Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

 Announcements and Other, Ibuki Magica (Madoka fangame), That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles  No Responses »
Oct 012012
 

We’re happy to welcome Rin to the TTG team as an artist who’ll be coloring the sprites for That’s the Way the Cookie Crumbles and and drawing the cast for Puella Magi Ibuki Magica! She’s also the artist for her own project, Kaguya-hime: The Moon Princess Tale. From the Story page:

The story is based on a Traditional Japanese’s fairy tale ‘Kaguya-hime’, also known at ‘The moon princess’ or ‘The shimmering princess’. According to some source, the story is “among the first – possibly the very first – text of any culture assuming the Moon to be an inhabited world and describing travel between it and the Earth.

You can visit her project website to learn more details! Continue reading »

Why a Fangame?

 Ibuki Magica (Madoka fangame)  No Responses »
May 042012
 

I used to hate fanfiction. I also used to hate shipping. Then I watched Madoka and fell in love with RedXBlue, so I guess I’ve become less snobby about fanwank over the past year. I decided to make a fangame for Madoka Magica because I felt like I could offer a new way to explore the universe it set out in its show. Because the world is so well-defined and crafted, I was able to create my own story and characters that I would be able to control, rather than fighting around with premade characters and worrying about derailment. I don’t know if I’ll ever do fanworks again, and I definitely do want to make completely original stuff, but I’m not nearly as opposed to the possibility as I was before.

…now that I think about it, I wrote tons of fanfiction when I was five. I guess I’m not too different from then, huh?

Making Sure Everything Is Important

 Ibuki Magica (Madoka fangame)  No Responses »
May 032012
 

One of my major goals in planning out Ibuki Magica is to make sure that your actions have major effects throughout the game. The most obvious ones will be the wishes you’ll have Ibuki make, as these will affect the outcome of the story as well as Ibuki’s abilities and actions. I decided to break Madoka canon and allow a Puella Magi to make multiple wishes, as I didn’t want a single, major, game-changing event happening at the start of the game. Plus, for the RPG parts, allowing multiple wishes at different parts of the game is basically this game’s version of a class upgrade.

The choices you make, even small ones, can affect Ibuki’s personality. The more you have her be mindful of what she says, the more likely you’ll be able to make her do the same in another situation. Similarly, the less Ibuki is wild or cruel, the less often you’ll be given the options to act in those manners. I want your influences to make Ibuki’s choices to flow as if she had a distinct personality, rather than creating another bipolar video game character who will happily go from super-friendly to dastardly and back, with everything evening out in the end, somehow.

The allies Ibuki makes may not be under your direct control, but how you have Ibuki interact with them will affect their personalities too. The way you treat a character will change how they treat Ibuki, and possibly other characters too. You may find yourself walking a thin line, trying to find the right things to say that will please everyone, and sometimes that will not be possible. You’ll have to decide who and what you value more in different situations.

Remember the last post I made, where I mentioned traits that affect how characters make actions in battle? Those same traits are the ones that affect the personalities of the characters in the VN parts of the game. It’s less essential than the wishes you make, but even the tiny choices you make will impact everything in their own small way. (If you want to be an RPG munchkin, I suppose you could just try to promote specific personality traits in the girls you want. But that might screw you over in the long run, hehehe.)

How to kill witches (aka I rewrote the battle system again)

 Ibuki Magica (Madoka fangame)  No Responses »
May 022012
 

I’ve been going through a lot of rewrites of the battle system for Ibuki Magica, trying to work out exactly what I want it to feel like, and to make something unique and matches the nature of the rest of the game. I figure I should give an update on where I’ve been and where I’m at now.

Originally, the new battle system was going to have 14 different skills, in seven sets of two. You’d choose an attack that selected one of those skill sets for the attacker, and another for the defender. Then there’d be some random number picked for each set and whoever had the higher number won or something confusing. I have simplified and streamlined it, and hopefully created something unique while not confusing the hell out of the players.

Every character has a set of three offensive ability scores, and three defensive ability scores. Each of these abilities reflects how a magical girl or witch can use their magical powers. Each offensive ability you use will rely on one of each of these: one offensive ability for the attacker, and a defensive ability for the target. The success of your attack will be affected by how much higher or lower your attack score is compared to your opponent’s defense score. Part of the strategy in combat will be working out which defensive abilities your enemies are worst at, and trying to use attacks that target those abilities. Of course, the attacks most likely to be successful might not be the most useful in a certain situation, so figuring out how to make your best abilities more likely to hit is important too.

