In the sequel to Serafina’s Saga, Odell Perin serves as Regent of Darzia and must choose the next monarch
Hello visual novel fans! I’m happy to announce that Serafina’s Crown is out TODAY on Steam, with a full set of achievements and trading cards that are all new to this version. And for the week of release, it’s 15% off. I’m excited to finally bring the world of Darzia to Steam. Go check it out here and enjoy! http://store.steampowered.com/app/449340/
I’m very excited to demo Serafina’s Crown at the upcoming Six-Pack Demo Night at Earthbound Brewery on February 18th. Demoing one of my games will be a new experience for me. I’ve had friends play the game while I watch, which is a blast, but that’s quite different from presenting it to total newcomers in short bouts of play-time.
The challenge with show-casing a visual novel, of course, is that it’s a heavily story-based game, and most of the “playing” aspect comes in the form of reading large sections of text. So how should I present Serafina’s Crown in a way that’s quick and accessible, but still gives the player a good sense of the story and overall feel of the game?
The best plan I can formulate right now is to include a video at my demo station that provides a general idea of the story and play style – in other words, a trailer:
Then, the sections I will open for demos will be the Duma Debate sections, which involve using the Divinity Dial to pick numbers that will beat your opponents’.
I am excited to demo the game, and in addition to that, I’ve started to think seriously about my release plan for this title. I’ll be frank with any of you reading this: I don’t make enough money from my games or books combined to support myself. That’s probably no huge surprise. Although I’ve had successes here and there, I’m far from producing a massively popular hit. I don’t charge much money for my books or games, and some of them are completely free. That’s because I want my creations to be accessible to a wide range of people, and also because these days, a lot of players and readers expect to get things for free. So it’s often the only way to get exposure.
But I’m nearing a crossroads of sorts. With Serafina’s Crown, I need to start making enough money to legitimize my company as a sustainable business, or I need to focus on a full-time job (or lots more freelance work) and set this aside as more of a hobby. It pains me to say that, but otherwise I just can’t justify spending as much time and effort on projects that pay me next to nothing in return.
With my re-release of Serafina’s Saga, I added in-app purchases in the form of costumes. These have provided some revenue, but nothing significant. So that leaves me to wonder whether I should continue to add more in-app purchases, perhaps in the form of story content such as additional plot paths, or whether I should abandon that model altogether and sell my game at a set price. It’s going to be a difficult decision. And if you’re reading this as one of my players, or perhaps a fellow game developer, I hope you’ll give me your opinion.
Production for Serafina’s Crown is coming along splendidly. I’ve cast voice actors for all the major characters in the game, and I’ve had a blast working with them so far! Meanwhile, I’m writing and drawing furiously to flesh out the game, along with my co-writer Malcolm Pierce.
I’m also putting a lot of thought into the overall game design of Serafina’s Crown. With Quantum Conscience, I tried to increase the player’s interaction with the story through the Void Stream. Although I’m quite proud of that game, I realize that some players were not satisfied by the Void Stream’s affect on the story. They did not always understand how or why they were affecting the plot by reading character thoughts.
With Serafina’s Crown, I’m pulling inspiration from both Dragon Age: Inquisition and Danganronpa to design the story interaction. Much like Dragon Age, the player will frequently get an opportunity to select how Odell responds to another character.
In this example, Arken has just asked Odell how she intends to use her authority as Regent:
If you choose – for example – “I’ll accumulate power,” you’re not necessarily locking yourself into a specific story path. You will have many chances to change your mind later, or break your word to Arken and do something different. The game judges you more based on how often you choose a certain thematic category. Each colored option corresponds with a specific emotion, and each time you pick a certain color, you get a point for its category.
Frequently, the story options will simply change your conversation with a character, depending on your choice. In this example, Serafina offers to ask her anything you’d like, but you can only choose one:
And here again, you can have a very different conversation with Kallias depending on your choice of words:
Similar to Danganronpa, you often have a chance to spend time with a specific character of your choosing. On each playthrough, you will have a limited number of chances to spend time with the characters, so you must choose wisely!
