Just here to tell you all that I'm still alive because it seemed like some of you have been concerned about me and the project. I appreciate the thoughts.
Here's something I drew today for you to chew on until the trial release. This is still in progress, tho (apparently). I have to leave her face to your imagination for now because I'm still trying to get it right and it will be fresher when you see it completed in the game.
That's it for this fly by. I might do something similar again if needed.
Stay safe and have a good day!
Uirusu out!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Hello Maddies! This is Uirusu!
I know last time I said next time we meet I will be having the trial version with me so I guess I shouldn't be here now
But I still want to swing by very quickly and tell you myself-
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAY!!
I hope you all have a nice holiday with your loved ones! I want to speak to you more but I gotta go before game development police catch me away from my desk. I hope you understand.
That's all! Bye~★
Happy Halloween!! (Survival Report of Spooky October)
Happy Halloween, Maddies!
This is Uirusu and you know what time it is! It’s time for our monthly survival report.
Before I go into the development progress, I want to address this first. For those who has been tuning into our monthly report you knew Maiden City: TLCD is still alive. However, just this morning I learned that there were people couldn’t see the reports on our store page and they were wondering if the development was still live. If you know someone with the same concern, please direct them to this series of reports. I will appreciate it greatly.
Anyway, as for the progress, I have been working on the artworks, scripts, and the program for the trial version. I’m not gonna lie, I’m still very green regarding the program. I can say it now that I’m gonna need feedback for bugs, UI experience, and etc after I release the trial. I am counting on you Maddies for that :D Although I can’t reveal much now, I can confirm that you will be seeing the story of the trial unveiling in first person view, which is different from the main game. You will play as yourself as you go into the darkest place in Maiden City, Area TAI-P31. You will be witnessing the struggle and competition of survival between Chun and her friends and their worst enemy. It’s pretty fun to try writing in first person and I hope you share the same sentiment as I do when it’s finally released.
Another thing, I believe most of you have already seen the new UI for steam library. It’s pretty cool if you ask me. And I’m happy to tell you that I’ve started working on a new cover art to fit the new UI. It’s gonna be the tall one, like the cover of a game package, a book cover or a movie poster.(I think that’s what valve people are going for?) Anyway, you will see.
That’s it for me for this month’s survival report. Thank you for tuning in again this month! As always, follow me on twitter or support me on Patreon, or both. Either way, I appreciate it very much! See you next time and I think I might be able to bring the trial then.
Uirusu, out!
Survival Report of September(?
Hello Maddies! This is Uirusu!
It was September 30th in Taiwan when I was working on this survival report so I guess it technically counts as September’s survival report. First of all, I have a good news and a bad news. The good news is, I am currently working on the trial version of the game! It will be released soon and it will be an exclusive story from the main story in the final game. The time of the story will be set a few years before the main story. The reason I decided to write an exclusive story for the trial was that I want you Maddies to be able to enjoy every last drop of the final game. I don’t know what your opinion is, but personally I don’t enjoy going through the same thing from the trial in the final game.
The bad news is, after giving it a good thought,I have decided that it is necessary for me to postpone the release of Maiden City: TLCD. But don’t worry, I’m still working on it and the reasons to this decision are simple and not at all obstacles.
Before we go to the reasons, I want to say sorry to those who have been waiting for the release. I know, it sucks. But it will suck more if I release it unfinished. We will not be able to take part in the sale,but please rest assure, we still have the launch discount.
The first reason is that I have decided to give an upgrade to it. It started out when I found some room of improvement in the story. In order to improve it, it required me to create more scripts and artworks, thus taking me more time and pushing the schedule back a month or two,potentially. Since I want the game to be the best it can be upon release, I have to make the hard choice.
The second reason is that I’m switching from Tyranobuilder to Unity. Tyranobuilder, which is the engine I’m currently using, is fundamentally a visual novel-only engine and I want an engine that allows me to pass on my programming experience to my next game. That said, yes, I am planning to create something other than visual novel in the future. Don’t get me wrong. Tyranobuilder is an absolutely perfect engine for visual novel and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to make one for themselves.
I hope all that also explained why I’ve been too busy to deliver this month’s survival report in time..
