Updates (20th June 2012)

[A Noble Curse] - The main characters

So after a bit of debate I decided to do an update post every 5th and 20th of each month. The only exception being when I'm really busy that day so it'll either be postponed or posted a bit earlier.

The cast of A Noble Curse is completely designed now and the chapters are ready to be storyboarded. The first chapter is ready to be drawn out properly! (Shame I won't until I get back to the UK, but planning it all now saves me from having to plan it then find out it's poorly portrayed)

As for Spero, I'm still writing up the script and doing some concept sketches. It also gives me a chance to go outside and snap some references with a camera (If only it were a nice day for me to head out to the beach D: )

So in short:

A Noble Curse

• Characters drawn and planned
• Chapter 1 storyboarded
• Chapter 2 and 3 planned

Spero: The Ocean Divers

• All the characters have names (Finally)
• Script is still in progress
• Some background concepts done

For those asking about Spero: The Forest Dweller updates, I can't work on that unless I'm in the UK. I've got limited time and resources while I'm overseas, so don't expect any updates on it for at least a few months yet! Also if there are any Linux users who can't play the game let me know and I'll upload a version for it (The only reason I haven't done so is because it's untested).

Speaking of Spero: The Forest Dwellers, who would like voice acting included? I'd make an option for you to switch it off of course but I've had a few volunteers for voice acting. Let me know your thoughts on it!

 

-Yoyoli

Project 2 and 3

It's been 1 week since Spero: The Forest Dwellers launched and I've had some great feedback and support! Thank you all who have enjoyed it so far. I'm sure those who have had a play will have guessed what I'm announcing today, and those who follow us on Twitter (@AzureTales) will have heard a little about Project 3 already.

First I can unveil Project 2 is in fact the next chapter of Spero! Those who got the 'True ending' will have seen a sneaky preview of the location. The next chapter is titled:

Spero: The Ocean Divers

The chapter had already been planned from the start, and I've started the script (Reverse order on what I worked on for SperoFD which started with the art first). I've no release date yet since I'm currently overseas and can't do any final artwork. The visual novel is planned to be longer than SperoFD though (there's a lot of text for this one!). More details on the game will follow once the script hits about 50% done.

Those who follow us on Twitter will know that the Project 3 is a manga series! It spans about 9 chapters (probably about 3 books if it were a physical copy) and a special. The manga will be FREE and available to read online once it's done (I'll release chapters per fortnight probably). I'm considering physical copies late into the future maybe ;P but the title is (subject to change):

A Noble Curse

The manga is set in the kingdom of Crylite, where a cursed beast roams the land and causes tame monsters to go on a rampage across the towns. A pair of merchant siblings, travel to help those who have been hurt and to find a way to rid the cursed beast.

That's it for this announcement! The next blog post will be a quick questionnaire about Spero: The Forest Dwellers. (I'm setting up an e-mail account as well) look forward to some work in progress art and more updates over the next few months.

Also: I won't be available for contact between 9th June 2012 - 14th June 2012 as I'm on a trip with my family.

Spero: The Forest Dwellers is now out!

Yes, it's finally out! I'm so sorry about the delay!

A few things to note: The game is silent. No sound at all... sorry about that. It's planned for a future update. In a sense version 0.0 is the pure base of the game (Version 1 if you prefer), thus it lacks a few things like sound etc. You could say playing this is like beta testing it ^^;

Anyway, feel free to play the game! (Do read the Terms and Conditions first as well as the version notes on the download page!)

The game will probably take less than an hour to complete (It's very short) maybe an hour if you want to go get all the endings.

Very tired, nervous, excited!

-Yoyoli

P.S. More announcements to come next month ;)

Spero updates!

So sorry it's been so long! I've been caught up in studies but I can finally say that I'm now done for summer holidays! Yes, I said Spero was due in spring, I'm sorry to announce there's a delay until MAY and hopefully no further than that.

The website hasn't had its update either I'm afraid. It CAN be updated but I'm missing some javascript, you'll have to excuse my slow progress!

Anyway, progress now:
Character Sprites: 100%
Backgrounds: 100%
CG's: 90% - just the epilogue ones missing
Script: 50% - I've re-written it from the original after some heavy inspiration
Programming - 30% - can't do much without the script in there!
Music: 0% - I'm just going to use atmospheric sounds, so there's no OST (Sorry!)