Your choices, as minor or significant as they might be, always yield a reward of some sort. They will always give you a point in the associated category, which later affects your ability to argue in the Duma Debates (more on those later!), and they always change Odell’s hair color slightly (a fun little feature you can turn off if you so choose). Other times they will result in the conversation of your orchestration, and perhaps even a romantic relationship…
Below is a list and summary of the most significant characters from Serafina’s Crown. I am excited to announce that this visual novel will have voice acting, and I am currently searching for VAs for everyone on this list except for Arken, Kallias, and Serafina. If you’re interested, go here for more info and audition lines for each character.
Odell never wanted to live the life of royalty in Castle Krondolee, even though her mother was an important House Leader. She hates politics and prefers to explore the world with no attachments.
When Queen Belatrix dies and Odell’s mother steps down as House Leader of Perin, Odell has no choice but to assume a role of utmost importance in the Darzian government. How she handles her duties depends upon you!
Arken has a dark past, including betraying his own family and raising Serafina Elborn in secrecy. But he has repaired old bridges; most people in the Darzian nobility respect him now, and he serves as an adviser to Odell when she has no one else to turn to. For a reason he’s not eager to share, however, Arken seems intent on preventing Serafina from taking the crown of Darzia.
Learn the full truth of Arken’s past in the free novella, “Grand Traitor.”
Serafina has come a long way since her childhood in the Darzian jungle. Now she is married to Reuben Jeridar with children, and the crown of Darzia is within her grasp.
As rebels calling themselves the Red Scarves cause trouble throughout Darzia, Serafina seeks the crown so that she can spread peace and reform. But her husband, Reuben Jeridar, may have a different vision of their future together.
Reuben is a man who uses flattery, seduction, and lies to obtain what he wants. A close descendent of Mallion, a god of chaos, Reuben can also change water into wine (literally). He rose from rags to riches and now sits two chairs from the throne of Darzia. The question is: what does he want now that his wife might become Queen?
Many people suspect that Reuben secretly arranged Belatrix’s assassination to free the crown for Serafina. It will be Odell’s responsibility to uncover the truth.
Kindal is a talented diplomat. Otherwise, he likes to spend as much time lounging or playing relaxing games as possible. In truth, Kindal is a spoiled aristocrat who simply believes that poor people deserve to be poor and that the noble class is truly superior to the lower class. But his desire to have fun and indulge himself can be highly contagious. He survives solely on his friendliness, charm, and ability to diffuse situations by helping people relax.
Roza is a powerful warrior, leader of a House secretly affiliated with Belazar (god of wrath). She has no patience for bull shit, but she does enjoy a good challenge. She believes that strength and aggression are the keys to survival, and she would be lost without clinging to such traits at all times.
Roza is determined to prove that Reuben assassinated Queen Belatrix. Might she have her own reasons for wanting to see him fall?
Kallias is known to most as the greedy, careless king who led Darzia into economic ruin because he valued gold over natural resources. After his downfall, however, Kallias spent several years secluded on an island with as much gold as he desired. He realized that gold meant nothing without other people to believe in its value. He has now decided to abstain from gold for as long as he can and put the people first. He returns to Darzia a very changed man.
Picard is technically the god of joy, but don’t let his title fool you. Being joyful does not equate to being nice.
Picard is playful and silly, but he is also sadistic, as well as masochistic. He loves sex and he also loves torture. He’ll try to squeeze pleasure out of any situation. And if something fails to amuse him (rare but possible), he will destroy it. Because he now possesses the power of an ancient deity, who can influence the flow of the winds and the movement of the sun, he’s quite capable of destroying whatever he wishes.
Odell falls in love with Lorenzo when she meets him on her travels away from Darzia. Lorenzo appears to be little more than an idealist Vikand chief who likes swordplay and women. But there does seem to be something special about him, especially once he gives Odell a precious gift in the form of a magical necklace…