Philosophy #43 - An Unoriginal Idea

Philosophy #43 - An Unoriginal Idea

I always try to continue to point things out as the story progresses and everything starts to come together. Right now, I wanted to talk about something that should be obvious to everybody, even if it's not something you're all consciously thinking about.

There's a sea of visual novels out there. There are all types of dating sims and kinetic novels. There are even just stories you can read or movies you can watch that all borrow and share similar ideas. For 'A Man for All,' I took as many ideas as I could from all of these things. It would be impossible to deny any influence. I don't think there's any form of modern media that hasn't been influenced by something that came before it.

Because of that, I did my best to embrace it as much as I could. I took elements from stories I've read, movies and TV shows I've watched, and games I've played. I stole all of the good things that I enjoyed and tried to cram them into this game as much as I could. Whether it's character tropes, story arcs, plot devices, or entire scenes themselves, I figure there's no point in re-inventing the things that were already done well.

But... I do try to put things in the story that are from my head. And by that, I mean things that I think would work best and things that I want to put in there. When it comes to visual novels, I was always one to critique things. Not because I wanted to but because it was my preference. There were times with some games I've played when I've thought to myself, 'oh, it would have been nice if I had the story went in this direction,' or 'I think that scene should've been developed more,' or even 'I wish there was a little more kissing in this scene.' There were other factors involved, but wanting to do things my way was one of the reasons I decided to try and become a developer myself. I imagine that kind of bug has bitten most developers who want to dip their toe into the water. We all have our opinions.

As I always state though, this is your story just as much as it is mine. I understand that just because I think something is a good idea doesn't necessarily mean that you'll think it's a good idea. The most obvious thing to point to are the lack of choices in the game. I'm sure a lot of you would enjoy the chance to take different routes when it comes to how to resolve something. Some of you might even want avoid to certain plotlines or drop certain girls completely. That's where I thought I could do something different when it comes to my own ideas and development.

I wanted to write a story that was something that I wanted to write. I wanted to create characters that were fully-fleshed out and complete. I wanted to have a grand story that spans multiple episodes with stuff that happens in the first episode pertinent to what happens in the final episode. And when I have these ideas in my head for where the story should go I stop and consider whether or not this is the story that you, the MC, want to play out. I ask myself if you actually want to be the MC.

Time will tell whether or not I succeed in that part. The judgment, of course, is in the hands of everybody that plays it. I know that there are those who play AMFA who won't be satisfied with their story. I'd even wager that's the majority of people who pick-up and play it. But knowing that I created a story—a story that was just my take on all of the stories that came before me—that resonates with at least one of you tells me that this amalgamation of original and unoriginal ideas wasn't so bad. And that's enough to make it worth it.

I touched on this topic because as we head into the next few episodes (and I'll repeat this several times over the course of development this year, like I have already), I really wanted to do something that's not the same as everything else. Now, doing something completely different isn't original either, since doing the opposite has already been done before. All I ask is that you keep an open mind and consider the possibilities of the big picture. I've been thinking about all of this for a long time and I'm looking forward to all of you seeing how your story plays out.

On Episode 16

We're halfway through March and I'd estimate I'm about halfway through animations, give or take. I still plan on doing a full progress report at the end of the month, which should be approximately two weeks from now.

I would say that a late March release is unlikely. Along with the full progress report, I'll re-access where I'm at and consider what to do if things fall behind for whatever reason. We're inching closer but even if it's a slow pace, the finish line is getting closer. As always, that's just the plan and nothing is set in stone. Stuff happens.

That's it for this week. With the progress report planned for the end of the month, I did want to post just to let you all know that I'm at least working on it and give you some idea of progress. Honestly, sometimes I use philosophy posts like this as an excuse just to post and say hello. I want to have as much open communication with you as I can. If you have suggestions on something else you'd like to see me talk about or even just renders you'd like to see, I'm always open to ideas. I'm assuming most of you are just fine with me not saying anything and just getting to work. That's cool, too.

Thanks, everybody. I'm getting back to work. Take care, enjoy the weekend, and I'll talk to you soon.