OELVN Project Violet Hill (DEMO released)

[DimDito]

LOL, a beta tester is the final front before we release material to the public. Testers are tasked with playing the material early in order to hunt for bugs/errors and stuff the editor and/or QC might

have missed. They can also provide their own feedback to help improve the content they review.

You can count me in on that. Might be fun 

[AqworldThunder]

Ooh, this looks pretty great. Keep up the great work! I would love to be a beta-tester, I'm fairly good with the English language and I can help find bugs. Also I have a friend that already composed a good few pieces, here's his SoundCloud. If it sounds alright I'm sure I can convince him to let you use his works. 

[Helvetica Standard]

You can count me in on that. Might be fun 

 

Groovy ;3 send me your skype ID in a PM so you can join the staff convo <3 (just remember to be on regularly to discuss and report)

 

Ooh, this looks pretty great. Keep up the great work! I would love to be a beta-tester, I'm fairly good with the English language and I can help find bugs. Also I have a friend that already composed a good few pieces, here's his SoundCloud. If it sounds alright I'm sure I can convince him to let you use his works. 

 

Many thanks! <3 Our music catalog is complete, but we may end up adding more music anyway XD when that happens I'll inform you so you can coerce your friend

Like Dito, send me your skype ID so you can join the staff convo.

[Helvetica Standard]

Quick bulletin:

 

All positions for beta tester are taken.

Many thanks for your support! A big hug on behalf of the entire Project Violet Staff!

[Kendjin]

Damn missed my chance. I look forward to the demo.

[krill]

atleast my joke got a laugh even it it seems it wasn't perceived as a joke. meh, humor really is not my strong point.

[Sakimichi]

But but but...I want to beta test ;-;

[Helvetica Standard]

Fortnightly Update

 

Artwork by DarkSin

 

Hello, FUWA!

Sorry for the lack of updates but the team's been very busy with their real life stuff. I assure you, however, that we're working hard to give you guys our last DEMO release (v.3) Which will feature a bunch of final content and will give you an idea of how the core release will look. After this demo, there will be no more beta material for public release, but don't fret, we'll still keep you updated and "teased", hehehehe. :3

 

That said, there's a few updates to announce:

 

WE WELCOME OUR NEWEST MEMBERS!:

 

Dimdito : bugchecker/beta tester

AqworldThunder: bugchecker/beta tester

 

 

v3 DEMO progress:

- Scripts: Ready for release

- Sprites: In progress

- User Interface: Ready for release

- CG: In progress

- Chibi CG's: In progress

- NEW background images: In insertion

 

Core Release progress:  39%

--Staff assignments--

 

Helvetica Standard:

-Currently reworking scripts for Chapter 3 and 4 (adding new material.)

-Currently style checking Chapter 2

-Currently inserting background images

-Currently testing environment compatibility

 

Chocolatemilkgod:

-Currently editing Chapter 3

-Currently working on voiceovers for new material

 

Dan:

-Currently working on Chapter 3 with Chocolatemilkgod

 

DarkSin:

-Currently Drawing Sprites

-Currently drawing CG's

-Currently drawing motifs for screens

-Currently drawing imagemaps

 

Maoh:

-Currently Drawing Chibi CG's

 

OneManArmy:

-Currently working on voiceovers for new material

 

Vokoca:

-Currently composing/producing audio tracks

 

Linkman19:

-Currently on standby (will test v3 DEMO once it goes RC)

 

Yachi:

-Currently on stand by (will test v3 DEMO once it goes RC)

 

Dimdito:

-Currently on stand by (will bugcheck v3 DEMO once it goes RC)

 

AqworldThunder:

-Currently on stand by (will bugcheck v3 DEMO once it goes RC)

 

Wanted Talents:

 

-Background artist (We need the help of an artist who can draw the backgrounds.)

-Style Checker (We need someone to build up the writing style, advanced writing knowledge is a must.)

-Animator (We need someone to help us do in-game animations and opening and ending videos.)

 

If you're interested, please send a PM or leave a post here :3

 

That's all for now. Thank you for you patience and support! v3 DEMO will be out soon!

I leave you with some of the new background images: (WIP, subject to changes.)

 

 

 

[Chocolatemilkgod]

June Update

 

Where the hell did you go?

Hi guys. Remember when we said we’d do fortnightly updates to keep you guys up to date with everything that we’ve been doing and to keep you engaged?

………

Well… suffice to say, they didn’t exactly pan out as planned. This is due to a variety of reasons, the most pivotal being the evil monstrosities known as university exams. Luckily, though, they are for the most part through for everyone. Huzzah!

 

At any rate, sorry for not keeping up with you guys (blame helv... because everything is his fault ). The new and improved plan for updates will have us updating every 2-3 weeks now that we’re freer. We’ll also cycle through different members of staff so that you have a chance to meet the team (and ask questions if you want!); this also helps to spread the workload out, which is a welcomed change. Hopefully, we should be able to keep up with this schedule better.

