuui Tendou Dokuta 2: Inochi no Tenbin - DreamCatcher Interactive [DS] /// [Licensed] 2007.12.13 - Yukizakura - G-Collection [PC] /// [Licensed] 2007.12.14 - Yachoukitan - Deja Vu [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2008.02.09 - Utawarerumono - Mirror Moon & Soylations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2008.02.13 - True Remembrance - Insani [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2008.03.07 - Silver Chaos - Onadoru Euphoria [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2008.03.15 - Seirei Gari - The Snark [Famicom] /// [Fan Translated] 2008.04.09 - Maison Ikkoku ~Omoide no Photograph~ - Dave Shadof & Filler /// [Fan Translated] 2008.06.10 - Yokohama Minato Renzoku Satsujin Jiken - Aksys Games [DS] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2008.06.10 - Shinjuku Chuuou Kouen Satsujin Jiken - Aksys Games [DS] /// [Licensed] 2008.06.10 - Kiken na Ninin - Aksys Games [DS] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2008.07.02 - Men at Work! 2 ~Hunter Academy e Youkoso~ - Mirror Moon [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2008.07.10 - Hinatabokko - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2008.07.17 - Aoishiro - Shijima [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2008.07.17 - Kazoku Keikaku - G-Collection [PC] /// [Licensed] 2008.09.20 - Edelweiss - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2008.09.23 - Time Hollow ~Ubawareta Kako o Motomete~ - Konami [DS] /// [Licensed] 2008.11.01 - Fate/stay night - Mirror Moon [PC] [Android] [DS] /// [Fan Translated] 2008.11.06 - Phantasy Star II Text Adventure: Huey no Bouken - M.I.J.E.T. /// [Fan Translated] 2008.11.14 - Kujaku Ou - The Snark [Famicom] /// [Fan Translated] 2008.11.19 - Wanko to Kurasou - Yandere Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2008.11.20 - BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger - Aksys Games [PC] [PS3] [PSP] [Xbox 360] /// [Licensed] 2008.12.01 - Gogatsu no Sora - Insani [PC] [Mac OS] /// [Fan Translated] 2008.12.02 - Leaves - Insani [PC] [Mac OS] /// [Fan Translated] 2008.12.02 - Princess Waltz - Peach Princess [PC] /// [Licensed] 2008.12.11 - Silver Chaos Fan Box -Eternal Fantasia- - Onadoru Euphoria [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2008.12.13 - Brass Restoration Yandere Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2008.12.25 - D.C. ~Da Capo~ - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2008.12.31 - Tears to Tiara - Dakkodango Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2008.12.31 - Chaos;Head - TLWiki [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2009.01.15 - Jouka no Monshou - TLWiki [PC] [Mac OS] /// [Fan Translated] 2009.01.20 - Ar Tonelico II ~Sekai ni Hibiku Shoujo Tachi no Metafalica~ - NIS America [PS2] /// [Licensed] 2009.02.07 - Pia Carrot e Youkoso!! - Filler [PC-FX] /// [Fan Translated] 2009.02.24 - Saya no Uta - TLWiki & JAST USA [PC] [Android] [DS] /// [Fan Translated] [Licensed] 2009.03.27 - Lux-Pain - Ignition [DS] /// [Licensed] 2009.04.13 - Kujaku Ou II - The Snark [Famicom] /// [Fan Translated] 2009.05.21 - Moon. - TLWiki & Amaterasu Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2009.05.26 - Akai Me no Tora - Aksys Games [DS] /// [Licensed] 2009.05.26 - Inishie no Kioku - Aksys Games [DS] /// [Licensed] 2009.05.26 - Toki no Sugiyuku Mama ni - Aksys Games [DS] /// [Licensed] 2009.06.07 - Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Witch Hunt [PC] [Mac OS] [Android] [DS] /// [Fan Translated] 2009.06.24 - Kira☆Kira - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2009.06.26 - Another Code: R Kioku no Tobira - Nintendo [Nitendo Wii] /// [Licensed] 2009.07.18 - Lamento Treasure Disc - Yaoi Forever & TLWiki [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2009.07.21 - Kanon - Haeleth & NDT [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2009.08.15 - Shuffle! - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2009.08.24 - Policenauts - The Policenauts Translation Project [PS1] /// [Fan Translated] 2009.08.26 - Cross†Channel - Amaterasu Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2009.11.02 - Gift - M-trix [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2009.11.04 - Sharin no Kuni, Himawari no Shoujo - TLWiki [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2009.11.04 - Tonari no Kanojo: My Neighbor Girl - Dadai Ink. [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2009.11.09 - Moero Downhill Night -Touge Saisoku Densetsu- - Peach Princess [PC] /// [Licensed] 2009.11.24 - Hoshi o Sagashite... - Filler /// [Fan Translated] 2009.12.01 - Kaguya-hime Densetsu - The Snark [Famicom] /// [Fan Translated] 2009.12.15 - Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2009.12.18 - Sekien no Inganock -What a Beautiful People - Amaterasu Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2009.12.20 - Galaxy Angel - Seiha [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2009.12.28 - Soul Link - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2010.02.05 - Kikokugai - The Cyber Slayer - TLWiki & JAST USA [PC] /// [Licensed] 2010.02.16 - Gyakuten Kenji - Capcom [DS] /// [Licensed] 2010.03.01 - Road to Emerald - Imagecirius [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2010.03.10 - Kira*Kira - Zodiac [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2010.03.18 - Symphonic Rain - TLWiki [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2010.03.20 - Edelweiss Eiden Fantasia - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2010.03.30 - Sakura Taisen V: Saraba Itoshiki Hito Yo - NIS America [Nitendo Wii] [PS2] /// [Licensed] 2010.03.31 - Narcissu Side 2nd - Haeleth & Agilis [PC] /// [Fan Translated] [Licensed] 2010.04.30 - ef - a fairy tale of the two. - No Name Losers & Mangagamer [PC] /// [Fan Translated] [Licensed] 2010.04.30 - Kira☆Kira Curtain Call - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2010.05.21 - Yuuzakura wo Mitsumete - m-kz [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2010.05.25 - Majo ni Naru - Natsume [DS] /// [Fan Translated] 2010.06.08 - Disgaea Infinite - NIS America [PSP] /// [Licensed] 2010.06.22 - Swan Song - Yandere Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2010.06.29 - Moero Downhill Night 2 - Peach Princess [PC] /// [Licensed] 2010.07.10 - Phantasy Star II Text Adventure: Amia no Bouken - M.I.J.E.T. /// [Fan Translated] 2010.07.10 - Phantasy Star II Text Adventure: Eusis no Bouken - M.I.J.E.T. /// [Fan Translated] 2010.07.10 - Phantasy Star II Text Adventure: Nei no Bouken - M.I.J.E.T. /// [Fan Translated] 2010.07.10 - Phantasy Star II Text Adventure: Rudger no Bouken - M.I.J.E.T. /// [Fan Translated] 2010.07.27 - Muv-Luv - Amaterasu Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2010.07.27 - BlazBlue: Continuum Shift - Aksys Games [PC] [PSVita] [PS3] [PSP] [Xbox 360] [3DS] /// [Licensed] 2010.08.29 - Niji no Kanata ni - Tengu Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2010.09.14 - Daibanchou -Big Bang Age- - Seiha [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2010.09.17 - Last Window: Mayonaka no Yakusoku - Nintendo [DS] /// [Licensed] 2010.10.06 - Mirai no Kimi to, Subete no Uta ni - Project Zoom909 [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2010.10.08 - Canvas 2 ~Akane Iro no Palette~ - Edger [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2010.10.11 - Remember11 -the age of infinity- - TLWiki [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2010.10.25 - Tokyo Alice - Seven Night Translation & Tengu Translation [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2010.10.31 - Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken - DvD Translations [Famicom] /// [Fan Translated] 2010.11.14 - Hanachirasu - TL Wiki [PC] /// [Fan Translated] [Licensed] 2010.11.22 - Kyokugen Dasshutsu 9-Jikan 9-Nin 9 no Tobira - Aksys Games [DS] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2010.11.30 - D.C.I.F. ~Da Capo~ Innocent Finale - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2010.12.02 - Tokimeki Memorial: Girl's Side - TokimemoGS1 Translation Team [DS] /// [Fan Translated] 2010.12.03 - Starry ☆ Sky ~in Spring~ - OGE [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2010.12.04 - Kusamura no Oku - Shii [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2010.12.24 - D.C. II ~Da Capo II~ - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2010.12.25 - G-senjou no Maou - TLWiki & Aegis [PC] /// [Fan Translated] [Licensed] 2011.01.23 - Quartett! - AstCd2 [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2011.02.10 - Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2011.02.25 - Galaxy Angel Moonlit Lovers - Seiha [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2011.02.28 - Koihime † Musou ~Doki ☆ Otome Darake no Sangokushi Engi~ - Mangagamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2011.03.15 - Ar Tonelico III ~Sekai Shuuen no Hikigane wa Shoujo no Uta ga Hiku~ - NIS America [PS3] /// [Licensed] 2011.03.31 - Sharin no Kuni, Yuukyuu no Shounenshoujo - TLWiki [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2011.04.27 - Real Taiwa de Manabu Jissen Eikaiwa Summer Story - Square Enix Holdings Co.,Ltd. [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2011.04.27 - Himegimi Koi Hana Emaki - NTT Solmare Corporation [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2011.04.29 - Kotori Love Ex P - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2011.05.13 - Zanmataisei Demonbane - TLWiki & JAST USA [PC] /// [Licensed] 2011.05.16 - Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side: 2nd Kiss - gokusaishiki [DS] /// [Fan Translated] 2011.06.14 - Mankai Chirarism Dai 1 Wa - Moogy [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2011.06.29 - Kara no Shoujo - TLWiki & MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2011.07.XX - Pirates In Love - Voltage [Licensed] [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2011.08.30 - Katahane - TLWiki & Ate the Moon Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2011.09.05 - Shikkoku no Sharnoth -What a Beautiful Tomorrow- - Amaterasu Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2011.09.05 - Muv-Luv Alternative - Amaterasu Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2011.09.13 - Galaxy Angel Eternal Lovers - Seiha [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2011.09.16 - Rin ga Utau, Mirai no Neiro - Project Zoom909 [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2011.09.20 - Doki x 2 Konkatsu Party - NTT Solmare Corporation [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2011.09.28 - Kono Yo no Hate de Koi wo Utau Shoujo YU-NO - TLWiki [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2011.09.30 - Go! Go! Nippon! ~My First Trip to Japan~ - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2011.10.04 - A Profile - Amaterasu Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2011.10.13 - Oji-sama Amai Rakuen - NTT Solmare Corporation [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2011.10.14 - Nanashi no Game - Square Enix Holdings Co.,Ltd. [DS] /// [Licensed] 2011.10.19 - Koiseyo! Engeki Danshi - NTT Solmare Corporation [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2011.10.07 - A Scar of the Doll - Child Dream [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2011.10.28 - Onegai Naisho ni Shite ne SS - Winlight [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2011.11.01 - Fate/Extra - Aksys Games [PSP] /// [Licensed] 2011.11.04 - Eien no Aselia -The Spirit of Eternity Sword- - Dakkodango Translations & JAST Densetsu [PC] /// [Licensed] [Fan Translated] 2011.11.04 - Love Plus - TLWiki & GBATemp Fan Translation [DS] /// [Fan Translated] 2011.11.22 - Corpse Party BloodCovered - XSEED Games [PSP] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2011.11.22 - Heartful Kareshi ~Kibou no Gakuen to Shiroi Tsubasa~ - Hato King & S. Nezerine Zarib [PC] [Mac OS] [PSVita] [PS4] /// [Licensed] 2011.12.05 - Kisaragi no Hougyoku - Waithingforyouguys [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2011.12.13 - Koi Ninja Sengoku Emaki - NTT Solmare Corporation [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2011.12.15 - Koenchu! Yonogi Seiyuu Monogatari ~Sora to Kimi to Ano Natsu to~ - Zero Zigen [PC] /// [Licensed] 2011.12.17 - Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru - Witch hunt [PC] [Mac OS] [Android] [DS] /// [Fan Translated] 2011.12.17 - London Tantei Monogatari - Unknown [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2011.12.18 - Little Busters! - Fluffy [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2011.12.26 - Osananajimi wa Daitouryou: My girlfriend is the President. - TLWiki & JAST Densetsu [PC] /// [Licensed] 2011.12.XX - MoteMote – Love story for Girls - Dual Solution [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2012.01.14 - Forest - Amaterasu Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2012.02.04 - Boku no Shokora - Ouiratsuike [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2012.02.09 - Isogashii Hito no Tame no Koumakyou - Arknarok [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2012.02.14 - Hakuouki ~Shinsengumi Kitan~ - Aksys Games [Licensed] 2012.02.20 - The Second Reproduction - Ate the Moon Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2012.02.25 - Steins;Gate: Hen'i Kuukan no Octet - Unknown [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2012.02.27 - Kamidori Alchemy Meister - Seiha [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2012.03.02 - Deardrops - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2012.03.05 - Melting Pot - Magic House [PC] /// [Licensed] 2012.03.18 - Isogashii Hito no Tame no Koumakyou Extra - Arknarok [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2012.03.31 - Hoshizora no Memoria -Wish upon a Shooting Star- - Staircase Subs [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2012.04.17 - PureLove ~Watashi no Kare wa Geinoujin~ - KOYONPLATE [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2012.04.27 - Manken! - Nyu Media [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2012.04.29 - Akira - Dank-Trans [Famicom] /// [Fan Translated] 2012.05.02 - Otometeki Koi Kakumei★Love Revo!! - jjjewel & AmuletCorss [DS] /// [Fan Translated] 2012.05.16 - Asobi no Jikan - DLsite [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2012.05.16 - Maid Tantei Dille & Elle - DLsite [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2012.05.30 - Prince Maker - Braveness - Prince Maker Tanslation Project [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2012.06.01 - Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni - Dai Ichi Ya - Spider Lily Translations [PC] [Mac OS] /// [Fan Translated] 2012.06.06 - Ouji-sama no Propose - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2012.06.07 - Clannad - Drama Club & Sekai Project [PC] [Android] /// [Fan Translated] [Licensed] 2012.06.22 - Dengeki Stryker - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2012.06.28 - School Days - Sekai Project & JAST Densetsu [PC] /// [Licensed] 2012.07.21 - Togainu no Chi - Yaoi Forever [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2012.08.06 - Tantei Opera Milky Holmes - Desuwa [PSP] /// [Fan Translated] 2012.08.13 - Period - Studio Oshaberi Nyanko [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2012.08.17 - Never7 -the end of infinity- - Lemnisca Translations [PC] [Android] [DS] /// [Fan Translated] 2012.08.20 - Koi☆Gakuen - KOYONPLATE [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2012.09.14 - Totsugeki! Ningen Sensha =War of the Human Tanks= - Frutbat Factory [PC] /// [Licensed] 2012.09.18 - Nemuranu Machi no Cinderella - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2012.09.20 - Isogashii Hito no Tame no Youyoumu - Arknarok [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2012.09.21 - Tomoyo After ~It's a Wonderful Life~ - Doki Fansub [PC] [Linux] [Mac OS] /// [Fan Translated] 2012.10.01 - Duel Savior - Seiha [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2012.10.02 - Phenomeno - Mitsurugi Yoishi wa Kowagaranai - Pin201 [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2012.10.17 - Amaranto - Kamyu [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2012.10.24 - Kyokugen Dasshutsu ADV Zennin Shibou Desu - Aksys Games [PSVita] [3DS] /// [Licensed] 2012.10.25 - Chikai no Kiss wa Totsuzen ni - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2012.11.05 - Konya Anata to Nemuritai - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2012.11.09 - Koibito wa Senzoku SP - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2012.11.13 - Lonely Yuri - DLsite [PC] /// [Licensed] 2012.11.19 - My Lover's a Thief - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2012.11.23 - Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2012.11.30 - Dandelion - Neoege Buneun Balam - Cheritz [PC] [Mac OS] /// [Licensed] 2012.12.03 - Moero Downhill Night Blaze - Peach Princess [PC] /// [Licensed] 2012.12.25 - Heartful Kareshi HolidayStar - HatoKing [PC] [Mac OS] /// [Licensed] 2012.12.31 - Isogashii Hito no Tame no Youyoumu Extra - Arknarok [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.01.10 - Koi☆Gakuen BL Hen - KOYONPLATE [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2013.01.15 - Corpse Party: Book of Shadows - XSEED Games [PSP] /// [Licensed] 2013.01.15 - Paca Plus - Paco Project [PC] /// [Licensed] 2013.01.25 - Rewrite - Amaterasu Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.02.02 - Shinsen Renki - Dual Solution [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2013.02.09 - Isogashii Hito no Tame no Bunkachou ~Koumakan Mashimashi Tengu Nuki~ - Arknarok [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.02.10 - Anaheim Girl's Love Story - Oppai Missile [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.02.28 - Darling wa Geinoujin - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2013.03.24 - Gensou Suikogaiden Vol. 1: Harmonia no Kenshi - Suikogaiden Translation Project [PS1] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.04.01 - Dra†KoI - TLWiki [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.04.06 - Steins;Gate - I-VNTP & JAST USA [PSVita] [PS3] [IOS] [PC] /// [Licensed] 2013.04.10 - Kindan no Koi ~Yurusarenai Futari~ - M&A Online [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2013.04.11 - Koi wo Sasagu Densetsu no Kishi - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2013.04.13 - Jurassic Heart - Hima [PC] [Web] [Mac OS] /// [Licensed] 2013.04.21 - Hadaka Shitsuji - Yaoi Forever & Yaio.Desu [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.04.25 - DRAMAtical Murder - Yaoi Forever [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.04.26 - Tick! Tack! - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2013.05.24 - Toushin Toshi - Arunaru [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.05.19 - Shanai Ren'ai ★ Futari no Himitsu - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2013.05.26 - Mamanyonyo - Rance Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.06.13 - Mirai no Uta to, Tsunagaru Hitomi - Project Zoom909 [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.06.16 - Shakadou-san no Jun'ai Road - Wairu Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.06.19 - Miko Gakkou Monogatari ~ Sanae Hen - Xinoro [PSVita] /// [Licensed] 2013.06.23 - Dangan Ronpa Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei - Project Zatcubou [PSP] [PSVita] /// [Fan Translated] [Licensed] 2013.06.28 - Kono Oozora ni, Tsubasa wo Hirogete - MoeNovel [PC] /// [Licensed] 2013.06.29 - Love Sniper - roseVeRte [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.07.04 - World End Economica Episode 1 - Spicy Tails & Kawa-Soft & Sekai Project [PC] /// [Licensed] 2013.07.23 - Koi Ninja ~Ai to Yokubou no Heian Ranbu~ - NTT Solmare Corpotation [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2013.07.26 - Grisaia no Kajitsu - TLWiki & Sekai Project [PC] /// [Fan Translated] [Licensed] 2013.08.07 - Akuma to Koi Suru 10 Kakan - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2013.08.09 - Harukoi Otome ~Otome no Sono de Gokigenyou~ - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2013.08.27 - Bakudan★Handan - Aksys Games [PSP] /// [Licensed] 2013.08.30 - Yumina the Ethereal - JAST Densetsu [PC] /// [Licensed] 2013.09.05 - Gensou Suikogaiden Vol. 2: Crystal Valley no Kettou - Suikogaiden Translation Project [PS1] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.09.05 - Air - Gao Gao Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.09.10 - Fukushuu no Kiss wo Anata ni - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2013.09.20 - Ikenai Keiyaku Kekkon - arithmetic [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2013.09.20 - Yoiyami no Koibito Vampire Honey - arithmetic [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2013.09.21 - 2/2 Kareshi - Tenshi to Akuma - Libre Publishing Co. [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2013.10.08 - Kichijouji Koi Iro Days - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2013.10.17 - Toushin Toshi 2 - Arunaru [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.10.24 - Boku wa Anata ni Koi wo Suru - Futari Dake no Love Song - Unknown [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2013.10.24 - Gyakuten Saiban 5 - Capcom [DS] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2013.10.26 - Toradora! Portable - verdelish [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.11.02 - Yuuwaku Office★Lover ~Boss wa Kiken na Playboy~ - OKKO Sweet Romance [Android] /// [Licensed] 2013.11.03 - DRAMAtical Murder re:connect - Yaoi Forever [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.11.11 - Nameless ~ Dangsin-i Gieoghaeya Hal Dan Hangajiui Geos ~ - Cheritz [PC] /// [Licensed] 2013.11.11 - Shall we Date?: Mononoke Kiss - NTT Somlare Corporation [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2013.11.11 - Tennis no Ouji-sama: Doubles no Ouji-sama - Girls, be Gracious! - Amuletcross [DS] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.11.20 - Shuugaku Ryokou ★ Naisho no Koi - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2013.11.27 - White Lies & Sweet Nothings - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2013.11.28 - Shall we Date?: Magic Sword - NTT Somlare Corporation [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2013.11.14 - Shinigami no Kiss wa Wakare no Aji - Kohaku Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.11.14 - Kaeru nyo Panyon - Rance Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.11.19 - Love Pledge Chi no Mei Yaku - [Android] /// [Licensed] 2013.11.20 - Shuugaku Ryokou ★ Naisho no Koi - Voltage [Android] /// [Licensed] 2013.11.24 - Ikinari Anata ni Koishiteiru - Ate the Moon Translation [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.12.01 - Isogashii Hito no Tame no Suimusou - Arknarok [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2013.12.02 - Haitoku Kobamenai Yoru - NTT Somlare Corporation [Android] /// [Licensed] 2013.12.08 - Lycoris no Kokuin - KOYONPLATE [Android] /// [Licensed] 2013.12.24 - Ikemen Mitchaku Shuzai - OKKO Sweet Romance [Android] /// [Licensed] 2013.12.25 - Shall we Date?: Hero in Love - NTT Somlare Corporation [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2013.12.25 - Shall we Date?: My Fairy Tales - NTT Somlare Corporation [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2013.12.XX - Shinju no Mimikazari no Otoko - KOYONPLATE [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.01.10 - Suzaku - Mystical Butterfly - KOYONPLATE [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.01.16 - Joushi to Himitsu no 2 LDK - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.02.03 - Sokubaku★Yandere Idol - arithmetic [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.02.03 - Shakunetsu Harem - Arab Migawari no Hanayome - arithmetic [Android]/// [Licensed] 2014.02.07 - Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni - Dai Ni Ya - Spider Lily Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2014.02.09 - Suite Room de Itazurana Kiss - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.02.18 - Arabian Nights Love Story - OKKO Sweet Romance [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.02.18 - Himitsu na Futari - Unknown [Android] /// [Licensed] 2014.02.22 - I/O - Lemnisca Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2014.03.02 - Zettai zetsumei Oukushon - arithmetic [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.03.05 - Otonari-san ni Goyoushin - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.03.25 - Tadaima! Uchi Kanojo~ - Unknown [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.04.01 - Ayakashibito - Ate the Moon Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2014.04.06 - White Album 2 ~introductory chapter~ - Baka-Tsuki [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2014.04.18 - Air - Gao Gao Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2014.05.07 - Gyakuten Yoshiwara - D3 Publisher [Android] [IOS] [PC] /// [Licensed] 2014.05.07 - "Ibara no Yurikago" ~Otouto wa Boku Dake no Mono~ - KOYONPLETE [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.05.10 - Himitsuri no Lagoon - Kaijuu [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2014.05.14 - Ouji-sama no Propose Season 2 - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.05.16 - Muv-Luv Alternative Chronicles Vol.1 - Alternative Projects [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2014.05.17 - Hey! Ren'ai Icchou - KOYONPLETE [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.06.04 - Starry☆Sky ~After Spring~ - Unknown [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2014.06.06 - Really? Really! - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2014.06.14 - Gyakuten Kenji 2 - Unknown [DS] /// [Fan Translated] 2014.06.16 - Fragment's Note - Alvion & Ullucus Heaven [Android] [PSVita] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.06.20 - Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side: 3rd Story - gokusaishiki [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2014.06.20 - Shirahana no Ori ~Hiiro no Kakera 4~ - NTT Solmare Corporation [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.06.21 - Koi iro Chu! Lips - Denwatls [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2014.06.23 - Koyoi, Ayashii Kuchizuke o - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.06.24 - Xblaze Code: Embryo - Aksys games [PS3] [PSVita] /// [Licensed] 2014.07.04 - Osananajimi wa Daitouryou ~My girlfriend is the President.