Mapping the mansion

Since I’ve finished up some maps of the mansion, I may as well post them here. Although the information in the Umineko VNs about room locations is by no means complete, some does exist, and I’ve done my best to comply with that. The rest is based on my discretion + some info from the manga and anime + what was convenient in terms of fitting on the map. It’s not precisely to scale. It’s the map layout I’m going to be using for Shadow of the Golden Witch, give or take a few changes I might make later. Areas with question marks are just areas where I haven’t decided what should go there yet.

A very belated update

It may have been over a year since I last updated this blog, but that doesn’t mean that I’ve abandoned working on the fan-game. I’ve been working on it consistently throughout that time; it has just been going slowly. Lately I bought a graphics tablet, and that’s spurred me into more action. It’s so much nicer to be able to make custom sprites that aren’t solely palette swaps! I’ve also finished up some maps of the island; it’s much easier to fine tune mysteries when I know exactly where every room is in relation to the others. I expect things to be going much faster from now on.

Speaking of maps, I find it hard to understand how Ryukishi managed to pull off his mysteries without using any. Maybe it’s just that he had a strong mental image of where everything was? Or perhaps leaving the layout vague had significant advantages. He could change things as he needed to and not worry overly about whether somebody could have reached an area of the house in whatever amount of time.

In terms of housekeeping for this blog, I’ve updated the links in the sidebar to other people’s fan-game projects. Total Seacat Island has moved to a new site since I last updated, and unfortunately the blog that Knell of the Golden Witch’s progress was being hosted at has disappeared, so I’ve deleted that link.

Updates of the week

I’ve now finished coding the introduction segment. It’s just a small intro, but now I’ve done it I’m much more familiar and comfortable with writing in OnScripter-en and with following the tutorials I’ve been reading, so progress from now on should be much faster and easier. I will complete this fan-game, with certainty. 🙂

Ange really is a useful character! Maybe I’ll write her in a bigger role than I planned. She’s an excellent framing device.

Kinjo’s Umineko tutorials are invaluable. Everyone likely to read this blog will probably have seen it all by now, but he has put out an updated version of it recently. Check out his updated tutorial at the AnimeSuki forums. http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?p=4316397#post4316397

I’m keeping the sidebar at the right of this blog updated with links to all the Umineko forgery-related sites I’m aware of. (Well, except for the Witch Hunt site, which is semi-official, but people do need to have the official games in order to play games like the one I’m writing.) Since I love to play Umineko fan-games, it’s handy for me to have all the links there.

Welcome!

This is the updates blog for my Umineko fan-game in progress, Shadow of the Golden Witch.

Synopsis: The evil spirits of Akujikishima have been angered by Beatrice’s tales and the way they have overshadowed the island. Creating their own gameboard, they invite a player who truly believed in Beatrice’s final magic to be their opponent, and set out to destroy every element of the witch, going behind the scenes to show her as she is. This is the “true story” of Rokkenjima, and of course, the evil spirits claim to be the true culprits behind the mass murder incident…

The difficulty is easy, if you have the right amount of love.

Status

Plotting
Timeline: complete
Whodunnit: complete
Whydunnit: complete
Howdunnit: partially complete

Custom content
Custom sprites: in progress. I’m only planning to use 2 or 3 of them, and could at a pinch do without them.

Programming: have begun the coding for the introduction segment.