Lastly, let’s take a look at the updated version Verina and Ana’s character images.
That’s it for this month’s survival report! Thank you for tuning in!
This is Uirusu and I wish you a good day! Like always, follow me on Twitter or Patreon if you want support me and MC: TLCD!
Until next time! Uirusu, out!
Survival report of July & August
Hello, my favorite Maddies!
This isUirusu!!
Sorry for keeping you waiting.
Why have you skipped a month you ask?
Well, I was out of town for some personal business.
Specifically, to pay respect to certain group of people.
Anyway, let's look at this new piece of artwork!
This is a visual indication of how Chun and her friend Pur used to live in the automatic underground garbage disposal system.
I think this piece of work is quite self-explanatory so let's leave the actual story in the actual game.
It's getting closer to the release date and I'm kinda overwhelmed so let's just leave it here.
That's it for this month's survival report.
I hope you enjoyed it.
Please check out my PATREON and follow me on TWITTER@OnlyUirusu if you would like to show some support for Maiden City: TLCD.
I'll see you next month!
Uirusu out!!
Survival Report of June
Hello, Maddies!
This is Uirusu!!
Good to see you all surviving another month!
As always, regarding the progress of the development, everything is great.
Although I am currently slightly behind schedule, I don't think it will affect the publishing date.
For this month's survival report, I would like to introduce you to a character I recently added to the game.
She is Verina's lady's maid and she plays a supportive role in Verina's side of the story.
Honestly, I had a lot of fun designing her because I got to finally do a little research on the culture of servants around the world.
Before we go further, let's take a look at her first.
Her name is Emma Olsson.
She used to be Verina's mother's lady's maid before she died.
A lady's maid is a maid serving only the lady of the house.
That's a pretty self-explanatory name, isn't it?
In fact, I had my concern when I was deciding whether to make her a lady's maid or a housekeeper.
The concern was about whether it was appropriate for Verina, the unmarried only daughter of Guardstein Family, to have a lady's maid.
This brought me to the qeustion.
"Does the only daughter of the house fill her mother's position when she dies?"
Since the answer is yes in my culture and the research I did didn't provide any obvious evidence for the opposite side, I said to myself,
"Yeah, why not."
Therefore, she officially became Verina's lady's maid.
That's it for this month's survival report.
I hope you enjoyed it.
Please check out my PATREON if you would like to show some support for Maiden City: TLCD.
I appreciate your support!
And in case you don't know already, I am back on TWITTER now! It will be cool of you would follow me!
I'll see you next month!
Uirusu out!!
Survival Report of May
Hello, my fellow Maddies!
This is Uirusu!
I'm here to bring you our May survival report!
I got a few things to share with you Maddies this time.
First of all, maybe some of you have already noticed that I changed the design of Eden-0 which could be seen at the store page's sample images.
I'll leave it down here to save you Maddies some time.
For those who are new in the City, Eden-0 is one of the main charaters and a rather important one who has a deep connection to not just the story, but also Maiden City herself.
She is the super A.I. who has access to Niflheim, the server of NeuroFramework.
However, she is not in complete control of Niflheim. She is merely the bridge between Niflheim and the material world and her access is granted by the real administrator of Niflheim.
As for who is the real administrator and what purpose does Niflheim serve in the story. That's up to you Maddies to find out in the actual game.
Next thing I want to talk about is the film I just saw this morning, John Wick chapter 3.
Wait.
I thought this is a survival report ABOUTMaiden City!?
Yes, it still is.
But I feel like sharing this movie with you Maddies.
I'm not gonna spoil any actual plot in it. It will be a shame if I spoil such a great film.
First thing I want to say about John Wick chapter 3 is that it kept the good part of the first one and the second.
The action scenes were smooth like a piece of well-composed music and the plots were clean and straightforward.
More importantly, all those were built on a fascinating universe where everyone around us can be a contract killer.
Although an assassin society isn't an unique idea in films, they delivered it perfectly and the details were impeccable.
The idea of coins and markers and how they worked got clearer and clearer throughout the series.
I remember watching the first one and immediately fell in love with its action scenes and subtle jokes.
Yeah, the jokes.