~ Fandisc - JAST Densetsu [Licensed] 2014.07.24 - Coμ - Kuroi Ryuu to Yasashii Oukoku - Amaterasu Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2014.08.08 - Heart no Kuni no Alice ~Wonderful Wonder World~ - artmove, Inc [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.09.02 - Super Dangan Ronpa 2 Sayonara Zetsubou Gakuen - NIS America [PSVita] /// [Licensed] 2014.09.10 - Saigo no Koi, Boku ni Kudasai - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.09.11 - Dandy Shot - D3 Publisher [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.09.23 - Ar Nosurge ~Umareizuru Hoshi e Inoru Uta~ - Tecmo Koei [PSVita] [PS3] /// [Licensed] 2014.09.26 - d2b VS DEARDROPS -Cross the Future- - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2014.09.28 - Yanderella - teriiball [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2014.10.02 - Otogi no Ouji-sama to Yuuwaku Marriage - arithmetic [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.10.12 - Killer Queen - Lemnisca Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2014.10.14 - Tears to Tiara II: Haou no Matsuei - NIS America & Atlus [PS3] /// [Licensed] 2014.10.16 - Guilty Crown Lost Christmas - Zakobot [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2014.10.18 - Princess Nightmare - OGE [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2014.10.30 - Suki na Mono wa Suki Dakara Shouganai!! First Limit - JOAT Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2014.10.31 - Mix Ore - teriiball [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2014.10.31 - Shinjitsu no Koi wa Amai Uso kara - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.10.31 - Cartagra ~Tsuki kurui no Yamai~ - TL Wiki & MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2014.11.13 - Miko Gakkou ~2-nensei - Xinoro [PC] /// [Licensed] 2014.11.17 - Sengoku Gekokujou Gakogase Koi no Honou - arithmetic [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.11.17 - Yuuwaku Sangokushi Renka Sakerarenu Unmei- arithmetic [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.11.18 - Shinsengumi Amazing ~Hoteru Karada to Koien~ - D3 Publisher [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.11.20 - Manken! I! My! Girls! - Nyu Media 2014.11.20 - Koibito wa Kouan Keiji - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.11.21 - Fate/Hollow Ataraxia - TL Wiki & Lunacy [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2014.11.22 - Cannonball ~Neko Neko Machine Mou Race!~ - Studio Oshaberi Nyanko [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2014.11.25 - Himitsu Kareshi - Idol Hitotsu Yane no Shita - arithmetic [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.11.27 - Kimi to Boku to Kireigoto - teriiball [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2014.11.29 - Yutori Kyouiku - Alte [Web] /// [Licensed] 2014.12.15 - fault -milestone one- - Sekai Project [PC] [Linux] [Mac OS] /// [Licensed] 2014.12.22 - Shoujo Mahou Gaku Little Witch Romanesque - JAST USA [PC] /// [Licensed] 2014.12.25 - Ki ni Naru Otoko no Ko? - kudaratan [PC] [Linux] [Mac OS] /// [Fan Translated] 2014.12.25 - Twilight Romance - Genius [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2014.12.29 - Neko Para vol. 1 Soleil Kaiten Shimashita - Neko Works & Sekai Project [PC] /// [Licensed] 2014.XX.XX - Bengo no Joou - NMG2 Limites [Android] /// [Licensed] 2015.01.01 - Dot Kareshi -We're 8bit Lovers- - Golden Spirit [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2015.01.03 - Psy-O-Blade - Eien Ni Hen & tryphon /// [Fan Translated] 2015.01.21 - Amadare ~Utsukushiku Saku Kimitachi e~ - Genius [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.01.24 - Millefiori - Terriball [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2015.01.25 - Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru - Blick Winkel [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2015.01.30 - Koi Shiteshimatta Hoshi no Ouji - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.01.30 - Eden* There Were Only Two, On the Planet (PLUS+MOSAIC) - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2015.02.01 - Ikusei Nikki - Twin Project [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2015.02.04 - Danna-sama ga 7-nin iru!? - arithmetic [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.02.12 - Tokyo School Life - Dogenzaka Lab [PC] /// [Licensed] 2015.02.13 - Totsugeki! Ningen Sensha Alter - Fruitbat Factory [PC] /// [Licensed] 2015.02.14 - Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai(PSP) - Rinjinbu [PSP] /// [Fan Translated] 2015.02.16 - Ouji-sama to Ikenai Keiyaku Kekkon - arithmetic [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.02.17 - My Sweet Roomies! - Fuji Television [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.02.20 - Gyakuten Kenji 2 - Unknown [DS] /// [Fan Translated] 2015.02.27 - No, Thank You!!! - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2015.03.02 - Itsuwari no Kimi to Scandal - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.03.10 - Maji de Watashi ni Koishinasai! - Maji Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2015.03.10 - Mato Kurenai Yuugekitai: Tokyo Twilight Ghosthunters - Aksys Games & NIS america [PSVita] [PS3] /// [Licensed] 2015.03.21 - Ikiru to Iu Koto - Alte [Web] /// [Licensed] 2015.03.27 - Princess Evangile - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2015.04.02 - Chikai no Kiss to Nanatsu no Yuuwaku - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.04.07 - Grimm's Princess ~Douwa Hime~ - Genius [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.04.10 - Kougai Kinshi (Mitsu) Office Love - D3 Publisher [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.04.19 - Ikemen Oukyuu ◆ Mayonaka no Cinderella - Cybird [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.04.15 - Sunrider Academy - Sekai Project [PC] /// [Licensed] 2015.04.17 - Hanahira! - George Henry Shaft & Yuri Project [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2015.05.09 - The Reject Demon: Toko Chapter 0 - Prelude - Sekai Project [PC] [Linux] [Mac OS] /// [Licensed] 2015.05.15 - Rosario to Vampire: Tanabata no Miss Youkai Gakuen - jjjewel [DS] /// [Fan Translated] 2015.05.17 - Sengoku Himeka ~Jika no Chigiri~ - D3 Publisher [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.05.18 - Koi no Jiken wa Totsuzen ni - Genius [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.05.18 - Hitomebore(Love at First Sight) - Sekai Project [PC] /// [Licensed] 2015.05.23 - Kinjirareta Mitsu Ai - KOYONPLETE [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.05.23 - Koi no Otogizoushi wa Butai Kara - Genius [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.05.31 - Rose Guns Days - Last Season - Witch Hunt [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2015.06.02 - Tenka Touitsu Koi no Ran - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.06.07 - Sakuya - Unknown [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2015.06.08 - Toki no Kizuna Sekigahara Kitan - NNT Solmare Corporation [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.06.14 - Blue* - Kuoee [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2015.06.15 - Bad End - YOX-Project [Android] [IOS] [PC] /// [Licensed] 2015.06.19 - How To Take Off Your Mask - roseVeRte [PC] /// [Licensed] 2015.06.20 - Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side: 3rd Story - jjjewel [PSP] [DS] /// [Fan Translated] 2015.06.29 - Reunion of Angel - LI Project [PC] /// [Licensed] 2015.06.29 - Meitantei Conan - Unknown [DS] /// [Fan Translated] 2015.06.29 - Ikenai Koukyuu Yuugi ~Koutei Heika to Keiyaku no Hanayome~ - arithmetic [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.06.XX - Valentine no Shokeisareta Hi - Shinenkan [PC] /// [Licensed] 2015.07.02 - Dahlia - Kinkan Edition [PC] /// [Licensed] 2015.07.02 - Roomshare Sugao no Kare - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.07.04 - Mugen no Anastasia - Genius [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.07.12 - Ihou Ren'ai - Accela, Inc. [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.07.17 - Maji de Watashi ni Koishinasai! S - Maji Translations & Wairu [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2015.07.18 - Midgard Love - Genius [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.07.25 - Storm Lover - jjjewel [PSP] /// [Fan Translated] 2015.07.29 - Kimi ni Sasageru Kiseki - Genius [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.08.03 - PsychiXX -Kinki no Koi- - Accela, Inc. [Android] /// [Licensed] 2015.08.11 - XBlaze Lost:Memories - Aksys Games [PSVita] [PS3] /// [Licensed] 2015.08.16 - Neko Para Vol.0 Minazuki Nekotachi no Nichijou! - NEKO WORK's & Sekai Project [PC] /// [Licensed] 2015.08.19 - Lamento -Beyond the Void- - Yaoi Forever [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2015.08.19 - Haruko Maniax - Alternative Projects [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2015.08.25 - Amnesia - Idea Factory & Gloczus, Inc. [Android] [IOS] [PC] [PSVita] /// [Licensed] 2015.08.26 - Private SP ~Himitsu no Kare wa Sennyuu Sousa-chuu~ - Genius [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.09.02 - Otona no Hatsukoi, Hajimemasu - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.09.06 - Ai to Inbou no Seridia - Genius [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.09.08 - Fault Milestone Two - Sekai Project [PC] [Linux] [Mac OS] /// [Licensed] 2015.09.08 - Gossip Girl ~Celeb na Kare no Yuuwaku~ - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.09.15 - Rose Cinderella - KOYONPLETE [Android] /// [Licensed] 2015.09.15 - Red Spider - studio wasp [PC] [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.09.19 - Koisuru Natsu no Last Resort - MDZANIME [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2015.09.23 - Shoujo Kakumei Utena ~Itsuka Kakumeisareru Monogatari~ - Unknown [Sega Saturn] /// [Licensed] 2015.09.25 - Sono Hanabira ni Kuchizuke o - Deatta Koro no Omoide ni - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2015.09.25 - Shiny Days - JAST USA & Sekai Project [PC] /// [Licensed] 2015.10.01 - Oukyuu no Shugosha-tachi - Genius [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.10.09 - Undead Destiny - Genius [Android] /// [Licensed] 2015.10.12 - Corpse Party: BloodDrive - XSEED Games [PSVita] /// [Licensed] 2015.10.20 - Code: Realize ~Sousei no Himegimi~ - Aksys Games [PSVita] /// [Licensed] 2015.10.23 - Muv-Luv Alternative Chronicles Vol.2 - Alternative Projects [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2015.10.30 - Kara no Shoujo - The Second Episode - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2015.10.30 - Shizuku no Oto - Sekai Project [PC] /// [Licensed] 2015.11.02 - Butler until Midnight - Voltage [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.11.03 - Norn9 ~Norn + Nonette~ - Aksys Games [PSVita] /// [Licensed] 2015.11.12 - Eiyuu*Senki - Fruitbat Factory [PS3] /// [Licensed] 2015.11.23 - Clannad - Sekai Project [Android] [PC] /// [Licensed] [Fan Translated] 2015.11.25 - Shirahana no Ori ~Hiiro no Kakera 4~ Shiki no Uta - NTT Solmare Corporation [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.11.30 - Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate - Basic Translations [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2015.12.06 - Twilight Hunters - Genius [Android] [IOS] /// [Licensed] 2015.12.08 - Mangetsu no Yoru ni wa Gojoushin - Genius [Android] /// [Licensed] 2015.12.10 - Shuukaku no Juunigatsu ~Fuyu~ - Circle Entertainment [3DS] /// [Licensed] 2015.12.10 - Shuukaku no Juunigatsu ~Haru~ - Circle Entertainment [3DS] /// [Licensed] 2015.12.10 - Shuukaku no Juunigatsu ~Natsu~ - Circle Entertainment [3DS] /// [Licensed] 2015.12.10 - Shuukaku no Juunigatsu ~Aki~ - Circle Entertainment [3DS] /// [Licensed] 2015.12.10 - Shuukaku no Juunigatsu - Circle Entertainment [3DS] /// [Licensed] 2015.12.15 - WAS ~Lepidoptera no Sunadokei~ - Sekai Project [PC] /// [Licensed] 2015.12.15 - Psycho-Pass Sentaku Naki Koufuku - 5pb [Xbox One] /// [Licensed] 2015.12.23 - Ourai no Gahkthun ~What a Shining Braves~ - MangaGamer [PC] /// [Licensed] 2015.12.24 - Noble☆Works - theoxfordcomma [PC] /// [Fan Translated] 2015.12.24 - Red Spider2 - studio wasp [PC] /// [Licensed] Please PM Okami or Eclipsed for any error or missing game in that list if you find one.
    28 points
  8. Contents of this Update: 1. Introduction 2. Site analytics 3. Abbreviated financial report 4. Loligeddon feedback survey 5. Commentary from Tay ----------------------------------- 1. Introduction I hope the information in this community update is both useful and interesting to those of you who want to keep a finger on Fuwa’s pulse. This report may not look like a lot, but it took a lot of time to compile (especially trying to compensate for an analytics bug which I’m incapable of fixing myself). Now that it’s done, I’m already noticing things I should have included but forgot. Just remind me of questions you have in the thread below, and I’ll try to reply to everything. - Tay ----------------------------------- 2. Site analytics A few weeks ago we started paying for a second, small server to host our analytics software. There’s a bug in the software which makes it difficult to get hard numbers for the past few weeks, but I think I found a clever work-around. Here are the numbers as best as I'm able to find: Front site: 4-5k unique visitors a day and something like 7-8k daily hits Fuwazette Blog: Weekdays: 1.7k unique visitors (average); Weekends: 2-4k unique visitors per day following VNTS posts Forums: 6-10k unique visitors a day, 11-15k hits per day Reviews Hub: 40-60 unique visitors a day; each time a FuwaReviews review goes up, it spikes to several hundred uniques per day for several days VNTL-Moon: ~60 unique visitors a day, ~100 hits ----------------------------------- 3. Abbreviated Financial report Many members have been extremely generous with their donations, and from the bottom of my heart I want to say THANK YOU. All donated site funds have been put directly towards site costs: I’ve saved up a 3 month rainy day fund (split between donations and my personal funds) We’ve had one full round of software license fees We paid $100 past site debts Put aside funds for new Reviews Hub theme $70 spent on developing an articles hub site which ended up being extremely unsecure and ex’d by Nayleen (Maef and I were SO CLOSE). $40 of the $70 came from saved-up donation funds. Free: The feeling you get flirting with Flutterz or getting clever ideas in a PM from Eclipsed Free: #Renenvy ----------------------------------- 4. Feedback Survey: Loli Policy I promised Sanah a follow-up survey about Loligeddon, and haven’t been able to follow-up until now (well, technically, a bit later in October). If you’d like to give feedback on the Loli policies, have suggestions for changing them, or have something you want to tell me, here’s the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Yp2ADO3AROV7LvQ3mS47g0sINkFn-OEaPRPf6ZHzsqE/viewform?usp=send_form Any proposed changes will be considered with our law maester when I next talk to him. There’s an option to include your forums username and be added to a follow-up roundatable discussion (space is limited) once that occurs. ----------------------------------- 5. Commentary from Tay Commentary on Analytics: It may come as a surprise to some that this quarterly update is the first time I’ve officially opened our analytics numbers to the public (Nay’s done it in the past, but always on his own impetus). This coincides with a decision to make the front site open-source and seek help from a much larger coding pool than before. These may be small steps, but they’re meaningful and I hope they’ll represent the seeds for yet more transparency in the future. So. Let’s talk about these numbers. The big-picture take-home message is that Fuwa has continued to grow in the four(ish) months since our last analytics report. I’m a big data nerd who likes to try to use big-boy statistics (and, inevitably, breaks something and needs a math genius friend’s help), so here are a few other trends: Users are spending a lot more time, on average, in the Visual Novel and Dev/Translation boards. Almost twice as much time as they were in March 2015 Walkthroughs are still a huge draw New members are, literally, about nine times more likely to go to the dev boards than they were in March 2015 (within their first week on the boards). They’re about six times more likely to regularly go there afterwards. The amount of VN-centric sites linking to Fuwanovel has increased a tremendous amount. Like, a seriously crazy amount. Several times more links to us from other VN communities than in March 2015 (I didn’t do any hard numbers for this, though, since I only thought to check it right before posting this. Apologies.) Tay’s daily hatemail has decreased by several hundred percent since March 2015 The blog’s popularity on VNTS days has increased by about 45% since July. The front site’s traffic has decreased somewhere between 20-40% since pre-torrents, but the other sites have maintained solid, steady growth Daily user registrations on all the various sites are still a horrible approximation for traffic and engagement Autoposting is the bomb Our Google+ page is a lonely, lonely place, but I met a few really nice people on there who have since become friends. So… yay. Google+ did something good. The reviews hub traffic has continued to steadily grow. It’s not a steep growth, but it’s steady. The traffic spikes for FuwaReviews official reviews are higher than ever and they last for longer than the used to, as well. Our new anti-spam-user software is doing fairly well, which is great Commentary on Site Finances: I just wanted to thank everyone who has generously donated to the site. As soon as I can get Nay’s help with an authentication library (or something like that), I’ve got a slick new donations app which will automate the donation process and make sure you get your goodies instantly. Commentary on Site Leadership: Fuwanovel is an important part of my life. I’ve learned a lot over the years from building and running this place, and many of the most important lessons I’ve learned came from making mistakes or falling short of goals and deadlines. I’d like to open up a bit and share a bit of vulnerability on two such shortcomings. I’d like to publicly apologize for my inconsistent presence in the community. I have not been able to give the site everything it’s needed, and I want everyone to know that I recognize it. Beyond being busy in general, I’ve had a truly bizarre amount of freak accidents or tropical storms or RL craziness mess up my genuinely well-meaning plans time and time again. I’m not trying to make excuses, I’m more or less just trying to express that I’m likely as frustrated as you with the lack of progress in certain site projects. I have plans burning in my brain for where we need to go and what we need to do in order to get there, and at times I, too, get a little burned out and discouraged when I see the discrepancy between where we are and where we need to be. Secondly, I’d like to apologize to the dozens of friends who have spent hundreds of hours participating and working on the site who don't feel adequately appreciated. In the real world I make a real effort to reach out to and thank the people I work with for their good work. It’s an important part of being a leader, and it’s an important part of being a friend. I am disappointed when I review my track record for tracking and recognizing all the work done by so many great people on this site. When I get "Fuwa time", I tend to jump in and do work on the site without taking time to check in with everybody. I want to improve in this department, and I hope you'll help me as I try to do better. As far as site leadership goes, only one other thing to discuss: adding another (/more) admin(s). This is something I feel like I’ve discussed so many times I worry that you all think I’m a broken record. I’ll be the first to agree that we need to spread the autonomy around. The way this works at the moment is that all the different parts of Fuwanovel have a dedicated leader who has the autonomy to run their project within a pre-agreed upon framework that she/he and I set at the beginning of the quarter (or year, depending on the project). It’s not a perfect system – in many ways because this is a hobby site, not a paying job, and I’m fairly adamant that people keep Fuwa in a healthy balance and not burn out – but it’s also not too bad. Judging from recent posts as well as more than a few a hellaton PMs and emails, many people disagree with me on two fronts: the forums and the front site. I’ll tackle each of those below. Commentary on the Forums: I’m quite happy with the trends I’m seeing in the analytics. I like to think that the improved engagement of new members with the VN and Dev boards heralds the wider change of userbase from torrent-seekers to VN-community-seekers. Even if that’s not true, VN engagement is higher than it was earlier this year, and traffic is still robust. I’m still embarrassed and frustrated about the forums’ sidebar formatting. I spent an hour last week trying to figure out what I needed to do to fix it, but I can’t find my old notes anywhere. I’ve reached out to Nay about this and other things, of course, and I really hope I can get this fixed for you soon. Earlier this quarter Sanah and I had some great discussions about the limitations of the current blog app and how we might provide a better blogging platform for users. At the moment I’m still waiting to see how the upcoming IPB 4 forums’ software upgrade feels for our bloggers. Sanah eventually opted to start his own blog and use the Fuwa app to drive readers to his new location. That’s, obviously, fantastic, since my goal with the blogs app has always been to give people a platform and help drive VN fans to them. So, what I’m getting at here is that if the IPB 4 upgrade is poorly received, I’m up to the challenge of finding a way to host a blogging platform if need be. Hopefully it won’t come to that, but the blog authors need to know, at the very least, that we’ll do our best to take care of them. Not going to write any more about Loligeddon. Go take the survey if you want to share your views and/or propose policy changes. I will personally review all the entries. Quite a few people have asked me to add a forums admin who would be in charge of both moderation and engagement. I’m skeptical of the idea due to past experience, but it’s brought up enough that I’m willing to open the door to feedback. Would you like me to make a survey about the forums experience and include a field for you to write desired forums organizational/leadership changes? Commentary on the Front Site: Here’s the situation: we’ve committed to the open-source plan, but I’m not technical enough to make sure that’s set up or manage the various software forks that will result. Nayleen, our webmaster, has been traveling and working and dealing with craziness and thus hasn’t been around lately, but as far as I’m aware he’s sticking with us. Which is a good thing: the man’s a genius. Back in August Nay and I realized that the plans we had for the front site were too ambitious to try and bite off all at once, so we decided to scale-back the initial launch plans and simply try and get a basic redesign up and running (using a lot of the old code under the hood) which would then be improved bit-by-bit over the next few months. This was poorly communicated to the design team, and Emi and Beato deserve an apology. Furthermore, that scaled-back version is still not up and running. Which is frustrating. It isn’t something I or a novice coder can address, however, since the front site is written with multiple coding languages. The critical bottlenecks are currently: open development onto git (or wherever) (which Nay has already done to some extent), finalize the database structure so the other coders can know how it’s structured, roll out the design update with or without an underlying total code revamp, tackle each module one at a time thereafter. (Maef and I have been working on the articles and team builder concepts, and I think they’re going to be pretty great.) After the bottlenecks are addressed and the rest of the design timeline is sorted out, Nay, maef and I will be posting some more information on the rest of the evil plans. Conclusion Thank you for reading this post and for being a part of this community. I’m dedicated to keeping the site alive and improving it (even if by uneven pacing), and having friends and fellow fans like you makes the effort worth it. Tay
    28 points
  9. Wow, I'm really 2 months away from being a two-year member. I usually forget how long I've been here until I look it up and think "damn, I'm way too old for this anime nonsense." But here we are: 1000 likes. As some of you might know by now, I don't care much about post counts so I waited to get a juicy like number to make this kind of thread. And it does seem as if I am entertaining you guys, looking at my Post/Like difference (the internal mechanics of our OT forum are obviously completely unrelated). Most of that probably stems from memeing too much, but I would like to think that my contributions in the discussion forums are insightful too. So, I hereby thank Fuwanovel as a whole for being better than reddit and our mod staff for their hard work in the fight against trolls, spam, random porn links and the occasional creepy otaku confession. Now, to the call-outs. Because everyone does it, I guess. @Suzu Fanatic and @Fred the Barber: I didn't place you two into your video roles randomly, you two are kind my "fanclub", if I can say that without looking like an asshole. Anyway, I appreciate all the support you two in particular give me for basically no reason at all. Pressing that green button actually makes me happy. @mitchhamilton, you get a deserved third spot in the fanclub, but you have been slacking lately. The Skype People, who give me an excuse to waste ours of my life with nothing but text chat: @Hanako, @Vokoca, @madvanced, @Dergonu, @Asonn, @Kawasumi, @Vongalaxy, @Kiriririri, @LinovaA(come back, you lazy adult!), @Zakamutt, @YarrakYarrak (no idea who you are here), @Yeah Way (I'm from Tibet, now you know), @sarayne, @Kurisu-Chan (don't let everything in life slap you down, it's bad for your health), @hsmsful, @Hymen, @Funyarinpa (look at me covering the desert in one go ) and some more which I probably forgot because they haven't been online for at least 2 hours \(°ω°)/ The Princess Evangile People: I honestly don't remember who all of you were, but I will never forget how much fun that damn thread was. @Eclipsed, @Zenophilious, @Tiagofvarela, @KosakiFag, @crunchytaco, @Flutterz, @Nosebleed : You guys were the fools who made me feel welcome here from the get-go. I don't care who the real Fuwa-oldguard is, you guys are my oldguard. @Fiddle: You make me depressed, because you are like me; just in funny. But then I read your posts and laugh the depression away. @Decay, @Rooke, @Kaguya: You three probably didn't expect this call out - since we have different opinions on pretty much everything - but you three are really smart and enjoy being around smart people. Even if I don't agree with them. @OriginalRen: You are not the best Reviewer in the world, but you are a great Entertainer. Play to your strengths! @CeruleanGamer: It's not like I care about Nee-san, I just felt like mentioning her. @Valmore: It's not like I care about Aniki, I just felt like mentioning him. @Palas and @nohman: You two are smart and pleasant company. Running into you on the board is always a pleasure. @TheguywholikesDearDrops: You know who you are, keep it up. @Elina-chan; You are the best waifu. Luv u bby <3 @all the translators who actually finish their projects; Texas Dice loves all of you. I would rob a bank for your sakes, you glorious bastards! Here we are, thanks for all the likes everyone! People not mentioned in the thread or shown in the video are free to complain. Now everyone can ask me whatever they want to ask. I shall answer in honest, unless I feel like lying.
    26 points
  10. This is a long comprehesive guide It has now been moved to the mainsite. to read it click the chapter images for the individual parts: note: part 4-5 not made yet. but hopefully will be added in future
    26 points
  11. InvertMouse

