Discovering CloudNovelist: Interview with OHISASHI
Hey guys! This is Otometaku and the CloudNovel team. We are thrilled to announce that Discovering CloudNovelist is back! I will be leading monthly interviews with CloudNovel developers and artists, so stay tuned~ This month, I am interviewing OHISASHI from our Chocolates and Sweets Jam.
About the CloudNovelist
OHISASHI is a CloudNovelist from Hawaii. One fun fact about him is that he loves Shrek! For the 2020 Chocolates and Sweets Jam, OHISASHI has developed the demo of The Rose Vigilante, a mystery romance visual novel, where you play as a detective landed into a city to solve a mystery, starting friendships and romance along the way! The Rose Vigilante was awarded 20,000 points for its quality and content upon its completion, and we can’t wait for what OHISASHI has in store next. Below is the interview conducted~
Interview
Hey Ohisashi! Thanks for your time for this interview 😀
Heyo!!
Before we begin, can you tell us a little about yourself?
Well, I’m just your average artist who‘s seen occasionally with fanworks and original pieces. Heavy sweat
That’s pretty amazing! I’ve also seen your art account. I’ve got to say, your style is pretty nice! How did you discover CloudNovel?
I wanted to expand on my art to connect with my love of gaming. When I discovered the concept of visual novels, I was eager to jump on board.
Since I didn’t understand programming at the time, I needed an engine that accommodated my lack of knowledge in that area. So as an artist, it was very eye-opening to stumble across CloudNovel, which catered to that very need.
Agreed! That’s one of those reasons that bring all of us here haha. I’m really glad you had the opportunity to discover CN, especially because that led us to find your visual novel, Rose Vigilante!
My inspiration is… wacky anime and manga, in fact. The excitement of crazy adventures and dynamic characters gives me the confidence to express out-of-the-box ideas. And since I would love to see more visual novels of that spectrum, I try to contribute what I can to the community as well.
That’s interesting! Visual novel is quite the unique medium. When you’re creating Rose Vigilante, what would the process look like for you? Were there any surprises along the process?
With Rose Vigilante, I actually did a bit of everything every single day. Writing the script, doing art, finding music, etc. They all somehow end up on my daily to-do list. You could say I have a strange method of working, but it’s been the most productive for me. The only surprise that caught me off guard was realizing that only commercial CC music was allowed— About three weeks in, I had to do a complete 180 with the pieces I selected, but it worked out, because I ended up finding a more-fitting selection. And yet, the sad reality remains that I only got the main menu music in.
How long did Rose Vigilante take to make?
The entire process took three weeks, in fact. I’m very swift when handling art, and an avid writer. Unfortunately, this had lead to random spouts of procrastination as the last week kicked in. It was my first visual novel jam, so I learned a lot about time management and scoping.
What are your future plans for CloudNovel and your game?
I’ve gained a lot of programming knowledge over the past couple of months, so my goal is to complete the full version of The Rose Vigilante as a stand-alone download file. As for CloudNovel, I enjoy the idea of browser games, so I would like to upload demos of future games there.
Right now, in quarantine, it would be a great time to start working on visual novels, but some users are unsure where to start! Do you have any advice for others to start creating?
Always start on the story and flesh out the idea before anything else. Creating visual novels is a lot more fun and simple than one could imagine once the premise is finalized. Once you have your story, you have a million options from there! From art and music, to many mechanics to implement into your game.