In addition to the six abilities mentioned above, each character will have a set of traits that will affect different actions. These traits will reflect personality and fighting style more than they will raw fighting ability, and augment the power of certain attacks. For example, the courage trait would impact an attack that’s incredibly risky and daring, while the mindfulness trait might make it easier to analyze and defend against wild onslaughts. While a character’s ability scores will mostly be determined by the nature of their wish and how they fight, traits can be increased both by actions in battle and choices made outside of it.

I’m still working out a lot of this, like the exact number and type of traits, how the defensive abilities will work without overlapping (I want a good reason for why magical shields won’t protect you if you fail to dodge out of the way or something), and how to display different actions. Right now I have actions separated into ‘attacks’, ‘magic’, and ‘tactics’, but I’m not sure how accurate those are. I’m also still debating how to handle health, and protecting one’s soul gem. Thankfully, I’m a lot more satisfied with this current system is working overall compared to what I previously had. I hope to have another tech demo out soon for everyone to play with, and I hope you all look forward to it!

HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE

 Ibuki Magica (Madoka fangame)  1 Response »
May 012012
 

Happy Walpurgisnacht! Today is a day when witches gather and do witchy stuff. Like throw buildings around and taunt middle school girls. To celebrate, I’ve decided to spend the week posting things for Ibuki Magica. First thing: My official goal for the game’s final release will be one year from this day. If I somehow manage to complete the game before that, I’ll be happy to release early, but this game is probably going to be complex enough to take a full year to complete (especially when I’m working on TWCC right now too. ^^)

Second thing: I have some concept art! This first piece is your first taste of Ibuki in her Magical Girl uniform, plus a shot of Ichiko for size comparison.

Here’s some strange, kinda cute, hopefully not too annoying creature that likes to grant girls wishes. This piece was drawn by Untramen and Lonely Akki.

This art is all subject to change, as it is concept art! But it is a start, and has made me excited for this game. I hope it does that a little bit for you too.

Introducing Katsumi Hisoka

 Ibuki Magica (Madoka fangame)  No Responses »
Jan 272012
 

9 of 10. This one’s the final magical girl. I’m really worried about the final character, he’s going to be a pain to write well. Anyway, I should have something major related to the battle system out next week, hopefully as soon as Monday. I’ve ended up completely reworking it into something that I hope will be less convoluted and more unique, interesting, and meaningful.

Katsumi Hisoka, age 16

Background: Hisoka used to attend the same private school as Aika, but has run away from her home. She’s become elusive and secretive. No one knows where she currently lives, and she seems to do everything she can to not be seen in the same place twice. Her mother is currently in a psychiatric ward for care. It’s unknown if Hisoka visits her, or if she’d find it too risky to attempt sneaking in.

Personality: Hisoka is shy, but unlike Maya who seems to be awkward with social situations, Hisoka actively pushes people away. Her likes, dislikes, and interests are unknown, and it isn’t clear if she has any. Those who attended school with her back when she was still attending said she was pretty athletic, although not particularly good at academics. She’d always prefer to do individual competitive sports than anything on a team.

Appearance: Hisoka has roughly cut, very short dark brown hair. Her eyes are a cloudy dark brown. She’s muscular and tall, and is often teased for looking somewhat butch (She’s never given any indication that she cares.) Her PM outfit is a small, tight fitting tan dress with orange, dark red and black highlights, with black tights and gloves. She typically fights with her hands, but can use her magic to empower any object with her strength, or create ethereal copies of her foes’ weapons and spells, if they have them.

Here is a random turtle found on Wikipedia to make Moya happy.

 

Introducing Yori Aika

 Ibuki Magica (Madoka fangame)  No Responses »
Jan 252012
 

Eight of ten. I hope this is interesting.

Yori Aika, age 16

Background: Aika is a wealthy girl from a long line of affluent people. Her father is the current mayor of the city (I really need a name for this city, but nothing sounds good), her mother is the head of a local branch of a large company, and her many brothers and sisters are either already in middle management or better, or attending the same school Aika does.

Personality: Aika will talk to anyone about anything. She’s not as energetic as Midori, but manages to be more gregarious and popular. She tends to spend time with her family when she can, though. She likes drawing and painting as outlets for her emotions, although you can talk to her as she works, if you want. A lot of people have confessed to Aika, but she has always turned them down, claiming they’re not her type.

Appearance: Green hair, usually in a braid or ponytail, light green eyes, and a smile that could get her almost everything she wants (plus a pout that gets her everything else). Since her school uniform is reasonably fancy, she usually keeps wearing it during school days. Her PM uniform is loose and flowing, and she carries two swords that look like elongated knives or razor blades. (I don’t know her colors yet.)