    Cursed Sight

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVc4RKQSHa8&list=UUbc0jPjgo4r_McbzaLajKWQ Being able to control fate would be a blessing for many. To Miyon, it is her greatest curse. East and West Taria are in conflict, and Miyon's power will be the most valuable weapon. Meanwhile, Gai has been sold by his family into Miyon's temple. Will the two save or destroy one another? Hello everyone ! Here is my latest project, Cursed Sight. It has in fact in brewing for quite a while now, and I am happy to finally be able to share it with you all. A demo version of the game is available here: http://cursedsight.invertmouse.com/demo.html So far, my most common feedback is that my previous titles were too short. With Cursed Sight, I am hoping to find a balance between staying succinct and satisfying the players' wishes. The full script is currently around 45,000 words long. Cursed Sight will also be my first release with multiple complete endings. There is currently a campaign to fund the full game. I hope to have your support: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1013046199/cursed-sight-visual-novel Cursed Sight is currently also on Steam Greenlight. If you could consider sparing a moment to vote, I would really appreciate it: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=403682653 Here is Cursed Sight's webpage: http://cursedsight.invertmouse.com And a few screenshots: Before signing off, hey Rooke, Flutterz, thank you so much for helping me out earlier on. I will always remember your support . Nosebleed, thanks for letting me post this here as well. As discussed, please feel free to move this over to Ongoing Projects. Thank you so much everyone! Really appreciate you all as always.
    26 points
  12. H2O √ after and another Complete Story Edition Release Download the patch (Google drive, Mediafire) (ver. 1.01, dated September 8, 2023) Description In H2O -Footprints in the Sand-, Hirose Takuma is a blind middle school student, though the cause for his blindness is undetermined. After his mother died unexpectedly, it left a deep emotional scar on him, causing him to become lonely and reserved. Due to this, Takuma moves from the city out into a rural area to live with his uncle and Takuma is enrolled into a new middle school. There, he meets several new girls, including the firm and obstinate Kohinata Hayami, the kind and obliging Kagura Hinata, and the cheerful and mysterious Otoha. In √ after and another, there are new after stories for two of the heroines from H2O (Hayami and Hinata), plus new routes for Yui and Hamaji/Yukiji, the latter of which also unlocks Maki's route. A version merging both games into one was later released, H2O √ after and another Complete story Edition. H2O VNDB: https://vndb.org/v473 √ after and another VNDB: https://vndb.org/v561 Where to purchase The game can be purchased legally from DMM (https://dlsoft.dmm.co.jp/detail/mnphs_0007/), but a Japanese proxy/VPN may be necessary to purchase it. That is where I obtained my copy. It goes on sale quite often, although it's pretty cheap even at full price, considering its age. Project The English localization project is being conducted by Studio Frisay, fresh off the completed Imasugu Onii-chan ni Imouto datte Iitai! project. As before I (Tooko) will be doing all of the translating and editing of the script, along with probably most of the image editing, and any engine work that needs to be done (of which is very little). Studio Frisay discord server Progress Programming: The game is built on the BGI/Ethornell engine, as with Imaimo before it, so I'm already familiar with how the engine works and have all the resources necessary to apply any hacks and build the completed patch once everything is done. In fact, there's a lot less work this time around on that front because the structure is a lot simpler, being a NVL game instead of an ADV game. Translation: The translation officially commenced on August 10, 2022 and was completed on January 28, 2023, although progress was initially very slow because of the ongoing work for the Imaimo patch at the time. However, I already translated a decent amount of the script (20%) by the time I announced the project a couple months later in October. The game has 73,547 lines across 167 scenario files split up between the common route and six character routes: Common: 6953 / 6953: 100% Hayami: 20620 / 20620: 100% Hinata: 14112 / 14112: 100% Yui: 13151 / 13151: 100% Hamaji: 4973 / 4973: 100% Maki: 5437 / 5437: 100% Otoha: 8301 / 8301: 100% Total: 73547 / 73547: 100% Images and videos: Aside from minor tweaks, all of the in-game images in need of editing are now completed. Editing of images is shared between me and nReus, who will also be typesetting lyrics onto the 9 OP/ED videos. The images include about 110 for the UI, and about 335 for the rest of the game, although most of those are minor variations on each other, so the actual number of unique images is much less. Editing: The editing of the game's text officially commenced on February 10, 2023, and it was completed on July 10, 2023. QC: The quality check phase involves going through a normal playthrough to check for any problems with the patch files and their rendering. This should took about two months, completing in early September. The patch is scheduled for release on September 8, 21:00 UTC. Progress link on Google Sheets
    24 points
  13. Hi there everyone. A few of you may have heard that my dad has passed away this Monday from cardiac arrest. Never before have I felt so broken. It's like there's a hole in my heart that would never heal again. But after close to a week, I felt the healing process taking place. I can now smile again, and I no longer break into tears at random. When I reflect, my dad's passing has helped me grow so much in the span of three to five days. It's not at all worth the exchange, but now I hold Mum's hand a lot more, and the whole family is closer from the incident. My mind seems to have pushed all of Dad's flaws aside, so now he's turned into some kind of deity who I can always count on to watch over me. I've never been spiritual, but maybe it's all I have now to keep me sane. But as the title suggests, my dad's funeral is on this afternoon, and I'm so nervous about it. I haven't seen Dad's face since I left the hospital on Monday, and after the cremation ceremony tomorrow, I'll never get to see him again. Really scared to guess how I'll respond when I see him today. My wounds have at last begun to heal, but the funeral might tear those stitches open again, which is so tough to bear. I feel terrible for worrying about myself at a time like this, but I must own up to what's going through my mind. For now, I'm telling myself that the funeral should be a celebration of my dad's legacy, but once those doors open, my narrative will probably fly out the window. So yes, if anyone has any advice for me, I'd appreciate that so much. I'm up typing this at 3am because I really can't sleep, so maybe I'm a bit desperate. Of course, I'd be thankful for any good wishes you have for my dad as well. Just a lot of selfishness and confusion on my part. Thank you so much everyone.
    24 points
  14. Disclaimer: At the end of this post I get pretty salty, so be aware of that. This post endorses MY and MY OPINION ONLY. The numbers about the costs of a translation team were researched before putting them here. Hello guys. Aizen-Sama here with another spicy rant. Although I haven’t been around the forums as long as other users who have spent their time here several years (I have spent around 7 months more or less at the present time being) I have seen that there’s a huge problem that I’ve mostly seen here, in Fuwanovel, more than any other site that congregates VN fans. In fact, I think that this doesn’t happen anywhere but here, but again, what do I know? I don’t really visit Reddit nor 4chan that much, let alone interact there. Anyways, what I want to address is a problem that has been going on since the beginning stages of this site, and that problem is the Translation Requests, or what I like to call “e-beggars” (yes, I know this term has been invented already). First and foremost, the majority of people that make these Translation Request posts are usually new users and I’m fully aware of that. But this has been blowing up lately. I know that 4 posts in the last month and a half doesn’t sound like that much, but the proposals are getting so ridiculous that it’s hard to believe sometimes if the guys asking these things are for real or if they’re straight out trolling. Let’s take this post as a quick example. You’re scrolling through the forums and see this post, and then the thought comes to mind “Another typical Request Post. Sigh. Let’s see what this guy’s asking for…” and then you see this: These posts show nothing more than ignorance and arrogance, as well as no interest towards these groups they are begging to translate something for them. Do these people even understand what it takes to translate a medium length VN? A medium length, around the 35-40k line mark in my opinion, could easily take a year. And the guy in this post begged for 5 medium and long length VN’s to be translated, one of them being >50 hours long. But don’t be mistaken, the worst part about that post wasn’t the amount of VN’s he was begging for nor their length. It was the last statement: “Thanks in advance”. Although it sounds stupid, that’s what triggered me the most. A shitty “thanks in advance” is not something that motivates people to do these things. People have to put themselves in a translators’ shoes sometimes. Not only him, but also the people who aren’t translating, but the ones who edit the text, proofread it, the image editors, the quality checkers, etc… Do they think that the task can be easily done if the guy in question knows Japanese? Not even close. The secret of a translation project. I know this is hard to believe for the e-beggars, but the translation of a game requires an enormous amount of time, and one year to finish the TRANSLATION, not editing, of a medium length VN is a very decent deadline. And I’m talking about a medium length game, not a long one. Majo Koi has around 47k lines. Supposing it had one sole translator and the translator in question did 100 lines a day, the game would be finished in around 470 days approximately, this taking into account he diligently does 100 lines a day, no skipping, no nothing. Let’s convert that into hours spent in total, since that tends to shock people more; 470 days doing 100 lines a day, if the translator is an experienced one, meaning that he has done this before or is a professional in the field, he could get rid of that task in about an hour. But an amateur translator, basically the bulk of the community in itself when it comes to fan translations, could take around 1,5 or 2 hours to do the exact same number of lines. That could mean than in total, just translating could take from 470 hours for the experienced translator, which means around 20 full days translating something, to 705-940 hours for the amateur translator, which is around 30-40 days translating nonstop. And this would be just translation, I’m purposely taking out the other processes such as editing and QC’ing. Do you e-beggars understand the amount of work is being put in these projects? This is why Translation Request posts should be completely banned off this site and instantly deleted. Then again, where would I put my insulting memes towards the op’s to gain likes for no reason? Let’s throw in another question now that we’re shifting towards that matter: Is fan-translating Visual Novels even worth it in the first place? Before I answer (although it’s probably known what I’m going to say, given my tone) let me address this: I by no means think that fan-translation is bad, in fact, it has been the reason why we’re getting official localizations now and I think that no amount of praise of thanks can equate the amount of work the translators of these projects did in order for this genre to be known better in the Western community. But, as sad as it sounds, fan translating at this moment is not worth it. Why? I’ll put in some of the reasons: - Although some members of the vocal community throw in the occasional thanks once the patch is out that’s all the team who translated the game gets. Nothing more, nothing less. Some people might say that recognition counts as some sort of reward as well, but personally I don’t think that’s the case. - No reviews of the translated VN’s are usually made (this is what in my opinion spreads the awareness of these games), only discussion threads are made, which is pretty sad in my opinion. - I’m going to quote something that Clephas said in one of my posts, that sums up this next point: “Another thing is that most people in the community will never even try to experience fantl from the other side of things... they don't realize how much time it eats up, that emptiness you feel when you realize you've used dozens of hours of your personal time only to put out a patch that people bash left and right for 'errors' and other shit.” - The work put in to translate the game itself is not worth, meaning that the compensation that the translator/team worked for it is not even close enough to what they should be getting. Lastly, I want to address the problem that comes with donations, awareness of localization costs/translation costs, and ignorance. I’ll cut to the chase; for the people that think that with donations alone you can “pay” a translator to do some kind of game, you’re WRONG. Let’s put an example of what could a medium VN translation cost: let’s suppose that the team consists of three persons, to translate a 1.5 million jp character VN (equating to a 45k line count approximately). The translator gets 1 cent per Japanese character, the editor gets 1 cent per English word and the QC gets a quarter of a cent for each English word. In total, the final price equates to 33k dollars JUST FOR THE TEAM TO TRANSLATE A SINGLE VN. And these prices are apparently pretty shitty for a translator, so yeah, there you go. Besides, why donating a random group of guys, who could easily run away with the money and machine translate the game, or not even translate the game at all, when you can just support the official localizers? Contrary to what some people think they are actually releasing more games than ever and the 18+ industry in the scene has never seen so many official releases ever. Summing up this 3 page-long essay of frustration: 1. Please for the love of god don’t e-beg or Request for translations. Just no, it triggers people off and it only shows how ignorant you are about what happens behind the scenes. 2. Fan Translating in this actual moment is NOT WORTH, only people who are very commited and have a strong resolution will be able to start one, and very few out of those will actually finish the project. 3. Donations are NOT a solution to encourage Fan Translation, it ruins the very concept of it and it’s also ILLEGAL. Don’t support an already illegal activity by paying it. 4. Before posting retarded shit on the forums please look for other posts similar to what you might want to post. Maybe looking at the responses could enlighten you and help the other users not waste their time by reading the same shit over and over again. 5. Before criticizing Translations and patches for “errors” and “typos” and being a little whining bitch how about you try to show interest on how much effort people put on the translation of these games behind the scenes? (This goes solely to the people that haven't experienced working on a fan translation and whine non-stop about "how bad the translation of this is" and blah blah blah.) Anyways, I think that’s all the rage out. For those of you who haven’t dozed off already have a nice day and all of that stuff. And if you smash that like button you will get your very own… DIES IRAE MACHINE TRANSLATED PATCH. Yes! This is not a scam at all, your own personal Dies Irae Machine Translated patch. If you leave a like you can choose between a Google, Bing, or a Skype translated patch. I’ve invested so many hours on them, it was totally worth though ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).
    24 points
  15. Nosebleed

