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Aquae ~Crystal Clear Waters~ [Fantasy/Adventure][ARC1: Demo out!]


Lyndis

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In a different world over a lifetime ago, some young and geeky friends made a rough VN about mermaids and magic. The pandemic kicked up my love of storytelling again, and since I was already doing it for fun, I figured I would see if this particular flavor of story was still appealing to folks round here~

Welcome to the proper thread for Aquae ~Crystal Clear Waters~
a fantasy/adventure visual novel.

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Completely free to play as was the original though now with a much more vivid and expanded world to explore. Still mostly kinetic though now with the ability to change certain course of events through the player's actions and choices. While romance isn't a main focus, it is now an option.

The original story was broken up into three separate arcs.

Presently, Arc 1 is approximately 18.5k words and average 1.5-2hrs read time.

Download for Windows, Linux and Android here!

Presently, Arc 2 is just starting!

The entire script itself is clocking in at 56,761 words and counting.

 

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The winds of fate rush in with the summer breeze. Travelers the land over come to take part in the annual festival and celebrate the lasting time of peace after previous years of war and strife. As paper lanterns begin decorating the coastlines above, there surges a troubling shift of tides through the underwater haven of the nerida below.

Join Kaizarel - the wayward prince of the isles - as he embarks on an exciting night at the summer festival. Where he meets friends both new and old, including a mysterious stranger with rare purple eyes just like his own. In his attempts to discover the connection he and this strange visitor have in common, Kaizarel instead finds himself embroiled in both the politics of land and sea, as well as unearthing family secrets long buried beneath the sands.

Will history be re-written, as waves upon the sand?
Or will bloodshed remain?

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Early Character Concepts
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Questions for Lurkers:

1) The original story was released in arcs. After the release of ARC I, would you rather have the story continue to be released in chapters or would you rather wait for a complete game?

2) Does interactivity affect your level of enjoyment/engagement in the story? Does romance?

UPDATE 7/3/22 - ARC 1 RELEASED!

Edited by Lyndis
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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...
On 9/24/2022 at 4:06 AM, rannar99 said:

1) If Act 1 is meant to be a demo, I'll play it. Probably won't play Act 2 until the end of Act 3 development.

2) I don't mind kinetic VNs, but I'd rather have a few choices(impactful over "cosmetic" preferably). As for romance, I'd like to have an option to opt out of it tbh.

Hey, thanks for your feedback!

Arc1 is meant to be a demo of sorts, yes. The choices available will directly impact the story ( Though honestly not until later in the narrative, think Arc2 and Arc3. Arc1 is mostly setup. ) and also the relationships you have with other characters. Your relationships with certain individuals affects how they respond in key scenarios later.

Romance is completely optional! The story is written with platonic energy at the forefront. Any potential romantic routes won't really play out until towards Arc3 and won't have a big impact on the main plot.

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Hi, I saw this was bumped and I have to say this UI for the game is gorgeous. I really love how you hit the sweet-spot between making smth that fits the aesthetic of the game and something really natural looking like old parchment. The font could be a bit more special, but it is probably kept as simple as it is to not bother Dyslexic players. I also like the sprites being a bit more on the hand-drawn side in terms of coloring. I think this will be a good game.

I'm currently busy playing some selected spooktober titles, but if I can get some time out of my day I might try this!

Edit: Tweeted it out.
 

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On 10/6/2022 at 5:16 PM, HataVNI said:

Hi, I saw this was bumped and I have to say this UI for the game is gorgeous. I really love how you hit the sweet-spot between making smth that fits the aesthetic of the game and something really natural looking like old parchment. The font could be a bit more special, but it is probably kept as simple as it is to not bother Dyslexic players. I also like the sprites being a bit more on the hand-drawn side in terms of coloring. I think this will be a good game.

I'm currently busy playing some selected spooktober titles, but if I can get some time out of my day I might try this!

Edit: Tweeted it out.
 

Oh, jeeze. Thank you! All the praise is appreciated and definitely made my day. ❤️

You've hit a lot of my intentions pretty solidly! I love fancy, script-like fonts. Though I definitely wanted to keep Dyslexic-friendly in mind. My goddaughter (12y/o, bless) is Dyslexic, but has been super interested in all the art I've been making since I started reworking it, so I've tried to keep it simple if for no other reason than to be able to share it with her and read together. /corny

Aquae has a lot of classic fantasy tropes and fairy tale style imagery and themes, so I wanted to have a look to it that was reminisce of a storybook. I'm glad to hear I've hit that middle ground in a way that's appealing.

I really appreciate the signal boost too! I have an intense dislike of social media. The only things I really use in that vein is DeviantArt ( https://www.deviantart.com/young-lyndis )

I've been hard at work on the second Arc, so I'm hoping I can have it out in a similar timeline as the first. If you do find the time to play through the first Arc I would be more than thrilled to hear your honest feedback on the story, art, and general experience ^^

 

Edited by Lyndis
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  • 7 months later...

Almost forgot about this little corner of the internet. Hello again, friends.

Arc 2 has a lot of work poured into it so far and Arc 1 is over 100 downloads, but I still haven't received much in the way of actual feedback and critique. If any enterprising lurkers would like to change this, I would be beyond grateful 🙏🏼

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