theoneandmolly

[theoneandmolly]

you seem like you unironically enjoyed electroswing circa 2012

this website's hate mail game is insane

[theoneandmolly]

[theoneandmolly]

#i do think you're neat!

[theoneandmolly]

visual novel misconceptions

despite being around for several decades, there are still some prevailing misconceptions about visual novels, both from people outside the sphere and people interested in getting into them. they're one of the most diverse mediums out there so it's important to be aware of misconceptions, especially if you're new to them.

I initially wrote these out for people interested in becoming visual novel developers for my guide on how to make VNs, but I hope it'll get more people interested in reading them as well!

Every visual novel has sexual content.

Visual novels come in all shapes and sizes, which includes content. Not every visual novel has sexual content, nor is it required to sell well. Visual novels are a medium for storytelling rather than a genre, so they can be anything you want them to be.

Every visual novel is a dating sim.

Similar to the last one, some people think every visual novel is a romance game or a dating sim. Not every visual novel has romance in it, nor is it required to do well.

Every visual novel has choices and multiple endings.

Some of the most popular visual novels out there like Umineko When they Cry don’t have choices. Choices and multiple endings aren’t required to make a visual novel—completely linear experiences are fine.

Visual novels need to be long.

Some of the top visual novels on itch.io right now are under 25k words, which puts them under 2 hours of playtime. Visual novels don’t have to be a certain length—they can be as long or as short as the story needs them to be. There’s even an annual visual novel jam, O2A2, that focuses on making a visual novel under 1k words with limited assets.

Visual novels don’t sell well.

This is very much your mileage may vary. Some visual novels sell very, very well, such as how the recent Our Life: Now and Forever Kickstarter gained almost $300k. Marketing is an entire field just like art and writing and isn’t something you can skimp on or push to the end.

Visual novel players hate reading.

A vast, vast majority of visual novel readers want a visual novel—they want a game that is light on gameplay and heavy on story where that narrative is delivered via reading.

You don’t have to add gameplay to a visual novel to keep people interested. Rather, minigames added at random can deter players. Visual novel players want an engaging story—if you’re worried of losing their attention, then focus on a tighter script or cinematography.

Visual novels need to be anime style.

Visual novels originated in Japan and most do have an anime style, but visual novels do not need an anime style to sell well. The art style for a game will change the audience for the game—players who want something anime style probably won’t be interested in a semi-realistic style, but other people will be. It’s all about finding the right style for your story and finding the audience who responds well to it.

go experience them!

VNs are extremely diverse and varied - so go try some! You can find thousands of visual novels in English on itch.io and Steam.

[theoneandmolly]

Hot(?) take: I wish Western SFF authors understood there was more to “epicness” than empires, nobles, and wars. I see those words, even as critiques, and I instantly get exhausted. Some of them end up good stories, but it often feels like that happens despite their frameworks.

Yeah sure babydoll, empires and wars dictate the course of history. So do random nobodies. And whys it gotta be about history, when only one or two characters in your whole story are actually written well?

I just can’t imagine having such a narrow view of what’s cool, let alone what’s important. Please validate me I feel like I’m losing my mind

[theoneandmolly]

[theoneandmolly]

to succeed in adult friendship you must remember the key tenets of child friendship:

Play Toys

Play Pretend

Snack Time

#woah audrey you're famous #friend on the dash...

[theoneandmolly]

#emrakul vs 15 flying squirrels fundamentally changed how i look at magic

[theoneandmolly]

not to be obscene on main, but i think i would like to feel protected and taken care of and just safe

[theoneandmolly]

Recently, while staring far too long at a potato chip, it occurred to me that the ridges could possibly be used to create a lenticular effect. So I got out some chip dip (and the smallest paint brush I have) to test it out. I started with a simple 2-frame illustration of a football and a basketball, then I painted a little sour cream and onion dip bird. 🥔🕊️ - via my new @brockdavisart instagram

[theoneandmolly]

imagine if you will, a fairly dry survival crafting game in which you live in a bunker and must periodically venture out to scavenge food, set up turrets for attacking monsters, etc

now, your computer inside the bunker has a game-inside-a-game on it which is a charming farming sim of undeniably greater quality and scope than the survival game you're playing. therefore, the object of the game becomes to keep your bunker secure so you can play the farming game more.

now, once you achieve the highest rating in the farming game, a secret shop inside it unlocks, and one of the novelty items you can purchase is a game console, giving you access to games-inside-a-game-inside-a-game. most of the games for it are typical mobile shovelware, but one of them is a highly polished, extremely brutal precision platformer with amazing level design and production values exceeding that of the survival game and farming sim combined.

it is only at this point that the purpose of this entire contrivance becomes clear: to create the most deranged speedrun community the world has ever seen.

[theoneandmolly]

Good news! Your latest project is being adapted into an animated form! Bad news, it's being adapted by 4Kids.

#it's the first one but i am experiencing psychological pain about it

[theoneandmolly]

thank you to dungeon meshi for flooding my timeline with blood covered lesbians, as a reward i swear on my life to actually read you one day

[theoneandmolly]

the problem with watching doctor who as a child is that a small part of your brain can never completely give up the idea that the doctor exists. if i saw a blue police box materialize out of thin air i would not be anywhere near surprised enough.

[theoneandmolly]

[theoneandmolly]

This is Thelockpickinglaywer and what I have for you today is something very interesting. As you can tell by the agonizing screams of the damned, I have recently left the mortal coil and, upon arriving at my destination, was informed that I did not qualify for residence. I was taken by an angel of the Lord to the mouth of Hell, and when the angel left, he closed this rather large red door and sealed it with a divine key. Although I’ve never seen this particular model of lock before, I’ve spent some time investigating the cylinder with this small shard of bone. By sticking it in the back of the keyway and slowly pulling it out, I can tell that this is a five-pin tumbler lock, that can easily be single-pin picked using this shed demon scale as a tensioner tool. Let’s try that right now. Alright, nothing on one. Nothing on two. Three is binding firmly, click out of that. Nothing on four. Five is binding, little click there, back to one. Once again, nothing. Two is binding, and we’ve dropped into a false set. Little click out of three. Nothing on four. Little click on one, counter-rotation on two, and we got this open. Okay folks, I think the main takeaway here is that no matter how much faith you place in a mechanism designed to ensure your safety, be it spiritual or physical, there is always a state in which it can fail. In any case, thank you for watching. Memento mori, and I’ll see you next time.

[theoneandmolly]

Reblog burger elf for 1000 years good luck

#yes ms frieren #undescribed