I love them.
Maybe some other films share the same subtle sense for jokes, but I don't watch film very often so I don't actually know.
The best one in John Wick chapter 3 in my opinion would be when John said "I understand." or something like that to his friend in the scene where they met the person who made the coins.
I'm not giving any more context about it because I don't want to ruin the joke for you Maddies.
But I would say that joke alone made me feel like I have earned the ticket back.
If you like action movie and our lord and savior, Keanu Reeves, I would recommend you to watch it. Also, be sure to watch the first and the second before you watch the third because the plots were closely connected.
That's it for today!
Tkank you for watching!
Don't worry, the game is still under development.
Be sure to tune in next time for our next survival report.
Uirusu out!
Survival Report of April (RELEASE DATE ANNOUNCEMENT!!!)
Hello my favorite Maddies!
我是Uirusu！
It's time for our April Suivival Report.
Today, I have a new outif for Verina to share with you Maddies.
But first of all, I have an announcement to make.
Yes, the release date has been established!
It will be on November 1st in 2019.
The reason I chose this day was because this way I have enough time to perfect this game while still making it to Steam Winter Sale.
We won't be participating in Steam Autumn Sale, but we do have our own release discount which will last for also a week after release.
It will be like our own little autumn sale. :D
Please leave any further question in the comment and I will answer them.
Well, well, let's get started, shall we?
As you can see, this is Frost Guard's uniform for female military personnel.
The right one is the old version I believed I published before in one of my dev diary.
The left one is the result of "The Big Update" that I started almost a year ago and still going on.
They are essentially the same outfit, only different in details.
This uniform was inspired by dirndl(shown below), a traditional feminine dress worn in Austria according to wikipedia.
As you can see from both images, the old uniform on the right was a rougher and a more direct approach to the origin dirndl. It sure was cute and had several modernized elements in it, but I felt like it's too cute for its own good
as a military uniform.
"The Big Update" wasn't just an attempt to bump up the quality in artworks and stories, it's also a total renewal for details in all of them.
The uniform on the left has several differences from the right one.
To cut down the cuteness, I changed the skirt from an airier one to a tighter one.
I added a shirt under the suit while alterting the suit to create a frame-like
structure in order to highlight her breasts. I think it's where the soul of
the entire outfit lies.
I also changed the corset from a brown one to a deep blue, almost black, one, in order to create a resting point for you eyes so you won't get tired of it too soon.
And yes, everything golden on both outfits is real gold because why not, Frost Guard is rich from monopolizing the military and police force in Maiden City.
About the collar, it's an attempt to give the outfit some class.
Finally, about the crosses on both their collars, they have different meanings to them.
For the right one it resembles the traditional iron cross for Prussian army.
For the left one, it is the official symbol of Frost Guard, an executioner's sword.
That's all for today!
Thank you for tuning in for this month's survival report!
If you are interested in receiving a shoutout in the game's credit roll, please come to my patreon page and support me!
You can see how it is going to work in the ***important note*** on the patreon page.
Until next time!
Uirusu, out!
Survival Report of March
*Before we start, let me say this--About the recent tragedy, I have my thoughts with those who suffered and/or are still suffering from it. Meanwhile, I condemn those who brought the suffering to this world. They were deluded and their action was cowardly. Violence is never the answer because it only create more tragedy. May Maidens be with those who were gone. And may Maidens look upon those who are still suffering. Please take a moment to mourn.*
*Okay. Let's begin.*
Hello, my favorite Maiddies! This is Uirusu!
We got a lot to talk about today so let's just jump into it!
First of all, let's look at the current title art work.
This one is not only one of my favorite artworks I made with pixel art, but also the first one I made after I applied a new painting method to this project as an attempt of improvement of overall quality.
The new method I tried on this one later became the standard method for the whole project.
The first part was no difference from the old method.
I drew lines to guide myself throughout the whole process. You can see there's a slight perspective difference between this one and the final product we saw above. Well, that's just what it is. From my opinion, the process of creating an artwork is a process of finding the best way to present your imagination to other people.
The perspective difference was the result of my attempt of finding to best solution.
Next, we move on to what came right after the lines.
