OK, I admit, things got a bit crazy.  I HAVE been working on the game, but the day job kinda got in the way.  A quick production update:

1.  Story is all done!  Wow!  Finally!  Don’t mess up…the difference between winning and losing is…err…dramatic.

2.  Got a big chunk of the production artwork.  I’m still missing some parts, but enough to finish 80% of the game now.  Got all of the settei.  Not sure if I will post that right away.

3.  SVN ate my scripting revisions.  I lost a few days work because the HDD on the SVN server crashed.  Actually, it was something stupid I did on the client side that overwrote my changed files.  Just as well, there were some revisions that needed to go in.  I worked on it over Christmas (took a few days off, but it ended up being spent visiting people instead of actually doing script work…sorry!)  I started to play games on my 360 and PS3…that was a horrible mistake.

4.  Adding the music and sound effects changes things a LOT.

5.  Gonna play around with 3 sizes for each character.  I saw that in another game by another rather famous Japanese Visual Novel maker and liked it.  Way better than the traditional single size.

OK, less blogging, more working…just wanted to make sure people didn’t think the production team vanished.  Oh yeah, on the programming side been doing a lot of bug fixes.  The multilingual system creates some challenges that we need to work out on the scripting and menu side.  I THINK we have if fixed.  Also doing some Vista testing.  In general I hate Vista, but what can you do…most machines have it installed nowadays.

Oh yeah, a side note…for now we’re sticking to a 4:3 aspect ratio.  We’ll see how that works.  We may eventually have to look into a 16:9 or 16:10 solution…but then the file sizes are going to get huge if we support images at 1080p.  Well, thats not a problem for people buying the physical disk, but since we might have to do downloads, that could be a problem.  I guess thats the one disadvantage of having a full powered 3D/2D engine.  Still, when the next generation of our games come out using the same platform, that will be worth it…I hope.

It has taken a while, but we finally have some updates to the website. Click on Products, scroll down and visit the links for Ed’s Journal and then check out the new page on artwork for Princess Code! I hope you check it out and let us know what you think.

OK, I am always a little afraid posting pre alpha screencaps, we have a lot of tweaking to do (including colors), but I think this is a good start.

Please note that the action button area will probably be modified in the next few days.

EDIT:  I should mention that Ed is battling Prina, Princess from Vega 7B, and president of the VRA Silver Stars Fanclub.

Professor Seta is one of Galactic Civilization’s most respected authorities on Earth. Having visited Earth many times doing covert field anthropology, she has an incredible appetite for studying the diverse cultures of Mother Terra. Professor Seta played a critical role in the decision to bring Earth into Galactic Civilization. Her book on Earth was one of the most popular downloads of last year, spawning a renewed interest in all things Earth. She has been assigned the important task of helping to train Prince Edward ed Larson of Sol 3.

Here are some headshots for Princess Liora, again by Lonewolf. Liora is very determined, and loves everything about politics. She has ambitions for herself and for her planet, Tau Ceti 4. Because Tau Ceti 4 and Tau Ceti 5 have long been rivals, Liora and Elika have also been lifelong rivals. Liora hopes to win the title of Treasurer in the upcoming VRA student elections. Liora is currently dating Prince Calen Ginn Dola ed Wingar of Ceti Alpha 6.

Here are some character sketches for Princess Elika drawn by LoneWolf. Elika is dedicated to her family, ed Laragi and to her planet, Tau Ceti 5. She takes her responsibilities very seriously, but occasionally wishes she could escape the burdens of royalty and be a typical girl. She loves music from the Vegan rock band, Silver Stars.

(For the curious, yes, that is Konata’s ahoge. I couldn’t help myself.)

Here are a few pieces of concept art that we decided to post. These are the home planets for the three main princesses of Princess Code! Since most of the game will take place at Vinatu Royal Academy, these images are really just for reference. We might use them in the OP.

[Click on any image to see a larger version.]

Princess Elika Panyuu Soo ed Laragi of Tau Ceti 5
Princess Elika represents Tau Ceti 5. Tau Ceti 5 is one of the older, more powerful planets in the Galactic Civilization. The people of Tau Ceti 5 are considered shrewd merchants, and the planet is one of the top financial centers in the Galaxy.

Princess Kindee Vinta Mar ed Vitori of Cygni 2
Princess Kindee represents Cygni 2. Cygni 2 was one of the first worlds colonized by humanity after being given interstellar travel by the ancients nearly 10,000 years ago, and is considered to have the closest ties to Earth. It is a small world, with very little land and a very small population.

Princess Liora Mednia Foma ed Relada of Tau Ceti 4
Princess Liora represents Tau Ceti 4. Once a mining colony of Tau Ceti 5, this once barren world has been painstakingly terraformed by the Relada family. After a very long and bitter struggle for independence from Tau Ceti 5, the people of Tau Ceti 4 have a very fierce sense of loyalty to the planet and to ed Relada.

Welcome to Cream Puff Cafe. We’re an independent game studio with the sole mission of making Japanese-style visual novels in America. Our strategy? Find artists we like, then create a game around their art. We think that our games should be simple and focus on the art. By creating games for different audiences in different styles, we hope to make games that people care about. In the coming weeks and months we hope to give everyone a chance to see our plans, our goals, and even our mistakes. The most important part of our strategy is you, our audience, so please get involved!