Always The Same Blue Sky...

Hey team =)

Didn’t think I’d be posting again so quickly, but I’ve submitted Always to Steam Greenlight, and I’m very happy to say that it seems to be getting a lot of attention! If you could vote to help it join the Steam family, that’d be great: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=405806112&searchtext=always+the+same+blue+sky

I received the following comment from a user:
“Always The Same Blue Sky is an enchanting visual novel like no other. A gripping fantastical love story about two young souls, each struggling to make sense of the world in their own way. Complemented by breathtaking artwork and an addictive soundtrack, this charming tale will definitely suck you in and leave a lasting impression!”

That’s from the description, and I can say without a doubt, if you just switch out “Always The Same Blue Sky” with some other name, you’d have what the description says for any other visual novel.
Sorry, but visual novels have to have something unique to them (so slice of life is basically a suicide attempt), otherwise they seem bland and something that i could just act out in real life. I don’t mean that goofiness is what i like, but i don’t like it when something is just a bit too normal.

I completely agree with this gentleman, and therefore felt it was something I needed to address:

I claim that ‘Always The Same Blue Sky is an enchanting visual novel like no other’ in the description, and I’m here to let you know why I’m confident it is!

I read a lot of visual novels in my teenage years and very few of them stood out. The majority were simply slice of life, set in a generic Japanese high-school, with generic characters, and seemed more obsessed with ensuring the novel was a certain length as opposed to every scene being enjoyable and engaging. I decided to take a completely different approach to the genre.

Story
Firstly, I’ve written stories my whole life, Always is simply one of those stories, it was never intended to be a visual novel. Of course I had to rework parts to better compliment the medium, but because it’s an independent story with its own aims, it avoids the tropes typical of visual novels. One thing I consciously tried to avoid was filler. In fact, before creating the art, I decided to take out scenes I felt didn’t add enough to the story and before the initial release of the novel, I even trimmed down the existing scenes. The reason behind this is I want as much of the text as possible to be significant (even if it doesn’t appear so on an initial play-through). I intended for the novel to be fast-paced and gripping, favouring quality over quantity. That being said, there’s always room to expand the lore in the form of extra side stories and flashbacks, if the novel really takes off, there’s definitely room for future significant updates!

Don’t be fooled by the fact the protagonist is a student, that romance is plot element, both these elements are small parts of story; Always is so much more. It’s difficult to explain why without giving too much away, but the opening scene should make you realise there’s a lot more going on beneath the surface which manifests itself when necessary.

My aim is for Always to leave a lasting impression, not only due to striking an emotional chord, but due to carrying a deeper message; due to trying to look at things from another angle. The choices you must make during your journey reflect this. My aim was to challenge the reader with poignant questions that stand closer to the centre of the black and white moral spectrum.

World
The world is totally unique. Always The Same Blue Sky is set on a non-existent Mediterranean island in the not-so-far future. The society has tried to preserve as much of their culture as they can, incorporating modern aspects in a way that will compliment it. The result is a lot of ceramics and stained glass which gives the island a special, almost magical feel.

Music
The music has been created by one of my best mates, someone that knows me extremely well and shares my passions, in fact we lived in Japan together for a little while after leaving school. He has always been exceptionally talented and it was a lot of fun creating the soundtrack with him. It perfectly compliments the docile, unique island, whilst greatly adding to the atmosphere of every scene.

Finally, this is my first project, created on a very limited budget, with very limited experience - sure there are things I’d have done differently with more resources and knowledge, but I’m very proud of the novel in its current form. It has always been my dream to pass on even a fraction of the feeling/impact certain games/songs/novels etc have had on my life, and based on the majority of the feedback I’ve received from people who have read the novel, I’m really chuffed that I seem to be accomplishing this. I really appreciate everyone’s support, everyone who’s reading this. As I said, hopefully, this is just the beginning of my journey as a creator and your support as I grow means the world =)