Chances are it won’t be any of the options you were considering. And when you’re done what you wanted to do, it will be a lot easier to start on something you thought you wanted to do. That’s what I think I just discovered, anyway.

Yah, sorry for the completely off topic intro, but I felt like being a bit deep today.  Now, onto relevant news!

If anyone was wondering where I was last month, I was in school. Final Projects kept me a bit distracted, so I had nothing to show anyway. And now that I’ve officially entered the holidays…. I still have nothing to show!

It’s sad but true. I’ve pretty much given up on writing a short story, not because I got too busy…(Ok, partly…) But because I question how relevant it is to Visual Novels. If anything I should be writing a short-VN! And that’s what I think I’ll be spending a (smaller) fraction of my summer doing. At least, hopefully.

So long as I don’t run out of Popsicles, anyway…

Before I get anything related to this blog’s name (I still haven’t updated the header – It’s Until the Blood now, for those who have not read any other post. And you might not want too.), I’ll just say that the 3DS is awesome and addicting. I haven’t played much Street Fighter, but I’ve got over 55 hours on Samurai Warriors. Man Chaos mode is tough >.<

On too more important things, I’ve realized something this month. I always get at least some drawing practice in math class, and its not uncommon for me to play on my keyboard while a game is loading/I’m waiting for my turn/etc… But I never practice my writing. And English doesn’t count. I doubt any of you would read a Visual-Novel in the Comparative Essay genre…

So I’ve officially decided. I have a goal for the end of may! I’m going to write a short story! And my reward will be cake Blazblu and Dead or Alive! (That’s partially a lie- I’m going to try and buy them upon release <Insert Winking Smiley>)

So what will this short story be about? It’s going to be a sort of backstory for UTB. ‘Sort of’ is the key pair of words. It will be set several years before UTB and the main character will be Marissa, and it will be about her first crush. (No, it isn’t Nas…)

Well, now that I said it it must be done! If I don’t finish it by the end of may, then I lose all my credibility… And I’ll skip out on getting the Project Cafe (The new Nintendo console) Until 2013!!! If that’s not motivation, I don’t know what is.

Last thing, I don’t think I ever clarified this, but I will now. Nas likes his name pronounced with something in-between an s and a z. Sorta like Nasz. Definitely not Nass. He would punch you if you said that. And it would hurt.

Anyways, like usual I have nothing interesting to say. I’m been doing much more drawing on my free time (*coughmathclasscough*) and  I’m slowly developing more plot points. Still having trouble writing them down, but I’m still thinking about them.

In other news… I’ve got nothing. Really. I guess I read a few more visual novels, but… Oh, right, might as well state my hatred for Lise’s father(Symphonic Rain) >.>

You know, sometimes I feel like I’m writing these post for only myself… Not that that changes anything

…And then a bit more.

I’ve really started to enjoy practicing keyboard.  Not enough to change my career plans, no, but great as a hobby. And in 3 years perhaps be good enough to  start making my own music! Hopefully, anyway. I’m not totally against getting someone else to make music, so it doesn’t make a huge difference. I can decide in 3 years

That’s mainly because I’ve divided my ‘game’ plan into 3 parts:

Stage 1:
Learning the materials.

Before I can really start making UTB I have to know how to Draw, Program and Write. That’s also the order I need to practice my skills before they’re good enough to put into a game.
During this stage I’m just going to develop my skills, write out the basic plot ordering and possibly draw a few characters. Nothing too interesting.
I’ve been in this stage since I started UTB, and it will probably last another year.

Stage 2:
Making the Game.

This is where I start to make the game itself. I should have developed enough to at least do that much. I’ll be writing the full script while I draw sprites and such. Interesting things happen during this stage!
It should last anywhere from 1-3 years. Probably less than 3, but you never know.

Stage 3:
Revision and Finalizing.

This is when I reread the script for anything I deem unworthy of my epic game. I’ll also work on getting the music during this stage, and will probably send out beta copies to all my friends. Less interesting then Stage 2, but the game will be released at the end, so meh.
This stage should only last a few months.

I don’t have… Well… Any experience in the game industry, let alone the VN industry, yet, so I don’t know how realistic this plan is. And I know it’s very general, but it’s hard to plan things specifically during the learning stage; I’ll get a more specific plan more near Stage 2.

If you have any experience with VN’s or games, please comment on how realistic the plan is. Of course, doing is going to get me further than planning, but having both never hurt.

Because it's not gonna be the Wii 2

Before you ask, yes, I made this sig. And before the next question, yes I copied and pasted various parts of other Nintendo logo’s. So, uhh, I don’t claim to own anything used to make the sig… Yeah.

Well, nothing interesting has happened over the past month. I’m currently sick,  and I just finished my final exam today. (Being sick on an exam day SUCKS).

I’ve also been getting much better with the keyboard. Soon I’ll be able to play harder things

(If this post seems really jumbled, it’s due to the fact that I’m sick and  can’t think properly :s)

But I’ve been watching Bakuman lately… It’s really inspired me to start working harder.  So I’m going to start out fresh. When I finally start doing some real progress I’m going to reset this blog, with a new theme and stuff. That will probably be in 2-3 months… And, of course, I will still post each month until then

I have awesome news, though… I got a keyboard for Christmas

…The musical kind, you know, a synthesizer. Once I learn how to use it (It’ll take me a year or so (Maybe even 3 D:) to be good at it), I can start making my Visual Novel more than just pretty pictures and text. OK, so the pictures won’t be THAT pretty.