 

 

So... have you actually been doing anything?

Unfortunately, due to complications with our university/work lives, progress hasn’t been as much as we would have liked. HOWEVER, that doesn’t mean we haven’t been doing anything! We’re still planning our final v3 demo release sometime in the very far future soon. As to what ‘soon’ actually entails is a little unclear right now, but we should have it done over the summer at some point.

 

I don’t want to spoil all of the new and updated things in the demo (we might tease more in future updates), but among the changes include:

• Beautiful sprites§ that won’t make your eyes bleed.

• A bigger, cleaner, and all around more engaging script.

• CHIBIS!!!!!!!!!!!!11

• Original music!‡

• And more!

 

§Thank you so much to DarkSin for his hard work <3; orders of magnitude better than the horrific 3DCG eyesores that we had to make do with before.

 

‡Only a few tracks as of yet, but Vokoca has done amazing work so far <3. He deserves a bit of a break after having exams that seemed to have last for about 3 months. No, seriously. What the hell.

 

I hope you’re excited as I am for this release!... because it’s been a huge amount of work :S. But it’s shaping up to be pretty great, and more representative of what the final product will be than the alpha builds we showed before.

 

 

What is this Corner thing?

As a part of the violet hill team, I’ve grown to have many nicknames. Choco, duff and ‘That eejit who does the editing’ are amongst the most common, but I’m also known as an idea man. Sure, most of them crash and burn in hilarious fashion (guess who came up with the fortnightly update plan...), but, as in words of Monty Python, if you throw enough castles (or ideas) at something, eventually they’ll stick... or at least that’s the theory. 

 

What this lengthy self-indulgent train of thought is leading to is a new idea: each update, we’ll have a little section called the Corner where we post little snippets of what we’ve been working on. They can be part of the overarching violet hill project, or just wee things we’ve been working on at school or on the side (most of them should be stuff from or about violet hill, though). Hopefully this generates some more discussion amongst you guys, because we live on your support!

 

(I wonder how long until this idea spirals away into nothingness...)

 

Today, we have a little collage DarkSin has put together for you lot.

 

 

Also, I’ve gone to the liberty of posting the unobscured original sketch of Rin on the right (one of the characters in Violet Hill!) for your viewing pleasure. Because Sin’s art = <3.

 

^If you liked that art, you’ll definitely want to play demo v3, if you get my meaning (nudge nudge wink wink).

 

What’ll be on the next update’s Corner? Whatever we can scrounge up Obviously something with profound impact, and definitely not something we put together at the last minute. Look forward to it!

 

 

<Insert shameless advertising question here>

As I said previously, we live on your support guys. It’s what keeps the project strong and us wanting to work on it. So please, leave replies down below if you feel like it, and ask questions. Start discussions. Have fun! That’s the whole point.

 

If you are really inspired by the fact that we’re giving up our time and energy to give the community a fun visual novel (that’s shaped by the responses we get from the community itself!) and want to help us out, you’re able to do so! Simply playing the demo when it comes out and telling us what you liked, didn’t like, etc. helps us IMMENSELY by gauging YOUR response. If you’re really really inspired, you may be able to join the team as an active member, and have your name in the credits of the completed game! Just leave a reply or message me (or Helvetica standard). I’ll probably include a list of positions that we’d like to fill closer to our demo release.

 

 

Closing

So, despite the fact that we have terrible PR and everyone was too busy to update any of our posts (good job us), the project is still very much alive and working! Leave your feedback, questions, replies blah blah etcetera etcetera down below, and I’ll see you next time.

 

...

 

Oh, and also wish Vokoca luck on his final English Lit. exam. Good luck, and bye bye~~.

 

The Editor

Chocolatemilkgod

 

[DarkSin]

Hello from the Artist

 

 

Hello, it’s DarkSin, the Team Violet Hill’s lead artist (though that’s not saying much considering how small our art team is ^^’). It’s seems like it’s my turn to do the update post. I haven’t really OFFICIALLY (or unofficially ) introduced myself here before. Basically what I do is the… um the art. Most of it. The Sprites, CGs, maps, some backgrounds most probably and various other things. Yes, it’s a lot of work! D: Oh and I also like to do a little QC’ing and get involved with the idea bouncing, character designs and brainstorming

 

 

Experience with the Team so far

 

 

I joined the team just a few months back, and so far I’ve had a great time with them. They are very motivated, ambitious and talented. We chat about all sorts of things, not just the project. Anime, visual novel… fetishes. Yes, all sorts of things o.o It’s pretty fun actually

 

 

Progress this Past Month

 

 

We’ve been doing a lot this past month. The team has begun pushing harder and allotting more time to the VN for the v.3 demo release and it’s shaping up pretty nicely. Things are coming together bit by bit. The script has been polished to a glaring shine (and then some ), art assets are progressing nicely, new music compositions by Vok have been added.

