Chronopolis

See how much activity this thread is getting? Have threads (discussion/sharing, etc.) which topics people feel interest towards reading or adding their genuine or candid thought to. I'm happy to interact with members of the community, the opportunity just needs to be made more enticing/available/convenient.

See how much activity this thread is getting? Have threads (discussion/sharing, etc.) which topics people feel interest towards reading or adding their genuine or candid thought to. I'm happy to interact with members of the community, the opportunity just needs to be made more enticing/available/convenient.

Aaaaaand… who else wants that school metaphor to be swiftly kicked in the vulnerables? Anyone? Anyone at all? It can’t just be me.

It's pretty sexy(?)
http://beta.fuwanovel.net/?theme=summer-sky

Most people on here probably know about the visual novel reading club and anyone who doesn't I implore you to check it out. This thread is essentially a retrospective thread in order to look back at the visual novels we played through this first cycle. The first cycle started with Comyu and ended with Swan Song. In the course of this thread I have a few questions I want people to think about and if you feel up to it answer. This thread may have spoilers please put spoilers in a spoiler tag in case people visit without actually having read everything. After answering those ten questions I have ten additional questions related to general feedback if you wish to respond to any of them.
 
For those who have forgotten here's the links to each of the cycle 1 visual novel club threads.
 
/topic/9940-vn-reading-club-revival/?hl=reading+club">VN Club Revival
/topic/9949-vn-reading-club-may-2015-co%CE%BC-kuroi-ryuu-to-yasashii-oukoku/?hl=reading+club">VN Reading Club - May 2015 (Cou - Kuroi Ryuu to Yasashii Oukoku)
/topic/10402-vn-reading-club-june-2015-yume-miru-kusuri/?hl=reading+club">VN Reading Club - June 2015 (Yume Miru Kusuri)
/topic/10815-vn-reading-club-july-osananajimi-wa-daitouryou-my-girlfriend-is-the-president/?hl=reading+club">VN Reading Club - July 2015 (Osananajimi wa Daitouryou ~ My Girlfriend is the President)
/topic/11104-sekien-no-inganock-vn-reading-club-august/?hl=reading+club">VN Reading Club - August 2015 (Sekien no Ignanock)
/topic/11448-vn-reading-club-september-swan-song/?hl=reading+club">VN Reading Club - September 2015 (Swan Song)
 
Ten Question Cycle 1 Retrospective
 
1. What was your favorite vn theme of cycle 1?
2. What was your favorite visual novel read this cycle?
3. Who is your favorite heroine in this cycle?
4. Which was your favorite route for this cycle?
5. Who was your favorite Main Character?
6. Who was your favorite side character?
7. Which character did you most wish had a route that didn't?
8. What was your favorite bgm or piece of music out of the games this cycle?
9. What were your favorite visual novel moments of this cycle?
10. Which visual novel are you most sad did not get chosen this cycle out of the choices you had?
 
Here's some general questions related to how the club was ran and organized; 
 
1. What improvements would you like to see for the vn reading club?
2. Would you be interested in doing a gameplay vn either as a theme month or possibly as a season long side activity?
3. If you did not participate in club what factors prevented or turned you away from participating?
4. Is there anything you would change about the club?
5. Did you believe the time limit for reading a visual novel and discussing it was acceptable?
6. Would you be interested in participating in a side club where we would read shorter under ten hour visual novels or original english language visual novels?
7. Do you prefer the current way we do discussions or would you prefer guided discussion questions periodically throughout the reading?
8. Do you have any ideas for themes you would like to see in the future?
9. Which visual novel would you most like to see be read in club?
10. Would you be interested in doing a trivia game or some other activity at the end of each visual novel?
11. Any other suggestions or comments about the vn reading club or the way we do things?

Honestly most of the examples in this thread would probably make her laugh even more as "sex under necessity" typically just justifies the porn existing (or adding more of it) it still doesn't make it not porn. I think convincing your friend is going to be pretty hard friend since she is partially right, most popular Visual Novels with sexual content are stories that include porn. Obviously these visual novels aren't just porn, but the sex scenes themselves absolutely are.
 
There's a pretty huge difference between visual novels where the fact that the characters have sex with each other is necessary/important and visual novels where the sex scenes themselves are necessary/important.
There is a huge amount of VNs that fit the first example but those that fit the second example are incredibly rare.
 
