Philosophy #33 - Tone Balancing

Philosophy #33 - Tone Balancing

At this point, there are a lot of different scenes in the game. Not just with the ladies but overall. Whenever I put a scene into the game, I try to make sure that there's a point to it. Sometimes I put a scene in there to advance the story. Sometimes I put a scene to develop characters. I never put a scene in the game that serves no purpose, even though it might seem like that sometimes. Yes, even the ridiculous scenes like going to a comedy bar or eating burgers or having a night out at the club dancing. They're all there for a reason, even if it might not be apparent. All of these scenes are meant to drive the story, drive some type of theme in the game, drive some type of character development, or a combination of all of those things.

One of the things I try to do is balance the mood of all of these scenes. I try not to get too low. I try not to get too high. It's a tricky thing to balance. When given the option, I always try to lighten the mood. If the game doesn't call for being serious, it's not serious.

I take all kinds of liberties with realism. I push into the realm of silliness and push boundaries of believability because I'm not trying to be too serious. That's not to say that drama and realism doesn't have their place. All stories, not just visual novels, can be built specifically on the drama.

Having said all that, there is something real and serious when it comes to these characters and stories. I've built all of these characters and tried to give them personalities as much as I can, particularly the ladies. I've tried to give them personal stories. I've tried to figure out what makes them tick. I've tried to give them hopes and dreams. I've tried to give them goals and passions. Those are the things that I'm taking seriously.

The mood of the game is subjective to every person that plays it but I've tried to keep a balance. I want you to go through a roller coaster of emotions. I want you to experience the ups and downs. I want you to laugh. I want you to cry. I want you to try and create a bond with these characters as much as you can.

In the next several episodes, there is going to be a lot of different tone shifting. Some things will be fun. Some things will be... not so fun. With what I have planned, I can say for certain that your story should not be the same not over and over. At least, that's not my intention.

When certain things happen, I want them to have an impact on you when they do. When your story is over, I want you to be able to look back at all of the things you've been through and say that it was all worth it. 'A Man for All' is supposed to be a journey and in some ways, an adventure.

If you feel like the game takes it too serious, know that I'm doing my best to try to make the game fun and light-hearted. And if you're on the other side of the fence and the game is too silly, know that your story will buckle down and get serious when it has to.

I can't get into specifics because certain things happen in future episodes and obviously I don't want to spoil anything. But once the full picture is complete, I'll be able to go back and point out why certain storylines are the way they are, especially if they don't make sense right now.

To summarize, balancing the tone of the story is something I'm constantly trying to do. With all of the things I have planned, it remains to be seen whether or not I pull it off. If you take nothing else from this, this is just me letting you know that your story was never intended to be a straight line and the characters were never intended to be simple. If you have a favorite love interest, think about their story and how balanced it is. Is it serious? Is it ridiculous? What do you think of the tone of her story? What do you think will happen to balance it one way or the other? These aren't questions you have to answer, of course. Just something to think about.

I'm looking forward to talking more after the release of Episode 15, which is a big story episode. I am getting ahead of myself though because we're not close to a release. This is all just something to keep in mind.

On Episode 15

I've rendered some early scenes and getting into the middle of the episode. I'm not sure how complex these next few scenes are going to be but I'm making slow progress. It's kind of an ambitious episode in certain aspects but I can't say exactly how that will affect the speed of development. No previews yet. Definitely no timetable either. I'm just going to keep grinding through June as much as I can.

I'm doing my best to let you all know that I'm working on the game. Unfortunately, there isn't much to post or report since I'm just doing renders and that's always the bulk of development. Sorry I don't have much else.

Thanks for your support, everybody. If you have any questions or comments about the game, send me a message. That's all I have for now. Have a great weekend.