I am changing to using Ren'Py instead. I was going to make my own visual novel engine but it's going to take more experience and practice as expected. That could take over a year to work out so that's why I've made the change.

If you haven't seen it there's a silent trailer up on our YouTube account:

Thank you all for your patience! I'm working as much as I can to get this released as soon as possible with the best results~ It's a fun challenge haha!

-Yoyoli

New logo

If you've been following my Twitter account (@AzureTales) you'll know that the website has a new logo on the banner! (And I opened a youtube account but there's nothing there yet)
The original logo didn't look much like a logo, so I changed it up a bit. Though to be honest I'm not too happy with the text, so there's yet another change I might make :P

As for this 'Big update' I keep talking about... I'm making the project page basically XD Something to look forward to~ oh and updating the About page too

There's possibly another project on it's way. I'm not too sure yet since I need to ask a lot of people if they're free to help. I know a lot of people really want to play Spero but my studies are my priority, so I ask again that you be patient for another few months T_T

On the bright side, I get about 3 months of free time this summer! So I should make more progress then~ (Don't worry I'm still trying to get a Spring release for Spero. It's just going to be Spring/Summer depending on how fast this work goes)

Sprites are all done! Backgrounds are pretty close to finish too.

I leave you with this preview of the main character (now fully coloured! She's in the textbox of the game, hence the circle thing.)

Image will change in the final version by the way. She's missing her sword!!!

Yoyoli~

Project 1 - Spero

I'm finally happy to post about our first project! It will be called Spero: The Forest Dwellers. Below is a sketch of the main character in the game =)

As I mentioned in the first post, the project is going to be a visual novel. The game simply requires you to enjoy the story and make choices. Depending on those choices you may achieve one of many endings.

So far progress is as follows:
Character Sprites: The majority are done and will be done by next week
Backgrounds: the first few are done (There's not many ^^'')
Script: Planned but not fully developed

Doesn't seem like much but it is a fair bit! The game is going to be FREE and I'm still working out how to distribute it (the chances are... it will be in a Zip folder). The game is ONLY going to work on Windows (I'm not sure if it will the others but chances are no).

It's a short game but I hope people will enjoy it nonetheless. That's all for now and expect more updates and even screenshots in the coming weeks.

Yoyoli

Welcome and hello!

To those who found this blog post before the site was even launched: Well done!

Hello to everyone anyway! I go by my pen name Yoyoli, and many thanks to those who have been so patient in awaiting for Azure Tales to actually announce any progress. Azure Tales started in August, and since then development has been focused on the website, research and our first project.

As you can see, this is a DevBlog! All the development and progress news will be updated here as well as via the Twitter account. I'll even post up some sketches and teasers here for upcoming projects. I won't be announcing anything as of yet, this post is purely for some clarifications and to say hello.

A lot of friends have been asking questions and are generally confused. Here's a small FAQ to help out:

Q) Wait, I know you by your real name and your site has it anyway. What's the point in a pen name?
A) True, my real name is clearly stated on site. I use a pen name because as you can see my real name is fairly common; to save people sounding formal using my full name I'd prefer you to use my pen name instead!

Q) What type of projects are you going to make?
A) My true goal is an RPG, though currently I'M STILL A LEARNING DEVELOPER. Please note it has taken me a while because I'm learning at the same time! The first project I will announce is a Visual Novel. I may also release comics/manga on the odd occasion!

Q) I hear you're using Visual Basic for this first project. Why not choose something like Ren'Py?
A) I like using Ren'Py, and it's so much easier! BUT I'm going to make a lot of projects, not just Visual Novels and so to get into practice during this learning curve I'm using Visual Basic. Once I've gotten my head around the basics I'll likely use Ren'Py for visual novels and kinetic novels in future =)

Q) Are the projects going to be free?
A) Yes and no. First few are going to be free so that I can get some feedback, but I do want to release commercial stuff in the future. THAT DOESN'T MEAN I'LL STOP FREE PROJECTS! I will continue to release free games/comics/manga along with commercial ones!

Q) Is there a release date for that first project?
A) I intended to get it done by this month, but I'm working on it in my free time which can be limited sometimes. So I'm looking at a Spring release perhaps.

Thanks for reading and I hope this has cleared some confusion (^_^)b