hello! my name is sylla, and i am proud to announce my first upcoming and solo project Ring of Prey.
in this dark and mature otome visual novel, players will assume the role of mercenya valkov - a jaded and emotionless killing machine known as a revenant as she tries to navigate a human society that she should have never had a future in.
play as a monstrous protagonist, complete with options that reflect her more cruel nature.
romance five male love interests that vary between human and supernatural, and learn what truly makes someone a monster.
a plethora of highly sexual content.
all original character art by developer sylla.
the game will have a staggered route release in the intended play order. common -> rian -> ajax/damon -> vyka -> hidden
this game is intended for 18+ audiences only and will contain extremely triggering content. a more extensive list of trigger warnings will be provided during each route release.
gore, body horror, graphic sexual content, sexual assault, incest, drug use, alcohol use, monsterfucking, cannibalism, stalking, violence, forced captivity, character death, torture, necrophilia, extreme age gap, mortal x immortal, self harm, bittersweet & tragic endings
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i know you'll still be working on actala ofc teehee. but wanted to know if you had any other concurrent plans, like any jams, etc.
especially since i remember you posted so many of your potential ideas on twitter a while back!!
ACK MY UPCOMING DEV PLANS
I just went through them recently and made a list and scared myself. This is probably overly ambitious, but I'll be doing my best! Ordered by expected release date:
Untitled Fairytale Project: Still in the brainstorming phases, but I will be releasing a project for the Once Upon a Time VN Jam! Expect it to be around 20-30k words. (Will be released in December 2023).
Untitled prequel to Karamu: Covers Nelli and Raku’s first meeting, from Raku’s perspective. Kinetic, approximately 10k words. Currently in outlining stages. Planned to be released for Yandere Jam 2024. (Horror/romance)
Secret Project: I’m working on another secret project! I can’t share any details, but it will likely be released for Yandere Jam 2024.
The Man Who Follows (temp. name): There is a man who follows me. Everywhere I go, I see him. He follows, and he whispers. 2 endings, approximately 20k words. Currently in outlining stages. Planned to be developed and released for Nanoreno 2024. (Drama/romance)
Rusted Cogs (temp. name): In a future where all actors/actresses have been replaced with machines, a robot actress stars in her first film with a human co-star. Currently in outlining stages. Planned to be released in Spring 2024, possibly for Amare or Blossom Jam (if those end up running again!). (Romance/comedy)
Untitled sequel to Karamu: After the events of the first game, Raku’s family comes to visit. 3 endings, approximately 30-40k words. Currently in outlining stages. Planned to be released for Otome Jam 2024. (Horror/romance)
Of course, I'll be working on Actala as well! I don't have hard release dates set for that one since I'll be working on it steadily; once more progress has been made I'll think about more concrete releases! There's a lot of stuff that I want to fix and adjustments that need to be made.
As for the larger projects that I talked about on Twitter, I'll be working on the outlines/scripts, and once those are finished I'll consider moving them into production!
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to scare myself once again with my dev plans, mysterious garden vegetable!
Did you have any media/particular sources of inspiration when you were drafting ROP?
ooooooh neat question anon! so as far as plot goes, i don’t really think there was anything outside of a character trait from chou no doku that really got my gears turning. also random fun fact that will be somewhat relevant later in this post - i originally was thinking of making a fate fan otome!
for character design though? it’s EVERYWHERE. lol
for the monster characteristics, i really leaned into elfen lied, tokyo ghoul as well as BNA (you’ll see eventually!)
the character designs themselves? well…i am a big fate simp, make a game out of it and see how many things you can recognize on each LI lmao 😋
so i wanted to come back and readdress this, because the answer i gave was honestly pretty unsatisfactory and when i thought about it just straight up not true. well, thats not exactly it - i focused on the "plot" aspect too much and not overall. so lets get to it!
my first introduction to visual novels was fate, which branched out into other big galge titles (as well as other typemoon works). i didnt get into otome until much much later, not even realizing it was a thing despite it being such an obvious idea - if there are stories for guys with romance elements, why not for girls too?!
and when the time came when i discovered otome through mystic messenger - i was hooked! and so i delved deeper until i was playing pc games, switch games, indies, learning japanese for titles that werent localized, etc. and dont get me wrong, i truly do love otome as a whole.
