Greetings folks! I'll start off by saying that I wasn't sure where to put this on the forums, so if this isn't the proper category, feel free to correct my mistake. :P

I'm posting this here on behalf of my development team, Stewart-Class 7 Studios, to advertise our brand new VN project that just started up recently called "Coda: Of Love & Compostion" ( working title, formerly know as "Chord Progression"), our go at a psychological romantic visual novel. Currently, we have the general idea of the story down, so I'll do my best to catch your interest! You will play through the eyes of Seth, a 20-some year old college student who's interested in music, and is also in a band that will play a role in the story. He lives in the state of New York, in a fictional town a fair distance away from NYC. Seth's story will come to involve one of five romantic interests, each one with their own problems and past traumas to be explored and dealt with. Inspired originally by 4LS's Katawa Shoujo and it's theme of overcoming disability and personal issues, we've since taken a strong turn towards something we like to think is pretty original. CoLoCo will explore the darker, more severe mental and emotional traumas that are all too common in real life. Drug addiction, abuse, broken homes, loss, and suicide are just some of what we hope to shed light on through our game as our characters will come to terms with their own pasts, and find hope for their futures in their own unique ways. By making this game, we not only want to entertain players, we also want to show people that there IS hope, no matter how bad things may look.

We've been growing steadily over the last week, and we now have a full staff of head writers, as well as three artists, and two musicians. However, we are still in need of a skilled pianist so help us compose the background music. (One of the girls is actually a pianist, and the instrument will play a part in her story.) Though, for anyone who plays other instruments, we'd be happy to have you on board as well!

Thanks for taking the time to look guys, this thread will always be open for questions! (Unless mods say otherwise..)

If you're interested in applying, send us an email with a sample of a song you've written, and some information about yourself at: stewartclass7studios@gmail.com

Also be sure to check out our blog @ http://chordprogressiondevblog.blogspot.ca/
And check out the forum as well @ http://sc7cp.forumotion.com/

See you guys on the boards!

~Red

I'm in a bit of a pickle. I'm tackling this entire project with only one other person, neither of us keys players. Help us.

This sounds familiar :(

This is too strange...

Your main character has my name, I'm a musician, and I'm a college student in my early 20s.

Oh and I'm a pianist (piano performance/ jazz emph. major).

Should I be taking this task? xD

This is too strange...

Your main character has my name, I'm a musician, and I'm a college student in my early 20s.

Oh and I'm a pianist (piano performance/ jazz emph. major).

Should I be taking this task? xD

Maybe its a sign? :P
We'd certainly welcome the application!

This sounds cool. Em, I don't like so very much romantic novels or films... but... eh, it's music xD

I have some compositions which can fit well in the story. I'm always interested in experiment to get "strange" music, that's because most of my songs sounds like an OST. I think I will able to help.

I can participate, but in summer. Not now. And I'm a bit slow composing ^^".
I will send some of my compositions to you tomorrow.

This sounds cool. Em, I don't like so very much romantic novels or films... but... eh, it's music xD

I have some compositions which can fit well in the story. I'm always interested in experiment to get "strange" music, that's because most of my songs sounds like an OST. I think I will able to help.

I can participate, but in summer. Not now. And I'm a bit slow composing ^^".
I will send some of my compositions to you tomorrow.

Looking forward to hearing them! Be sure to send them to the email provided!

I think the story can work if written very well and may even catch some readers off guard with twist potential. Storyline aside, like victor seven said, its music.

I would like to ask a few questions regarding your project:

1. How many members are part of your projects? If you could let us know based on their roles, that would be great.
(eg: Writer: 6, Programmer:2, Project Manager:1...ect.)

2. What is your estimate to completion for the project and what measure have you taken to ensure its timely completion.

3. The total number of tracks spanning how many different genres of music are you looking for?

4. Are there any previous works your group has completed in prior?

5. Are there any marketing plans?

I hope you don't take these questions the wrong way, I don't mean to put you on the spot or anything. I've just been through way too many VN projects in the past that never came to life.

I think the story can work if written very well and may even catch some readers off guard with twist potential. Storyline aside, like victor seven said, its music.

I would like to ask a few questions regarding your project:

1. How many members are part of your projects? If you could let us know based on their roles, that would be great.
(eg: Writer: 6, Programmer:2, Project Manager:1...ect.)

2. What is your estimate to completion for the project and what measure have you taken to ensure its timely completion.

3. The total number of tracks spanning how many different genres of music are you looking for?

4. Are there any previous works your group has completed in prior?

5. Are there any marketing plans?

I hope you don't take these questions the wrong way, I don't mean to put you on the spot or anything. I've just been through way too many VN projects in the past that never came to life.

Thanks KaitouKudou, that's what we're trying to do. Though this is our first time undertaking a project such as this, we're all coming together to critique our works and help eachother. The beauty of it being a fanmade game is that we can just keep polishing it until it's as good as it can get.

Answers:

1. So far, we have 5 Writers, 2 Editors, 3 Artists, 2 Musicians, 2 Programmers, and 1 Manager, though all decisions are made in a democratic fashion.

2. Currently, we are working on what we're calling a "mini-VN" to serve as a sample of what will come with the full game, help us get our name out there, and give us some good experience before we take on the big project. This mini-VN will be set before the main character gets involved, with 5 stories selected from the menu, each one told from the eyes of one of the game's heroines. This will allow the players to get a taste of their characters and the general atmosphere of the game, but we won't be putting in any spoilers regarding the issues of said characters. Maybe a subtle nudge here and there to make the player feel that something is amiss, but that will be it. We plan to release this in August, though that is subject to change depending on how long it takes for us to bring it to a satisfactory, finished state.
As for the actual visual novel, we currently aim to release it a year after the mini-VN. But, again, that is subject to change for the same reason. Neither game will be released until we are 125% satisfied with them.

3. The number of tracks is something we have not discussed yet. For the mini-VN, it should only need to be a handful, and most of them will be used for all stories, with maybe one or two specific to each character. (My character, for instance, is a pianist herself, something that will play a large part in her story. So, having at least one track made for her would be necessary.)
Regarding genres, Seth's band will be a rock band, and each route will have one or two songs that will be for them. Their style of playing will differ a bit depending on the route. Their original style of playing was more of a Grunge/Trippy style, however after discussing it, I believe that we're going to go for a wider variety of styles per route, so that we don't just stick to one. For my character's route, I'm thinking it'll be similar to Sixx A.M.'s style, but that's up in the air right now.

4. No, we are newbies. Just a rag-tag group of internet strangers assembled for just this current project. The artists and musicians are talented, and have previous experience in their fields. Us writers have wrote before, but this is our first time writing for something public like this.

5. Regarding anything that would make us money? No, not at the moment. However, if your just referring to ways we'll get our game out there, we have a few. First, this mini-VN. That's the big one. Secondly, we'll be advertising around on different boards once it has been completed. We'll be relying on our forums to keep a healthy community of course, and we'll also be getting a better website soon. We're considering putting up a Shimmie page for people to post any art they want to regarding the game as well. I suppose the actual message of the game will be advertised as well. CoLoCo's primary purpose is to tell stories that will make troubled players feel better about themselves. It's being created and written to be something inspirational, and entertaining at the same time. That's a pretty big undertaking, yes, but I feel that it is possible. It'll take time, and a ton of work, but when it's released, it will be a story of hope. If, at the end of the day, it's anything less, we have failed. Though being a fanmade game with no real time constraints, there is no reason why it won't succeed, as long as we continue to work like we have been.

I hope those answers are sufficient. Feel free to ask some more questions if you have any. :)