Nearly all VNs that I see people praise as having sex scenes for the story and not just for porn only fit the first example. I mean there's nothing wrong with liking porn but I wish we would stop pretending that most sex scenes in visual novels are there for any other reason.
 
I mean in most Visual Novels when you reach a h-scene the story just....stops. The protagonist might be incredibly interesting, full of interesting monologues and funny remarks. Yet as soon as the H-scene comes this is all replaced by things like "I rub her breasts" or "It feels like I'm about to explode". And no matter the heroine's personality she'll turn incredibly meek and docile when the time comes. Unless it's a femdom scene, but even then her personality will be just as stereotypical, completely changed into exactly the sort of person the scene requires. She'll be incredibly embarrassed or even ignorant about sex but then suddenly become incredibly assertive if it's needed.
 
A pretty good litmus test: Could this scene be replaced by a fade to black without losing anything of the story? If you can then it probably isn't necessary.
 
A lot of VNs with medium-to-high sexual content will actually pass this, because even if a lot of the scenes fit my earlier issues with narrative stops and personality changes they still contribute something to the VN as a whole (especially the atmosphere) and removing them would change things quite a lot. A lot of HRPGs for example probably wouldn't be the same without sexual content, even if I'm personally not fond of said content. I mean these scenes are typically still porn but they don't detract from the general experience.
 
The main offenders are the VNs with low sexual content, the stuff people usually talk about when discussing VNs. People will defend them saying that the scenes are important to the story, and sex is an important part of life right? And yeah it is an important part of life but these VNs sure doesn't treat it with the same gravity as it might treat other content. Instead of spending 20 minutes on moans and descriptions of various fluids they could use them to actually add something to the overall narrative. You could use the opportunity to explore the characters at their most vulnerable, in what ways they are the same and in what ways they are different. What do they feel about sex? What does it mean to them and their relationship? There are tons of stuff you could explore yet it is incredibly rare to see this in a visual novel.
 
The only Visual Novels I've read that manage to do this Inganock and Sharnoth as they at least attempt to use the opportunity to reveal some of the characters feeling we might not see in other situations.
 
I wrote a bit of a mini-essay here, but I think the potential uses of sexual content in VN is pretty interesting.

I don't really think that the visuals are the biggest problem. A CG can add texture to a sex scene just like any other scene in a visual novel, how the character look at each other and how they touch, and what expressions they make can add things to the narrative. The problem with the sex scenes in visual novels is that they are usually so inconsequential that you could just replace them with a black screen that says "and then we had sex" without losing anything. And this goes for both the text and images.

Magenkyou 3 had a nice story and setting viewed as a nukige, but it was really unsatisfying as a story work because they didn't pursue the potential or deepen the characters more.
 
I'll chip in these titles.
Hotel Ergriffen
Koukyuu Shoufu
 
The boundary between ero and plot (Hotel Ergriffen doesn't really have plot since cause it's a step in sensorial dream land) is pretty much non-existent.
It ranks pretty high in terms of the ero being inseparable or integral to the work (both games have prostitution as a central theme). Not saying the games weren't coined with that in mind...but it's a strange thing when a nukige has a stronger atmosphere than most story games. It's the purple text (your mileage may very), painting-style art, music, ero, and content, all being in-sync towards creating a unified quality/atmosphere for the work, that turns these two games from bad to intriguingly notable.

For Osu, I know there's a lot of bad habits and practice habits that can stop you from getting any better. It takes the right type of practice and a lot of work to continuously improve. So, while I'm disappointed, I'm hopefully not beating myself up over being stuck at this wall at ~25k, even though I've played more than most people have at that level. Nowadays for MP games, as far as gameplay reasons,  I only play them now if the strategy is fun, or if gameplay is pretty fun regardless of win or lose.
 
There are few IRL people I knowwho have spent less time on Japanese (or managed their time better and so have gotten more other things done in addition) and are just as good or better. This had me quite taken-aback, but the truth is, the fact is that, as long as it's the stuff attached to you that you value, someone else having more skill than you doesn't make what you've experienced and gained less valuable.
I chose to study Japanese, and it matters how good I am compared to if I had spent a different amount of time on it. It shouldn't matter how good I am compared to another person. If I see other people studying more efficiently, I can try and copy that study method. But studying the method might be difficult (for me) and so I shouldn't expect 100% to see a benefit out of that, nor should I feel so bad in the case that I can't apply that method effectively.
 