    Thank You Fuwanovel

    So I just came back home after retaking my English exam in Highschool to re-apply for college, and lo and behold, the exam's theme was internet freedom and censorship. I really feel these almost 2 years on Fuwanovel filled with loli threads, "take down da torrentz" threads and "stop censoring my opinion you spawn of Satan" threads really provided me with an insane amount of insight and I truly believe I have just done the most amazing written composition in any English test I've ever made and managed to answer all the questions about why the internet should be a free place. It was an amazing pleasure to be able to convey all the salt into an actual written exam. So thank you, Fuwanovel, for constantly debating these ultra important issues, so much so that even Portugal's National English Exam ended up being all about it. Without you, I would not have been able to write a 220 word composition about "muh freedomz on the internet". PS: I did end up writing on how lolis shouldn't be censored, but unfortunately that part went over the word limit, but it will forever be remembered in my heart.
    24 points
  16. Hi Everyone Time for an Update on my husbands condition....He is doing great other than still having trouble with communication He cant type as many of you in the chatroom have seen and he cant say everything he wants to say He did have a Therapy session this week and She said we need to reboot his brain if you will So Starting Monday June 15th he will be starting Speech and Cognitive therapy at a facility a few times a week so he can try to regain as much back as possible Our son EJ whose turning 3 in July is his motivation He wants to be able to read to him again because when he brings him a book and ask It kills him inside to not be able to So sorry for the update not being at the start of the week but im a very busy woman as of late Have a great weekend and i will try to update earlier next week
    24 points
  17. Nosebleed

    Fuwanovel Lore

    This is a quick guide to get people familiarized with Fuwanovel's mythos. It's very important to know as this is deeply tied with how Fuwans spend their daily lives and you wouldn't want to make a mistake to anger them. After reading this, I am confident you will understand how Fuwanovel works from the inside out. Deities and other notorious figures Scottsune Miku Scott is our lord and savior. He offers us Domino's pizza and lets us have fun with Hatsune Miku. Every person on Fuwanovel needs to at least pay him proper respect and thank him for the life they've been given. He has done many feats in the past such as become the person with the most posts, most profile views, most warning points and most swag. He truly is the definition of a God. Praise Scott OriginalRun #UnbanRun Run was once banned and forever he shall not be unbanned. So the laws of physics dictate. Pleading for Run to be unbanned is a natural occurence, but it shall go unheard for eternity. Azusa Azusa is the best grill, she descended from the heavens to save the anime industry and we shall praise her for it. She is also the most efficient weapon in dealing with TheMajor. Asuna Although the pronounciation is similar, you mustn't mistake Asuna for Azusa, it is a grave offense. Asuna is the worst grill. Some say she is a direct relative to Satan, I wouldn't be surprised. You may bash Asuna anytime you'd like. Cloudfare Whenever Fuwanovel stops working, it's cloudfare's fault. No exceptions. Pulltop Notoriously known for destroying OriginalRun's youtube account, Pulltop runs a Yakuza gang that scouts out youtube videos and sends them DMCAs. They are a very dangerous entity and should not be messed with. Some say it was because of the Pulltop Yakuza that Fuwanovel had to take down all their torrents. They often attract people with cute moege. Beware, this is only a trap to lure you in and get DMCA strikes. Approach with caution. Moenovel The company responsible for the atrocity of a translation that is If My Heart Had Wings. Everything wrong in the Visual Novel industry can be compared to Moenovel. Moenovel shall always be used when complaining about game translations, in any discussion ever. Other Important Objects of Worship Milky Holmes Milky Holmes is the greatest anime of all time. This is ditacted by our lord Scott and mustn't be defied. The only thing better than Milky Holmes is more Milky Holmes Bananas Bananas are Fuwanovel's official fruit. Please eat bananas regularly to stay healthy. Pancakes There is a weapon for every villain. If you ever encounter a subject by the name of solidbatman, know your weapon of choice should always be pancakes. Pancakes became notorious for fending off against solidbatman after he was subject to torture with pancake overload when streaming Little Busters for over 24 hours. They usually prove quite effective. When used, pancakes often cause salt to be created Salt Most fuwans produce salt, especially when angered. You can often see salt dripping from threads and posts, it's one of Fuwanovel's more precious minerals and lots of people enjoy collecting it. Lolis Lolis are to Fuwanovel what coal is to a furnace. They keep the site running. School Days HQ The worst visual novel in history. Only the brave try to touch it with a 10 foot pole. Spam Fuwanovel's insides are mostly made of spam, it is the thing that inflates the forum in content as well as people's post count. My Blender A picture of my blender. Fuwanovel Timeline While hard to grasp for newcomers, Fuwanovel runs on a timeline named Soon What happens in this timeline is, for every new feature that's annouced, a wormhole is created which causes the creation of that feature to be stuck on a sort of limbo. Fuwanovel is perpetually threading this Soon timeline. But it's not to say that the timeline is an infinite loop. Sometimes, through several riots, Fuwanovel is able to temporarly leap out of the Soon timeline and create something new. But the attraction field surrounding the Soon timeline is very strong so these divergences are scarce and far in between. Too many riots often also result in Fuwapocalypses And this is the reason Fuwanovel is in a state of continuous monotony. I hope with this post you became more knowledgable about Fuwanovel and the magic that goes on behind the scenes. With this knowledge, you can now become an official Fuwan! Praise Scott
    24 points
  18. Grisaia no Kajitsu Licensed by Sekai Project Summary Mihama Academy - on the surface, a closed learning environment established to nurture students who find themselves at odds with the world around them; in actuality, an orchard-cum-prison built to preserve fruit that has fallen too far from its tree. Whatever the circumstances behind its establishment, Mihama Academy is at present home to five female students, all with their own reasons for "enrollment." For better or worse, each girl has established a routine obliging of her current situation; life moves at an idle, yet accommodating pace within the walls of Mihama. Yet with the arrival of the institute's first male student, the nearly preposterously opaque Kazami Yuuji, the students at Mihama begin to fall out of step with their predetermined rhythms. Will Yuuji prove to be the element the girls around him needed to take hold of their lives once more, or will the weight of their pasts prove too steep a wall to overcome? And in the first place, just who is Kazami Yuuji? While the true nature of the "job" he is wont to alight to at the most haphazard of moments remains shrouded in secrecy, one thing is for certain - his encroachment upon the quiet orchard known as Mihama Academy will prove itself momentous in one way or another. And of course, one cannot discount the possibility that perhaps Yuuji himself carries the weightiest past of any of the students... Ending Guideline / Suggested Route Order The game has a similar structure to G-Senjou no Maou in that its plot branches into a heroine's route at certain choices, although each of them is valid in its own as there's no true end. After entering a heroine's route the choices boil down to a single one for good/bad end. Following the flow of the story and entering each route as soon as you encounter them would lead to the following order: Makina -> Amane -> Sachi -> Michiru -> Yumiko. That said, Route Guideline Amane Good End Bad End Makina Good End Bad End Michiru Good End Bad End Sachi Good End Bad End Yumiko Good End Bad End Attribution A mysterious source. Aaeru formatted the original version of this post. It has since been updated and reworked several times by various staff members and admins.
    24 points
  19. Hoshizora no Memoria Wish Upon A Shooting Star Licensed by Sekai Project The story begins with the protagonist, Kogasaka You, moving back to his hometown, which he left behind several years ago. Upon arriving, he stumbles into an abandoned, sealed observatory, whereupon he encounters a mysterious girl who looks exactly like his childhood friend did years ago. She introduces herself as Mare, a shinigami who reaps nightmares. Meanwhile, back at school, You ends up joining the astronomy club, which is desperate need of new members. At night, he continues to visit Mare at the observatory, all the while trying to remember a certain someone's name. In 'Hoshizora no Memoria - Wish Upon A Shooting Star', the protagonist can fall in love with one of the seven heroines in the game. They are as follows: Minahoshi Asuho, Hisakaki Komomo, Hisakaki Kosame, Aoi Isuzu, Kogasaka Chinami, Ototsu Yume, and Mare S. Ephemeral. Ending Guide At the beginning of the game, only three of the seven heroines' routes are available. You will have to unlock the rest by playing through the first three's routes. The three available routes at the beginning of the game are Asuho, Komomo, and Isuzu's. After finishing Komomo's route, Kosame's will be unlocked. After finishing Isuzu's route, Chinami's will be unlocked. After finishing Asuho, Komomo, Kosame, Isuzu, and Chinami's routes, a secret heroine's route will be unlocked. Finally, you have to finish every heroines' routes before Mare's route can be unlocked. In order to fully immerse, enjoy, and understand the visual novel, it is the author's recommendation that you follow this order for clearing the routes: **Please note that the choices you see below are choices that the author made, you may be able to choose another choice and still arrive at the same route.** Route Walkthrough Asuho Minahoshi Komomo Hisakaki Kosame Hisakaki Aoi Isuzu Chinami Kogasaka Secret Heroine Mare S. Ephemeral LAST PHRASES (spoilers) Source: This walkthrough was prepared and submitted by Skeith. Edited the guide posted by FFTHEWINNER from GameFAQs.com. Update: Walkthrough updated for Sekai Project based on otakulair's guide.
    24 points
  20. Hi everyone, I've created over 2000 tracks of music and sound effects that you are welcome to freely use in visual novels, games or anything else you like. It's all original...all my own work. All I ask is to be attributed as detailed on my homepage: http://soundimage.org/ I sincerely hope my tracks are helpful. Any and all feedback is welcome and always appreciated! All the best, Eric
    23 points
  21. This is a list of good games to begin your journey into playing VNs in Japanese. Inevitably, most of these games will be moege, charage, or nakige. There is little to be done about this, as chuuni, sci-fi, and fantasy-action VNs have linguistic barriers that will be too much for someone still struggling with reading conversational Japanese. In particular, the biggest barrier for someone who is used to dealing with Japanese that is 'spoken', rather than 'written' is the existence of literary Japanese. The turns of phrase, different wording, etc. that an inexperienced reader might run into can either be seen as a learning experience or as pure confusion, depending on your level and state of mind. As such, I am only putting down games that are readable for someone who understands spoken Japanese but is weaker in literary Japanese. I will also put a 'second level' for those who are interested in challenging themselves a little but not too much. This one will be for those who are willing to see if they can handle the easier action scenes, more difficult event descriptions, and the like. First Level: Maji Suki Marginal Skip Suzunone Seven Kamikaze Explorer Tsuisou no Augment (this game is hilarious, and it is not a moege. I recommend this to people who liked the atmosphere of Yume Miru Kusuri) Akabanzu - Real na Sekai de Boku ga Kimi ni Dekiru Koto (this game has only minor scientific terms and jargon, mostly related to AI and MMO's. Since it is distinctly possible you ran into these terms just watching anime, I went ahead and put this up.) Chuning Lover (this game is just generally rofl) Ichiban Janakya Dame Desu Ka (one of the few almost-pure comedy in my personal lineup) Otomimi Infinity Sakura Iro Quartet (this and the game above are for mimikko fetishists) Ryuusei Kiseki (sci-fi moege, fairly easy. Hardest parts are when the protag begins preaching about his hobby) Shiawase Kazoku-bu Sukimazakura to Uso no Machi (surrealist fantasy moege... mildly funny, interesting in general) Toppara - Zashikiwarashi no Hanashi (use this as your crash course in youkai) 12/30/2014 edit Love Revenge Real Imouto ga Iru Ooizumi-kun no Baai 08/15/2016 Edit Sakigake Generation Minamijuujisei Renka Primal Hearts Primal Hearts 2 World Election Koko Kara Natsu no Innocence Second Level: Irotoridori no Sekai (yeah, it is being translated, but it isn't done yet) Konata yori Kanata Made (relatively low-difficulty action/event scenes, as well as being an excellent entry point into the utsuge genre) Tiny Dungeon series (relatively normal conversational and event scenes, and the actions scenes are relatively low-difficulty, if somewhat fast-paced) Draculius (similar to above in the action) Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no (this game is probably one of the top three non-action/sci-fi/fantasy games I've played and it is harder than the games on the first level... but in exchange it is also a lot better, lol) Hyper→Highspeed→Genius (relatively high difficulty to first level, but it is easier than the games I'd prefer to introduce people to, lol) Koisuru Otome to Shugo no Tate - The Code Name is "Shield 9" (fanboys of fantranslations know this as one of the many dead projects) Ore no Tsure wa Hitodenashi Kaminoyu (this one and the one above are your source for non-human love in this stage, lol) Otome ga Tsumugu, Koi no Canvas (higher difficulty than first level primarily due to the art terms) Aete Mushisuru, Kimi to no Mirai Akatsuki no Goei (first one only, later ones are too hard for Second Level) Re: birth Colony Lost Azurite (this, Tiny Dungeon, and Draculius are probably the hardest games on this list) Fake Azure Arcology (direct link to the game above, and ditto) Kimi to Boku to Eden no Ringo Koiiro Soramoyou (famous for certain VN fanboys) Kimi to Boku to no Kishi no HIbi (recent release, fairly easy, good protag) Lunaris Filia (a vampire charage, for those who want some of that) Naka no Hito nado Inai!! Tokyo Hero Project Dracu-riot Sakura Tale Tojita Sekai no Tori Colony (this game is pretty hilarious, especially if you insist on seeing all of the loop ends before getting to the true end) Tsuki ni Yorisou, Otome no Sahou (similar to Koi no Canvas, in that the terms that will give you the most trouble are the technical ones - this time for sewing and clothing design) 12/30/2014 edit Zannen na Oretachi no Seishun Jijou Kimi no Tonari de Koishiteiru Sekai wo Sukuu Dake no Kantan na Shigoto Nanairo Reincarnation (borderline within this if you are familiar with the base concepts of youkai and ghosts as understood by the Japanese) Sakigake Generation Edit: This will be the last in my series of lists. I will edit them with additions occasionally, but I won't be making any new ones. Have fun yall.
    23 points
  22. Tay

    Best Wishes for Krill

    On mobile so please forgive my brevity. Krill has suffered a stroke and is in the hospital. It sounds like he's okay but he will need significant therapy. His wife is willing to pass along messages to him, so please post and let him know you're thinking of him and sending best wishes, and I'll make sure she gets them.
    23 points
  23. Hey everybody, this is a pretty significant post. Please saddle in with me. Fuwanovel is migrating to both a new domain (Fuwanovel.net) and a new server (which we host). The old “.org” domain is going to be redirecting to the new “.net” domain automatically, so even if you forget to mark your calendars with the following dates, you’ll still end up in the right place. Be sure to update your bookmarks at some point, though : P (Tomorrow) Wednesday 2/18/2015 – Evening: the forums, the Fuwazette blog, and the FuwaReviews blog will be redirected to the new domain. Next week (as late as 3/1/2015): The front site will redirect to the new “.net” domain For those of you who are nosey and want to start poking around the “.net” domain right away, you’ll find all the services I had mentioned but the forums will be outdated and the front site may or may not be online or functional. Do not panic – we’ll update the forums at the time of the transfer tomorrow night, and no content will be lost. Precautions and Cause Some of you will remember our failed migration last year. We’ve taken significant precautions to prevent a repeat of last year: Nayleen has optimized the server and we have paid for a significantly more powerful machine to host the site. Nay and I both did our homework looking for hosts, and we’re very pleased with the one we’ve got: scaling the droplet (the hosting power) is easy, and we’re enjoying a good value for what we’re getting. We did this move for many reasons. Chief among them were legal concerns and recommendations, and my deep-felt responsibility to protect the many community leaders from new legal risks (of which I’ve only very recently become aware). More positively, it also needed to happen because we have a lot of new content and services rolling out in the near future. Consequences of TOS The hot-button issue is compliance with our host’s TOS. I’m engaged today and tomorrow inspecting it and getting legal clarifications, but I do not believe we will be able to host torrents on the front site following the move and the D&R board will be too much of a liability to keep. It wasn’t my intention to have this happen all at once, but I feel like we have little recourse in light of protecting one another. I apologize if the legal liability is shocking, but the best way forward is to admit that what’s done is done, and the only thing we have control over is how we choose to move forward. Compensation I don’t know how else to say this, so please bear with me: I realize that losing the torrents will rub some of you the wrong way. It should make all of us concerned, as they were a major draw to the site. I’ve got two thoughts on the matter: 1) the year-end surveys indicated that torrent usage among the three surveyed usergroups (core, FB, Twitter) was much lower than anticipated, which will soften the blow, and 2) new features must by necessity rise to attract users in their place. Here is a taste of what I’ve been working on over the past few months and crystallizing (hurriedly) in the last few days: The forums have been updated with blogging software. Users can input links to their own blogs, import RSS feeds of their blog, or create blogs hosted by Fuwanovel itself. This includes official/featured blogs such as the Recognition blog, or the Dev Boards Update blog (which is open to all the project managers in the dev boards to post freely on), or the Help Wanted blog (which similarly allows project managers to post freely when they’re looking to fill a position). All these blogs will have their own RSS feeds and will be incorporated into the corresponding Fuwazette categories. (Saving Tiago, Zaka and others time and hassle) ^ this blog functionality will have a lot of cool implications (such as for private clubs and the VN readers club!) The FuwaReviews site will now be reviews.fuwanovel.net, and it will be much more robust than simply a blog of the team’s reviews: I have negotiated with ~a dozen prominent VN bloggers and received the green-light to incorporate feeds of their VN reviews into the reviews site. I plan to continue to reach out to more bloggers and build this base. Things are looking pretty positive. I’ve been in productive talks with several OELVN devs (if I’ve talked to you about this, please don’t name names) and it looks like we’ll be able to form productive agreements for early-access game reviews, interviews, and PR access (we get emails/rss feeds of exclusive insider info to publish on our blogs before they announce it publicly). I can’t finalize these agreements until the full “.net” site is live, but it looks promising! I believe that I’ve arranged for an interview with [two gaming site writers/freelancers]. The interview would be about the VN landscape, Fuwanovel’s history, and how we plan to grow/expand in the future. No firm commitments, yet, but I’m in talks. There is another possible opportunity for an interview in a similar but more tech-focused major online blog as well. The front site redesign team is going to be launched for-reals in the next 72 hours. I’ve made a template for, and several examples of, mock-ups (which are flawed, but conversation starters), and I’m busy this afternoon uploading useful assets/psd resources to be available and ready for the team. Emi has agreed to be our secret-genius weapon, which means we can’t fail : P We’ve purchased a forums add-on which will allow us to use forums content in clever ways in our other websites. I’ve started putting together some ideas of ways it could integrate with the front site (including “FuwaScores” of games where fuwanovel users can score the games they’ve played and track their VN playing history), but its scope is much larger than that one implementation. With Nay’s help, I hope to come up with lots of cool ways to use this. Part of my discussion with devs is their agreement to a “releases” feed which would track OELVN releases and which could easily integrate TL releases on PC, but also on iOS and Android. I’ve been talking to several of the mobile app store VN devs, and they’ve almost universally been enthusiastic about the idea ^ This would be incorporated into the games section and a “What have I missed?” section which would list the important recent news and releases Fuwanovel Academy – the evolution of the “ultimate VN starter kit” idea – will be a section on the front site which will explain VNs, help players get started with a VN within 10 minutes of starting reading, and provide a lot of advanced information about the VN landscape, “movers and shakers” in the western VN world, and (hopefully!) some exclusive (read: slightly longer than normal) demos from our dev allies Obviously added on top of this is outreach to TL groups and OELVN teams to get them to use the Fuwanovel dev boards and/or the updates feed Expansion of the creative corner and dev boards Last of all, I’d like to mention that our host of the past two years has been very generous to us. I’ve passed along our gratitude for the extra nine months he’s given us to put our ducks in a row, and I want the community to know he’s making the transition very easy for us and being very supportive. No matter what we do, we're going to lose some of our traffic and our userbase. I’m convinced this is a necessary decision (if a painful and hard one), and that we’re going to make it through this. People can say a lot of things about Fuwanovel, but nobody can deny that we have staying power. Thank you for your time. I realize this is a lot, and it’s overwhelming. Please don’t be afraid to speak up or ask questions. Tay
    23 points
  24. Original Fakku forum release: Thanks to the help from a kind benefactor, I acquired the Steam release. Steam users can now y o r o k o b e. Figuring out how the Steam release worked was such a damn pain. Not much was updated, apart from a few thousand scene seek thumbnails. Mainly giving Steam users some love. MAITETSU 18+ RESTORATION PATCH v1.3 7-10-2018 MAITETSU 18+ STEAM RESTORATION PATCH v1.3 7-10-2018 Maitetsu WIP Decensor patch thread The main issues I was dealing with while making that patch that most certainly limited how much I can do are: 1. KrkrExtract just doesn't want to cooperate majority of the time when extracting XP3's. 2. When it does, it doesn't even extract the stuff I needed. 3. Repairing the sprites requires my being able to repack EMote .pbs files with edited .bmp images. Not hard at all to do, just repacking is the issue AFAIK 4. The data.xp3 is encrypted. About half of it KrkrExtract can get done, but the half that i'd need to fully repair the "filesystem" I guess you can say into something usable is. 5. God help me TJS2 bytecode is one of the most disgusting atrocities I have seen. Bless based nihongo tools If there is anyone out there who knows the KiriKiriZ engine or EMote engine, your input is always welcome. Suzu ga besto desu
    22 points
  25. Clephas