This is the draft, also a rough one.
At this stage, it started to become "readable" for other people. You can see it's already close to the final product, but it still lacked the best part--
the light. Or as I will say, the comparison between the "necessary" and the "unnecessary".
I feel like the reason the new method is better than the last one is that it only shows what's worth seeing. I believe most people have the same experience as mine when watching a movie. Some directors tend to make certain scenes so dark that you can barely see(I'm not a movie director so I don't know what it was meant to achieve), but it actually make you even more concentrated on the thing, a fight or a monster, the director was trying to show. Through cutting off the unnecessary part by turning it all black, you actually made the necessary part even more visible.
It's like life. Until you can rule out the "unnecessary", it's hard to realize how much the "necessary" means to you.
And then we move on to the next one.
This is the part that made this method so tempting for me and so different from the other.
In this one, you can see what it was like before I add the color in.
I call it "Gray Model".
By separating two processes, lighting and coloring, both become easier for me.
I am that kind of creator who values story better than anything else.
With this method, all I have to do it to paint the part that have a story to tell gray. Anything that's unnecessary will be turned black, or left blank considering I paint on black canvas when using this method.
It's like Anton Chekhov said, "Don't hang a gun on stage if you are not going to fire it." (Or something like that)
In order to make the "necessary" shine, one must leave the "unnecessary" out of the canvas.
Before we end this month's survival report, let's look at the title artwork one more time. It would be even better if you play the theme music at the front page.
Thank you for reading this month's survival report. Please tune in next month around this time. Or you can simply follow the game at the store page or follow my developer home page to get noticed when the next one is out.
Also, welcome to head to my Patreon page to show your endorsement. It will encourage me to create better stuffs. I have plan to make it into an Patron-exclusive showroom for visual or literal material for the series after the game is out, although it’s completely quiet over there at this point.
Thanks!! And see you next time!!
Uirusu, peace out!!
Survival Report of February
Hello my favorite Maddies!
This is Uirusu from C.U.Production!
I know it is late this month and I would like to say sorry about it. I was out of town so I couldn’t gather the materials I needed to create the report.
“Wait a second, Uirusu! What ‘materials’ are you talking about? I thought all you do every time is blabbering about something nobody asked for.”
Well, that’s not wrong... But maybe some of you remember from last time that I said I was going to share how l created the artworks used in the game.
Yes, that’s what we are doing today.
Let’s start from looking at this piece of concept art I created. You might notice there is something different about its size. That’s because it was created before I decided to upgrade the screen size from 800*500px to 1280*720px.
When I’m creating artworks for Maiden City, I always use a dark canvas. It is mainly because darkness is the thing that makes Maiden City what she is. A dark canvas helps me get closer to her and allows me to see the view through her eyes.
From this image, you can see several white lines. They are what’s left after I broke down the final image in my head. Yes, in order to not end up wandering in a blank canvas, I always make sure I see the final image first before picking up my pen. It serves as an emotion guidance. It is how I remember what I was thinking at the beginning through the whole process.
After that, I will start to draft. You can see from this image that it wasn’t much different from the previous one. It is partly because it was the first artwork I made for Maiden City and I was still trying to figure out what kind of lady she was. Otherwise, I would put more things in the draft like I always do because it is the most enjoyable part of the entire process in my opinion.
Once the draft is done, it’s time to play it out and that brings us back to the first image. During the time I spent making this game, I have developed different ways to do this part. For this one, it was the old way which I drew outlines and filled the space between them with colors. But for the other artworks after it, I painted them in a very different way. Anyway, we will talk about that next time.
It’s gotten a little too long for one survival report. I’m not even sure if I can post this many words in one announcement post.
Let’s make it part one for now. And next time I will pick up from where we left off this time and hopefully have enough room to talk about the current title artwork I created in a different way.
If you are interested in any way, please tune in next month around this time. Or you can simply follow the game at the store page or follow my developer home page to get noticed when the next one is out.
Also, welcome to head to my Patreon page to show your endorsement. It will encourage me to create better stuffs. I have plan to make it into an Patron-exclusive showroom for visual or literal material for the series after the game is out, although it’s completely quiet over there at this point.
