Distant Leaps to Circinus #1

This is the first Devlog for the Visual Novel, Distant Leaps to Circinus.

The Story

First I will talk a little about what the story is about. Distant Leaps to Circinus is a dark fantasy story about a mysterious object in space that has ruined the earth. Of course the story takes place much farther in the future after these events take place. Where the story begins though is with a child named Zeais, who's eyes like other children born around his time, have developed special properties. These special properties can be figured out by reading more of the demo as it progresses and will ultimately key you in on the mysteries surrounding the world and the children. The entire setting is made to have a good amount of lore that not only provides information about characters and enemies, but from the day to day items and plants they use to live. Aside from children, adults and animals all have stories of their own, whether they are short or long.

The Goal

Now I want to speak to you about the goal for this project. The overall goal for DLTC is for players to experience an immersive and enriching story that is kinetic in nature. While choices may or may not be included, I do not want to have branching arcs of what could or could not happen. Instead, to bring about a little more fun than just a kinetic story, I want various lore to be unlocked and tons of other information to be presented so players can piece together what happens on their own. This may not be fun for those who are used to branching narratives or choices, but I believe it will be better than just reading the story outright. It's not a new concept, but it's all to make for a much better playing experience. 

The word count goal for the story is 250,000. I want a long narrative that will be about more than just characters with a goal, I want this to be a world with happenings that the readers unravel. Art style is very important and we wanted to go for a look that could be remembered and look good with the detailed backgrounds and animals that appear in the story. For other information about goals, the plan is to have

• 30+ Music Tracks
• Majority of scenes be CG's
• Codex of information with interactive timelines and maps
• Unlocakable short stories and side chapters
• Animated scenes (Parallax based)
• Accessibility options and alternative reading styles

Not all goals can be met of course and there is no guarantee that things will pan out just like we want them. To that we will try our best to make a great game and rich story that people will love. 

The Progress

Currently we are at about 60,000 words and the demo is set to be around 25-28k long. Total progress can't be said at this time but we are about 1/4th of the way there. Setbacks are mostly art related, but everything else is progressing smoothly and can be worked out while the art is being made. If you do not follow me or Studio Unlighted for current progress, be sure to check it out to see what we are up to during the weeks.  

Twitter:   Khailz    |   Studio Unlighted

Sneak peaks

We try to make our children cool, after all, they are they key to this story. o7

~Khailz