    Happy Birthday to Me

    Well, as of thirty-nine minutes ago, it is officially my birthday (as of the time I checked at the beginning of making this post). I have a lot of things to reflect on this year. I am now thirty-six, settling into the beginnings of middle-age, knowing my lifestyle will probably kill me before I hit fifty. I'm a sugar addict, I love fatty foods, I make my own alcoholic drinks (this year, a mixed fruit wine that actually turned out well and was much easier than the rum and hard root beer I did last year). I sit on my ass eighty percent of the time, I am hugely fat... ... and I'm surprisingly happy. I won't say I don't have my down moments. Looking back, I regret not going for more athletic pursuits while my knees and back could still stand them. I regret not trying for a more regular and less... frustrating line of work. However, I can honestly say that, for all its frustrations, I actually seem to like being a fat, balding otaku who has pretensions at being some kind of VN guru (lol). I do wish that I could fit into a plane seat, lol. If I ever go to Japan, it is going to have to be a sea trip, since buying two plane tickets for one person is both embarrassing and more than a little expensive. I hate my work, but I'm good at it and, in good times, it pays well, so I keep doing it. So what would I change? Honestly, it is hard to say. I won't pretend I'm all love and joy when it comes to life. I have too much toxic waste going through my brain for that (I just happened to have gained just enough maturity not to feed the trolls constantly *smiles dryly*). I'm fundamentally a passive person once I set foot outside my hobbies, preferring not to do anything I don't absolutely have to do. I'm also negative and misanthropic... but is that stuff I actually want to change? *shrugs* I've never been any other way, so it is impossible to say. However, every year I hit this day and wonder what could have been, which probably says everything that needs to be said about my experiences with life, for all my proclamations of relative happiness.
    22 points
  26. So, I honestly don't even know where to begin with this post or how to structure it effectively. I've given so many thank you messages to all sorts of Fuwanovel members that it hardly seems like this will be any different. Still, I feel like I need to write something because even to this day I don't think a lot of people understand how thankful I am for all of the patience and amazing people on and around this website. Truth be told, I am a pretty lazy person when it comes to keeping a lot of my obligations for the site of Fuwanovel. Maybe that's why a lot of people gave up on the games I was running awhile back. Dealing with stress is hard to deal with because a lot of promises were broken when I started piling up a lot of shipments for giveaways that I wanted to get done a lot earlier in the year. Does my personal life and figurine collecting play a major role in that? Of course it does, but it's not like I was trying to do that from the get go - I genuinely do feed off other people's happiness, and it has and always will be my intention to make members of this site (both old and new) happy. Still, all of you stuck by me in the end, and to this day you still accept me as a highly regarded member of this site. It feels selfish really. Is it fair to let people think so highly of me in certain instances? Not everyone likes me and my attitude, but even through all of the fooling around and trolling I do with long time veterans of this site, I still love a lot of these people like family. So with that said, I wanted a way to thank all of you once again for always sticking by my during my time of need and for always, always supporting me. For those of you wondering what is up, I have decided to leave Japan and end my job a little earlier than anticipated in order to pursue further education (in October to be exact). In addition, being near my family during a certain time is also something I really want to be doing. Because of that, I thought it would be a good chance to say thank you. So here it is, a list to all of those I cannot thank enough on and around this website. Thanks again Fuwanovel. If your name is not on this list, please don't get the wrong idea. There is no particular order for this list; I just wrote names as they came to my head. Nosebleed: Down: KosakiFag: Eclipsed: Flutterz: Kaguya: solidbatman: Ceris: Zenophilious: Zakamutt: nohman: Clephas: Decay: Tiagofvarela: Kendjin: Rooke: Emi: Funyarinpa: Deep Blue: Satsuki: Kurisu-chan: madvanced: Monmon: Nayleen: Nyancha: Mr. Meogii: InvertMouse: Life: Tyrael: Lewycool: krill: HMN: maki~chan: GetterEmperor: arakura: FruitPunchSamurai: Chewy: Kenshin_sama: Zalor: SoulJustIn: Rose: LinovaA: Narcosis: zoom909: Bolverk: Kiriririri: SieghartXx: Cyrillej1: sirjabberwock: suikashoujo: kyrt: cryofrzd: The Major: astro: Fiddle: Keisuke: Tenkuru: CLuBLioN: Ryechu: babiker: Turnip Sensei: Chronopolis: Helvetica Standard: cloudy12: Diamon: Kawasumi: jeftai: And everyone else: And with that, thank you again Fuwanovel. Thank you for being so patient with me as a member, for putting up with all the negative shit I carry, and above all, for being a place I always love coming to even in the worst of times. I love you all, and I won't ever stop saying that. See you in the future! Finally... To all of you, to every single member of Fuwanovel, I want you to know that no matter where life takes you, remember this: Fuwanovel is, and will always be, your home. I, along with many other people, am always here to support you in your dreams and hope that life takes you to stars. Thank you so much for everything.
    22 points
  27. 22 points
  28. The Western VN fandom has long idolised the Japanese VN market. Before the recent growth of the EVN scene and official localisations, Western VN fans had to subsist only on the occasional fan-translations of Japanese VNs while being told how much better the untranslated VNs were. However this faith in untranslated VNs rested on an unspoken assumption: that Western and Japanese VN fans enjoy the same content. But is it true? Through comparing the largest VN fandom site in Japan (erogamescape) against the largest VN fandom site in the West (VNDB), we sought to find out. Do we love the same VNs? While the ability of a numerical rating to summarise a subjective experience (like reading a VN) is debatable, the average score a community assigns a VN provides a useful approximation of how highly esteemed that VN is within the community. Both EGS and VNDB allow users to rate VNs they’ve read, so comparing how the same VN scores on both sites gives us an impression of how much the communities agree on which VNs are best. We can see there’s a strong correlation between the score a VN gets on each site, especially for higher rated VNs, showing that both communities tend to agree on which VNs are considered “the best” (despite the ferocious arguments within each fandom over that same question). But as the score drops, so does the agreement over the VN score. So while both communities tend to agree on what’s good, we disagree on what’s bad. There’s also another trend that’s a little less noticeable, but becomes more apparent if we remove the untranslated VNs... While the untranslated VNs in the last graph seemed to fairly evenly straddle the equal score line, the translated VNs are frequently below it (meaning these VNs score higher on EGS than VNDB). But is the translation a cause or an effect of the lower score on VNDB (i.e. does the release of a translation lower the score on VNDB, or are only low-scoring VNs being translated)? To answer this, we tracked how the VNDB score of a VN changes immediately after a translation is released. We tracked 117 of the most popular Japanese VNs that had an English translation released in the past 5 years. In the first 60 days after their translation was released, their score dropped an average of 0.146 on VNDB, with Fata Morgana being the blip on the far right that significantly bucked the trend and increased in score. There also seems to be slight correlation with lower-rated VNs on EGS dropping more than higher-rated ones. So it seems confirmed that the translations are the cause rather than an effect. But why does this happen? This remains the subject of fierce debate among my friends, but we came up with a few theories: Japanese VNs are made for Japanese tastes, so Western fans might not enjoy them to the same extent. Western fans who learn Japanese and use VNDB might align more with the taste of Japanese fans rather than with their fellow Western fans. Japanese VNs are made for Japanese tastes, so Western fans might not enjoy them to the same extent. Western fans who learn Japanese and use VNDB might align more with the taste of Japanese fans rather than with their fellow Western fans. The high barrier of entry for a Westerner to read an untranslated VN (they have to know Japanese) filters out those who have only a casual interest in the VN. So the pre-translation score is dominated by hard-core fans who are more likely to rate it higher. The experience of reading a translation can be inferior to reading prose in its original language, so VNDB users rating a VN based on that translation might assign lower scores than those reading the original text. The larger drop in score for lower-rated VNs might be because they don’t attract the same care and attention by their translators, with any official localisation likely done on a lower-budget. VN popularity It isn’t just through scores that we can measure a communities’ tastes, we can also estimate a VN’s popularity through the number of votes it gets. In comparing the number of votes the same VN gets on EGS and VNDB, we can see whether the same VNs are popular in both Japan and the West. Note that this chart is using a log scale. The most obvious trend is the clear split between translated and untranslated VNs. Unsurprisingly, translated VNs and EVNs do significantly better on VNDB than untranslated VNs. But we Western fans aren’t especially choosey, even fairly unpopular VNs on EGS can attract large fanbases on VNDB if they’re translated. Given that translations aren’t random, they require either dedicated fan-translators or a localiser willing to invest in them, it’s surprising that the translated VNs span the entire width of popularity on EGS. So we might have expected it to skew more to the right, with unpopular EGS VNs being much less likely to get a translation. While the ratio of translated-untranslated VNs is higher for more popular EGS VNs, no VN seems to be beyond the prospect of being translated, no matter how unpopular it is. Overall, while there remains a correlation in popularity between EGS and VNDB, it’s far weaker than the score correlation. This mismatch might partially be down to the age of the communities. VNs have been a popular niche of the Japanese market for decades, but were virtually unknown in the West before the 2010s. So there’s quite a number of 80s-00s era JVNs that have hundreds of votes on EGS, but are practically unheard of on VNDB. Differences in taste So far we’ve been looking at each VN as a whole, but can we delve deeper? A VN can be seen as a package of tropes: childhood-friend heroine, tsundere heroine, dumb male protagonist that’s inexplicably beloved by all (these 3 criteria should narrow us down to approximately 90% of all VNs ever made /s). Through comparing the scores of VNs that have a trope against those who don’t, we can get an impression of how popular that trope is. Fortunately we don’t have to determine these tropes ourselves, both EGS and VNDB allow users to apply tags to a VN which denote the type of content it has. So let’s start simple and see which tags are correlated with a higher average score on EGS. This world cloud ranks the EGS tags by the average score of the VNs they appear in, with higher scores being placed higher on the chart, so we can see what type of content is most lauded on EGS. The text size is proportional to the number of VNs that tag appears in, so we can see what’s a common trope and what’s rare. A full size version of this image is available here, and a spreadsheet version is available here. Note that this is mostly using google translate for the EGS tags, so the labels are… imaginative. Generally, it seems like complex VNs (with tags such as “intelligent,” “to solve a mystery” and “difficult to get”) are the most highly rated, while more sexual oriented tags seem to be linked with lower average scores (which is probably due to nukige/porn VNs). It also seems Japanese fans value the *novel* over the *visual* element in their VNs, with “CG is beautiful” being rated quite poorly. Towards the bottom are tags mostly related to being old or low-budget (with tags such as “Low price” and “XP supported”). This has only shown us what Japanese fans like, but we’re more focused on how Japanese and Western fans compare. So instead, let’s try comparing which VNDB tags are correlated with a VN scoring higher on VNDB or EGS. A full size version of this image is available here, and a spreadsheet version is available here. It seems like Western fans value romance and slice of life type stories more than Japanese fans do, whereas Japanese fans are more generous with their nukige/porn ratings. Perhaps we’re more judgemental in our view of sexual content here in the West? Japanese settings also seem to be more favoured among the Western fandom than the Japanese, the weeabooism is real /s. Slightly disappointing is how poorly female protagonists do in the Western fandom. While otomes are widespread in the EVN market, they remain a relatively unpopular niche on VNDB. Differences in the marketplace We’ve compared the taste between the Japanese and Western fandoms, but we haven’t looked at the differing availability of VNs in the markets. Are certain types of content more likely to be translated than others? How does the the home-grown Western VN industry differ from the Japanese one? A full size version of this image is available here, and a spreadsheet version is available here. It seems that action/violent type content -whether in the form of police investigations or wars- are especially popular subjects for translated VNs. Female protagonists are also surprisingly high, especially since otomes don’t seem to be translated that often, but that might be because an even smaller proportion of nukige/porn type VNs are translated, and they overwhelmingly have male protagonists. Lastly, let’s look at the EVNs. With a negligible presence in Japan (there were only 4 EVNs on EGS with at least 4 votes), we can’t really compare what the fans prefer, but we can see how the markets differ in the kind of content they produce. This next chart tracks which VNDB tags are more common in EVNs vs JVNs. A full size version of this image is available here, and a spreadsheet version that includes more tags is available here. The sexual content tags were removed because there’s so little sexual content in EVNs that it seemed a waste of space, and it gave room to include rarer content type tags. The clearest difference between the markets is in the amount of porn, there’s exceedingly little in EVNs. This is likely due to the smaller budget for EVNs which would preclude h-scene artwork, and restrictions on adult content on Steam discouraging such content. EVNs encompass a broader range of protagonists than JVNs with LGBTQ+ related content being much more common, and female protagonists being as common as males (unlike JVNs where female protagonists make up only a small proportion of VNs). But JVNs can be inclusive in other ways, like being the sole representation of protagonists who can turn into panties. Stories relating to personal difficulties, especially regarding depression, seem much more common in EVNs too. They also seem more willing to break from the usual high-school settings of JVNs, having more university aged and above characters. Criticisms Before we get carried away with forming any stereotypes of Japanese and Western fanbases from this data, let’s consider a few issues with the data. The VNDB and EGS userbase might not be representative of the wider Western/Japanese fandom. As per some of our earlier analysis posts, VNDB significantly undercounts the popularity of EVNs for example. So some caution should be taken in extrapolating what the wider fanbase likes based on this data. The VNDB and EGS userbase might not be representative of the wider Western/Japanese fandom. As per some of our earlier analysis posts, VNDB significantly undercounts the popularity of EVNs for example. So some caution should be taken in extrapolating what the wider fanbase likes based on this data. It’s easy to mix up cause and effect. Are sci-fi stories better than other stories and that’s why they’re associated with higher scores? Or is it that VNs that care about their story are just more likely to have a sci-fi setting? Some trends, like what type of content is more likely to be translated, might just be tracking the changing tastes of the era. With older VNs being less likely to be translated than newer VNs, the charts might just be picking up on what kind of content has become more popular in recent years. The dataset has some errors. EGS and VNDB catalogue VNs differently and that can cause some mismatches in the data. We’ve done our best to account for that, but with the dataset being so large, some mistakes will have slipped through. Acknowledgements A big thank you to /u/8cccc9, Part-Time Storier, and Cibelle for helping with this analysis. I hope you enjoyed reading through this, and if so, you should check out my tumblr and twitter for more VN analysis posts. If you have any feedback, questions, or suggestions for further analyses then you can reply here, on twitter, or DM me on Discord (Sunleaf_Willow /(^ n ^=)\#1616). Our next analysis post is likely to be on h-scenes. What type of content is most highly regarded by the fandom? How has the popularity in the fandom of certain sexual acts risen erect and fallen limp over time? How is the EVN market handling sexual content in contrast to Japan? Hopefully we’ll have lots of answers (and some painful puns) next time~
    21 points
  29. Hi o/ I did a little analysis on changing trends in Visual Novels using the voting data on vndb if anyone is interested. I put up the first part of the series here: https://bunnyadvocate.tumblr.com/post/159429107647/visual-novels-the-rise-of-a-medium This is part of a whole series of posts, with my next post looking at protags, and what kinds of traits different types of protags are associating with according to an analysis of the tag distribution on vndb. If you guys have any questions or comments about it, then I'd love to chat about it.
    21 points
  30. The visual novel community is incredibly diverse and spread out across multiple locations, so much so that it sometimes becomes hard to know what kind of people we're dealing with. Well no worries, because me and a team of highly trained professionals have spent 32 years studying this community and have cataloged all of our findings in order to give people the ability to always know the type of player they are dealing with. Each category is followed by what we believe to be their typical call* when roaming through the inter web, so if you hear any of these, you know what you're facing ahead. *Some of these sounds may or may not be mating calls as well. 1 -The Hipster Elitists "Muv-Luv Alternative is a 7/10 game. It has great moments, yes, but overall it isn't all that impressive. IMHO it does not deserve very high a place in the hallmark of VN's." 2 The Steam Casuals 3 - The Lolicon "I skipped every route in Hoshimemo for Mare's route and it was clearly the best part of the whole story, really spoke to me on a personal level." 4 - The Hebephile "I don't like underage girls that look too young, only ones that are like 14, I'm not like those disgusting lolicons." 5 - The Moege Crowd "I nominate Imouto Paradise for next year's Academy Awards." 6 - The Anti-Moege Crowd "Having killed anime back in 2006, moe is currently on the cusp of destroying visual novels." 7 - The Translator "This visual novel is completely butchered, they clearly should have used 'thank you' instead of 'thanks' in this sentence. 0/10" 8 - The OELVN Developer "Today I bring you a kickstarter for Sakura Highschool Doki Doki Adventure Mk 2 where you play the role of an average highschool student who suddenly finds himself squished between the breasts of his kawaii osananajimi and Senpai. Who will he pick to be his bride? (hint, it's both). Plz gib m0ney." 9 - The Anti H-content "I not fapping to 2D girls, I love them in a romantic sense not sexual, and in my opinion sex kills all romance and I am strongly against any kind of sex for many reasons, I am especially against 2D porn and I find it to be discrase for 2D world. Which is also a part of my 2D girls>3D girls opinion as 3D romance relationship is all about sex not about real love which as I believe doesn't even exist in a 3D world and couldn't exist." 10 - The Undefined "Everything you said is completely and utterly wrong. This is also a part when I said to Ren about being so blinded by 3D world that he is not capable to really see Anime World. 3D world is the one that is shaped by the 2D world and not the other way around, it has always been so. For as long as there was this 3D world and we humans have started our evolution with technology there have been a stories and those stories ware as important part of evolution as is technology, if technology gives us possibilities stories give us ideas of how to use those possibilities.It's stories and legend that had put rules into an empty world and with it created society and morals at first but later everything else as well including emotions too.Everything that we have in this 3D world started from an idea from a story, it was what one at a time might consider a fictional story but due people being fascinated by that story they try to realize it and by realizing they create something new in this empty world. Some examples of this would be aristocracy, it was at first only a story or an idea of out there being superior people who should led and rest who should fallow but by repeating that story, by out there being people who ware fascinated by those stories, those who tried to realize it and those who started to believe in it eventually aristocracy was born as one of first orders in a wild empty world in other words it was born as one of first socaityes. Latter diplomacy was no different. Another example closer to our time would be emotions, to summarize it down let's choose only love as an example. There have been stories about love far into the past but only did in last 50-100 yeasr had it started to become realized. Nowadays talks about love and romance as something that exist in this world is normal, but that wasn't so just in a recent past. as for how recent past that could wary from 50 to 100 years as not all countries and regions had been evolving at a same time and even now we have more and less advanced countries. But regardless of that if you look into the past there was little to no mention of love as something that has been taking seriously. People ware mostly just getting married based on their statuses, in low and middle class of people women would look for someone who has a steady job and is capable of looking after a family man would look foor woman capable of doing chores around the house and looks might pay some role as well but personalities very little and love would hardly even be mentioned. In fact in a lot of socaities it would also be common thing for parents to just decide who will their children get married to. In higher class of people wouldn't be much different, people would be getting meried for bisnis purposes. The most of love that would be even mentioned would have been some small romantic act such as maybe giving a flowers or something, and people would have considered just taking a liking to someone apprentice to be falling in love. This has only changed in last 50 or so years only because people have optioned far more freedom, secure lifes and offcourse because love stories have become much more common and where broth to next level and people started to believe in those stories until it become a norm. But as everything else in this world love too it is still far from real and noting more then fake and delusion, that is why always when one story gets realized it only opens a path for a new version of that story more complex, expanded and more real to come into view and to try to get realized. And now for the first time in history we have Anime. But as it's technology that gives as possibilities we can't advance furder then technology allows as, and as technology has but barely started it is still not at a level to gives as a possibility to create something real like in Anime worlds therefore we can only advance stories to get closest to real thing as possible little by little and by realizing those stories to get our world closer to having something real in it. Technology will eventually gives a possibilities to create a real worlds once when we get to the point where everything in this one 3D world is under our control witch is the purpose of existence of this world, to become a seed from with a new worlds are born. Anime are most advanced stories that we have ever had in this world, they are for the very first times the stories of something real, of real worlds with real emotions. I think it is so ironic to call this world we live in a real world when everything in it is fake and it is anime world that has real things in it. And offcourse anime it self is constantly advancing to new highs. So now all we need is technology to create those anime worlds, now it comes a time for us to evolve into gods. This Shitty 3D world only exist for the sake of Anime worlds and chosen few geniuses who will evolve into gods and create new worlds in an image of perfection in an image of anime. Offcourse there is far more to it but I think I had blessed you with my presence enough for today. Also perverts are just animals who fallow their instincts and failures in evolution therefore no different from worms." Or, alternatively, when provoked: "You people are joke who think that just being from japan and being an otaku makes you a true otaku. Being true otaku means understanding anime culture and it's worlds and dedicating your life to otakuism. Anime characters are pure and would never do anything primitive like sex. Anime characters are far superior to real life humans far deeper and more complicated and something to be worshiped not used as fap material. You don't even understand that yet you call yourself an otaku." Thank you for reading the findings of our research, don't forget to leave your on the way out.
    21 points
  31. Tay

