Merlin: Visual Novel Project

This is the first time you hear about the Merlin Visual Novel Project?

In the master post you can find more information about the project and what it's about.

In the sign up post you can find out how to join the team.

Like last month, there isn't much I can give you an update on. I worked a bit on plot (mostly splitting the diagramme onto multiple pages to reduce loading time etc.) and new people joined! Yay  to the new people! :D We make so little progress lately, it's always a surprise to get new sign-up - in the most positive way, of course!

Nevertheless, since there is so little progress at the moment I think what I/we need is an actual hiatus - at least on update posts. The point of these posts was, besides the obvious, to keep us motivated to keep working on this project regularly. But that's not going as planned so yeah. Changing the plan. ;)

There will be a new update as soon as there is something to actally talk about. Maybe that will be in a month, maybe later. Either way:

This is the first time you hear about the Merlin Visual Novel Project?

In the master post you can find more information about the project and what it's about.

In the sign up post you can find out how to join the team.

There isn't much I can talk about in this update, since there hasn't been much progress. I'm even a day late with this post and only just now noticed by pure coincidence. I’m really sorry about that!

To keep it short: real life is getting in the way - I hope next month will be better, but we will see. We are only a small group of people working on this project and we do this in our free time; sadly that means everything is taking a long time. But don't you worry! We will finish the game, eventually! ;)

As for what I can report: We made a little bit more progress on the plot diagram, and we had someone read over parts of the plot and they gave us great, constructive feedback! I'm especially happy about the feedback! It helps so much with improving the game, especially in this early stage! :D

Unfortunately that's all I have to say, sorry! I hope there is more I can talk about next time and as always: if there is anything you want to hear about, send us an ask or a message!

This is the first time you hear about the Merlin Visual Novel Project?

In the master post you can find more information about the project and what it's about.

In the sign up post you can find out how to join the team.

This month I want to talk about the actual process of working out the plot. Some of you might wonder why it takes so long to actually finish it and - besides real life getting in the way - the way we work is probably the main reason.

As I already revealed last time, the game takes place in canon times. This means for one, that we can base a lot on the actual show. For example we chose a few points in the show to base decisions and consequential deviations on. Sometimes they stray far, sometimes not too much.

Regardless, this means we always have to make sure everything that happens next fits into what would have happened in canon. In turn this can lead to new decisions based on canon-events, or non-canon-events and again either stray farther, or maybe even go back to a more canon-ish path etc.

Originally I planned to make it possible to go from one path to another at any time and "only" have 7 set endings. But it got clear pretty fast that that's not possible and that we end up with a lot of similar endings and plotlines, but they can't be merged because there are some very important differences. This can be something like a character being dead in one path and still alive in another, or different relationships, or something simple as one character not being in Camelot in one plot and being there in another. My point is, there is a lot more to keep in mind than I originally anticipated. :'D

But back to the actual process!

We start with picking a decision that still has an open path/deviation. For example: "Should Merlin use magic to save X"

Now, we consider e.g. what happens on "Yes"? What are the consequences? Would it be a magic reveal? Who else is present? Would someone die? And so on.

Next we have to consider what would have happened next in canon? Is that still going to happen? If yes, are there any differences/is there anything mentionable? For example: There was a magic reveal, so now Merlin can use his magic more freely to save someone, which again lead to other new plots. In this step we read through the Merlin-wiki, or re-watch parts of the relevant episode a lot of the time, or we discuss possible consequences for an hour only to come up with something totally different after all. But of course, sometimes this can go super easy and quick, if we have a good idea early on. :D

Usually, after doing step 3 a few times we start to consider new decisions. We choose random plot points and question their potential for a decision. What options would the player have? Would it actually make a difference, especially on the long run? Can it go to an existing path or something similar?

Finally, after doing all that a couple of times we will reach a point where we have to come to an end. Usually this means that the conflict between Arthur and Morgana is solved in some way. Here we still consider a few things like: is the plotline long enough? Are there any open questions? Where is every (important) character right now? What relationships do we have? Is there something that still needs to be covered?

Especially with the endings we try to be careful. We don't want the game to be "just a few short deviations from canon with quick endings". The game is supposed to include a lot of new things, and hopefully some plots you didn't anticipate. Most of all we want to get an approximately equal playing time for most plotlines. There will be a few exceptions, but you should only end up in those paths if you really ask for it. ;)

This is the first time you hear about the Merlin Visual Novel Project?

In the master post you can find more information about the project and what it's about.

In the sign up post you can find out how to join the team.

It's been another month since our last update and we made quite some progress on the plot! Sadly we didn't finish it yet - as I had hoped - but I'm happy with the progress we did make.

I guess the most challenging part for me was to decide on plot to delete. The diagramme and resulting plot-options were getting way too complex. I'm glad I did kick some of it, but I'm also sad about it. I really liked some of the deleted parts!

To at least publish one of the decisions I had to remove, here you have an old screenshot:

(This is literally the one I struggled most with to decide about! OTL)

Now, I want to use this post to give you some more information on the overall plot! The story will take place in canon timeline and - depending on the plot you follow - there will be canon events. Of course that also means you will get the chance to change said events by making a different choice than Merlin did in the show. ;) Additionally, while the game will be Merlin centric for the most part, there are also a lot of decisions other characters like Arthur, Gwen and Morgana can make! Right about now you are probably thinking "that sounds like a lot of decisions" and you are not wrong. While I already removed about 1/3 of them there are over 30 different decisions at the moment, and we are not done yet. I guess there will be about 50 in total, hopefully not too many more. :'D As an example: one of the finished plotlines has 18 decisions in total. Depending on the decisions you make this number can be between 15 and 20, with some exceptions.