I'm not really the king of positive thinking, but what I say to myself when I see people way ahead of me:
"Those people are miles ahead. Well, the best thing I can do is keep working, that'll get me as far as possible. That's the important part."
 
Having people somewhat above and below your level is good for gaining gaining and understanding of what constitutes skill. Having people way above your level is disconcerting, and can be harmful if you don't handle it well internally.
 
Hah, I look down on people too from time to time. I can't help it. It must be my blasted insecurity showing.

For Osu, I know there's a lot of bad habits and practice habits that can stop you from getting any better. It takes the right type of practice and a lot of work to continuously improve. So, while I'm disappointed, I'm hopefully not beating myself up over being stuck at this wall at ~25k, even though I've played more than most people have at that level. Nowadays for MP games, as far as gameplay reasons,  I only play them now if the strategy is fun, or if gameplay is pretty fun regardless of win or lose.
 
There are few IRL people I knowwho have spent less time on Japanese (or managed their time better and so have gotten more other things done in addition) and are just as good or better. This had me quite taken-aback, but the truth is, the fact is that, as long as it's the stuff attached to you that you value, someone else having more skill than you doesn't make what you've experienced and gained less valuable.
I chose to study Japanese, and it matters how good I am compared to if I had spent a different amount of time on it. It shouldn't matter how good I am compared to another person. If I see other people studying more efficiently, I can try and copy that study method. But studying the method might be difficult (for me) and so I shouldn't expect 100% to see a benefit out of that, nor should I feel so bad in the case that I can't apply that method effectively.
 
I'm not really the king of positive thinking, but what I say to myself when I see people way ahead of me:
"Those people are miles ahead. Well, the best thing I can do is keep working, that'll get me as far as possible. That's the important part."
 
Having people somewhat above and below your level is good for gaining gaining and understanding of what constitutes skill. Having people way above your level is disconcerting, and can be harmful if you don't handle it well internally.
 
Hah, I look down on people too from time to time. I can't help it. It must be my blasted insecurity showing.

A while back I wrote a post rounding up all the VN fan sites (communities, not content sources and resources) I could find. Just ignore the number estimates cause they are very inaccurate.
https://chrolize.wordpress.com/2014/08/29/visual-novel-communities/
Copy of the post:



 
Besides this, there's  tumblr (probably where'll you find the otome/BL game fan population)/

Percentage updates on translation titles are only a 'thing' in fan-TL circles. A fan-TL group puts out such a progress update so they get more kudos, people know that they haven't disappeared (which might encourage others to leap on the project,) and most importantly they get more kudos. 
 
For professional development it's not regularly done. You don't see percent completion in Light Novel translations, novel translations, game translations, or any form of professional game development, you just get an estimated time of release (if they have one) and actual meaningful updates (with words and explanations) if the project was a kickstarter.
 
Does it even tell the consumer anything by itself? Do remember that JAST's projects tend to get stuck on '99%' for a year or so before they're released, and sometimes progress will go backwards if mistakes are found (which they prob won't tell you, and will just display as a halting number.)
 
How long has Subahibi been at 100% translated? Maybe people wouldn't be so impatient if they weren't watching the damn numbers go round and round.
 
I don't see much benefit in knowing the precise numbers, and I don't consider it a luxury, numbers without context are meaningless. I also don't consider it a hallmark of a professional studio. 
 
 
Pretty much this. At the end of the day, I believe it's used by fan-translators as a shout out to fans that they're still working on it and a plea for encouragement. I don't see the point in a professional studio.

Not THAT kind of memorable 

A while back I wrote a post rounding up all the VN fan sites (communities, not content sources and resources) I could find. Just ignore the number estimates cause they are very inaccurate.
https://chrolize.wordpress.com/2014/08/29/visual-novel-communities/
Copy of the post:



 
Besides this, there's  tumblr (probably where'll you find the otome/BL game fan population)/

A while back I wrote a post rounding up all the VN fan sites (communities, not content sources and resources) I could find. Just ignore the number estimates cause they are very inaccurate.
https://chrolize.wordpress.com/2014/08/29/visual-novel-communities/
Copy of the post:



 
Besides this, there's  tumblr (probably where'll you find the otome/BL game fan population)/

It's asking if she looks lonely (i.e. "I should go talk to her!"), or if she gives you the creeps.

Uh huh, dat's right (only suggestion I have).

