Just Your Ordinary School Life Simulator
(10/2021 - 09/2022)
This ain't no game... right?
A cast of visual novel characters realizes they're trapped in a foul simulation known as a "video game." With the help of the player, they must work together to shed their shackles and defeat the evil entity known as... The Principal.
My Contributions
In collaboration with writer and programmer Ricky, we made a visual novel with RenPy. We met through the UChicago Game Design Club. For me, this was a rite of passage as a character artist. I drew a lot of people that differ greatly in terms of walks of life, age, fashion sense, and personality. It was a great challenge but also one that enabled me to refine and define my current art style, which blends anime and western influences to create something that I think is visually striking.
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Beyond that, I composed some additional music tracks, including an original main theme with Japanese lyrics, and I helped write some of the scenes (in particular, the endgame Friend Events) and did voice acting/video editing for the trailer.
Meet your new friends!
Originally designed by Ricky with REALITY (an app for making anime avatars) Max, Anne, Willow, Connor, and Violet are the main characters of the game. I had the pleasure of giving them new life in a different art style as well as designing the three outfits they have throughout the game. See for yourself their endgame outfits - the purest expression of their personalities.
Humble Beginnings
When I joined Ricky, the game was still relying on bizarre stock images for many of its character designs. This contributed positively to the game's humorous atmosphere, and because of that, the spirit of these images remains in many of the designs.
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One of my greatest takeways from working on this game's art is to not be afraid to exaggerate designs and expressions - to not let my fondness for realistic detail take away from the cartoonish spirit of what I want to draw. The game also benefited from Uncle Moose visiting Japan to have the art reviewed by professional manga art teachers - this allowed me to take the art to a higher level and left me with insights about anatomy and clothing that I still leverage in my art today.
Here is a height chart I made during the game's development. Not only does it show the variety of the cast, but it also shows how the art has changed. In the full game, the character art is more vibrant and polished - feel free to compare it with the drawings featured on the title screen!
That said, Connor makes for a great case study of how much my art improved during this project. He's the first character I turned into a proper game asset and has gone through lots of design changes even in just his school outfit! He's come very far since his beginnings as a crude drawing.
Music + Trailer
Embedded here are the three best tracks I made for the game
as well as the trailer, for which Ricky provided the base
before I added polish, narration, and sound/visual effects.
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To download our game and get more info overall,
see our itch.io page at https://uncle-moose.itch.io/school-life!
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The music, made with LMMS and Cakewalk:
1. The main theme for the game! The Japanese vocals are provided by
Voisona, an AI-powered vocaloid synthesizer. Made to sound
like an anime opening.
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2. A character theme for Max!​ I'd say that the funky groove​
and strong bass/brass complement his energetic personality.
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3. Inspired by 80s training montages and anime, "Beauty is Pain" is a theme that plays during the trailer and the Sports Day arc of the game. This one was a lot of fun to make.
BY GOLLY, MY LIEGE! You've just been Anne'd. Is it your third or first time?