BUT....
i always felt something was missing. while you can find various different plots and tropes and settings and visuals and characters, it dawned on me; why aren't there really any messed up protags?
i had been playing Slow Damage, a BL game that was just recently localized by jast, when it dawned on me. why cant we have otome MC's like towa? seriously, i loved towa more than any of his romance interests. why couldn't otome have extremely flawed, hot trash MCs that you couldn't help but root for?
so that was what really got my gears turning. and then to further expand on that - why cant otome have the absolute fuckfest kinds of situations that galge and bl get up to? sure, there's definitely some fucky wuckys even in mainstream console titles. but have there ever REALLY been things like THAT scene early on tsukihime with shiki and arc? and ESPECIALLY with the MC being the perpetrator?
i was stumped, because honestly? we need to admit that, as much as we love them, a vast majority of protags despite any flaws they may have are still undeniably "the good guys". none of them are really out there comitting complete atrocities that make you question what the hell it is youre playing. and dont get me wrong, thats fine! but the flip side niche is SORELY lacking, to say the least. i wanted to fill that void.
basically...i wanted all the galge + BL craziness, despair inducing, sex crazed mess with a protagonist that makes you go "am i the baddie"?
im not confident in my work, and i know i have a lot of shortcomings. this is going to be my first ever game project, and its definitely not going to be everyones cup of tea (seriously, i tag things for a reason, people!). that being said...i am positive i can at least deliver the experience im aiming to provide, and i hope you will continue to support me on this long journey.
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OK your question was so good it got me also thinking about Actala especially with how fun and unique the entire premise of "after the adventure" you have going on -- was there anything specific that inspired this idea? Or was it more just a chance idea? Also how did you come up with the idea for the core trio and their great dynamic? (I love how their personalities play off each other and complement each other so much ladkjfalsd)
AWW THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU'RE TOO SWEET sdfdsfsdf I will cry!! (Very long answer, so I put it under the tag!)
I really like taking established story tropes and "twisting" them into something unexpected (for instance, a chosen one who doesn't want to be a chosen one). In this case, I looked at the "commoner becomes the hero, defeats the monster, and marries the king's daughter" trope, and I wondered - would that really happen? If I were a noble, I wouldn't welcome the hero back with open arms; I'd be wondering how I could get rid of this threat to my power. So Actala's premise was born! (Though the idea has evolved a lot beyond that since then!)
In the original drafts, Actala was a lot simpler! It was meant to be a much more straightforward imitation of a mix between a JRPG and a traditional folktale. Sei and Shizu were strangers who just so happened to form a "party" to defeat the "demon lord" together. Shizu had fallen in love with Sei over the course of the journey, and that was why she picked up on the danger that he faced after his return.
However, I wasn't really happy with that version, so I kept toying with ideas to make the relationship between Shizu and Sei more impactful, and I thought - well, why don't I make them childhood friends? (I also just love childhood friends...) After that, I built the characters' personalities bit by bit by thinking about their pasts and their motivations (which is why the past scenes are so prominent…and numerous). First - I asked, why would Shizu be so protective of Sei? Because she feels responsible for him, because he's her only family. And what kind of guy would be born out of that treatment? A socially awkward, clumsy man, who's desperate to prove himself.
Liam was actually supposed to be a much more typical "ice cold," loyal knight personality, and - I won't lie - I just changed his personality during the early stages of development because I thought that it would be hilarious if the "ice" man was actually really friendly and silly. After that, the dynamics between the main trio just evolved very naturally! Sei and Shizu are both on the quieter side (as a result of their shared past), and so Liam naturally became the team's ice-breaker/glue. Sei and Liam are both younger, so Shizu became the responsible one. I'm actually surprised at how well their personalities mesh together! I hope that I can add in more scenes where the three of them interact :)
I apologize for the essay, but it was a very good question!!!
Some of you coming across this post may find the above image familiar. Maybe even boring - heralding as the pinned post to the small Reddit community you've grown accustomed to. Others may be seeing this and saying, "Cool colors, but I'm sorry- who or what is this?"
Please let us introduce ourselves!
This is a new Tumblr account in connection with the IndieOtome subreddit and the IndieOtome Twitter account- both made with the express intent of supporting the ever growing world indie otome community. We are a part of the indie otome game development industry as well as the amazing fandom, so we have a lot of love for it all!
The subreddit has finally reached a point of change to support our 2100+ members (!Omg I remember when there were just 7 of us!) We now have a full mod team full of amazing individuals who love the genre and genuinely care for the community, working closely together to begin planning events in and outside of the subreddit, as well as a community wiki that we will expound on as the community grows and evolves.
The otome community has grown so much and we are fortunate to be here in a time when so much dynamic growth is happening! We are by no means the forerunners of the community. From content creators to development communities to news blogs to fanzines, the community was already here- with dedicated individuals showing it love and establishing a foundation. We are are able to support this community because they helped to define it.
Which brings us to why we are here! On Tumblr!
Twitter is great for short form shout outs, but theres just so much more going on in the industry- we'd like to talk more about it here and share more in depth information with fans about the talent that helps shape this community.
