Here you're able to see the starting area and the main character. The entire house will eventually be explorable and a few events will actually take place there, although the bulk of the focus will be squarely on the dream world.

The menu system displayed here is all but completed and I doubt that I will mess with it much further. What you see in the screen shot is the only menu you will see in the game so I have tried to streamline it for ease of use. After hitting ESC it will appear as shown (though without Pasithea, my debugging tool).

Where you sleep and how well you sleep can affect what happens in the dream world and there will be several different spots available to put your head down. In this screen shot two of the sleeping positions can be seen.

This screen shot shows the patio in both reality and in the dream world. The weather and time changes in reality while you sleep which may very well alter your dream experience depending on where you decided to rest.

Here you can see one of the more completed areas ... a rather mysterious, luxurious and lengthy mirrored elevator that can whisk the main character off to lands unknown. I think that I did a fairly good job pulling off the visual trick of having two mirrors facing each other. The mirror images of the main character act just like they should and walk or run along with her.

This is the unfinished controls of the elevator, eventually there will be a keypad on the right side next to the LCD along with other decorations. The player will be able to select their destination from here or further down the elevator by using one of many mystical exits.

I'll leave off the short tour with a glimpse of one of the less finished areas. Pictured is a operational in-game mock up to get things the way I want before I begin focusing on quality of art. It wasn't too long ago that the elevator looked a lot like this.

And while I'm spamming images, I might as well upload a close up picture of the main character that I've been tweaking around with.

Last edited 10/09/16(Thu)02:25.

This looks like it'll be so awesome.
I am looking forward to it.
You're doing this with scripts, right? I wish I knew how to use them properly...

Last edited 10/09/10(Fri)20:22.

looks awesome

This looks professional. If I might ask, where did you get those textures (like the elevator carpet, for example)? Is it just going to be a "walk in the dream park" type game or is there some story? Are there effects? How many if there are?

Keep it up, I want to play this.

>>5512
There are some scripts that I am using, yes. Primarily one to overcome the tile limitation of VX.

>>5517
I get my textures mostly from a Google Image Search and then apply some graphical tweaks if they're not exactly what I need. For a few I've gone out and taken pictures of what I want. I will most likely be going out and recording my own sounds as well.

I'm putting more emphasis on exploration than story, but there will be one. Though I'll let the players piece that together for themselves when the time comes. It's been an interesting challenge to try and tell a story without using any text.

EDIT: I've thought about removing all text and using icons only in the menu, just to take the 'no dialogue' to a new extreme. This is something that I may still do.

There are 'Effects' which will be called 'Curio' within the game, though that's just to spiffy up the fact that it's a knock off of the idea, heh. I'd like to build on that initial idea though, and the thoughts that I am having so far is that each Curio will gain further abilities as the game progresses. If I go that route, it will most likely shrink the 48 Curio that I was originally aiming for (which was a daunting number to begin with). I would like each Curio to be useful instead of just a cheap trinket that you get once, activate and then never touch again.

Last edited 10/09/10(Fri)19:34.

>>5518
Which is exactly the script I have no idea how to use...
Textless sounds good, me likes it. But might get confusing when collecting the Curio, I dunno. It's good that you're aiming for usefulness of the effects; a lot of the fangames (if not all of them) aren't.
Anyway, the game looks graphically incredible and well-made. It's a good change from the usually simple style Yume Nikki and its fangames mostly uses. I'm impressed by this and I hope you release it soon. Just for curiosity: Does the main character have a name? Since the menu doesn't seem like it currently has anything showing that, I'm not sure if you named her... How much of the game do you have finished/is making/plan to have (quantity of maps, areas, creatures if there are any, stuff, etc)?
Annnnd I talk too much

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHQmJvuT558

I've posted a very quick and dirty walk through video if anyone wanted to see the game in motion rather than just screen shots. The video only encompasses the most finished areas I have done so far as the other areas just don't look good enough.

>>5521
The icons only option would basically mean larger graphics for the menu to easily identify the different Curio. I'm still pondering actually doing it, but really the name of the Curio and the help text doesn't matter ... people are going to use it regardless and find out what it does.

