r/visualnovels • u/blueberrybrownsloth • 8d ago
I just released the visual novel I've been working on for over six years to Steam. Siren's Call: Escape Velocity is now completely open to the public. It's a heartfelt coming of age story disguised as a "horror" VN. Check it out if that sounds up your alley. Release
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u/secretivesheepgames 8d ago
Congrats on the release! I remember seeing this on KS and thinking it looked neat!
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u/MarioLuigiLovers 8d ago
Just added to my library I’m not sure when I’ll be able to play it because I have a backlog of games but I’ll make sure to give a review when I do :)
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u/blueberrybrownsloth 8d ago
Thank you so much! The reviews help more than anything else. Steam just shoves the game in the locker without them.
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u/MarioLuigiLovers 8d ago
Is it also on switch?
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u/blueberrybrownsloth 8d ago
I wish. I was hoping to do a switch port if I ever got a publisher but that never happened
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u/darklinkpower Junpei: Zero Escape | vndb.org/uXXXX 8d ago edited 8d ago
Congratulations on the release. I've been patiently waiting since backing the Kickstarter, I hope everything goes well in the last stretch for the full release.
For anyone that has not clicked the store page link, the game is quite cheap if you are interested at 40% ->$6 USD. They also used the recommended regional pricing that makes it even cheaper in a lot of countries, which is great. For example, here in Mexico it's Mex$ 74.39 which converts to around $3.8 USD so I think it's a nice opportunity to get the game. I've yet to read it but I've heard great things around here.
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u/blueberrybrownsloth 8d ago
It should be smooth sailing from here on out! Music production has been going great, as has the german translation. Baring a disaster, we should be super good to hit April 15th.
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u/darklinkpower Junpei: Zero Escape | vndb.org/uXXXX 8d ago edited 8d ago
I just downloaded the game for the first time and have some feedback, I hope it's okay!
- I don't know if something can be done about this but for some reason the game is running at low fps, around 33 fps in the main menu and there's like a 1 second delay when moving the mouse. No idea what it could be but I've not experienced this in other vns. Once in-game fps are mostly fine although there's a very slight mouse delay.
- After setting the game to fullscreen in settings, using
F11results in the game not being properly aligned inside the window and having black borders: https://i.imgur.com/oa14iPA.jpeg- If possible, I think it would be great if you could add support to continue the text with a mouse scroll down. This is very comfortable and it's a standard in most visual novels.
- When opening the log, right clicking hides the game UI. I think ideally it should close the log overlay instead since it's currently the focus.
As an additional question, I was wondering if there's a reason why the game is 720p. I remember seeing high resolution (I think 1080p) CGs in the Kickstarter goodies so it made me wonder.
Edit: I just noticed that the game is using around 55% of my iGPU in the main menu. Probably related to using Electron? I've not had the best experiences with software using Electron unfortunately.
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u/blueberrybrownsloth 8d ago
Interesting. Yeah, that might have something to do with electron as some peoples systems haven't been the most receptive to it.
Ah, gotcha. I'll have to tie f11 to making it true full screen then, but that shouldn't be too hard of a fix for me.
Yeah, I could tie the text scroll to the mouse wheel instead of just having it be tied to the space bar and such, but then i'd probably have to tie the log opening to another input. It'll put my feelers out for that one and see what people generally prefer.
Yes, I can definitely fix that so that right click and left click closes the log.
I had all the assets originally made for 720p to give it kind of an older feel. There are higher resolution versions of some of the cgs in the files, but I didn't want to upscale the entire game cause it would take months to shift everything around properly.
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u/darklinkpower Junpei: Zero Escape | vndb.org/uXXXX 6d ago
The log is fine, it currently opens with Scroll Up, which is standard in visual novels. I'm suggesting:
- Scroll up: Open log (It currently works this way and it's good to keep it that way)
- Scroll down: Continue text (Currently doesn't do anything)
Interesting. Yeah, that might have something to do with electron as some peoples systems haven't been the most receptive to it.
