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[Shockproof Jamo]

A question for Aura (not strictly related to KS though): how did you get to the point where you can write a story that is thousands of words long in a foreign language, and write it better than a lot of native speakers could do?

In addition to formal education and osmosis through using English every day, I read a lot in English and try to pay attention to how the language is used in literature. I did, and still do, struggle a lot with getting my English to sound good in prose, which is a lot harder than fluency is casual everyday speech.

Did the other devs, who are native speakers, at any time help you with wording and vocabulary and such?

[McBaggin]

Nicol, I absolutely love your work. Are you up for taking commissions?

I won't accept money. If there's something you'd like me to do I'll gladly do it for free..

I think it was on one of your youtube videos you talked about doing an arranged album. Please do that

[Guest]

Hi, and thanks for the wonderful VN. I hope you will consider doing more in the future! Here's a question- how does it feel seeing your free title more popular than most current multi-million dollar releases?

http://nowplaying.gamedifferences.com/

Thanks!

[returntoforever]

Hi, and thanks for the wonderful VN. I hope you will consider doing more in the future! Here's a question- how does it feel seeing your free title more popular than most current multi-million dollar releases?

http://nowplaying.gamedifferences.com/

Thanks!

whoops that was me!

[Aura]

I did, and still do, struggle a lot with getting my English to sound good in prose, which is a lot harder than fluency is casual everyday speech.

I think that's true for a lot of native speakers, too. What sound okay out loud looks like crap when you can sit there and stare at in on a page.

Does that problem not exist for you when you write prose in Finnish? Or is it just less of a problem?

It exists but feels different. Can't really quantify how.

Did the other devs, who are native speakers, at any time help you with wording and vocabulary and such?

No. I'm fluent and can use a dictionary. Obviously my text was edited just like all the text in KS, but then again our head editor is not a native speaker either. Anyway, I probably changed the other writers' wordings more often than got mine set straight. It was a real problem for me to get involved despite being "head writer", because whenever some wording bothered me I couldn't tell whether it's because I don't know English well enough, or whether their text was actually bad.

[Aura]

Hi, and thanks for the wonderful VN. I hope you will consider doing more in the future! Here's a question- how does it feel seeing your free title more popular than most current multi-million dollar releases?

http://nowplaying.gamedifferences.com/

Thanks! :)

What can I say? It's of course wonderful to be popular and have enthusiastic fans.

[Mahorfeus]

I hate asking questions like this, but a minor detail from Hanako's route jumps out at me for no apparent reason. I suppose this is down cpl_crud's alley.
Right before the H-scene, Hisao retrieves a condom from his pants pocket, preparedness which he seems to lack in some other routes (I know, different writers). Perfectly normal for a lot of teenagers of course, but I was wondering, was any particular rationale was used as to when/why he got them?

[Aura]

I daresay, you put together a project that well matches commercially made ones, and has impressed people who have played it all the world over. Hats off to you guys.

That being said, i wonder exactly what resources you utilized to make this envisioning into a reality masterpiece.

RenPy is obvious, but i ask if knowledge of Python / C++ i.e. having general knowledge in programming beforehand is needed to utilize RenPy well.

Image manipulation: Photoshop = GIMP? or any decent image manipulation program recommendable; opinions on them also welcome.

CG: Hand-drawn or tablet(?)-drawn, and general process of 'touching 'em up' from roughsketch to final. All methodologies with good final results welcome. No, not asking for KS samples, but you are welcome to provide related examples if you want.

Audio: ??? or more like: what program/s did you use, output encoding /format /file.ext , etc. (also, how do i loops sound?)

Animation: I humbly ask the great Mike Inel for recommendations and tips (recommended hardware/equipment, software and techniques) to get started in making good animations.

Thank you all very much for any and all responses.

The specific programs or techniques don't matter much, as long as they are powerful enough to do what you want them to do and you know how to use them. You can get pretty deep into Ren'py without knowledge of python, but at some point it starts being helpful. All art in KS is digital (if by "hand-drawn" you mean "made on physical media"). Also, a version control system and a project management tool are very useful. We used SVN and Trac respectively, but like with the other programs, anything that works for you is fine.

[Swoopie]

Nice, a question thread, and a pretty popular one

I was wondering, are you all extremely empathic and gifted writers or could some of you relate to the strong emotions of the characters because of personal experience?

[Suriko]

I hate asking questions like this, but a minor detail from Hanako's route jumps out at me for no apparent reason. I suppose this is down cpl_crud's alley.
Right before the H-scene, Hisao retrieves a condom from his pants pocket, preparedness which he seems to lack in some other routes (I know, different writers). Perfectly normal for a lot of teenagers of course, but I was wondering, was any particular rationale was used as to when/why he got them?

[Guest]

I get it! It's funny because he didn't love her at all in that scene! Oh man, that's a knee-slapper.

[Mahorfeus]

I hate asking questions like this, but a minor detail from Hanako's route jumps out at me for no apparent reason. I suppose this is down cpl_crud's alley.
Right before the H-scene, Hisao retrieves a condom from his pants pocket, preparedness which he seems to lack in some other routes (I know, different writers). Perfectly normal for a lot of teenagers of course, but I was wondering, was any particular rationale was used as to when/why he got them?

Thank you for that. XD

[Althamus]

I hate asking questions like this, but a minor detail from Hanako's route jumps out at me for no apparent reason. I suppose this is down cpl_crud's alley.
Right before the H-scene, Hisao retrieves a condom from his pants pocket, preparedness which he seems to lack in some other routes (I know, different writers). Perfectly normal for a lot of teenagers of course, but I was wondering, was any particular rationale was used as to when/why he got them?

Lol, that stuck out at me as well, because a) he hadn't anywhere near that level of preparation on the other routes, and b) he wasn't even dating Hanako at that point, doesn't strike me as the person to carry one around incase he got lucky, and was a virgin, which makes him even less likely to be packin'.

[Mirage_GSM]

"Each of these minor halls seems to have a toilet and shower, as well as four rooms."
...
"The name plates on the rooms adjacent to mine are blank. I guess there are just two of us here."

[Csihar]

I get it! It's funny because he didn't love her at all in that scene! Oh man, that's a knee-slapper.

The difference between "care about as a friend and semi-consciously hope to someday bone" and "love" is irrelevant for Good Guy Hisao.