All right, it’s time for me to stop fooling around and deliver the goods on what I think will become the official Canan path storyline. For as long as it took to finally make this post, it’s missing information on decision points and some details need filling in, but I blame a lot of this on my lack of experience with visual novels and trust that my fellow writers can pick up my slack.

Anyway, let’s get this over with so I can go back to drooling over Gundams. Spoilers at 12 o’clock!

Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to a breakthrough conversation with Zanaikin today, I was finally able to do what I haven’t been able to do on my own even after weeks of attempts. I now have a clear vision of how to progress through Canan’s and Exam’s route, with actual ideas about character roles, key scenes, and sources of conflict and drama being much more defined than the handful of themes I had been attempting to cobble together for so long.

What I’m listing below is the raw material that I want to use to create the final route. As usual, Imperium Project spoilers are beyond this point.

Read the rest of this entry »

Eager to give myself a break from the Canan/Exam route (which is quickly becoming too involved and difficult for my meager talents as a visual novel storywriter), but unwilling to cease all productivity, I decided to get some much-needed work done on character profiles for the Imperium Project Wiki. I’ve written an extended personality description for my favorite character, Hikari…

…as well as a stub description for Exam so that obnoxious “…awaiting more information from Citrus…” tab will go away.

Unlike past TIP articles, no plot spoilers after the break! Read on!

Read the rest of this entry »

All right, it’s time to stop being lazy for a little while and get back to some work on the Imperium Project. This time, I have to focus on the in-game events that will reveal Canan’s and Exam’s personal histories and bring Exelar close to them.

Although Canan will be introduced at an early stage in the game, her route cannot begin until Exam joins the party, whenever that is. It’s absolutely necessary for Exam to be introduced as an injured, unconscious survivor of a major battle scene, as he would never willingly place himself in the care of the Arcanum.

At any rate, Canan’s and Exam’s routes progress simultaneously, although the player will have choices that will bring him closer to one or the other.

Prospective spoilers ahead!

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, I’ve officially joined Zanaikin’s Imperium Project. Although my first attempt at writing the shared history of Canan and Exam, the characters who were subsequently placed under my charge, failed hard, eventually everyone on the project agreed that its core concepts were good and could be used if I could just edit my original draft. I’ve finally done just that, and while this new draft feels like a complete rewrite, it’s also a lot smoother and more focused than my first, and contains some input directly from Zanaikin. So I’m a lot more confident about this one - at least, enough to share it with the Internet.

Potentially massive spoilers after the break.

Read the rest of this entry »