I am pushing for Cheery to make a post about TWCC so you people have more to read than just this. Also, so she can add turtles to her posts without complaint.

CheeryMoya edit: Made a post for TWCC, and I prefer Moya to avoid confusion with Curry.

Introducing Engi Ineko

 Ibuki Magica (Madoka fangame)  No Responses »
Jan 242012
 

Here’s character 7 out of 10. She’s the blatantly evil one, so I can’t tell you too much about her. I still have no turtles to post, but I do have a new chibi from Curry, this one’s for Maya, so check her post to see her.

Background: Unknown to everyone but Ineko. She seems to prefer it this way.

Personality: A total bitch. Ineko loves to steal whatever she can, especially jewels and nice clothes. She is almost always seen in fancy dresses or suits, usually her most recent acquisition. She’s also known for stealing meals and wines from fine restaurants. Ineko often speaks in a polite and courteous manner, although there’s often a mocking tone behind it. It’s unclear what would cause Ineko to respect anyone, since no one who knows her has ever seemed to get it.

Appearance: As mentioned before, Ineko prefers to wear whatever she most recently stole. She usually doesn’t wear the same outfit twice if she can help it. She has very long hair, which is a very pale blond color. Her eyes are the lightest blue you can imagine. Ineko’s Puella Magi outfit is mostly black and red with some blue for contrast, and is decorated with lots of gems. It’s unclear which is her Soul Gem and which is just a normal one. She also wears a small black gem-encrusted mask of the type you’d see at a a masquerade, covering her face above her nose. Ineko wields a large ebony wand, and can summon small creatures to assist her.

CheeryMoya edit: Don’t ask what they’re doing…

Introducing Yoshie Eri

 Ibuki Magica (Madoka fangame)  No Responses »
Jan 242012
 

Sorry for being late with this! I got distracted last night. I’ll post the next one later tonight. For now, enjoy a character who totally isn’t a less abused version of Yuma.

Yoshie Eri, age 12

Background: Eri comes from a pretty wealthy family. Her father manages a branch of some large business, although Eri couldn’t tell you what the business actually does. She has two older brothers who are very protective and doting of her. Thanks to the large library in her home and her parents paying for private tutoring, she’s very well-read and intelligent for her age.

Personality: Eri is calm, polite, and mature for her age, although she’ll get annoyed if she’s treated like a kid. Despite being the youngest of three children, she seems to act like she’s the oldest. She enjoys being praised and pampered, although she won’t admit it. She’s very good about being morally pure, to the annoyance of those who don’t care about such things.

Appearance: Eri is still a growing girl. She has well-kept, braided light blue hair and ice-blue eyes that could almost penetrate your soul. Her clothes are always clean, unwrinkled, and ladylike. Eri’s Puella Magi uniform is primarily light blue, with white and dark blue as secondary colors. A few lace ribbons are wrapped around her waist, chest, and arms. Her weapon is an ivory dagger, but she primarily uses her magic to heal and protect.

CheeryMoya edit: WHERE ARE THE TURTLES?

I swear that if everyone doesn’t post pics of turtles by themselves…

I will flip over my own turtles D:<

Introducing Miyako Maya

 Ibuki Magica (Madoka fangame)  No Responses »
Jan 222012
 

Character 5 of 10. This one is a lot more secretive than the ones we’ve seen so far.

Miyako Maya, age 14

Background: Unknown. Maya’s apparently always lived in the top floor of an apartment with her family, and she attends the same school as Midori, although they’re in separate classes. She gets reasonably good grades. Other than that, she keeps to herself.

Personality: Maya is shy. Very shy. She’ll rarely speak to anyone, and only in a whisper with as few words as possible. She can, however, be occasionally caught mumbling something to her self. Often it’s about something like spiders pretending to be ants, the Byzantine Empire, or how quarks feel on a rainy day.

Appearance: Maya has dark purple eyes, and thin glasses bridging her narrow face. She’s very pale and thin, suggesting she rarely goes outside or does anything strenuous. Her dark purple hair is long and unkempt. Maya’s Puella Magi uniform looks like a concealing robe, as dark as night. Her head is hooded and covered with a black veil. She doesn’t seem to have an actual weapon, but instead can summon a bolt of lightning that she can wield like a whip.

Still no turtles or chibis, sorry.

Curry edit:
Two birds with one stone:*curry why are you drawing instead of doing your homework*

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