Believe it or not, a year ago today saw the release of the first episode of Thanatos Contract. It's been one heck of a learning experience so far. TC marked the first time I developed an original visual novel using Ren'Py (my first real visual novel being that crappy Xenosaga: Project Love). It also marked the first time I started working as a team with someone, the talented
. We took about a year getting the first episode off the ground, going through design work and game mechanics quite often, making changes here and there. But I also had college to deal with and Kat her job.
Upon its release, I know reactions were mixed. We entered the first episode in a visual novel contest last year to kind of motivate us to actually finish the game. XD People seemed to like the story, though others not so much. The same could be said about the art, but I still stand by the non-standard style
has - it doesn't look like the thousands of anime-styled visual novels you see out there.
And how can I forget the Let's Play a Stupid Ren'Py Game videos of it on Youtube. At first, I was excited to have any kind of Let's Play of a game I created, but then...I don't know, I felt hurt. But that's kind of expected, isn't it? You put something out there in the world, and you can't really do anything besides let people do what they will with it. If you're interested in watching this three (which astonished me he had the patience to play the entire thing) part video, just type in Thanatos Contract on Youtube. It's already gotten more views than the game got downloads. XD
It might seem like I'm wallowing in my own despair...but not quite. With TC's release, I also saw the opposite of mockery - fans. The first time I saw
create fan art of Thanatos Contract, I was ecstatic. Never had I seen something I helped create take form by someone else's hands like that. We don't have a ton of fans, but some fans are better than none. Also, after TCI, the team of just me and
started to blossom to include
,
,
(the most critical but most awesome editor I've ever had ^_^),
,
, and, most recently, the awesome composer
. The series couldn't have matured and improved like it did without you guys, and I'm thankful you decided to stick around. To the entirety of Endless Finale Productions, thank you for providing me such an awesome opportunity!
As for the future of the series, you guys already know I intend to make Episode III the final episode. As someone pointed out on the LemmaSoft forums, the main issue with an episodic series is that people really expect the next chapter to be out ASAP in order to continue the momentum. And, as you can tell from the title of this journal...I've failed to do that. As such, I really do apologize. A lesson has been learned here. But yes, Episode III shall be the end of it. I've looked over some of the rough draft I wrote back in November for NaNoWriMo, but I've been focusing myself primarily on the next XenoComi release (a project that I don't think I would be as good on if I hadn't had experience working on TC first). But once that is done, I will go back to the draft, make the corrections I desire, and then get in contact with my editing team. I will try to make the final episode about as long as the other episodes or maybe a bit longer. Also, I intend to make at least two different endings (which I already know how they will be). In the end, I hope for Episode III to release before the end of the year, before the world is destroyed. XD I'm no longer in college, but I do have a job starting soon. However, I still have the will to finish the series, and I think I'll still have ample time to work on it (as far as I know at this moment).
Well, tl;dr, thank you team and readers. It's been an experience with both highs and lows. I wish I could hear more feedback from what people do and don't like about the series, but I won't stop because of bad criticism. I know some people like the series and that's all I need.
If you are interested in dowloading the first two episodes or read up on info, the official Thanatos Contract site is here:
www.thanatoscontract.godsibb.n…The dA group for Thanatos Contract can be found here:
thanatos-contract.deviantart.c…
Add Media
Style