Some really cool people are helping us to format a way to share more news related content and events, show off upcoming related talent and content creators, as well as cool happenings in the fanspace, which definitely deserves all the love and hype!
And Tumblr is the place for us to show up show out!
As the world is embracing romance in the form of Indie Otome and Amare games, we are seeing more rich and beautiful expressions of this story rich video game genre as well as a world community making their way towards solidarity in sharing these games and stories we love. And IndieOtome wants to be right there, sharing as well!
So let's kick this party off right!
Since this is our introductory Tumblr post, lets share some of the first developer and game studio accounts this account has followed!
We're just getting going, and it only gets more exciting from here! Starting humble and coming up!
Thanks for sticking around to read this intro post! If you know us, you know we are HYPE for Indie Otome (and Amare games too!), and even if you don't know, well, we cant wait to show you! 💗💯
Could you give a run-down of all of the species in the ROP universe and their relationships to each other?
interesting question, anon! worldbuilding stuff like this is probably my favorite to answer
while there will be mentions of other sorts of beings (not necessarily confirming their existence), the game revolves around the conflict between 3 species - Humans, Lycans, and Revenants (youll see why humans are mentioned in this trifecta when the game is fully out 😉)
to give a little run down, here are the current definitions from the actual game script!
Revenants
Abominations, monsters in human form that plague this world. Their existence is unknown to the general public except for folk tales surrounding similar beings such as vampires. However, unlike the vampires in those stories, Revenants consume a diet solely comprised of human flesh rather than just blood alone. They possess enhanced physical abilities along with the razor sharp appendages that sprout from their bodies. They do not age nor are they prone to illness, but they can be killed via other methods such as removing the head from the body or injecting Lycan venom. Any other "death" they suffer will not be permanent; it will only incapacitate them for a time.
Lycans
Monstrous shapeshifting wolf-like creatures that can also assume a human form. With reinforced bodies, the strength of one exceeding that of twenty humans and a venomous bite, they are the Revenant's natural enemy. A single bite is fatal, and there is no cure. Living up to their canine namesake, they also possess enhanced senses of smell and hearing, though not quite as finely tuned as a Revenant's sense for human flesh. They can distinguish between humans and Revenants by the scent of their blood. Male lycans are driven by an extreme need to breed.
What do each of the ROP LIs find attractive about Mercy?
Rian: “Oh, that’s easy! Yeah she’s pretty and all, but I think the prettiest thing about her is that she’s so fragile. Wait, I know that sounds weird, just hear me out! It’s basically like, even though she is what she is she still has sad parts to her, you know?”
Damon: “Ha? What I like about Ms. Valkov? Hmm..well, she’s intelligent for starters. More importantly, she listens and does as she’s told despite that, heh. It’s quite nice having someone that is able to challenge you yet know their place when the time comes.”
Ajax: “…….No comment.
…
looking back and forth waiting for you to leave
…
…Haaaaaaa. Do I really need to answer this? Fine…she smells really good. And she’s, uh…grippable in the right places.”
Vyka: couldn’t be here so he texted in his answer
ur asking me about przytka? Lol
have u seen her????
nvm dont answer that. in fact dont look at her
but rly i luv everything about her
well ok there is 1 thing i dont
u think id fuckin tell u tho ? lmao
heres wat i think. i think u know a lil too much about me and her :)
btw look behind u idiot
there were no more interviews to conduct, as that text was the last thing you read before your untimely demise. before your consciousness leaves you as the monster feeds on your flesh, you notice the shadowy figure off in the corner…it seems sad, lonely, and angry.
Sorry for the kind of sporadic updates, I do need to be better about posting here! I post devlogs on my itch page monthly, and I've decided to crosspost the latest one here since it has some important info about Actala's future development! A copy of my latest itch devlog is under the cut!
Hello, happy June!
It's been another month (time really does fly)!
No Actala updates this time, as I ended up increasing the scope a bit on my Otome Jam project so I had to divert my attention to that (please look forward to some EXCELLENT voice acting)! Karamu will release sometime in the next couple of weeks!
But although I don't have any updates for Actala, I do have a bit of an announcement. As you might know if you played through the demo, I originally planned to illustrate the story 100% with CGs and mini-CGs. This was...unrealistic (as basically anyone with half a brain could have told you, I imagine).
This was something that became EXTREMELY apparent as I worked on Karamu. I thought I scoped very realistically (a simple scene with 2 characters and only 10k words), and I hoped to finish the game within a month. However, while I finished the script in a week, I've spent almost 2 months on the illustrations. (If I extrapolate that out for Actala, where the current script is 250,000 words...I won't finish the thing for another 4-5 years...)
