We haven’t really posted that much for the previous couple of months, have we? To be fair, we were quite busy with Chronotopia’s development.
Tag Archives: announcement
Ambre comes to Greenlight (and Chronotopia’s progress continue)!
Once again, time goes by all too quickly! So here are some news of what’s the team is doing.
Announcement: Khzi and the Cursed Stone
I stayed silent since the last article and I’m sorry for that. It has to be said that Chronotopia got funded on Kickstarter shortly before the deadline and the team really needed some rest after so many emotions! And let’s not forget making a battle plan.
But today, we’re going to talk about something completely different. Indeed, it’s been about a year since the release of Milk Episode 5 and also about a year since we announced we would make a remake of this old episodic series to adapt it to our current standards (professional). So it’s high time we review the situation!
The visual novel Chronotopia on Kickstarter!
Here we are, it’s the big day: Chronotopia is now officially live on Kickstarter!
Chronotopia is a dark rewriting of the fairytale Donkeyskin : the young princess lives a peaceful existence in her castle, enjoying her days with her best friend and confidant, Nahima. That is until her father, gone mad since the death of his beloved, decides he should wed the princess instead. Donkeyskin has to find a way to escape from this fate, but how? She doesn’t know it yet, but it’s the beginning of a long nightmare that will take her to the edge of madness.
Inspired by a wide range of influences (literature, anime, videogames), Chronotopia is a unique and more mature take on a forgotten fairytale that includes many twists and choices that affect the ending: Donkeyskin can either escape with her servant, become a fairy, or die a horrible death. Multiple times. It’s up to you to save…or doom her.
Addition of a new activity: outsourcing
Today I wanted to talk about something a little different from usual. I want to make official an activity that actually is here since the creation of the company but that I had never mentioned before: outsourcing.
What is Chronotopia?
The King is dead, long live The King!
I’ve been implying all over the place that things were gonna change for a while now. It’s time to explain that publicly: the team as it exists today is going to disappear.
Hobbyists without pretension…
The reasons are as simple as they are numerous but all overlap each other: up until now, the different teammembers were young and very young students that were making visual novel voluntarily in their free time. The goal was to have fun, to experiment, to show that it was possible to do many things with motivation. We did release quite a few visual novel “made in France” and the atmosphere was nice. However, time went by since 2012: some members want to move on and are going their own way whereas others are still motivated but cannot take the time to do visual novel anymore, because of their studies (many are doing an art school for example, which is quite a demanding curriculum). Overall, creating visual novel takes a lot of time and up until now, no one among us ever got any real compensation out of that, except the enjoyment of seeing people read our stories (but you don’t fill the fridge with smiles, even though it’d be great). In short, it’s now impossible to work as we did before. I knew it, I saw it coming.
As for me (at almost 25, I’m now one of the oldest), I had to confront the job market. I got to find a job to survive and pay my rent. In the same time, what was supposed to be a trial run turned into a passion and I want to go further than what hobbyists an do, I want to experiment more. This paradox forces me to take a difficult decision. I won’t make the suspense last any longer because my choice was pretty clear: I don’t want to give up what is making me live (writing, creating). I’m used to handle things by myself, to difficult situations. And, more importantly, I don’t want to have regrets. I’m ready to work like a dog night and day but it’s out of the question that I throw in the sponge without even trying.
So, here I go. It’s with a lot of apprehension and excitement that I announce that Träumendes Mädchen will cease to be a hobbyist team…to become a fully fledged visual novel creating company, the very first in France right now. It’ll be a small structure (managed by one person, namely me) that will hire different artists depending of the projects. Old members won’t necessarily be that far since I’m gonna call them in, simply this time it’s gonna be paid work ;).
The future
All of our short projects will of course stay free, nothing will change in this case, and I’m counting on making an on-line store to offer all of the goodies we printed upon Japan Expo. The website will slowly be revamped to reflect the new situation. Concerning Milk, there will be change, but don’t panic, I will make a specific announcement shortly to explain that in details.
At the time you’ll be reading those lines, the process is well engaged, if not finished. I won’t hide that making a company is a very risky challenge: the competition in the videogame market is very fierce and it’s better to know what you’re doing. But, as I was saying earlier, I’m determined and I shall do my utmost to ensure it’ll succeed. Except that I’m gonna need your help! I need your support, your feedbacks and, of course, I’m inviting you to buy our games when they’re released to allow us to continue the adventure. Your support will make the difference. Whatever may happen, I’m sure my experience can be useful for people who have an interest in the visual novel market. It’s a strange challenge for us and I’m counting on you to follow that closely!
And, if some people think I’m now super rich, let them be reassured: I’m still as poor because the company’s money comes from a credit (I committed on several years to make everything possible). The money will incidentally fund Träumendes Mâdchen very first commercial project: Chronotopia. It involves reincarnation, “dark” fairytale and people dying, suffering and going back in time to suffer some more. More informations to come once production will have started! And those who are impatient can already discover some elements on my Patreon (patrons have exclusivity but they’re worth it~).
In short
In conclusion, the adventure isn’t ending just yet, it just takes another form. We’re grateful for the support you’ve been giving us during all those years, we’re impatient to show you what we’re planning to do and we hope you’ll like the result. Anyway, we will work hard so that you can be proud of us. Otherwise, don’t hesitate to follow us on social networks if it’s not done already; we’re posting more regularly there ;). And if it’s not your thing, you can now subscribe to our monthly newsletter to receive the latest news in your mailbox!
A sequel for Ambre !
The team is proud to announce that we’re currently working on a new visual novel that’ll serve as an alternative version of Ambre. Indeed, I got a lot of messages from fans who wanted a happier ending and I decided to rectify that. In this whole new story, the eponymous heroine will be able to solve the issues between Tristan and his wife…thanks to magical powers.
Now a magical girl, Ambre will have to use magic wisely in order to make her friends and family happy. And the picture wouldn’t be complete without mentioning that it’ll be possible to actually control her during shooter phases : you’ll have to throw love waves at the citizens who are overwhelmed by negative emotions in order to free them. Magical Sukumizu Ambre (working title) will therefore be an hybrid between visual novel and 3D shooter !
The one in charge of the art will be our newest recuit, KinectikLover (aka Kinect), so I hope you’ll support her and that you’re looking forward to discovering this new game !
EDIT: April Fools obviously :p. But it is true that Kinect is joining us! She’ll be in charge of Milk backgrounds, so your support is still very much needed ;).