That’s it for now! If you have any questions or feedback don't hesitate to contact us! :D

This is the first time you hear about the Merlin Visual Novel Project?

In the master post you can find more information about the project and what it's about.

In the sign up post you can find out how to join the team.

It's been a couple of month since we started the MVN-Project and a lot has been done since then.

But of course there is still a lot of work to do!

Currently we are working on the flow diagramme, so all plot lines are mapped out soon-ish. The art team is about to split the work so they can get started on backgrounds and the first people/expressions.

In case you're curious what our plot diagramme looks like, here is snippet of the overview. I think it shows pretty well how complex the whole thing is, but also how much we try to make this as detailed and professional as possible.

But, as I already hinted, we still have a lot to do. Especially on the plot.

Currently we are only 3 people working on the plot and it would be a big help to have more people read over the current state of the flow diagramme and give feedback, but also to come up with new ideas.

Additionally we could still need one or two more artists, especially if you are interested to draw people in (a lot of) different expressions.

So, if you are interested to help us in either way, we would be very happy to hear from you! <3

But of course, any other help on something listed in the sign up post is welcome, too!

Please head over to the sign up post to find out how to contact us!

And, of course, if you have any questions on the MVN-Project don't hesitate to ask!

I cannot help in anyway (unless you might be interested to see it translated in French…), but I sure would love to see the results :)

OH MY GOD YES YES YES YES!!! ive wanted to do one for a long time. do you work with rpg maker, perchance?

I haven’t decided on an engine yet, but I’m looking into rpg maker and the visual novel plugins, since plutonia94 pointed it out. :) There is, however, a high chance I will choose a different engine though, since - as far as I can tell right now - rpg maker doesn’t feature the kind of gameplay/gamedesign I’m looking for.

There is a lot to do, and a lot of different areas to cover! Here is a short list - more detailed information follows below the cut.

general organisation

plot & story outlines

writing (in-game texts, dialogue, etc.)

art

background music

coding

beta (for art, writing, and gameplay)

You want to help, now how to contact me?

You can either send me an email to [email protected], or a message on tumblr (to this blog, and not my personal one!!) I prefer email though!

Please make sure to read the detailed information about the area you want to help with first, and include the following information:

Name: tumlr/LJ/etc.: Preferred way of contact: I am 18 or older: (Y/N) I'd like to help with:

You want to help but don't know if you're "good enough" or can't decide on what to help with?

First of all: there is no "not good enough". All help is highly appreciated! <3

But if you're really not sure, just talk to me about it, and I'm sure we can find a solution that works for everyone! :)

You want to help but don't know if you actually have time for it, or if you'll stay interested?

Communication is key!

Frankly, it is a pain in the arse and a real burden if people drop out without any notice. It's a lot of unnecessary waiting, and uncertainty about whether someone will be back..

BUT, I'm grateful for any help - even if it's temporary.

So if you're not sure about this, or know from experience that you're likely to drop out: please, please tell me in advance! And please just send me a quick message if you don't want to continue! You don't have to offer an explanation or anything; all I'm asking for is to know what you're up to! <3

On a side note: if someone doesn't answer emails/messages for a month and longer I will assume they dropped out. They are free to ask to join in again, but there is no guarantee I will agree. I hope that's understandable.

You don't understand something or have further questions?

Please go ahead and send me a message about it! I'm sure I missed a few topics, and I'm happy to add to it! :)

This is an idea I've had for a few months now, contemplating if it is a good idea or even possible, and whatnot. But a few friends assured me that people would actually like to see this done, so might as well try, right? :)

First of all, this is something I can't do alone. I will need help, YOUR help, if you are interested! :D

Find out more about how you can help: >>>here

Secondly, a lot of times I had to explain what a visual novel actually is. This time I'm prepared! xD

What is a Visual Novel? >>>wikipedia

(Or in short: a kind of "choose your own story"-game)

Examples you might have heard about: Fate Stay Night, Katawa Shoujo

(Dating Sims like Dream Daddy are also a type of VN, but VN are a lot more plot based and less, well, dating/romance oriented.)

What does that mean for the Merlin-VN?

This story will be a canon!AU. It will follow Merlin and Arthur's story, and the player will have the option to make choices for Merlin (maybe Arthur too?). There will be platonic and romantic plotlines. I plan to include seven different endings (7 is a cool number, that's the only reason xD) and there will be happy, neutral and bad endings - although that also depends on your attitude towards each ending, whether it's good or bad. ;)

Since the game will include a lot of reading, it's hard to tell how long it will take to play through. I'm aiming for an average four hours, but frankly there is a lot of more planning and plot outlining to happen before this can be estimated accurately.

How/Where will this game be published?

Currently I plan to simply put a download link on this blog, once it's done.

Will it be for free?

Of course it will be for free! It's a fan project like any other and I don't intend to make any profit off it. By fans for fans! <3 (besides, copyrights XD)

WHEN will it be done?

I WANT TO have it done for next year's >>>COiNELOT - but I wont promise anything. Maybe it will take longer, maybe not. That highly depends on how many people decide to help, and how reliable those people are.