But that might change, because I also got some really good books on Anatomy and Drawing from my uncle. Hopefully I can improve by the time I’m ready to draw scenes from the first chapter.

Sure, it would be a lot easier to find someone who’s already good at drawing… But if Zun can do it, what’s stopping me?

I was sick. There. Excuses. (Event though it was TODAY that I got sick )

On to actual topics, I’m still finding it hard to make myself write. But a few days ago (sunday night/monday morning – both are the same to me) I discovered on awesome site that will most certainly keep me to mastering Japanese ~ All I need to do is apply it to writing (Find it here)

…No no, I don’t mean the SRS and sentence memorizing part D:

I mean all that motivational stuff

This guy is GOLD, even if he denies it/copies a bit from others, the way he says it really makes you want to do what he says.

All I have to do is make it easier for me to do it than not do it

Sadly, Japanese is more of a priority than this, and about equal with programming. So don’t expect me to write out my first draft or mass-summary (ya, I made that up) any time soon, though I won’t  be completely ignoring it (Not that the 1 or 2 people that check this blog regularly will care )

I guess in actual news, Hunters route is now 3 times longer. Yay for waiting!

So what went on this past month? Well… Nothing. I did get a program that helps me organize my writing, and I have gone through extensive thought about characters and plot, but I haven’t actually DONE anything. I’m almost 100% sure that will change  in english class next semester, but I reeally want to start doing it now, so if anyone has any tips on self-motivation, I would love to hear

But… If anyone is actually interested in finding something out about Until the Blood, here’s some (updated) character infos:

~Athanasius Jordan~

The main protagonist, who likes to be called Nas, he prides himself on being carefree, although most people consider him careless.  He’s actually quite smart, and lives with his mother and family friend/orphan Marissa, whom he calls Maria.  He dies in a fire, but is given another chance to live by a strange glowing orb…

~Amity Charon~

An old friend of Nas’, they once got in a fight, and now she dislikes him for one reason or another. She always seems to be around Nas when he messes up, and always points it out. She seems to be a bit nicer to him after the fire, though whether or not it’s because of pity is debatable…

~Marissa Fisher~

An old family friend of Nas’, they never really knew each other very well until the fire that orphaned her and killed Nas’ father moved them in together. She hasn’t been in best health since the fire that took her parents, so Nas tutors her instead of her going to school. She is one of the few things Nas admits to caring about. She dies in the fire that killed Nas.

Now, before you ask, Marissa isn’t one of the 3 heroines

Hunter and Chastity are still the other two, too, but Hunter hasn’t really changed, and Chastity is… Well, I don’t want to say anything yet >.<

In other news:

It’s my Birthday Today

I’m finally 16, though I can say my years went by a bit faster than others… Enjoying most everything really helps XD

So, anyway, until next time, I guess…

I’ve both given some serious thought to how some scenes should play out, and written a prologue (That needs to go through serious editing (That’s you Derek)). I’ve also given a personality to both the main character, and the main characters friend. Not only that, but I’ve done a lot of drawing practice… I guess that’s the power of boredom.

That’s what this post is mostly about. I don’t think I can call myself a bad drawer anymore, I can draw if I try. But I’m most certainly not good. Here’s an example:

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The first one is my modified contour drawing (Hopefully the right terminology) of the second picture (Gilgamesh, Type-Moon ©, I do not claim to own him, all rights belong to the original owner, etc.). While my drawing is certainly not bad, it has quite a few flaws. For one, the head; it’s a bit stretched, and looks a bit flat. I can blame the hair problems on my somewhat dull pencil, but things like the nose and chin are things I really need to work on.

The jacket I actually feel a bit happy about. I did not expect it to turn out that well, especially with all those weird creases. But I can’t let my surprise get the better of me, there are still a few problems. For one, I didn’t add in all the creases and bends that I probably should have, and some of the ones I did add were sometimes odd looking because I drew the sides of the jacket a bit differently.

Then there the shoulders. This is probably the smallest problem I’ll mention, but it is still something I need to work on. They look quite sloppy, and don’t really match up very well. They also make him look a bit more… Weak then he is. Honestly, they ruin the angle he’s posed at, making the scene look more like a sprite (Also partially due to the chin).

Well, I’m done ranting about my own picture. Hopefully I can improve on those things. If anyone notices anything that I should really work on, please please PLEASE tell me. I really want to improve

Oh, and hopefully I can get another one done by my next post

Anyway, I would like to start off by saying that the VN has a new name. I’ve decided that Blood Angel, Till the Death didn’t fit perfectly… For reasons that would spoil a lot.  So what is the new name? Until the Blood. It both gives off the sense that something WILL happen, and gives off a more proper preview for the aforementioned spoiler. Expect to see blog theme changes within the next few days

Oh, and tell me what you think of the name, I need more opinions. And say hi to my new editor, thepiehalo.

Other news includes:

• The basic plan is done. I have all the plot twists and stuff down… just not as much how to solve problems they create… that will be my goal for the next month.
• I CAN DRAW … Just not… well… >.<
• Character designs are much more solid now

Other, unrelated things include:

• I’m almost done with learning Hiragana and Katakana. It’s so much easier when you actually try. Much, much easier.
• My laptop broke :/
• It’s the third time it broke
• It kinda sucks D:
• I need a new VN to play… Any suggestions?