Part of that is that I've been experimenting with more complex/highly rendered CGs, and taking more care with the color and compositions (you can see a sample below). For Actala, I adopted a more simple coloring style because of the high volume of illustrations, but I was never really happy with them. Rather than putting out a ton of illustrations that I'm not happy with, I'd prefer to put out a smaller number that I'm more satisfied with.
If I'm being honest, I didn't adopt the "CG only" strategy for any deep reason in particular. It was mainly a snap decision based on insecurities with my own art, as I felt like my art couldn't really stand on par with other VNs (so I decided to create value with quantity over quality). However, ultimately I think it's detrimental to the project. The amount of work required for the art just dwarfs everything else, to the point where I put off the other tasks to make a SMALL dent in the art (for instance, I really want to improve the GUI, which looks a bit clunky and not super elegant...)
So from now on, I will most likely adopt the sprite format for Actala, instead of utilizing exclusively CGs. Those sprites may or may not be animated; I'll try it out and see how I feel about them. You can still expect a lot of CGs from me, but not exclusive! Interestingly, I actually planned to do sprites in the early stages of development, and I finished almost all of them. These are over a year old at this point, so they will be completely redone, though!
I hope that this isn't disappointing to anyone (it probably isn't; I'm just stubborn as an ox when it comes to my impulse decisions...) But from a projection perspective, it's just 100% impossible to get Actala out on any reasonable timeline with the approach that I was taking. This way, I'll be able to get the game out a bit faster (with nicer illustrations, just fewer of them)! And it will give me a little more time to polish other aspects of the game, and perhaps work on a few more side projects ;)
For the rest of this month, I'll be finishing out Karamu. Then at the start of July, I'll take a bit of a game dev break before tackling the sprites! Expect to see some sketches in the next devlog~
If you read this far, thank you! See you next month :)
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Did you have any media/particular sources of inspiration when you were drafting ROP?
ooooooh neat question anon! so as far as plot goes, i don’t really think there was anything outside of a character trait from chou no doku that really got my gears turning. also random fun fact that will be somewhat relevant later in this post - i originally was thinking of making a fate fan otome!
for character design though? it’s EVERYWHERE. lol
for the monster characteristics, i really leaned into elfen lied, tokyo ghoul as well as BNA (you’ll see eventually!)
the character designs themselves? well…i am a big fate simp, make a game out of it and see how many things you can recognize on each LI lmao 😋
Can you provide a ranking of how 🔥🔥🔥 each route will be? (For gore/spicy content?)
i feel like i dont actually know how to answer this as weird as it sounds LOL not because of spoiler reasons, but because of like, how different things factor in? for instance, i feel like when we say "gore" we are thinking you know, entrails being ripped out etc etc stuff like that (which IS present). but then how do we rank something like medical gore? personally for me, the medical gore is "worse" for lack of a better term but im sure others wont feel that way! i am probably just overthinking this lmao. ill just give a very subjective ranking of what *i* think
the score will be out of 5, with 🔥 representing spicy content and 🩸 for gore content
Rian - 🔥🔥 🩸🩸
Ajax - 🔥🔥🔥 🩸🩸🩸
Damon - 🔥 🩸 🩸 🩸 🩸
Vyka - 🔥🔥🔥🔥 🩸🩸🩸🩸
REDACTED - 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 🩸🩸
again, this is just my personal outlook on it and seeing as the entire game isnt fully written yet, these are also subject to change! thank you for the ask, anon!
Out of the ROP cast, do you have a personal favorite? Who do you find the easiest to write/who is the closest to your IRL type?
personal favorite? well, maybe as a writer i shouldn’t admit this (but come on, we all have our biases don’t we?) but it’s definitely the hidden LI. what can i say, im a degenerate and it’s my favorite trope 😂
id actually throw him in the easiest to write category for that same reason. id say rian and ajax are also pretty easy to write for. on the other hand, vyka is definitely the hardest because he as a character flip flops a LOT
as for closest to my irl type? none lmao, ive been with my irl partner for a decade now and i can say with confidence that literally none of them have anything in common, wether it be appearance or personality! when it comes to fiction, i tend to be drawn to taboo subject matter that i wouldn’t touch with a 10 foot pole irl. even rian, the sunshine boy, is not for me. wayyy too outgoing and social lmao
Hey! I've seen your art on Twitter and I like the style! Can I ask what your story premise is and what your MC is like?
thank you anon! the gist is that MC (mercenya) has done something rather taboo and frowned upon, so she’s currently on the run and hiding in what’s probably an even worse place for her to be - a city sprawling with lycans (one bite and she’s done for)!
as for her personality, well…she is definitely not a good person. she has and CAN do things that will potentially make some players very uncomfortable. she is very detached, and seems to thrive most in situations where death is a real possibility for her. have you ever played piofiore, anon? mercenya is basically the female, playable version of yang.
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