Journal on Terry Nguyen

Write a Visual Novel - Entry 5 - Starting Over

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

It’s been quite a while since I wrote my last entry. The last few have just been sitting on my netbook for weeks, so I figured I’d slowly offload them onto here. Since then, I’ve come up with quite a number of choice events and situations that the protagonist could get into, but I can’t help but feel as though that I’m lacking a plot or driving force. Though this project was first created in order to facilitate the learning of Python, I can’t help but feel as though that it can be difficult to find time for it while at the same time, I find myself thinking about it from time to time.

Write a Visual Novel - Entry 4 - Development Tools

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

I’s been rough around these parts as I’ve been beaten up by my classes. Homework threw the first punch, classwork threw the second, and projects came in with the finishing blow. Did I mention college applications? It’s been difficult to really spend any time on the visual novel project as of late. The plot hasn’t seen a new addition in weeks now, so this’ll be a short post.

I was spending some time on an IndieGaming subreddit when I came across some neat tools. Every four months, there’s an event called the Ludum Dare where people try to put together a game in 48 or 72 hours from start to finish, depending on whether you enter the competition or “jam” respectively. To help participants out, a page on the Ludum Dare website lists some popular and free development tools.

Write a Visual Novel - Entry 3 - Struggling With the Idea

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Early on in the project, I had assigned themes to everyone’s routes. For example, Character 1’s route was considered to be the rational and unworldly route, a path best suited towards those who did not have an incredible attachment to material things. On the other hand, Character 2’s route was the designated route for those who were more worldly or attached to material possessions.

Initially speaking, the idea that caused me to start developing this visual novel was that it revolved around materialism. Do you place too much value in the things you own? Is the matter that makes up the item much more valuable to you than the sentimental value you’ve attached to it? Are neither important at all?

Checking In: Python, Codeacademy, and Stories

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

It’s been quite some time since the last update, so let’s do a quick rundown of virtually everything that I’ve done! This’ll be a short post.

Python and Codecademy

In order to supplement the fact that the visual novel project has come to a grinding halt in recent weeks, I’m reviewing and picking up on additional things through lessons at Codecademy. I’m still sticking with the Ren’Py visual novel engine, so that isn’t changing. I’ve been flow charting the common route, and though having a point-based decision system sounds nice, I’ve concluded that a simple diverging route should be more than enough for me.

Write a Visual Novel - Day 1: Why?

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Keeping in mind that this isn’t actually the first day that I’ve worked on the visual novel, I think it’s best if I bring everyone up to speed. The point of trying this self-designed programming exercise is to ease me into programming and learn something in my spare time. I have always wanted to design and build programs, but because of the fact that I get easily discouraged by a lack of results meant that I’ve never been able to do so. By gradually building up my knowledge, I will be better prepared in the future to take on programming classes and assignments as well as having fun in the process by designing a visual novel.