Any thoughts on Katawa Shoujo?

[Auro-Cyanide]

[Angra Mainyu]

[Auro-Cyanide]

[DaFool]

So I think I'm satisfied enough after inspecting this proverbial 800-lb gorilla in the room (a gorilla which strutted around and knocked quite a few chairs over, but which has been behaving itself recently. The gorilla now made it's performance on stage, and what a grand beautiful performance it was!). I took my measuring tape, my weighing scales, even plucked a few hairs and examined under a microscope, and took a lot of notes.

It was kinda hard concentrating in the room with the 800lb gorilla around. So I am just glad that its shadow is no longer looming over the entirety of the EVN scene, and I see the groups that are remaining -- even the high quality ones -- and they being no more than at most 5 core people (betatesters and "special thanks" contributors not included) -- they pose no "threat" and in fact I am so motivated now that I might even buy a game from each group even if the work is "not my thing" just to show support. (BTW, is Errant Heart commercial?)

So what did I learn from the 800lb gorilla / elephant in the room? (Take note I'm talking about polished 'sellable' work, not personal projects):
1.) I'd be happy reaching 2-10 hours (preferably the latter) even if this is 'Short' work. Achieving 'Medium' 10-30 hours is hard without resorting to fillerish text (text in KS is quite long-winded at times) or gameplay (my preferred method to make a game 'your money's worth')
2.) Similarly, having dozens of CGs is a hard feat to achieve unless there are multiple artists with somewhat conflicting art styles. It's great that KS had lots of great CGs, but in the end I found myself taking them for granted in favor of collecting the FMV sequences, which were the most impressive element of this project since the Act1 release. My personal target (so players have adequate rewards) is something like 12-24 CGs. Not too little, not too much, and still doable with 1-2 artist team.
3.) I think animation will play a more important role in future VNs. I don't mean FMV sequences (though they served as a reward for me unlocking a path), but to provide more life to characters. We don't have to go all-out with motion portrait technology (which is in fact a 3D technique), but playing some of the recent JVN trials you see the sprites bounce around more and cinema angles taken more than was usual 5 years ago. Of course, all of this would be easy to do with ATL and screen language. The FMV sequences and interstitials in KS were meant to break up a long game, but if the main game itself were to be more cinematic (in fact a lot of the game were the characters 'literally' sitting down and talking, then we wouldn't need so much of these things to break things up (other than new Chapter titles).
4.) One downside of KS was the photo filtered backgrounds, which were so evident in the downtown Japan scenes. It was during those scenes with just the background that the game felt like any old OELVN circa 2007-2010. I'd say having original hand-drawn (or at least touched-up from SketchUp) background art is now more important than ever. BG art will be the key in drawing audience in and immersing them in the unique setting of your VN.
5.) Voice acting (or lack thereof) won't be so much of a problem, since many people rather imagine the characters in their heads. If done at all, it will add a touch, but it's not as necessary as in a JVN, where it's now expected to have voice acting. Moe games just really need it, but most of our games aren't moe.
6.) At least now I know the 'minimum art standard' acceptable to 4chan. A few years ago there were only a few artists on LSF, but now I'd say it's even majority artists. So achieving the minimum art standard will be easier, and I won't need to experiment anymore with 'two-week-shit-projects' (like Thirteenth Year). No way I can match the quantity in KS, but if I scale back on the watercolor shading, a very presentable game can easily be achieved.
7.) the GUI interface of KS was really impressive in 2009. But it's 2012 and we have screen language and ATL. Several Ren'Py 6.13 game demos have superior GUI interfaces. Finding someone with graphic design skill is even easier... just lay out the graphics, and it'll be easy to code. The default stock Ren'Py look was one of those hurdles to achieving a professional interface, but now it's a non-issue since it's so easy now to circumvent.
8.) In the end I won't need hundreds of thousands of fans/downloads. Even 1000 is enough if they either give enough comments to sustain me or just hand me $10 each for a game each year and I can live like a king. I'm pretty sure Mike Inel's career will take off now (Helloooo Makoto Shinkai of the Philippines!) but even if I were a kickass artist I wouldn't want thousands of fans breathing down my neck... I won't be able to concentrate on creating my masterpiece, the work that symbolizes 'me'. Haha, that's the advantage of writers being less in the spotlight... they can just concentrate on longer, deeper works.

[Jake]

[Auro-Cyanide]

[Angra Mainyu]

[Jake]

[Auro-Cyanide]

[Angra Mainyu]

What I'm curious about is: now what?

Over the years, KS has built up quite a fan base. But the 4LS staff isn't going to stay together to work on anything else. Heck, quite a few members have come and gone as it is. If it wasn't for the almost obsessive compulsion to make a VN about sleeping with crippled girls, the group wouldn't have held together as long as it did.

So, is there some other subject matter that might keep them together? What about the fans? Are they JUST fans of KS? Are they also fans of JVNs? EVNs? Do they want to consume more EVN material? Or are the fans also "done" now that KS is done?

I wonder...