Updates (20th October 2012)

First of all: I missed a blog post on the 5th October, sorry about that!

There's not much news to report except Miyu will be the only character to change a fair bit in the remake of Spero: The Forest Dwellers. This is because she looks exactly the same as two other characters I've designed in previous projects ^_^; The only thing that will change is her hairstyle really.

Secondly there won't be ANY blog updates next month. My studies take priority (since without them I'd never have gotten this far!). There's a lot of coursework and tests in the next month. I'll make more progress during the Christmas holidays.

Again thank you all for your patience!

-Yoyoli

Updates (20th September 2012)

(No picture today)

This is more of an announcement post than an update one.

Voice Acting
I'm sad to say that Spero will NOT have any voice acting. I've done some thinking and it takes a fair bit of effort (and not to mention quality) that I can't really 'afford' right now. Not only in a monetary sense but a considerable amount of time as well. The plans for voice acting may arise again someday but not for at least another 2 years.

-For VA's who volunteered originally I give a thank you for offering and a sorry that I had to change plans.

Music
There IS plans for music though. My big problem with Spero was a lack of sound. So I'll be trying to compose something in my free time (Even if it's just atmospheric sounds). I don't intend to release Spero: Ocean Divers until there's music composed for that as well.

-Musicians who would like to consider composing pieces please get in touch via our public email. The pieces you compose MUST be original. Again this is VOLUNTARY, so you would be doing this for FREE.

-There will be a contract made and will require signing. (Details to follow in the next update post)

Remake
Spero: The Forest Dwellers WILL receive a remake. Mostly on the art side and as mentioned above with added music. I also intend to change the download process into one where you install the game rather than save a zip file. The remake will be released around the same time as Spero: The Ocean Divers.

-Once the new version of Spero: The Forest Dwellers is released it is advised you delete the current version. We apologise for the inconvenience and loss of save data (If applicable)

Website
Just an early warning that the website will be undergoing some maintenance over the next month. Also I viewed the website on my brothers laptop and it appears incorrectly on the Projects page. If any of you have had the same issue then I apologise and will have it fixed soon!

Poll
It seems to be an even vote for Miyu, The Boy, Heidi and Wizard. Thanks to the 4 people who voted! Those 4 will be redrawn first as a result~ The next poll will be about purchases. This is an important one for me and your views would be greatly appreciated! Poll will go live tomorrow.

Thanks for reading! I can safely say that both Ocean Divers and A Noble Curse are once again making steady progress! Look forward to some website updates next month!

-Yoyoli

Updates (5th September 2012)

[Spero: The Ocean Divers - Conrad close-up]

Back in the UK! That means it's time to start the digital drawing of Spero: The Ocean Divers! As you can see I had a bit of practice earlier today of Conrad.

A Noble Curse hasn't made any progress since I last posted but Spero: The Ocean Divers script is now complete! So the next few weeks will be coding and drawing.

Now here's the bad news (Well good in a way) I'll be starting university again soon, meaning I won't have as much free time as I did over the summer holidays (I was expecting to start in October but they pushed the start date earlier this year). And I also have no idea how the translations are going for Spero: The Forest Dwellers.

Voice acting I'm still trying to write up some legal documents and stuff so that's still in progress.

On the bright side look forward to some Ocean Divers screenshots in the coming weeks and character art.

-Yoyoli

P.S. The poll is finally working! Vote for your favourite Spero: The Forest Dwellers character now!

Updates (20th August 2012)

No picture today sorry! Forward with the news!

A Noble Curse
I'm changing the process that applies to creating this. I'll be writing out the story first and yes... it takes more time. The reason being is that this method allows me to see the story flow better, rather than a flow chart of what I want to happen. With the changes that I made to the original... I'll need to write out how I want the story to flow.

For trivia: I never finished writing any books that I started when I was younger... but I DID draw out what I had written and more. That's where the method originates from! (And that's where I also found out I would be a terrible writer)

Spero: The Ocean Divers
This is still going as planned. I've not started the code work other than the template for the game (in Ren'Py). Using random images instead of what should be there is difficult and confusing so this will have to wait until I'm in the UK.

Speaking of which: By the next update post I'll be back in the UK! My holiday is ending soon (Well, my time overseas anyway).

As for the poll... again that will have to wait until I'm back in the UK. I'm assuming it's something to do with the browser or my netbook messing up.

That's all for today!

-Yoyoli

Happy 1st anniversary!

Azure Tales' 1st anniversary has come! Wow it really has been a year since I shouted "It'll be Azure Tales!" at the laptop (to my brother over a video call).

It may not seem like we've done much (Having only released a short visual novel) but Azure Tales was built from scratch and has made a lot of progress from being just an ambition in my head. I may still be a one-man team, but I have had plenty of support from my family and friends (and still do!). So a big thanks and cheers to them! If it weren't for you guys, I'd never have had the courage to even think of starting up Azure Tales.

With that I look forward to the future progress of Azure Tales and all my projects. A final thanks to all of YOU as well! Your encouragement and kind words mean a lot and I hope you will continue to enjoy the projects I release.

-Yoyoli

Updates (5th August 2012)

Spero: The Ocean Divers - Louis and Phoebe concept art

A few things to mention and announce today!

First of all A Noble Curse is on hold. I say that, but what I mean is I'm rewriting it again. But not changing the entire thing... it's going to take a while to work out in short.

Spero: The Ocean Divers however is now taking my full attention (As well as a few collaborations I'm working on... more on that another day). The script is pretty much done first draft wise! Louis is a merman soldier and Phoebe plays as a mermaid guide. Can I just add that Louis is the manliest character I've ever drawn (Besides Gil XD)

Voice actors! This post is mostly directed at you. I won't start holding auditions until I'm back in the UK because I can't really edit them here (Cut them line by line for example). There will be a few things you should take into account:

• I have little experience in editing anything vocal wise. So I will have to rely on the original quality of the work you send me. If there's too much background noise or static, I can't use it.
• You will have to sign some kind of Non-Disclosure agreement, as I may need your services again for future works of the same series.
• With that in mind. The work is VOLUNTARY if you don't think you can manage much along with your actual schedule then I advise you not to apply.
• I give deadlines. They're usually flexible though, depending on your circumstances. If you repeatedly break them, I will find someone else.
• You can use a pen-name (But I do recommend you leave me your real name for various reasons including dealing with people who claim to be you)

There's a lot more but that's the basics. I'm not overly fussy on quality since this is voluntary but think about if you play a game and all of a sudden you hear static when one character talks. It's not very good XD

Also we'll be running polls on the blog! Some for fun and some are genuinely for feedback. This time it's for fun. Who is your favourite character in Spero: The Forest Dwellers? I'll draw a picture of the winner (and runners up) for the update after next ;3 You can find the poll at the top right of the blog.

That's all for today!

Yoyoli

[Edit] The poll isn't letting me add more than 4 answers for some reason so please wait until another day!

Updates (20th July 2012)

A Noble Curse: Clare Hope



Not much to say this time. A Noble Curse is moving along at a... strange rate XD It's nearly halfway done being storyboarded. There's a picture of Clare's original design above this. Clare is the travelling artist our two main characters meet in chapter 1. She's a kind hearted type, but she doesn't hesitate to shout or complain when things aren't going how she wants (She'll even kick poor Albert a lot).

Spero: The Ocean Divers is progressing well with the script. Even started doing some code work in Ren'Py.

Voice acting still not holding auditions yet. Haven't had time to write up agreements and all that legal stuff T_T but I promise it's coming soon!

-Yoyoli