    Fate/Stay Night

    Fate/Stay Night The Holy Grail War. That hellish, great ritual that offers the ultimate prize for the one who claims it: a wish. There are two conditions to participate: one must be a magus (magic user), and one must be chosen by the Holy Grail to participate. There are seven chosen Masters, and seven classes of Servants. Only one master may seize the grail. This is the story of a boy who wanted to be a superhero. It's the story of three warring families. It's the story of an ultimate prize and ultimate sacrifice. OVERALL ENDING GUIDE *(Read!)* Fate Route Ending Guide Unlimited Blade Works Route Ending Guide Heaven's Feel Route Ending Guide Individual Walkthroughs PROLOGUE FATE ROUTE UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS - "TRUE" ROUTE UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS - "GOOD" ROUTE HEAVEN'S FEEL - "TRUE" / "NORMAL 1" / "NORMAL 2" ROUTES This walkthrough was heavily based on Mirror Moon's amazing Flowchart.pdf walkthrough packaged with the English patch. A huge thank you for their amazing work. The VN community is made more for it. Thanks!
    21 points
  32. DEMO V4.5 (Trimmed prologue, a few minor changes) DOWNLOAD BELOW DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUR WEBSITE FOR REAL-TIME UPDATES AND EXTRA CONTENT!
    20 points
  33. When you become friends with someone on Fuwanovel, your accounts become linked with an invisible "affection bar," which increases based on your interaction with them. There are also various quests you can do to increase your affection. The affection gauge starts at level 0, but once you gather enough points to max it out, you can increase your affection levels. I still have to play around to test what sorts of effects each level grants you, but this is what I have discovered so far: - When your affection with another member is at level 2, the success rate of favors increases by 60%. - When your affection with another member is at level 3, you gain a skill point, which you can allocate towards one of two skills: "Add Skype [Passive]," "Game Together [Active, 80 mana]," - When your affection with another member is at level 8, you unlock the ability to ask for sexual favors (still testing this) There is another functionality that revolves around the affection bar. If you and a group of other people all share a high affection mutually, then you can form a party and participate in what is known to be "circlejerking." However, be warned! Circlejerking has a chance to decrease your affection with members who are not a member of your party. If you are looking to try to maximize your affection levels with a certain member, then I advise you to include him or her in your circlejerk adventures.
    20 points
  34. OriginalRen

