Even The Silver Knight Panics
A downloadable game for Windows
- This game was made for the O2A2 VN Jam 2023, a micro Visual Novel jam with strict asset limitations (Only One of Any Asset) and a 1000 word limit.
- 'Made for YaoiGameJam2023'
No knowledge of FE8 is required to play this mini VN. It's set fairly far into the game's story with mention of late-game characters. In particular there are mild spoilers on Cormag, but I tried to write everything as vague as possible that it's even less telling than character bios/quotes in FEH.
[NOTE: I'm not satisfied with my O2A2 submission. I have more updates planned along the way for polish, but I want to combine it into a single build on a TBA date (the deadline was originally planned to be for Yaoi Game Jam). It's currently missing significant QOL and visual elements that makes it hard to finish without a guide. It's a combination of overscoping + the moment the writing process is barely budging for the majority of the jam period, I knew that it was doomed to not meet the O2A2 Jam deadline. I pushed through to finish the story script, because without that there would be no VN, but everything else suffered from it. It may not look like it (because it's missing animation) but the battle system is functional.]
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Characters:
Seth: Silver Knight
General of Renais and apparently the only one they have... talk about dire. He's the main character of this VN. In contrary to his epithet, his armour is actually blue. Closeted bi-disaster.
Cormag: Aloof Lanceman
Wyvern Rider from Grado. Circumstances made him jump ship. Seth's sparring partner in this VN. Yes, that's all he is, nothing more. Fond of his wyvern Genarog and loves cats. Gay.
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Features:
- RPG battle with simplified Fire Emblem mechanics. No permadeath in a mock battle, don't worry.
- 6 different endings after the battle. There's also a post-epilogue if you've seen 3 unique endings, and another (small) post-epilogue after if you've seen all endings.
- It relies on persistent memory so you don't actually need to save at all. For this reason save screen has been removed (but quick save and quick load are available).
- Important to note is that this is not a romance VN (despite yaoi label). I will also be upfront what it is:
mlm friendship / queerplatonic crush / pining & unrequited (?) / amare
The sexualities of the characters are not explicitly mentioned in the VN.
- While it is based on the original Seth/Cormag support conversation, it deviates from it a bit. There's more drama because this is written with Eirika's route in mind. Regardless, it's still mostly a silly light-hearted comedy VN that does not take itself that seriously.
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Content Warning (and what does not appear in it):
- Canon-typical references to violence, alcohol and bars. Story is just as PG-rated as FE8. On a serious note, I would say a target audience of 16+. It's not an adult game, but not suitable for younger teenage ages.
- There are no sexual scenes, implied or otherwise.
- NSFW warning: there is a shirtless sprite (the T-Shirt is the O2A2 secret sprite prop, which also is made up from non-overlapping segments).
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GUI Assets:
Images for boxes and related elements are referenced from GBA "Fire Emblem" screenshots and are not directly taken from the original files. They are drawn prior the O2A2 VN Jam period, and this includes the Ren'Py coding. This refers to the main menu screens.
Edited photo backgrounds are from images that are free to use under Creative Commons licence (see attribution list in the 'About' screen within VN that also cites the source of other assets).
UI elements that are related to the core gameplay/story of the VN, such as battle UI are made during jam period.
Download
Development log
Comments
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Ooh, I love that you made an RPG with combat and stats and everything! Super ambitious for a small jam like this. Plus all the different endings, impressive stuff!
I liked the music but it threw me off that there's no sound at all during the conversation parts; I actually checked if my headphones were working. Might have been nice to just have a blip when it plays a line or something.
Thank you for writing such a kind comment, G.C. Katz! I'm glad that you can find fun in this little VN, despite that I'm embarrassed that you got to see this build as it misses a lot of essential elements. Looking back, there are so many easier ways to tackle certain challenges, but I was quite trapped in tunnel vision. At least I learned my lesson of better understanding my own limitations as a solo developer. I will definitely take the positivity of your words in mind when I'm currently fleshing out the visuals and animation without jam pressure this time.
For the combat it helped immensely that the RPG system is literally simplified "Fire Emblem" battle mechanics, but I never cared about to ever make a proper RPG, so it was very fun to code something small in Ren'Py as a parody to the real thing (bless Vimi for his tutorials and skeleton code). The endings are also throwback to the series that characters have their own epilogue and if they share a bond with another character you get a little summary out of it (commonly romantic, but platonic or familial relationships also exist). Since I love VNs with choices and multiple endings, I went a little bit overboard on the different scenarios. It made my day that you mentioned these parts. ☺️
You're completely right about the music. I was considering to use either text blips or actually spread out the music to be played through most of the duration of the VN. User feedback like yours are extremely useful for considering solutions in a new update, so thank you again for this!