The main character does have a name though I feel that, much like learning the story, finding out her name is also the player's job. It's a part of the exploration of the game and would be spoiled if I gave it out. At least, that's what I think ... I could be taking it too far.

I have planned 12 major areas which will be linked together through various routes. Those 12 areas will have a few minor areas each and hopefully come together to form a cohesive 'world'. Tied to that world but not necessarily a part of it, there will be a large amount of independent areas that I come up with (and there are a lot).

EDIT: One of my main goals is to create a cohesive world ... I would like the player to easily envision what the world they are in looks like.

I just started in earnest just a short time ago, so I am about ready to begin work on the bulk of two of the initial areas. The heavy focus on art is most certainly slowing me down, so I am planning to do a release every four areas instead of waiting until the game is completely finished. At that point the four areas will be populated with creatures and 'go live', though future edits and additions will be highly likely.

Last edited 10/09/11(Sat)00:07.

Here is an early look at what the mystic doorways within the elevator will look like. Vacation to the beach starts tomorrow, so I may not be responding to this thread during that time should there be further questions.

No-no-no.
Fuck you.
RMXP had no soul already, VX will never deliver that special feeling.
You could as well stop all this and forget it.

Looks fucking amazing, holy shit. I want to play this.

>>5526
u mad?

>>5508

O-oh my god... That's so awesome.

Do want.

You want graphics - you go to Crysis -_-

I can understand the nostalgia and/or the feel that comes from the the gritty graphics of the other games. However, I'm here to try something new with an old formula.

I'm pouring some of my own dreams and visions into this project and I hope that I am successful in breathing life into them. The road might be a long one because of the graphics necessary, but I'll see it through to the end.

RMVX? Talk about a challenge.

I hope you accomplish something amazing out of this, because RMVX could use some redeeming. If you run out of graphic possibilities, though, you could try to make a short game and pack a very nice mind fuck at the end ;)

>>5551
While I'm not sure I can make people love VX, I think I can at least hope to make a decent game with it. Working with VX is a little tougher, but really not all that bad once you get used to it. Then again I am a glutton for punishment. Though, I won't be running out of room for graphics as I can swap out entire tile sets fairly easily.

It would appear that tonight is a night for update notes, so I'll go ahead and share as well.

After speaking with a few other people I've decided to not withhold the name of the main character, which is Jeslyn. But I still think the story is still best left to the player to put together while the game moves along.

I am slowly but surely making forward progress, though the focus on graphics is of course the limiting factor on speed. After I complete the first area, I am going to make my first release to see what people think of it.

When I'm not working on finishing the areas, I'm tinkering with the graphics for the abilities, some of which can be seen in the screen shot in this post. Each ability will bestow two bonuses from activation ... one is a trait that will always be active and the other is a unique skill that can be used on command.

I'm working very hard to make each ability useful so that players are not simply leaving the speed boost ability on at all times because there isn't anything else to do.

Last edited 10/09/16(Thu)02:50.

>>5560
I already love VX because this game looks and sounds amazing. :D

Tonight, a screen shot of what you should not do when you have set a goal of releasing the first version of your game at the end of the month. Here you can see the creation of the house moving along nicely, albeit still in a fairly rough and plain state. Certainly in need of further attention if it weren't such a time sink as I love to nit pick at small details (if the flower on the tile doesn't give that away).

I've also been spending some time pondering controls for the game. This is generally a very simple matter, though I was wondering if there were ways to minimize the time the player spent with their head buried in the menu.

I thought about using the Q and W buttons to either toggle between the current and last used ability or scroll through a tiny on-screen list. This would save time and keep the need for the full screen menu from constantly needing to be opened. The D button will most likely be used to activate the special skill of the ability and the F5 button is for waking from the dream world.

So far the A, S and several F-Keys are unassigned and might remain that way. Does anyone have any suggestions on things that you've wanted to see done with the menu system that would make dream life easier or quicker?

EDIT: Also, I've cobbled together a quick web site where I will be distributing the versions of the game : http://somnolence.moofah.com/

Last edited 10/09/17(Fri)18:45.