    Thank You

    Well, here I am. 24 years of living a life of ups and downs, and I am finally ready to pursue my dream of teaching English in Japan. It's funny really, because it feels like I am saying goodbye to so many things in my life by doing this. While that may be true in some cases, it's sad to think of moving on that way. Most people tell me that this is a new beginning and something to look forward to, and I agree with them; I wouldn't be standing here today were it not for so many friends and family supporting me along the way. It's interesting actually because my major in college had nothing to do with Japanese language or the culture of Asia. I was a French and Italian double major, and to this day my parents still question why Japan is something I want to end up doing. Honestly, I can say part of the reason is because of the awesome people I met on this website. Now before you read on, let me reiterate the fact that I chose this path in my life for many reasons, but this website and its many unique personalities are what drove me to continue down this path. The family aura emanating from this website is both heart warming and inspiring at the same time, and I know that no matter what anyone says, that feeling will always remain with me where ever life may lead. One of the greatest things about doing the podcast is getting to know all of the unique individuals from this site, and it always puts a smile on my face when I hear people comment on how friendly all of these people are; it really is something special. That being said, this message is not a reflection on my time spent on this website or a means to communicate how awesome it is, but rather this message is a thank you to every single person I have had the pleasure to meet on Fuwanovel. Thank you everyone. Thank you for being who you are and what you do. To all the people I have had the pleasure of working with, thank you. To all the members I have made friends with outside of this website, thank you. To all the upcoming people about to create a great legacy for a website that means so much to them, thank you. Thank you Fuwanovel, I cannot say it enough. To every single person I have had the pleasure of being a friend with from this site, I love you. You are all fantastic individuals (no matter how much you troll sometimes ) and deserve to be praised for it. You have all given me a chance to do something I enjoy doing for no monetary value whatsoever. You have given me what I love most about doing what I do for this website, and that is the joy of others. Sure, it may sound stupid, but in essence it's the truth. I love making other people happy and I love seeing people excited, because it really does put a smile on my face. Please, I ask you to continue being who you are and to continue being a family. Each one of you is an amazing person, and I cannot stress that enough. So for that reason, I say a final thank you, and hope to see all of you sometime in the future and in Japan. Who knows, hit me up sometime when you are around there and we can grab a bite to eat! Thank you Fuwanovel, for everything. Ren
    20 points
  35. So we all know there's multiple ways to help us read Japanese VNs by now. All Japanese VNs have text you can grab and display, which makes them an easy target for practicing reading. There's one downside though, visual novels are typically incredibly long, especially if you are a beginner (yes, even the shorter ones can take a while to read if you're inexperienced). I always thought this downside affected lots of people that wanted to practice reading but didn't have the time/energy to read through an entire VN in Japanese to start with. However, other mediums like manga and LNs are much more difficult due to requiring you to either constantly look at a dictionary or just know all those kanji from memory (with the exception of manga that have furigana, but those are usually aimed at younger audiences and might not be the most interesting). It felt unfair that such fun media couldn't be used as easily to study Japanese. Well luckily yesterday I was talking to a friend on discord and fanboying over the Monogatari Series with them and they ended up showing me a few tools they used to read LNs, and after that I myself looked up for ways to read manga in Japanese, and thus we come to this thread in which I'm hoping to share something useful with those of you who wish to read these mediums as a way to practice Japanese. Note: If you know any other/better software, please by all means share it! Kanjitomo Kanjitomo is an incredibly useful software to read manga on your computer. It detects kanji/words by simply hovering over them with your mouse. But not only that, it gives you the reading/meaning of those words/kanji. And lastly, if it fails to show the correct kanji, it shows you a list with similar looking kanji for you to browse, it also lets you edit the individual kanji contained in the word in case it guessed the 2nd or 3rd characters wrong, thus always letting you pick which is the right one. Some screenshots: Advantages: Easy word lookup Very customizeable Let's you actually import images and scroll through multiple images in a single folder. Also supports Chinese Disadvantages Can get laggy sometimes (mostly on startup) The zoom feature can get somewhat annoying to control Although it lets you import files, I found the file viewer annoying to use and prefer to just use some other software to open the images Download (requires Java to be installed): http://kanjitomo.net/ JGloss This software is primarily geared towards books. What it does is it lets you import .txt files (or copy text) and open them in the reader. After that it places furigana on top of all the words, and also creates a glossary of words on the right for you to look up if you need. One feature I really appreciated in it was that it only displays furigana for the first instance of a word only, forcing you to memorize the word after that (although if you want to, you can select the word and it'll look it up for you regardless). Now you might be thinking, doesn't Translation Aggregator also do something similar? While TA does indeed have these same functions, TA is mostly practical for smaller chunks of text, not whole sections of a book. Screenshots: With translation enabled: Advantages: Easy way to read large chunks of text with furigana Can use different parsers. Can also place the English translation underneath the words if needed Creates a glossary of words for an easy lookup Pretty costumizeable interface (you can change the font/size/colors/etc.) Also works with German Disadvantages: Requires you to copy the text or have a text file of the book you're reading, which doesn't always happen. Parsing is not perfect and you may find some weird results at times (but that's the same for any Japanese parser). It seems to have a certain limit of text it can display (I kept running into an error when I imported a lot of text), so you may not be able to import whole books but instead have to copy multiple chunks (they're pretty big chunks though) Download: http://jgloss.sourceforge.net/ Yomichan Yomichan is an Anki add-on that lets you read text and look up words while simultaneously being able to create an anki deck for the words you want. This tool is incredibly useful if you want to study and read a book at the same time. Screenshot: Advantages: Lets you read entire books at once (you can also copy the text) Very easy to create an anki deck with the words from the text Disadvantages No furigana on the text itself Requires you to have the book in a .txt file More useful for studying than actually reading Download (requires anki to be installed): https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/934748696 Capture2Text Capture2Text is a simple but intuitive OCR (Optic Character Recognition) program that lets you select a part of your screen to convert into text. It's useful to grab whole sentences from a specific bubble of text or a sentence from a book and automatically copy them to your clipboard, which you can then use to do whatever. If you're a translator, it makes the script writing process much easier since you don't have to manually input everything. (I don't really have any screenshots since all the software does is grab and copy text.) Advantages: Easy way to grab text from an image and paste it onto your clipboard (or someplace else) Works well in conjunction with other software like TA. Disatvantages: The recognition can fail pretty hard depending on the font used (you can easily end up with scrambled jibberish) Download: http://capture2text.sourceforge.net/ I know it's not groundbreaking and it might not even be as appealing as just grabbing text in a VN, but I find manga and LNs very fun and less tiresome to read and so these tools come in really handy for that purpose. Think of it this way, do you want to start practicing Japanese by reading an entire visual novel with more than a thousand lines from the get go, or would something smaller like a 20 page manga chapter be a little easier for starters? Of course, this doesn't mean you shouldn't try to read visual novels, they're great practice, but I think a lot of people lose themselves when starting off with them and perhaps these tools will help keep the focus on studying and memorizing things a bit more instead of just reading.
    19 points
  36. Now that you've all been baited, Merry Christmas to all of you nerds (and non-nerds, I don't discriminate)
    19 points
  37. Now I know many of you are reading that title and either saying, "Bats, there are already histories of Fuwanovel written by other members! What makes yours any different?" History is history after all. I have wanted to do this many times, and right now is a good time I think. Fuwanovel has a ton of new members, members that are post-Aaeru, post- Vax, post- Ryoji, post- torrents. Fuwanovel today is vastly different than what it was just 2 short years ago. I have been browsing the dankest of visual novel websites, Fuwanovel, for 3.5ish years now. I feel I am an a unique position to tell the story of Fuwanovel as I see it. Many of you know that I used to be a global moderator. Even less of you likely know that I also used to be a site administrator. For that reason, I got to see many of the changes happening to Fuwanovel behind closed doors. I was a part of some of the decision making that led Fuwanovel to where it is now. So, this post will be all about that jazz. This post will not be white washed. It will not be some Fuwa Propaganda. I have made many mistakes in my time on Fuwanovel, and in my eyes, so have other people. Please do not report this post, or censor it because you think I am insulting people. I am keeping this as respectful as possible. Now that the breading of this historical sandwich is in place, how about a little background as to why I joined Fuwanovel. Back when I joined, on November 20th, 2012, I had read but two VNs. Katawa Shoujo and Analogue: A Hate Story. Analogue was what got the ball rolling, and after an RPGFan.com suggestion, I decided to read Ever17. I found a particular site that offered VN downloads, however they were multi-part .rar files. Screw that. I am a lazy solidbatman who wants one download and one only. So, I continued my search, found Fuwanovel, and downloaded Ever17 from the old front page. If you are very new, and don't know what Fuwanovel used to be, let me explain. Fuwanovel, until somewhat recently, offered pre-patched torrents of visual novels. These were portable, download and play VNs with minimal effort required from the user. Aaeru's goal was to make playing VNs as easy as possible, and this was well before Steam VNs were even a blip on the radar really. Sure, one or two existed like Analogue, but it was nothing compared to what we have now. These pre-patched VNs did not always work, but generally, results were fine. Back to me now, I did not actually join Fuwanovel upon downloading Ever17. That did not come until I was enjoying Ever17, and downloaded Never7 to follow up with. Unfortunately, Never7 had a sound issue, and I was unable to solve it on my own. So, I joined the Fuwanovel forums in what I still think is the best introduction post ever written. At the time, I was planning on just messing around a little bit, getting my help for Never7, and moving on. Instead, I found a helpful, extremely friendly, tight knit community eager to spread their love of visual novels to anyone willing to listen. I was still friendly back then too. I quickly took part in anime discussions, gaming discussions, and generally helping people out whenever possible. Fuwanovel was a baby still, only being formed in August 2012, and was just gaining its footing. To this day, I still have not sought help for my Never7 problem on Fuwanovel. I eventually found my way into Steve's teamspeak server, and with his encouragement, I finished Clannad. Early on, I actually was friends with Steve, and enjoyed talking to him. This was before either of us were moderators. We had many a good discussion about various anime and VNs, and I quickly learned that in his teamspeak, no link was a the only kind of safe link. He also learned of my distaste for sexualized lolis, and was constantly posting things to trip me up into looking at one. Much fun was had on his Teamspeak, and eventually Tay popped in to ask us if we wished to become moderators. This may have also been around the time as the IRC room AMApocolypse. Snotsuku, a resident troll, decided to intice everyone into spamming the forums with AMA threads. Oddly enough, this marked my early encounter with Zakamutt, as he and Kendjin both were slapped on the wrists for their actions and Snow faced a temporary ban. I do remember helping Tay and Ryoji sort that mess out (it resulted in a dedicated IRC thread, and the beginnings of the Games and Chatter board) but again, I don't remember if I was a moderator yet. Notable members that become moderators with me were Steve, Down, and Luch. Luch, while quiet, helped many people with technical issues resulting from downloads on Fuwanovel. Down is Down and is still what I consider the gold standard for how a moderator should handle himself on a large forum. Steve and I, well, our relationship began crumbling at this time. We both had very very different ideas on how Fuwanovel should move forward. If memory serves, on of the first messy staff arguments was over a NSFW loli image being posted. Another early argument was over whether or not the forums should have links to pirated localized VNs. The loli debate pitted Steve and Aaeru against Ryoji and I. Ryoji and I were similar in that we were crass, loud, filled with profanity. Steve was... Steve. Condescending, and the type to put his fingers in his ears and go, "Not listening!" His walls of texts failed to address issues raised, which only served to make Ryoji and I even angrier. Aaeru just did not seem to understand at times what was going on, or was too timid to jump into the bloodbath. I was extremely disrespectful in those arguments, and absolutely should have carried myself better. Tay came in, reached something of a compromise that was begrudgingly accepted by both sides. Arguments between Steve, and I continued over everything. Spam posts, loli images, piracy. It was a mess. Again, my anger typically got the best of me, and Tay, or another moderator would swoop in and attempt to resolve the situation. I stopped going to Steve's TS and began hanging out on the IRC chat room. It was there the birth of Kaguya was witnessed. From spammer to global mod. Not before getting banned from the IRC for abusing frodo the bot. Kaguya was a crazy spammer. We even caught him liking his own posts to boost his reputation. Baby Kaguya just did not give a fuck, and that was part of his appeal to some I suppose. I don't recall if Nosebleed ever hung out in the irc room. He can let you know if he did. Regardless, some shapign up happened and suddenly boom, global mod. Now something interesting happened somewhere in that time frame that resulted in me being promoted to an admin. Ryoji left Fuwanovel after basically shaping the forums. I don't think it would be wise to really get into the specifics, but it was not really a good situation. I volunteered to take on the admin spot, while in the back of my mind knowing it would be a temporary promotion. The first thing I did was finally clamp down on sexualized loli images, and pirated links on the forums. This once again led me to bump heads with Steve and Aaeru. It took me an entire day of arguing with Steve on his TS before he finally agreed to put any sexualized loli images in spoilers and label them NSFW. He also agreed to keep them only in his loli thread. It was exhausting arguing with Steve. Things were going somewhat smoothly, until Fuwapocolypse 1 happened. Aaeru kind of vanished around the same time, causing a massive headache for poor Tay. I found myself completely useless in the situation. I believe the problem was that Aaeru had pirated the forum software, and it finally caught up to use with a take down. Tay managed to raise some funds, and we purchased the legit copy that we use today. Nayleen was a huge help around that time, so I stepped down right about the same time he became an admin. I decided I no longer wanted to be staff for Fwuanovel. My constant fighting had helped nothing, and I just wanted to be done. At this time, the original Fuwanovel blog, VisualNovelAer was sort of dead I think. There was the random post now and again, but it was dead and social media outreach was smallish. Aaeru's disappearance left Tay high and dry, and then came the second Fuwapocolypse. At issue was the fact Tay had been threatened with legal action. With Aaeru completely vanished, IP holders went after Tay for being in charge of the site. This resulted in Tay having to lay low for a while and severely limit his itneractions with the site. Cybersteel took over hosting the server and Steve became admin. That was a disaster. Steve asked me to come back onto the staff to balance it out a bit I guess. I reluctantly agreed, only to find the same old issues at play. Steve was unwilling to listen to anyone but his little echo chamber, which infuriated me, leading me to go off again and again before finally asking to be relieved of my mod powers. It took 3 hours of arguing with Steve just to get off the mod team. -End Part I- I will work on this more, adding more detail as I find some older posts with some of this action, and remember things better. For example, Grisaia and Clannad getting western releases caused some issues, and so did the final Loli Battle (which resulted in Steve finally leaving Fuwanovel and Sanah becoming the new defender of Fuwa Lolis ) The rebirth of the blog, the birth of FuwaReviews, the death of torrents, and social media stuff will be covered in Part 2 when I do it. Also look forward to irc explosions, Original Ren's appearance, and other more member centric focused stuff. Maybe I'll even get into Aaeru nearly killing Fuwanovel for good. Was kind of swept under the rug for various, good reasons. I have made my fair share of mistakes with Fuwanovel. I've been too adversarial at times, disrespectful, and just mean. I fully admit a lot of my strong language is uncalled for. I also admit that I think of plenty of people on Fuwanovel as entitled, ignorant, fools with too many ideals and not enough practicality. I am also aware that many of you likely feel the same way about me. I'm fine with that. I can dish it out, and I can take it.
    19 points
  38. This thread still needs help to grow. Feel free to post your useful resources, with a small description of what it is. You can also ask any questions related to this topic. ------------ Chances are, if you read VN, at some point you'll get interested in learning Japanese. This thread will NOT tell you how to learn japanese, I'm not qualified for that. This is a compilation of useful resources you might need, put together by helpful members and myself. If you know absolutely nothing about the language, I recommend you to read a bit about it before. Read some wikipedia pages and the introductions of various guides. The best way to approach things is probably to try out a bit of everything and see what works for you. Here are the categories of resources presented: *Learning methods: more-or-less complete schedule other people put together. *Useful softwares, apps & cie *Kanji & Kana *Grammar *Practice material Learning methods Those hardly consist of rigid guides that'll take you all the way, but they might help to give you an idea on how to approach learning the language. Don't spend too much time looking for methods, you'll most likely end up doing things in a different way anyway. Tae Kim's complete guide to japanese (everything is not complete yet) Nukemarine's Suggested Guide for Beginners "It's a guide on how to learn japanese by plowing through anki cards in a effective manner. It's made by a community member at Koohi forums. (I'd like to mention you can learn vocab very fast with this method and keep it in memory. But you learn without a lot of context, which has its negative sides.)" (Bolverk) The Tay way (note that this is from 2013 and no longer in use) Aaeru's "learn how to read VN in two years" Useful softwares Those are basic tools you'll almost certainly need, or at least try out, in your learning of japanese. Google IME: Allows you to type in Japanese. Click this link, click the big blue button, install: you can now switch your typing mode to japanese. Rikaichan: Firefox app that gives you a dictionary entry for a word by simply hovering over it. Extremely useful. Also exists for Chrome. Anki: A flash card software with a built-in algorithm for learning efficiency. Exists on Android and iOS too. (Regular hand-written flash-cards can be a useful tool too). Use shared decks to find vocab/kanji pre-made decks. Note about Anki: the use of Anki is advocated as necessary by some and deemed completely useless by others. Starting out with basic vocab/kanji grinding will probably help you ease into practice material, however learning tons of words, or worse even tons of kanji out of context is not a good idea. It's up to you to find out whether you want to use Anki (and whether you can). ITH, TA, Mecab, Jparser: ITH is a text hooker that'll extract the text from, say, a VN for you. Translation Aggregator will pass said text through parsers and dictionaries. Extremely useful to practice on VNs. Some tips and other softs for ITH here Chiitrans: a useful alternative to ITH/TA. Same principle. Read the tuto for more details. Visual Novel Reader: Another alternative to ITH/TA. Note about text hookers: it might seem obvious but do NOT use machine translations with your text hookers. You won't learn anything from the garbage it feeds you and you won't even actually understand what's going on, whether you think you do or not. It is also not a very good idea to rely on parsers for grammar purposes. Parsers are far from perfect. They certainly can't replace a grammar resource and basic googling. Think of text hookers as crutches you use until you become able to read without constantly looking up vocabulary. It is also a good idea to switch to japanese-japanese dictionaries as soon as you can - only they will give you the nuances of the words, and they're also much less flawed than existing free j-e dictionaries. Kanji & Kana Learning the hiragana and katakana should be about the first thing you do. It's not very long or difficult. Becoming accustomed to reading them is longer but it eventually comes. Kanjis are probably the biggest psychological barrier for japanese learners. I don't have a magical method to suggest, but do tell yourself it's really not that hard if you stop thinking too hard about it and trying to find the best, most optimized method for learning them. Try to learn the basic ones, see where you can get, and start practicing on reading as soon as you can. RealKana: This is just an example among others of ways to learn the kana. It's the first thing you should do anyway, and it's not hard or long. Heisig's Remember the Kanji: A method for learning kanji through memo stories, by association with an english keyword. Good for starters, probably won't get you through the whole kanji learning though. See Tay's guide and this website too. Kanjidamage: Learning the kanjis through radicals and memo sentences. I'm not a fan of his method, but it has some interesting information in the introduction and on some kanjis. Grammar Basic grammar: Tae Kim's guide: The most popular (and free!) guide on the internet. Rather compact, has all the essential grammar with good explanations and examples. A must. Genki: To take things more slowly, or have a different view on points you didn't get. (No links for that one yet, it's not free, sorry) Nihongomori: this is a youtube channel with videos explaining grammar, but also vocab and other misc things, done by native speakers (in english for the basics, japanese later). It goes from basic grammar (JLPT N5-N4 level) up to finer points (N2-N1 level) so it actually covers intermediate/advanced grammar too. The videos are pretty fun and well done, if you like the video media it might work good for you. More advanced grammar: Imabi: Lots of in-depth explanations about various grammar subjects. Not recommended for pure beginners and not written as a guide. If you want to go further than that, you'll need to go into japanese grammar books. Don't forget a simple research on the internet can give you lots of explanations about pretty much anything anyway. Advanced grammar: If you want to go further into grammar than that (for example if you want to read 古典 and such), you'll probably need to go into japanese grammar textbooks. This guide is approved as being really good. (Change the encoding of the page to Japanese EUC-JP for it to display correctly) This page could be useful too. Feel free to do your own research! Others: A grammar cheat sheet. Not for beginners, obviously. Nihongoresources: A grammar guide. Never tried it. Practice Material General advice: Try to avoid material based on comedy (because you need a good enough knowledge to get the jokes), or that rely heavily on slang or local dialect. Also, avoid things that have too much technical vocabulary (hard sci-fi) or chuuni stuff with abstract concepts and archaic kanjis. Chokochoko: Some practice texts (articles on various stuff), ranked by JLPT difficulty. Children's tales: easy place to start. Japanese subtitles for lots of anime. VNs in japanese: *Relatively easy language for a story-focused VN. *List of VN for beginners, with two levels of difficulty. *A big list of Visual novels to read if you are confident enough (~JPTL N2). I won't point you out to raw mangas, of course, but if you can find high enough quality scans (or can afford to import them) it's obviously a great way to practice. Every shoujo and shonen manga have furiganas on every kanjis. Seinen/josei may not have them, but it doesn't mean they're necessarily more difficult. Dictionaries, vocabulary resources Note: Japanese-english dictionaries (the free ones you'll find on the internet) are pretty much all based on Edict. Of course, as a beginner you have to use j-e dictionaries, but 1) edict is far from perfect 2) j-e dictionaries are inherently limited anyway: only japanese dictionaries will give you the right nuance (and they're rather excellent). So as soon as you can, switch to japanese dictionaries. The jump is not easy but it's necessary, especially if you intend to read VNs with a higher level of language. Overall, the internet is your friend! A simple search will often yield whatever you're looking for. Finding your way, especially in japanese websites, is the most useful skill you can develop (although once again you need to reach a certain level of confidence first). Jisho: Jap/eng dictionary. Tangorin: Same thing. WWWJDIC Dictionary site. Japanese online dictionary. Requires good enough knowledge of japanese to be used. Slang dictionary. Same as above. Writing recognition: Tries to find a kanji directly written with your mouse. Tanos: Various JLPT-related resources: vocabulary and kanji lists, etc. Blog posts and articles about learning japanese Blogpost by garejei: Tips and a view on kanji memorization. ----- Thanks to Clephas, Bolverk, cryofrzd, Okami, garejei, Mephisto and probably a bunch of others I forgot to add (sorry!) for their contributions.
    19 points
  39. Introduction: When it comes to reading VN's in Japanese, required skills can be grouped into four areas: Vocab, grammar, basic parsing skill, and kanji skill. In this post, for each area I'm going to explain: -what knowing skills in the area are good for -how you might study them -how much you'll need to start reading. I'll also give some related tips. The requirements mentioned below are a conservative estimate. I've known people who've jumped in to playing VN's with less or much less, but I'm giving a safe estimate. A level which at most people, without any special knack for learning languages through immersion, should be able to gain traction. If you learn this much before starting an easyish VN, the amount you are completely lost should be significantly less than the percentage you are able to pick up and improve from. This is not a comprehensive how-to guide by any means. Just an informative post. ------------------ 1. Vocab Knowing enough vocab to study your grammar resource without being bogged down by vocab: -About 30 verbs and 50 other words for Genki 1/ Tae kim Basic. -By the time you get to Genki 2/Tae Kim Essential you'll want a good set of verbs (about 100), and maybe about 300 total vocabulary. -~600 words about how much you'll want to be able to study N3 grammar without getting bogged down in vocab. Having enough vocab to start your first VN: -I recommend over 1000, but anywhere from 800-1300 is good. I remember trying Clannad with only 800, and I felt like ramming my head into a wall. It's also important to pick an easy title. It will still feel hard no matter what, but an easy title will be much more helpful and rewarding to play. You also must just translation aggregator and ITH. They are the reason why Visual Novels are the best medium for learning Japanese out of anime/books/movies/drama/etc. Vocab Lists: There's a dedicated verb list here: http://nihongoichiban.com/2012/08/13/list-of-all-verbs-for-the-jlpt-n4/ Verbs are helpful to learn, because they are often the most important part of the sentence AND you need to to have stuff to conjugate. In general JLPT-based vocab list is here: http://www.tanos.co.uk/jlpt/jlpt5/vocab/ Regarding English definitions: Be mentally open and flexible. If the english definition doesn't quite add up, don't try and think about it too hard. Focus instead on associating the word with the situations where you see it. For example, you might be confused by the word 都合 and it's unhelpful definition J-E definition, but if you seen 都合がいい used in a situation where you know it means "is convenient for me" from context then remember that occurence. There might be (there are, in fact), other usages of the word 都合, but that doesn't hurt you in anyway. The next time you see 都合 you can pair it against this meaning and see if that makes any sense. 2. Grammar Skills With N5+N4 grammar you will be barely able to start making your way through a VN. Without N4, you will have quite limited gains in the long term from reading visual novels. (Equivalent to Genki 1+2.) -Required to be able to play VN's With N3 grammar, everything will feel a lot clearer, the amount of grammar you'll understand will exceed 60%. (Equiv. to Intermediate approach to Integrated Japanese). Highly recommended to study this before or soon after you start your first VN. N2 grammar further cuts the amount of unknown grammar you face in three. N1 is kind of like a bonus that gives you a lot of uncommon or formal expressions. It's NOT comprehensive at all, in terms of covered all Japanese phrases. From my experience, some of the phrases you learn in here show up often in novels (ばかり、んばかり), others quite less. Good to know, though Expressions not covered in JLPT There are a lot of patterns and phrases not covered in JLPT that you will see in typical native reading material. Examples (社長に議長, phrases like なんだと!? Xってなんだ? ですって!? ~てくれないかな。 オレって、なんてバカなんだ ) Not to worry, many of them can be picked up as you go. For the rest, once you get settled into reading, you can start noting down those phrases you don't get and google them or ask other people. Imabi for grammar You can also try studying from http://www.imabi.net/. It's a phenomenal reference, it's just goes into tons of depth, too much. I think there's 2 or 3 times as much information there is covered by JLPT up to JLPT 1. As such it's going to be overwhelming for a beginner and is much better suited as a reference for intermediate or advanced learners. 3. Basic Parsing Skill Knowing the different types of words (Covered by doing a vocab list of about 100 verbs, and then the JLPT 5 list. You also have to have done or be doing Tae Kim's Basic Guide, since he explains what na-adj's, i-adj's, and other word types are, etc.). -(nouns, suru-verbs/nouns, verbs, na-adj's, i-adj's, adverbs, temporal adverbs) -Required to be able to play VN's. Knowing the basic sentence structure and how words can modify each other and fit in a sentence.: (adjectives modifying nouns, verbs). The knowledge is covered by Tae Kim Basic + a mix of Essential Grammar and Genki 1/2. I personally find Tae Kim's explanation good even though the learning curve is steep and his lessons aren't good for review like Genki books are. He tries to convey to you the big picture. -Required to be able to play VN's. Being able to breakdown sentences and spot the different types of words based on their position. -you can practice this by reading bits of text in your genki textbook, but more likely, the first time you really gain this skill is going to be the first month in which you read a visual novel with TA. Heavily practiced during your first month or two of reading VN's. 4. Kanji Skill: Learning to spots radicals in kanji (could be covered by doing the 214 radicals, about 1 month. You could also do this ongoing basis, learning how to spot the radicals that make up a kanji, for the words you learn.) -not needed to read VN's with TL aggregator, but extremely helpful for learning new words which have new kanji. Learning to remember kanji, ie. start recognizing when words share the same kanji. (it is a long ongoing gradual process. You can start doing this with the vocab you learn once you are comfortable learning vocab. You can also pick out words you see in vn's and check whether they use the same kanji by typing them out (example 朝(あさ) and 朝食(ちょうしょく) use the same kanji.). Oh course, to be able to easily produce the kanji you want to compare you need to remember how to spell a word that contains it (in this case 朝). So, as your vocab expands, you'll be able to compare more kanji. Note that to be able to do this comparing you must be able to spot radicals in kanji (previous level skill). -moderately helpful for learning vocabs. The same way remembering radicals helps learning with kanji: if you know the kanji clearly, you can remember a word just by the two kanji it uses, which is very precise and doesn't take a lot of mental bandwidth. It also means that you will much more rarely confuse words which have similiar looking kanji. The following two skills are for more advanced, they won't be particularly useful until much later. You might not notice the problems they solve until later as well. I include them mainly for completeness. Learning on-yomi for many of the Jyouyou kanji (start when you are intermediate-advanced, a medium-long process) -helpful for exactly what it is, reading kanji words and compounds correctly. -don't need to worry about this. From learning vocab you might pick up some of the common ones, but there's no need to pursue this actively for a while. Learning kanji meaning: (start when you are advanced, and can use a J-J dictionary) -suffixes like 府、省、性、症, as well normal kanji whose different meanings apply to clusters of words. -helpful for kanji compounds which won't directly show up in dictionaries -helpful for developing a native level understanding of vocabulary (not everything can be learned by exposure). A lot of literary words are fairly influenced by their kanji meanings, though sometimes consulting the word differentiation explanations can be more helpful. One last topic... On learning enough grammar and jumping into works too difficult for you. Reading a VN isn't the best way to learn basic sentence structure. However, it's a great way to reinforce grammar points you've learned. It's also a great way to get an understanding of conversational patterns you won't find in textbooks or JLPT. But you won't have the presence of mind to pay attention to that if you are bogged down by not knowing basic grammar. There are benefits for venturing early into native material or difficult vn's, but you wouldn't give a grade two student Tolkien, or even Harry Potter to improve their English. All the fancy prose and unusual concept would distract you from the more immediately useful things like, say: basic sentence structure. There are works which are the right level, and there are VN's which you really want to read. For the best experience, it's best to find some combination of the two. ------------------ Ok that's all for now. Feel free to ask any questions: I didn't really go into the details of how to study, instead focusing on the, well, skills involved. But it's also hard to remember what it's like for someone just starting out. I remember parts of studying very clearly, but I forget the thousands of things I used to be puzzled through varying stages of understanding but now take for granted. The process was all I could think about for the longest time. Now I don't give it much thought, it's just a regular part of my life, reading and a bit of studying. It's not bad idea, to just find a type of study that you know is helpful, stop thinking about all the right ways and wrong ways and magic tricks which don't exist, and just do it, for a while. Regularly. For a month or three.
    19 points
  40. Skyspear Translations is back! And this time we're trying our hand at a more popular title, but we need you to help us! Since the recent release of the fully translated patch for Majikoi there has been increased attention to the series. For this reason we would like to begin working on Majikoi A-1 in coordination with the project working on Majikoi S. By working on both projects at the same time we can bring the series in its glorious entirety to the community in a shorter time than one team could accomplish. Progress chart Translators 2/2 - 2on, storyteller Translation Checkers 1/1 dowolf Editors 1/1 - EldritchCherub Image Editor 1/1 - CryingWestern Hacker 1/1 - CryingWestern
    19 points
  41. (Last time…) Guy: "Oookay. I still think they're porny." (< not a word) Me: "That probably says more about you than the art style." *Tay gets slugged* Me: "Owww!" Guy: "No, but really. Why not just read a book or comic instead?" (And now for the "epic" conclusion!) Me: “What do you mean?” Guy: “I dunno. Why read *that”—“ *he waves a finger lazily at the PC screen* “when you could just read a comic or a book, instead?” Me: “Um. Because variety is a good thing? For example, do you eat the same thing for lunch every day?” *Uncomfortable moment of silence.* Me: “You do, don’t you?” Guy: “Yeah, generally.” Me: “Dang. Way to pull a Ford on me. Okay, so, that was a bad example –“ Guy: “Ford?” Me: “Henry Ford. The guy who made the cars? He’s famous for the line, ‘You can have any color [of Model T] as long as it's black.’ Meaning: sameness is boring.” *Guy’s eyes are still glazed over* Me: “Okay, fine. Tell me a hobby that interests you.” Guy: “NASCAR.” Me: “Um. No. Try again. Give me another one. A better one.” *Tay gets slugged* Me: “Owww!” Guy: “Music, then.” Me: *Rubbing arm* “What kind of music?” Guy: “Oh, all kinds.” Me: “What’s your favorite song?” Guy: “’The Angry American’ by Toby Keith” *Uncomfortable moment of silence* Me: “I’m feeling increasingly justified, here. If that’s your favorite song, we’ve got bigger problems to deal with.” *Continuing rapidly to avoid more pain* “Okay, so, by comparison – don’t you like listening to more than just that one song? Or to just Toby Keith? Isn’t it good to get some variety?” Guy: “I guess so. But I do listen to him most of the time. I don’t like much else.” Me: “You’re making this very hard, [Guy]. Anyway, I’m sure that if you searched your soul you’d discover that variety is a good thing and keeps life interesting. I do read books, but I also read these things—“ *pointing to PC screen* “—because they’re fun. And different.” Guy: “And porny.” Me: “What is it with you and that word?” Guy: “It’s just what they are, [Tay].” Me: *mucho annoyed look* Guy: “I’d be too embarrassed to get caught reading one of those.” Me: “How mature of you.” Guy: “They can’t be that much different than a book, man.” Me: “You’d be surprised.” Guy: “Not likely.” Me: “How about we make this interesting?” Guy: “Fine by me.” Me: “I’m going to let you borrow [my tablet] for a few hours. You’re going to play one of these ‘porny’ games. If it doesn’t impress you, I’ll buy you lunch. If it does impress you, however, you buy me lunch. And if it makes you cry, you have to take my afternoon shift.” Guy: “Fine. But if I hate it, you have to take my shift tomorrow morning.” Me: “Great.” *tap* *tap* *tap* Guy: “So what am I reading?” Me: “It’s a sunny little thing called 'Planetarian'.” *hands over tablet* Guy: “Wish me luck.” Me: “Good luck. Oh, and I locked the other apps, so you can’t snoop. Sorry.” Guy: “D*@%.” The After-Story: [Guy] loved Planetarian and he definitely cried. Lunch was delicious, as was having the afternoon off. He’s interested in trying another “porny game”, though I do not know which one I’ll recommend to him. I have not yet actually told him that there is, in fact, porn in some of the games. Mostly because I really hate the word “porny.”
    19 points
  42. Thank you, Major! It's everything I could have asked for. And much more. I dedicate this hatemail reveal to you. I tried to keep the editing to a minimum, but I did censor the language and clarify one or two phrases. Sometimes the hatemail is so absurd I can't help myself and I respond. Doesn't happen very often, but it happened with this one. Enjoy, and please take your seats: the revelations in this exchange may be overwhelming. * I think he meant "or" * I can neither confirm nor deny this statement ** Trying to keep a straight face
    19 points
  43. How To Read Moege 101 - A Comprehensive Guide Preface Many people struggle with learning a second language. If it just so happens that you're trying to learn Japanese, you can probably already tell by now that it's not an easy task. I can relate to the tormenting frustration of desperately wanting to read a certain VN, but being unable to merely due to a lack of Japanese proficiency. Having to look up every word in the dictionary is not only time consuming - it's also actually not that productive because chances are, you won't remember half of what you read. You shouldn't dive into a visual novel that's way above your difficulty level. You need to prepare body and soul with some hearty foreplay. Yes, foreplay. But alas, you don't have the slightest idea as to how you should go about doing that. You have my condolences. That's why I am writing this guide - not to teach you how to read Japanese per se, but to make it easier for you to read your very first untranslated 'moege'. After reading a few on your own, you will start to get the feel of Japanese writing, humour, expressions, and maybe even pick up some kanji. I am merely dropping you off at the doorstep - you still have a long road ahead of you. Good luck. 1) Understanding How Moege Work Moege is derived from the two words, "moe" and "game" (self-explanatory). You're usually going to be paying attention to the characters more than anything else in the game. Sure, they look nice, but what I really mean is their personality. Indeed, personality. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that personality is more important than looks! That only happens in 3D (but let's not get to that right now)... Anyway, there are a select few 'generic' and frankly 'stereotypical' heroine-types that you will find in pretty much every moege. I won't go into too much detail, but I'll describe a few of their unique traits. This will not only help you connect to the heroines better, but it will also help you guess or 'predict' what they are saying (even if you can't read the Japanese) which will be further explained in the next section. I am only going to list five, though I'm sure there are many more out there waiting to assault their onii-chans.The stereotypical heroine archetypes I am going to expand on are: The Tsundere The Senpai The Onee-chan The Klutz The Osananajimi (Childhood Friend) Now, I realize that there may be a tsundere senpai onee-chan klutz osananajimi somewhere out there, but let's leave that for now. Due to popular demand, I will unveil a brand new section for everyone's favourite (including mine) - the imouto. The Imouto 2) Reading Between The Lines Now that you have most of the basic heroine-types nailed down, it's time to learn how to read between the lines (or, "I don't know these words, but judging from their facial expressions, tone, the situation at hand, and their stereotype, I can probably guess what's going on!" for short). The point is that you shouldn't get stuck on a few words you don't know. Sometimes it's best to read through context instead. Like I said before, foreplay. You can grind (hue) all those difficult kanji symbols (that you may or may not ever see again) later. That's all just memorization, and a whole lot of studying. But right now we're tackling a more technical aspect of the Japanese language. Now's the time to sit down and enjoy a moege. 3) Kanji/Vocab You Should Probably Know These are kanji or basic vocab words that you will see in almost every moege. I will add to this list as necessary, so feel free to leave a comment if you think I missed anything key. I will cut it off somewhere so people don't get overwhelmed though, so pick the ones you think show up in 99% of exclusively moege. For now, I will briefly go through them all: 4) Where To Start Honestly, there isn't really a list of VNs I can give you. Besides, that wouldn't be fun. You should read things you think you'll really enjoy. But if moege are not for you, then suck it up. You have to learn to walk before you can learn to run. I guess all I have to say for now is that Cube, ALcot, and Favorite (albeit games by Favorite are harder reads) are all companies that make great moege that are, at the same time, relatively easy to read. If you find yourself bored to death starting out, feel free to pick another game. If you think it's still too hard for you (this is kinda late but make sure you've mastered basic hiragana and katakana), push on through. Don't stumble every time you come across a word you don't know, or you don't know what's going on. Just playing through will help you, even if just a little.
    19 points
  44. Hey guys, just hopping in here quickly to say that no, the project has not died. It'll still be officially released by us regardless as that leaked version is based off an older version anyway. And sorry that this has been taking so long, but we will get to the finish line. Cheers
    18 points
  45. I've been analysing the sexual content of VNs, what's become more common, what gets the best ratings, and what content tends to come together; and thought I'd present some of my results in a slightly different way: in a quiz! Using the extensive character database on vndb, I tracked which appearance and personality traits were more or less likely to engage in types of sexual activity, and put the results in a quiz format so you can enter the tropes and it'll tell you how the percentages diverge from the average. This is a slightly silly way to present the results, but I thought you guys might enjoy it. You can try the quiz here.
    18 points
  46. Mr. Meogii