Helv and Choco have been hard at work with the script. Choco, the idea guy’s, suggestion for using Google docs was a big help and considerably sped up progress. The QC’ers have also been helping out.

 Vok made some beautiful music tracks for us and.. is off to Japan for some months xD He’ll resume work on the soundtrack when he gets back. And I myself have been pretty busy with 2 universities, but I’ve been working on the VN in almost all my free time.

 I’ve completed two sprite packs so far.  I probably went a little overboard with them, though Two many variations. I wanted the characters to appear more alive, so to speak. Our editor Choco is even doubling as our photographer, providing us with some beautiful imagery. We want everything in Violet Hill to be original.

As said before, the visual novel has taken on a professionalism and aims to reach the level of any good commercial Japanese visual novel. Extra effort is being put into maintaining a standard.

 

What’s Coming

 

 

 

 

Additions to the Team and Wanted Positions

 

 

Please welcome the newest addition to our team, Mat!  Mat is our QC’er/style checker. He helped out in the polishing of the demo script.

Kaskade has rejoined our team as well. He will also be QCíng.

 

Wanted positions are as follows:

 

. FMV animator  -  Needs to be able to animate short 2D scenes, using whatever software(s).

. Background artist  -  Must be warned there are many backgrounds in this VN. And also a certain quality standard will be expected.

. A co-editor  -  Should be proficient in English, and have writing experience.

Please note, if you’re skilled in any relative area (art, music, QCíng), or if you just want to genuinely help out, feel free to contact us. There’s always some room for fresh blood enthusiastic volunteers. This is a community project and we want the support the community

 

 

The Corner

 

 

And lastly, an art piece by our artist, er… me ^^’

Rin looking at our logo; Red Lattice Studio.

Our logo design by Helv:

 

 

That's it from me. See you next time. Don't forget to keep giving us your support!

[Helvetica Standard]

Feel free to ask if you have any questions regarding the project, feedback is good too :3

[Helvetica Standard]

Updated the OP post. Check it out

[Helvetica Standard]

It's coming...

 

[Diamon]

Can't wait for your demo to play it!

[Targenor]

Beautiful art. I look forward to playing a demo

[Helvetica Standard]

So like, still in need of musicians? I mean, I loved the project and would love to contribute and what I can contribute with is music so you guys could get anything you want from my Soundcloud or maybe if you like the stuff there ask me to compose one or two tunes I'd be really happy to happy and I'm babbling because

 

Hello Palas! We're glad you like our project and of course we'd love to have you help us with your talent. If you want to compose for us and join the team, PM me your skype ID so I can add you to the staff conversation, or if you prefer to help us with a song or two, link us to your sound cloud please :3 We'll properly credit you for your contribution and give you all of the <3's!

[MellowMadman11]

I like the direction the art style has went in. The original art was great, but this new style has me even more interested.

 

Really looking forward to seeing the art in this next demo.

[Kimanor]

Woo! Artwork! Progress!

Bring out the new demo!

[Zodai]

This looks interesting.  Can't believe I didn't notice it before.

 

Good luck to all involved!

 

Also, it seems like you're in need of a Co-editor.  I'll ask for some more information first, but I might be interested in the position.  Expect a PM to Helvetica in the coming hours.

[Kimanor]

This looks interesting.  Can't believe I didn't notice it before.

 

Good luck to all involved!

 

Also, it seems like you're in need of a Co-editor.  I'll ask for some more information first, but I might be interested in the position.  Expect a PM to Helvetica in the coming hours.

If you do join us... beware it. The thing all of us have done.

[Zodai]

If you do join us... beware it. The thing all of us have done.

 

I can say that this has only piqued my curiosity even further.

[Kimanor]

I can say that this has only piqued my curiosity even further.

I did warn you. Truly.

[InvertMouse]

Just dropping in to say good luck with the project! I will definitely be checking it out . A lot of people say they want to make a visual novel, a game, etc, and to see one really fall into place always earns my respect. Keep it up .

[Helvetica Standard]

This looks interesting.  Can't believe I didn't notice it before.

 

Good luck to all involved!

 

Also, it seems like you're in need of a Co-editor.  I'll ask for some more information first, but I might be interested in the position.  Expect a PM to Helvetica in the coming hours.

 

Oh you're a godsend indeed! XD

Many thanks for your interest and I'm really glad you like the project.

Our chief editor is currently offline but once he's back on (later today) he'll tell you all of the details.

 

Many thanks again. Stay tuned for future PMs! :3

[Zodai]

Oh you're a godsend indeed! XD

Many thanks for your interest and I'm really glad you like the project.

Our chief editor is currently offline but once he's back on (later today) he'll tell you all of the details.

 

Many thanks again. Stay tuned for future PMs! :3

 

I'll be looking forward to it.  In the meantime I'll be trying to get some other projects sorted out.