>>5566
I am so bookmarking this.
BTW thanks for putting a link to the VX runtime :)

>>5569
I thought that it would be the proper thing to do, as the download I am going to provide on the web site is only going to include the game files. Including the RTP in the download would bloat it quite a bit, so I decided to separate the two to speed things up.

Also, I took a little break away from making progress with the graphics to fiddle with scripting. I thought that I would include a way to provide a simple Japanese translation in a relatively easy fashion to those who wanted it.

All that will need to be done is to edit a string in the Game.INI file and then the game will automatically switch the names of abilities to their Japanese equivalent (or somewhere close hopefully, as I am only using an online translator). I am only doing the names of the abilities, so if anyone that has a firm grasp on Japanese wants to help translate the help text in the future, they can. The code also opens up the door for translation to other languages as well.

I also spent some time doing some cosmetic changes to the Game.exe, such as switching the icon to the official project graphic and editing the version information.

Basically I spent the day loafing around and tweaking with things very few people care about ... however, it was a nice break.

Last edited 10/09/18(Sat)21:33.

I'm still plugging away, making fairly good progress and will hopefully hit my goal of September 30th for a release date for chapter 1-1. Until then, here is a teaser screen shot and one of the songs for the game that I have been working on.

http://somnolence.moofah.com/data/teaser/930PM.mp3

You never really realize how much work really goes into making a game until you try your hand at it. I've been learning a lot in the past few weeks, usually the hard way ... hopefully someone will enjoy the end product, heh.

Your art is beautiful! Loved the website.

your game looks very, very lovely. so far it seems interesting, well thought out, and your attention to detail is really something else. from the looks of it, you're not just making a game, you're crafting one, and i think, especially since it seems as though making fangames has become sort of a common thing, yours and a few others here really stand out. i really hope that it goes well for you and that you can see your game to beta, and eventually completion, because i'd really love to play it at it's release.

anyway, good luck, so far it looks like you have a lovely, lovely game going for you.

Though I know that in the Yume Nikki fan game community the mantra is typically one of 'put up or shut up', I thought that I would add an update to the fan game that I was working on.

However, this update is essentially a notification that the project in its current form is no more. The the sheer size of the world which I had planned and plotted out was simply too grand an undertaking for me given the amount of detail I wanted to sink into the project.

But, during my time working on Somnolence, I eventually found that I excelled in the creation of smaller areas where I could focus my love for detail.

Therefore, I have begun work on a new project which I have decided not to waste space on this board for until it is either rolling smoothly or entirely complete. The reforge of projects is really nothing new for me and Somnolence itself was built on top of the projects that came before it. Their stories, ideas and art slowly melting together and reshaped into what I wanted [see attached image for a visual of the project reforges of the past].

The new project will focus on very constrained areas that contain a focused amount of what I think people play the Yume Nikki fan games for : mystery, trepidation, exploration and puzzles. It will also attempt to incorporate portions of other fan games into its story and follow a more light-hearted path while not taking itself too seriously. While this game will not lampoon the genre, there will be humor which I hope fans will enjoy.

Thank you for those who gave words of encouragement for the Somnolence project and I hope to release a very fascinating game in the future once this newest project is complete.

As a parting shot, here is a screen shot of an area which may or may not ever see the light of day. It is one of my favorites though in my eyes it still requires a bit more polish. It outlines about the size for each screen that I am aiming for with my new project.

And because I would rather not end on an unlucky number, a screen shot showing the design mode of the key manor in Somnolence. I spent an unbelievable amount of time polishing this area as adventures and strange happenings were to take place within the real world as well as the dream world. Thus, a strong central area was needed to tie everything together.

>>6717
That is just amazing. Absolutely beautiful. Such attention to detail and stunning results. I really, really cannot wait to see this game in action.

I'm releasing a technical demonstration version of the old Somnolence project. You can find the release on the project home page :

http://somnolence.moofah.com/

Nothing truly interesting or playable about this version, although there are a few areas to wander around in. I thought if nothing else it might be used as idea fodder for someone at some point instead of collecting dust on my hard drive forever.

Meanwhile, I'm still gradually moving along on the reforged project and will hopefully have something to show soon.

Amazing spritework in the "technical demonstration". If the gameplay is as good as the thought put into the backgrounds i will be looking forward to this.