    Signatures

    Hey Fuwa! I've been thinking a lot lately. Mainly on how I will be able to contribute to the community. This was hard because I'm not particularly good at the technical side of visual novels and I'm not a translator either. However, recently I've been making signatures for other users here and it turns out that I really like it. And So I thought why not make a "signature thread" for all the users here who would like signatures. All you have to do is let me know what you like by following the requirements below. 1.) Pm a link to your favorite picture 2.) If any text is desired, please pm the specific text with the picture. 3.) Do me a favor and post back your signature here so everyone can have a look at it 4.) If you by any chance cannot think of an image but would still like a signature, Pm and i'll try my best. 5.) Give Honest Feedback. I need to Know if there was something you did not like. Speak Ya mind! So at the end of the day we'll both be happy with the transaction. Here is a link of my work . Link to Za Album : Please take a moment to review the rules concerning Signatures. Thank you Signature and Avatar Guidelines No explicit nudity (genitalia and female nipples are in this category) No pornography (this includes implied sexual acts and bodily fluids) No gore (disembowelment, dismemberment, torture, etc.) No offensive content (profanity, hate speech, offensive symbolism, etc.) No seizure inducing GIFs (or GIFs that make people's eyes bleed in general) No signatures exceeding 400 Kbs in filesize
    18 points
  47. Catgirls (and anthropomorphic humans in general) are a big fetish in the otaku media. The cat ears have become a staple of moe culture, a status symbol of what defines cuteness. Yet, whenever I play an eroge featuring such creatures, I often times find myself not enjoying a lot of the cutesy physical attributes of these specimen. Why is that? As I delved into my thoughts, I finally pieced together the reason for these feelings: catgirl discrimination What do I mean by this? It's simple. Catgirl discrimination is a common phenomenom in eroge (and even non-erotic titles) whereby catgirls are introduced as being an important part of a fictional setting, yet they are treated as less than humans throughout the story. Through my hours of research, I found that often times, animal girls in eroge are introduced as mere plot devices for sexual activity rather than fleshed out characters you can emphasize and form bonds with. Now this by itself isn't too surprising. After all, even when there's no catgirls involved, a lot of these games tend to focus on achieving a relationship status with another female human character. However, the difference between the latter and the former is that when humans are involved, they are treated as beings with intelligence. They are equal to the protagonist who wants to romance them. Yes, one can argue about the inherent misogyny in a lot of these titles, but that's beyond the point I'm making. The fact is, human girls are treated, well, like humans (as they should). But when it comes to catgirls, they are typically treated as less than human. They are dehumanized and turned into a creature akin to a pet. "What's the problem with that? They aren't humans, so of course they're not treated as such" you say. Ah yes, a fair point my dear reader, but let me ask you this then: Would you have sexsual intercourse with your cat or your dog? The answer is most likely "no" (if it is yes, please seek counceling. I heard PETA fines aren't anything to scoff at.) Therein lies the issue I have. Catgirls have primary human features, and yet they're often times treated as pets in most games. Why would you date someone who you treat like a pet? It makes little sense to me. Now you might say "it's just a porn game, it's for fetishistic purposes". And of course I can 100% concede to that. In fact, I myself find it to be a nice fetish to have somebody submissive to you act like a pet. There's nothing wrong with that. However, humans are more than their genitals, and their personalities go beyond the confines of the bedroom. In real life, even when we're talking about people who are into things like BDSM, there is still a human connection beyond their sexual life. No human *literally* becomes slave to another human, they mutually agree to have this type of relationship, and they ultimately see each other as equal in the relationship. Yet with catgirls, they are introduced as nothing more than instruments for sex 90% of the time, and even beyond the bedroom they're still just a pet that will obey anything and everything their owner tells them to. I can not concede that this is a healthy form for a relationship at all. Think about it. What is the point of dating somebody that always sees themselves and acts as inferior to you? Where is the happiness in dating someone with no consciousness, who's joy comes from eating food and sexually pleasing you? That is why I can not get behind most games featuring catgirls. To me, a relationship partner must be equal to me in status. I don't want to treat my significant other as a pet, but as a human being. I don't want to take them out on walks with a leash, I want to go on dates holding hands with them and eat a giant parfait together, and then pass out on a bench because the parfait was too big and we now feel like throwing up. I want script writers to write visual novels about worlds where catgirls are just like other humans. They just so happen to have cat ears and a tail and sometimes say "nya". I want them to be more than things you own that can't live by themselves without you taking care of them. That's what babies and dogs are for, not girlfriends. This is not to say I want the end of all games featuring submissive cat girls, that's still a very valid fetish, but I believe it's unfair to treat them like that in almost every single game, especially games where the focus is supposed to be the story and the characters. How can you say you have a game with great characters when those characters are seen as less than human? Games like nekopara thrive even though every single catgirl in it is portrayed as a brainless creature that goes into heat at random times and can only survive if the protagonist "relieves" them. Why must they act like animals this much? Why can't they just be regular human beings who you form a real bond with instead of an "owner x pet" relationship? In conclusion, I believe catgirls are heavily discriminated against when it comes to visual novels. They are beings that need to be given a conscioussness and a will to act on their own, not to become mere cheap tools for one's sexual pleasure. They have a lot of love to offer to the world, and we should start appreciating them for that, because who knows when they'll go extinct. Let's make the world a better place and stop catgirl discrimination. Every catgirl deserves to be portrayed as a being with a brain and a heart.
    18 points
  48. Eclipsed

    Noble☆Works

    Noble☆Works English Translation Patch (by The Oxford Comma is Superior Subs) Summary "Well, I'll just come out and say it. We want you to... become Shuri's body double!" Fujishima Takumi is a regular high school student just trying to make ends meet via his part-time jobs. Unfortunately, one day his employer becomes bankrupt and bails without giving Takumi his pay. Depressed and now broke, Takumi wanders the streets and eventually bumps into someone... who looks exactly like him! Turns out this clone of his is Kanemoto Shuri who is from a rather wealthy family. Due to very, very special circumstances involving Shuri's medical condition and constant harassment of kidnappers, Takumi is asked by the Kanemoto household to attend the prestigious Rokuroku Academy in Shuri's place. Initially only accepting due to his financial needs, Takumi slowly but surely finds himself enjoying his new life as the doppelganger of Shuri... Ending Guideline / Suggested Route Order There are five heroines and one bonus route: Akari, Sena, Hinata, Shizuru, Maya, and The bonus route is unlocked after completing at least one route. Extras (CG + H-scene viewer) are unlocked upon completing at least one route. Sprite viewer is unlocked upon completing all routes + bonus route. You may play in any order you like (besides bonus first), I'm going Akari -> Hinata -> Sena -> Maya -> Shizuru -> bonus Route Guideline Beware: there are three "return-to-title-screen" gameover choices: Kanemoto Akari Tsukiyama Sena Kunihiro Hinata Masamune Shizuru Nagamitsu Maya ~~ Bonus Route (accessible upon completing at least one route) Attribution This walkthrough was created and formatted by Eclipsed with information based on trial-and-error (10%) and the Fiddler (90%). Special thanks to Fiddle for his suggestions, edits, facts, and in general for letting me fiddle with his diddle
    18 points
  49. Hey everybody, Full disclosure: I'm still kind of in crisis mode (I've got a personal and family emergency going on), so I won't have time to proof-read or content-screen a second draft of this. Hopefully it comes across clear enough. Purpose of this thread: As I've reviewed recent threads and PMs it became clear to me that I need to speak a little to forum/community changes and direction. I've been accused of being "unreliable", "slow", "conceited", and even "Hitleresque". I choose to laugh those off and keep moving forward. "Cleaning House" Many of you have expressed frustration that the site isn't moving forward. I've repeatedly clarified that the meta-level direction of the website will be addressed starting in September. We need a better organization to tackle the future, and from now until mid-September, my objective is to restructure the site ("clean house", if you will). What do I mean by cleaning house? More changes to the organization of the forums Releasing with gratitude many moderators The establishment of a new "board" moderator program open to anybody who wants to help and meets certain requirements A new system for choosing global moderators (meaning there will be a difference between board and global mods) Back-end stability changes A lot of changes to the front site (for which we do have several capable coders, and which are only held up now by host-side processes) The "cleaning house" period will be slower until ~ August 21. My personal emergencies and school responsibilities require this timetable. The "hot zone" of changes will run from August 21 to whenever we finish in September, and will encompass the majority of the changes. "Burden of Leadership" So let's be frank: there's too much on my plate. I'm not talking about my mental health, I'm speaking from an organizational angle. People are right to criticize me for being slow in enacting change or rolling out programs -- it's a consequence of my real life responsibilities. I ask that the community be patient -- I didn't ask to be left in a lurch by the departure of my co-admin. I didn't ask for similar departures of previous co-admins. Every time I've sought a partner, I've been left behind with twice the work. So. You should be glad to know that as part of "cleaning house" I'll be restructuring the leadership. I'm not going to give out details right now, but they'll be coming within the next 6 weeks. The fundamental principle of the new leadership structure will be codifying a Fuwanovel charter which will guide the future of the site and give it direction long after I've left Retirement? There's been some bizarre PM conversations screencapped and sent to me. Here's some clarification: I am working towards retirement from the site. As I recently commented to sanah: my end-game at Fuwanovel is knowing that the community has a self-image and internal structure strong enough to carry it into the future. I am not going to abandon the community before I achieve those goals. As we get closer to that goal, maybe I'll speak more to why I'd retire and what projects I'm going to start working on, but those conversations are not applicable at the moment. I haven't set a specific timetable for this process. I'll be here for as long as it takes. Meta-Direction: Torrents In late 2012 Fuwanovel had two slogans "Visual Novel Repo" and "Make Visual Novels Popular in the West". I think these slogans illustrate well the division in the community (still) between a focus on fan-sharing culture and support of visual novels' development in the West. I plan on angling the community down the second path. I personally have significant ethical and logistical qualms with fan sharing culture. I acknowledge, however, that providing game torrents is part of Fuwanovel's DNA. I'm not going to change that. I will, however, continue to enforce the rule that we developed very early on to not host licensed games: all torrents for licensed games hosted on the front site will be taken down in September. Many people have asked if I intend to move Fuwanovel into a "torrent-less" future. The answer: no. It's too ingrained in the community zeitgeist and history. Future community leaders will need to determine their threshold of cognitive dissonance and feel comfortable offering pre-patched, non-licensed games. Hm.... Did I forget anything? Feel free to comment or ask questions below. Here's what I want you to take away from this post: changes are coming. Logistical changes to reorganize the forums/community will be made in a "cleaning house" period which runs from now until it's all done sometime in September. My schedule requires that I roll out changes more slowly from now until August 21, and after the 21st the changes will be rolled out quickly and efficiently. Please be patient during this process: I know that this pace may be frustrating to some, but it's necessary for planning, proper execution, and my own RL schedule.
    18 points
  50. This is going to be long so take a seat. And don't you dare skimming through it or not reading any of the linked articles. 1. Misinterpretation of Fuwanovel mission statement I will start with this as it should be simple to explain. The portion of the mission statement that is used in the forum logo (and forum logo only) is just part of the whole mission. As you can notice on the main website, the main logo there actually describes the website differently. "Fan translated visual novels repository" And if you browse the website and visit the mission statement section, you can see the mission is actually different from what the forum logo says, it is: "Visual Novels for the World" As even included with the logo of the section: Following up in the mission statement, three main objectives are mentioned there There are three main objectives, they are: 1) Make visual novels popular in the West. 2) Promote fan translation 3) Create a community that celebrates fan translation and fan sharing. When the forums logo was made, only the first part of the mission statement was put there, because otherwise it would be too long. And many people misinterpret "West" as "America", where as it just states the general mission statement Visual Novels for the World but with different words. West in that case means outside of Japan (where Visual Novels already exist), so basically the rest of the world. What I am getting at is that nowhere on the whole website it states anything about promoting Localized copies, ensuring sales of Localized copies or celebrating success of Localization companies and commercial market. Instead it focuses on fan translation, fan efforts, fan sharing, fan creations and fan improvements to the original version. The only reason Fuwanovel doesn't share licensed versions was out of Aaeru's "good will". She decided not to include those releases as a gesture of friendliness to the companies. How those companies responded to this good will and attempts to build a friendly relationship is a different matter entirely. 2. Piracy vs Sharing The whole word "Piracy" is just wrongly used since the beginning of the internet. If you imagine piracy in a pirate movie, they invade a ship and deprive people off their possessions. But in the case of games, movies, music - that is never the case. "Piracy" on the internet just stands for "Sharing", but people for some reason needed a word that sounds evil. Instead of taking away possessions of someone else, you are being offered a shared copy of what someone already has. You are being offered a flower seed out of unlimited supply to grow your own flower and ultimately build your love for flowers to the point you want to support the people who originally imported these flowers from different parts of the world. Aaeru and Fuwanovel was always for "Sharing" and as so you could say also for "Piracy" since they are the same thing. The stuff about flower seeds and building love for flowers is much better explained in the "Spreading culture does not decrease supporters. It increases it." part of fuwanovel About section. Please read the whole article if you haven't already done so. You can notice there the part of why true fans pay money. "Your labour IS the scarcity not the copies, for it cannot be pirated." And are you going to argue that it doesn't work? Even the mentioned Steins;Gate release says exactly the opposite, many of the fuwanovel staff bought the copy even though we still direct people to the shared copy. It is not because they had to buy it, they wanted to buy it, partially thanks to the fact that the game is popularized thanks to Fuwanovel. The article mentioned above wasn't directed at localization companies however, it was mainly directed at Japanese developers and why Aaeru decided to share the copies with the improvements of additional language version. You can even see similar examples here of people buying a Japanese version if they liked the fuwanovel copy. I can even say it for myself - I am struggling to make a living and pay rent, but after finishing Iroseka (shared torrented version), I became true fan of FAVORITE, It is one of my dreams that once I solve my situation and get some more money, I will not buy some expensive food or a car or any other pleasure like that, I will buy the games with all the stupidly overpriced little perks in the box, because I want the companies to make more of it. But in the meanwhile, all I can really do is spread the word of how good the games are, link people to the Fuwanovel Hoshimemo page, praise Iroseka and make more people try to play it in Japanese now, make more people interested in translating it for even wider audience - because I know that I can find people who will fall in love with those games just like I have and maybe they will have the funds to afford the support to the companies. I was able to talk to a Japanese FAVORITE fan yesterday in pso2JP, uniting together we can get more and more fame to the company that deserves it, even though the Japanese person can buy the game with earnings from an hour or 2 of his time, and all I can do is spread the word. But I am willing to spread the word for many hours, writing reviews and comparisons, because that is all I can spare, my time. If I haven't "pirated" the games in the first place, I would never be able to do this, I would never be able to extend the fandom because I would never be able to play the game. 3. Localized releases vs Fan TL releases So as mentioned above, we are still trying to carry Aaeru's good will of not sharing localized copies, a good will even after all the things the companies have done to her in response. The good will might weaken in times of controversy we can sometimes see, but since we believe that evil should not be repaid by evil, that eye for an eye is just the wrong approach, we still continue this good will and are not sharing English licensed releases of games. But there was never such will for Japanese releases, as with those, following the points mentioned in point 2 of this post, the creator will have more success in building fandom and true fans. And as such we are sharing Japanese copy of Planetarian, a game Aaeru added to the website, improved by a collective fan effort many years ago. It is the same version a lot of you (Including me) were able to enjoy for free, thanks to the original fan effort and Fuwanovel sharing service. And the same version, translated out of passion for the game, shared between fans of Key to make their games even more popular. Without this fan copy and all the other fan translated Key games, most of us would not be able to enjoy them. Without the effort of fan subbing, lot of people would not be able to enjoy Key anime. And without that the English Key fandom would not become what it is today, a fandom that is able to organize a giant project like Key 15th Anniversary Letter. A project that will even be collaborating with Sekai project to deliver their letter, signifying their dedication. A project full of TRUE fans who will buy the official Sekai release even though they have probably played Planetarian several times. And you are asking us to simply remove all that from existence so only you and other people in the past were so privileged to enjoy it for free and become a fan. That new people cannot join the club anymore, become a fan of a free version to later potentially evolve into a true fan supporting Key by buying figs and games all over the place, just like many Fuwanovel members do. And the same goes for Grisaia, we are sharing a Japanese version of the game improved by fan translation, a version that was able to build pretty big fandom of its own. A favorite game of many thanks to the free fan translation and the free availability on Fuwanovel (among other places). A fandom built thanks to a collaborative effort of not only translators and other people on the project, but also seeders on the torrents, page creators, article writers, even people just saying "I loved this game" in a public place - all those efforts however important or hard they might be created what Grisaia true fandom today is and as such tons of them will be able to afford the steam release, while others can keep sharing the word and original fan project for free, to get even more people on the board to be able to spend their money, time or effort or combination of those to further support their beloved game. And in the end by removing the original fan translation patch you are not only depriving newcomers of things you were able to have yourself, depriving them of the sun that used to shine on you. But you are also undermining all the efforts of the people trying to share and make the game as popular as possible with the means available to them. Some people have money to import the game from Japan or later buy the game on Steam, some people only have words. But power of the words might in the end turn out more powerful than power of money. By sharing a VN and making more people be interested in it and talk about it, you are essentially trading words for words - effort and words of the original creator for the good words and effort of review writers or simply people telling their friends to play it. And in the end this trade will result in a profit for the creator, as more and more people will be interested in the words the creator has to say in their games, more and more people will want more of those words and become a true fan, patron and supporter, trading their currency for more words. 4. Fuwanovel as a negative profit website Since this was already said, I will keep it short. But Fuwanovel, unlike many other sharing websites such as nyaa, generates ZERO profit of any of this. Quite the opposite, running website and fees connected to this actually costs money and we rely on charity of people, paying their money to host and run the website, offering their seedbox so we can spread the game torrents as quickly as possible. And even the times when many of us together collected the money to buy the forum software, with whatever we could put aside at that moment. And still there is not a single ad on the website, not a single cent was generated on Fuwanovel and that is how it is going to remain. Efforts of all the people working on maintaining the website, work put into coding and additional features, forum moderation, creating new pages for newly released projects, maintaining good upload speed by seeding - all those efforts are done with 0 compensation and 0 profit. And as such everyone can expect everything on Fuwanovel be equal to everyone, whether you came a year ago or now, you will have access to the same games for the same equal price, 0. That's because 0 is the ONLY price equal to everyone in the world and even though $1 might seem equal to all Americans, it is not equal to everyone in the world, only 0 is. And as the mission statement goes, Visual Novels for the World.
    18 points
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