Updates (5th July 2013)

*Phew* Thought I wouldn't make today's blogpost because we had internet issues ^_^; but here we are! And today I give you a preview of how Spero will now look:

Spero: The Forest Dwellers - Interface

It's actually just something I whipped up in Photoshop but that's how it should look. Oh and I've also included the boys new design. He looks much healthier now XD (Still a bit on the girlish side but he's still young). That's also an old background, I need some tree references.

Also rewriting the script, the old one felt really repetitive. Look forward to it!

-Yoyoli

Updates (5th June 2013)

It's June! That means it's been over a year since I first released Spero and I still feel the nerves each time I think about the moment I uploaded it.

Without further ado, today's character is Conrad! The new hero in Spero: The Ocean Divers. The game will be played from his perspective:

Conrad - Spero: The Ocean Divers

That's his normal expression. Unlike Miyu who is generally cheery and surprised by every development, Conrad is very calm and serious. He's older than Miyu by two years as well (Age: 16) and the game takes place probably a few months after the original.

The game setting is further away from the Forest and, as hinted if you unlocked the 'True Ending', it's set on a remote island.

One more piece of news: I've changed the appearance of both Albert and Gilbert in A Noble Curse. Again the hair was annoying me to no end ^_^;

That's all today!

-Yoyoli

Updates (20th May 2013)

Edit: I had this blogpost written early... then forgot to upload it :')

Hey all! It's time for Heidi's new look! Again I've posted the original for comparison :3

Spero: Original Heidi > New Heidi

Not much to say, been rather busy with requests. Some bad news: Again, Spero will have NO MUSIC or SOUND. It's going to be silent again because the people that have offered unfortunately have personal circumstances resulting in being unable to spare time to compose something. Sorry! Also I've tried the voice acting option again but I don't have the software or hardware to record properly T_T

I hope this doesn't put people off too much! On the bright side: I plan to release Spero: The Ocean Divers one week after Spero: The Forest Dwellers re-release.

Thank you all for your patience. It's taking me a while to get everything done but I will eventually get there!

-Yoyoli

Updates (5th May 2013)

After 15 odd edits we finally have an updated Miles! I decided to post the old one up for your comparison as well. (Miles shocked expression probably saying: "Woah! It took 15 tries for this?!")

Old Miles on the left with his... detached hair (It didn't feel like it was actually on his head) and the new Miles with a fresh face expression and nicer hair. His face is less dark as well and I deleted some colouring that went over the line art ^^;

I'm much happier with the new Miles. It looks more like the original that I designed on paper! How do you feel about the new Miles? Let me know!

Progress on the manga as well but nothing to show yet. I'm working on it though! Thanks as always!

-Yoyoli

Updates (20th April 2013)

We're back guys! ...Sort of, I still have an exam next week but once that's over I can assure you that Azure Tales will be steaming 100% with our projects! Because I haven't made much progress I've not much to show today but below is a modified Miyu portrait (Her happy face). It's less square and more pointy now.

Miyu - Happy (New!)

I also modified Miles' face expressions but not his hair yet. That picture will probably be in the next update. Until next month! Keep up with our Twitter account @AzureTales for any short post updates as usual!

-Yoyoli

Updates (20th February 2013)

Spero: The Forest Dwellers - Miyu

Miyu is finally done! And the new textbox which you can see is now a transparent dark green in contrast to the rather bright blue in the original version ^_^; The textbox will go back to blue in Ocean Divers though (Dark blue).

One more thing to note is her new sword! Took me a while to design it (it's not my strong point). The white decor on the top is actually a feather like material, the entire sword has changed (including the blade) but you'll have to wait till the game is remade to see it ;) I never mentioned the details but it's actually a one-handed weapon; Miyu uses it with both her hands though since she's still rather young and inexperienced.

Not much other progress to note at this point. For any of you who have yet to play Spero: The Forest Dwellers I'd recommend waiting for the remake as it's essentially the same game. Next character to be redesigned is Heidi!

Quick answers to some questions I've had over the weeks:
Q: Is there a release date yet for 'Spero: The Forest Dwellers' remake and 'Spero: The Ocean Divers'?
A: No, most likely this year though. I'm hoping April (again) for The Forest Dwellers but no promises. As for Ocean Divers... probably late Autumn this year

Q: Is there a release date for your manga: 'A Noble Curse'?
A: Nope. It's still in storyboard stages since I've increased the number of chapters from 9 to 15. I don't want to release it until it's completely finished... otherwise you'll end up reading 5 chapters and then waiting maybe two months for another!!

