Looking Forward

This demo has garnered a lot more attention than I thought even the complete visual novel would receive. Thank you to everyone who checked it out, and double thank you to everyone who filled out a feedback form. Your feedback has been really constructive and helpful, largely confirming my own suspicions about the weaknesses of the visual novel while also confirming to me that this is a project worth pursuing further.

SULLIVAN
Response to Sullivan's design and character has been overwhelmingly positive, which is a great relief to me.  That said, a few have pointed out that he's a bit plain-looking, like he has a few pieces missing from his overall design that really brings it together. I chewed over that information for a few days, and have come to agree. I'm still workshopping his final design, but expect him to look a little different next time you see him. Nothing's certain, but I think I'm on the right track.

SAMUEL
People's impressions of Samuel are, understandably, mixed. Some people like his characterization, some dislike it. That's fine—people have fought over MC characterization, attitudes, emotions, etc. since the existence of visual novels, and this is especially true in furry VNs with human MCs. Some readers like confident MCs, others prefer sensitive ones. I tried to give Samuel a balance—a man who is, at his core, more confident than his anxiety will allow him to believe. I don't see his personality changing too much, but I will keep this in mind. People are even more split on his design, which I figured would happen. In the demo, his face appears every time he talks—but with the new upcoming UI, he will be "de-emphasized" and his face will appear far less often. Speaking of which...

BACKGROUNDS AND UI
I've always been iffy on the UI. I even posted the demo with the caveat that this isn't the final one. I am not a graphic designer, and it shows. Someone did note that my custom UI took away the history button, and without it, players might not know how to look at missed dialogue. I took for granted the fact that they might not think to use the scroll wheel. They are right, and there should have been a history button in the demo menu. More critically, the UI covers important stuff—some of Sullivan's sprite, a good portion of the background, and it definitely interferes with the CGs—because none of it was designed with the UI in mind. I've been looking at old dating sims—not visual novels, proper dating simulation games—for inspiration. I've always admired their designs. They had something really good going for them, and I think I'm going to try to emulate that. It would make it look pretty old-school, but it's such a vibe. I might just straight-up jack Tokimeki Memorial's whole shit:

With a similar UI layout, I can design the sprites around a background and border, and the text box would never cover any of the BG or sprites. It'll probably be the first thing I work on when I come back. Speaking of...

DECEMBER
I've been working on the project for a long time. Much longer than the current material in the demo would have you believe—we're talking years of on-and-off development while also maintaining several other hobbies and a full-time job. When I work on things that aren't this, I feel a small twinge of guilt about it... And so I need a bit of a breather. A month to not worry about it while simultaneously thinking about the changes that need made. A month to prepare myself for the work ahead. I'm taking December off and will come back to working on Sully Project in full force in January.