Blind post here
 
The first VN(englishtranslated), or "starter VN", that anybody should ever read upon being introduced to the genre can be divided into multiple categories depending on their affinity
 
For those who desire the moe:
Kono Sora Hoshizora no Memoria Princess Evangile For those who desire the tears:
Any Key For those who desire the Dragon Ball Z buff-guy-actiony plot > hot 2D grills:
Steins;Gate Muv-Luv Trio Fate/Stay For those who desire the All Arounds:
Katawa Shoujo Grisaia no Kajitsu Majikoi Sharin no Kuni Rewrite For those who desire the Mysteries of Thrillers and Possibly Horrors
Saya no Uta Umineko Kara no Shoujo G-Senjou no Maou Chaos;Head

I started playing Fukai ni Nemuru Oujo no Abaddon. When I randomly tumbled upon it, I just knew I had to play it. I mean, it's like corpse party, but there's also H-scenes and other fucked up stuff it allows. 
 
I read through the prologue, and it was pretty interesting. I like the retro art style and exploration is fun as well. There's also combat, but I didn't get experience it properly yet. The horror suffers a little because of my clumsy Japanese, but the feeling of tension that comes from unpredictable horrors is still there. It helps that the text is pretty much only hiragana, although it took some time to get used to the retro font.
 
I have yet to see anything really scary or messed up, but I figured it would be best to take only girls to my party. My (morbid) curiosity is killing me and I just can't wait to see what this game has to offer. It's been a while since I was this exited about a VN. 

Seems there are quite a few more of these than I initially thought just mainly lacking translations most have translations beginning in chinese, russian, or spanish or trials in english. Other wise they are mainly Japanese until more females attempt to translate them. 
 
 Chou no Doku Hana no Kusari
 
 Sakuya (15+ translation started)
 
 ljiwaru My Master, 
 
PersonA - Opera za no kaijin, (this one supposedly has a fan-translation in the works into english)
 
Koezaru wa Akai Hana, 
 
Under the Moon, 
 
Akazukin to Mayoi no Mori, 
 
Sanzen Sekai Yuugi, 
 
Riddle Garden, 
 
Tsuki no Hikari, Taiyou no Kage, 
 
Step - futari no kankei wa ippo zutsu , 
 
Trick or Alice,
 
 Royals - itoshi no ouji -sama, 
 
Gin no Kanmuri Ao no Namida, 
 
Queen of Darkness, 
 
Yume wo Mou Ichido, 
 
Jooubachi no Oubou, 
 
Butlers, 
 
Tsubasa no Oka no Hime
 
 Cancel a Format
 
 and there's about 4 pages of titles in total if you go to the link here. 

I hope you continue, tbh. I don't know Japanese so I've always kept track of your reviews as a rough gauge to wether or not I would be interested in a title being localized. Though I never take anyone's opinion as fact until I've had a chance to read something for myself, I find your praises and complaints are often in sync with what I look for - and at the very least that nudges my interest to a extent.
 
But, what really matters if you want to keep doing it, all in all.

Hi everyone. I'm new here!
 
Umm... I don't know if I'm posting in the write forums- but I've seen people post similar threads like this on the same sub-forum.
Like what the title says, I'm an artist looking for a Writer.
 
It's a pretty flexible project when it comes to genre and story. I've posted three story pitches as samples.
I have a thread on Lemmasoft that includes the project details. Link down below.
http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=33765&p=384532#p384532
 
That's all for now, I think. Thanks for dropping by!
 
 
 
 

Playing Sono Hikari Sono Tsubasa ~Azathoth no Isan~, a doujin game I learned of from clicking on one of the random pictures that show up on the front page.
 
For a doujin game, the art and vfx are pretty detailed, this game seems to haven gotten a lot of love.
 
Speaking of the love, characters are all very caring of each other, which is one of my favourite character cast relations. They also turned that in to comedy in places. Of the first three characters we see after the prologue, the first is a extremely well-mannered girl who still manages to be 天然, a total goofball, and lastly we have the poor misunderstood shota who looks like a girl (He's the protag btw). The bgm is only normal quality, but is very calming and soothing along with the scenes. There's also sense of wonder towards the fantastical objects in the novel. Sono Hikari has really drawn me in and made me forget about judging the VN. There's some exposition and the story has some sci-fi elements lying around in the background, but man, the characters sometimes. They're so adorable it should be illegal. Squee~