Q: I've seen visual novels available for my Android and i-Phone. Any plans?
A: There was yes, for Android. However I'd need more time to read up on that. No plans for iOS, I was surprised I could make Spero available for Mac users in the first place!

Q: I use Linux but Spero isn't available for it...
A: I can make a Linux version. It's untested though and I didn't want the users to face any risk. If you have a Linux and would be happy to test it then by all means let me know! Note that I won't be seeking a tester until the new games though.

Q: Will 'Spero: The Forest Dwellers' be any different to its current version?
A: Yes and no. The game will play out virtually the same but I've added some hidden plot devices that I had (for some reason) forgot to originally. It'll be worth playing again, and if you have played it then you'll already know it's a fairly short game.

That's all for today! Thanks as always!

-Yoyoli

Updates (5th February 2013)

Spero: The Ocean Divers - Miles

Final art for Miles done! Yes Spero: The Ocean Divers is back on artistic progress. The game WILL be 1024x768 in terms of dimensions. I don't know how well that will translate on smaller screens (such as netbooks)  but I will test it out. Most likely it'll have to run full screen for those devices.

You can see the art style since my first game has changed a fair bit. The remake of Spero: The Forest Dwellers will be more like this.

A Noble Curse is making steady progress in terms of storyboards.

Hopefully some of you have seen the updated website! I'll try to get the Ocean Divers section made soon (probably end of this month).

Thanks for reading!

-Yoyoli

Updates (6th December 2012)

Miyu - Redesign

This blogpost was meant to be yesterday but I had an exam today so I held it off! Sorry about that, but we're finally back on progress! University has pretty much ended for the semester so that gives me some free time (Not a lot sadly since I still have work to do over the break)

Above is Miyu's redesign. She now has a ponytail in her hair rather than loose; it suits her better in my opinion since when she goes hunting her hair would get in the way flying around. I've also added a new pattern on her shirt (it's just sewn on) and there's more I want to add but you'll have to wait! Her face is a lot more mature than I intended though, so I'm still working on this which you can tell by the mistake of the waistcoat length ^_^;

I may redesign the signature sword as well at some point but for now this little teaser will have to do! More pictures coming up as the weeks go by, check out our twitter account! I might post some pictures there.

The script and general code for Spero: The Ocean Divers is done (so it's a visual novel... without the visuals). Hopefully a screenshot of the game in progress next January.

I cannot thank you enough 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

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

Updates (5th July 2012)

[Spero: The Ocean Divers] - Conrad and Miles concept sketches

Thought I'd show a bit more info on Ocean Divers. Above is the main character and his best friend, Conrad and Miles respectively. Conrad is an impulsive 17 year old, so you'll be in a few situations where he may act rash without your consent XD. Miles on the other hand is the more 'playful' of the two. He may not SEEM to play a huge part in the game but your behaviour towards him might just turn a situation around.

Some names for A Noble Curse as well! The main character is now Albert Knight (Yes, they're finally given surnames in this project!) and the other brother is Gilbert Knight. Both end up being called Al and Gil instead. Our heroine (No photo of her today) is now Clare Hope... which might have been a bad move because I keep typing her name as Clara XD

One more piece of news today: we now have a public e-mail address for you to... well, e-mail us if there's any problems, feedback etc.

azuretalesqna@gmail.com

We make a point to not keep e-mails longer than needed (usually 30 days at most) so rest assured you can e-mail us and we don't store your e-mail address for very long. It will take a week at most (certain circumstances apply if we aren't available) to respond. We also accept fanart! It's in fact encouraging to see it, who knows... maybe we'll hold a contest! Please be responsible when sending us e-mails (In other words: no malicious behaviour or attitude and certainly no spam... these e-mails will be ignored).

I was going to throw a questionnaire but decided not to. But please do let us know if there's anything about Spero: The Forest Dwellers that you want to say (Screen resolution change, opinions on voice acting etc.). You can comment on any post on the blog (I usually recommend the latest post) as we can see all comments regardless of which post!

That's all for this update!

-Yoyoli

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