The Gaming Community (part 2/5)

As a gamer and a game developer, one thing I've really appreciated in the gaming community is how open and genuine game developers are with each other. One of the reasons this may be the case is because we're doing work that aligns with who we are, so it's easy to recognize and respect the personal passion and investment that is poured into our game projects. Game developers don't just do what they do because they want to make money—though, of course they need to earn from it, to keep doing what they're doing. But game developers are largely driven by their personal vision, and their desire to bring that vision to others.

The Gaming Commnity (part 1/5)

I've belonged to a variety of communities, but the gaming community is my favourite. There's something about this community that is really unique; it's a place where people of all types and ages are all bonding over the same thing. If you love games, then you're in. That's it, it's really very simple. But why is gaming a place where so many people can come together so easily and become friends so quickly? I think it's because we all have the understanding that it's about leaving reality behind to focus on having fun. There's no pretension or judgment, because being a gamer is a place of freedom--we understand that games are where we go to get away from the world, or at least forget it a while.

Voice Acting in a Visual Novel (5/5)

Regarding potential funding for partial voice acting, I've already been preparing for the possibility by scouting voice actresses. In order to accurately predict the cost, I've been talking with voice actresses that might fit the roles of the two female human characters. It has been a challenge in my search for one of the characters, an Asian woman named Kaori Tanaka. Kaori has a Japanese accent, and accents are challenging to maintain throughout even a few spoken sentences. Often, the focus on maintaining an accent interferes with the natural expression needed to convincingly act the lines. I am hopeful in my search, though, and if the campaign meets the stretch goal needed to fund partial voice acting, I will do my very best to cast an actress that really fits Kaori's character! I'll keep you posted on the launch date of the Kickstarter campaign, and if you want to be first in line to grab some of the limited, exclusive awards, subscribe to the monthly insider email list--they'll be the very first to know!

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Voice Acting in a Visual Novel (4/5)

What do I mean by partial voice acting? Some visual novels (VN's) do something like this with short little comments made at the beginning of a dialogue phrase, such as, "Well," or "Uh huh!." Personally, I find this to be distracting and sometimes even irritating. Instead of this approach, I am hoping to raise enough crowdfunding support to pay for full voice acting for two characters. Before you decide this would be weird, I'll explain the context. The two human females in the game--which the protagonist (Trey) can develop romantic relationships with--both of these women interact only with Trey through long distance holographic calls to his private quarters. Having these ladies voice acted would make their conversations feel even more personal, and I'm hoping that hearing their voices would even help enhance the potential emotional bond the player might feel with these characters. The cost of funding only two members of the cast is much more realistic, so I'm hopeful that extra money can be raised in the upcoming Kickstarter.

Voice Acting in a Visual Novel (3/5)

Developing a visual novel game is expensive, especially because of the costs for artwork. Add to that the writing, editing, programming, music composition, sound effects, and other miscellaneous costs, and it's understandable why game developers often turn to crowdfunding like Kickstarter to fund their games. I'll soon be launching a Kickstarter campaign to help fund The Star Legation, but I also have plans for the stretch goals. A stretch goal is a level of funding beyond the base goal needed for the campaign to be successful--it's any extra money contributed by backers beyond what's needed to make the game happen. Backers gain a variety of exclusive awards for their pledges, so the more people that know about the game and the Kickstarter campaign, the more likely stretch goals will be reached. I plan to make partial voice acting one of the stretch goals for my campaign!

Voice Acting in a Visual Novel (2/5)

The script for The Star Legation visual novel is over 900 pages long, which is over 300,000 words in length. Keep in mind, that number includes all the possible routes in this choice-based, branching path story. Recently, I've been collecting rate quotes from voice actors, and though rates vary, it is likely that the cost to have full voice acting for this game would be somewhere around $25,000 to $35,000. I've been creating and funding this game entirely by myself, paying talented artists for all the art assets I need to make the game while I've been writing the story, programming the game, and composing the music. Adding voice acting is a financial impossibility, unless I find some help. Tomorrow, I'll share my plans for the upcoming Kickstarter campaign...

Voice Acting in a Visual Novel (1/5)

Visual Novels are very immersive, with expressive character sprites, colorful background art, beautiful accompanying music, and even dynamic sound effects. Click- reading through character dialogue makes this visual style of book almost like watching a movie with subtitles, often with the added opportunity to shape the story itself through player choices. It's no surprise that some visual novels even go the extra mile to include professional voice acting for each character, which adds another immersive dimension to this video game genre. I'm considering voice acting for my visual novel, The Star Legation, but I'll definitely need a lot of help to make it happen...