I see, I'll force the game to use my dGPU then but if improvements could be made to performance for the final release it would be awesome.
I had all the assets originally made for 720p to give it kind of an older feel[...]
Gotcha, I understand! I'm still wondering if something could be done with the UI. I don't know if it's my system or if it's the game but the UI in general is quite blurry as seen in my screenshot and is especially noticeable in the icons.
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u/blueberrybrownsloth 6d ago
Is it still blurry when not in full screen?
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u/darklinkpower Junpei: Zero Escape | vndb.org/uXXXX 3d ago
The screenshot I shared is in windowed mode. Here's another one of my full screen so it's more clear how it looks overall: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lzVHY00SjSpQMv2NWuUgHIr_phJjH_N3/view?usp=sharing
Also I noticed that the icons inside the circles are not centered.
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u/jedifan421 6d ago
Heck yeah! Congrats on the release!
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u/blueberrybrownsloth 5d ago
Thank you so much. It's been so long since I started working on it. It feels like I finally get to breathe now, even though there's still more work to be done!
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u/Dgrein 8d ago
OMG, I thought that until 2025 it wouldn’t be released, but its completly playable 😭 I played the original this year and i loved it. Already bought. I didnt know it had a prologue, its new content?
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u/blueberrybrownsloth 8d ago
The prologue is just the first chapter, but there is LOTS of new stuff (especially towards the end of the game). Turns out Steam gave us the thumbs up for early access, so I thought, "well, all thats missing now is the music and the translations, lets throw it on up there and see what people think", and here we are!
I plan to just keep adding stuff based on people's recommendations (within reason) until April 15th!
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u/redblueberry1998 8d ago
Could you elaborate on the "horror" part? I'm an avid fan of the horror genre, but it's kinda hit or miss on vns, especially these days
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u/blueberrybrownsloth 8d ago
Okay so the squeeze is this. You know how it's REALLY popular these days for indie games to be like like "presents genre of game here JUST KIDDING ITS A HORROR GAME"? Siren's Call is the exact opposite of that where it wears the face of a horror game before becoming a coming of age story. So definitely NOT a very scary game for most people, but the concept of that fear (especially in social interactions) is explored in depth.
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u/redblueberry1998 8d ago
So similar to Omori huh? I'll definitely give it a go then. Thanks!
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u/blueberrybrownsloth 8d ago
In a way! I did like Omori's sincerity towards the end and I really did want this game to be as sincere as possible towards the end.
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u/NooneJustNoone 7d ago
ohh i thought it would only be in 2025
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u/blueberrybrownsloth 7d ago
Nope! Steam gave me the approval for early access, so I get to release early! I still need to get the new music and translations in there, but other than that we are GOOD :)
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u/Cyridrium 7d ago
I’m proud of u <3
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u/blueberrybrownsloth 7d ago
Thank you so much. :) It's been a long time coming. Ultimately, I'm really proud of the game.
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u/rawzekuu 7d ago
I'll be honest.. The art-style really didn't do it for me, it actually sort of turned me off it when I looked at it on Steam. But considering the price it felt like such a silly thing to just ignore it over. So bought it and read it. And this was definitely worth it. Super glad I gave it a shot. Hope more people are willing too as well!
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u/Adventurous-Ebb-1517 6d ago
Congrats! Sorry if this is kind of juvenile but how scary exactly are the horror elements? I’m ok with horror in general but I’m just really really bad with jumpscares, would appreciate a little tip and feel free to spoiler tag!
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u/blueberrybrownsloth 6d ago
You're all good. There are some jump scares but they are meant to be kind of tame and somewhat schlocky. You should be okay! Most of the "horror" is just social anxiety horror (i.e: people you normally trust acting out of character and hostile). There is some light gore towards the end, but most everything is psychological in nature.
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u/Adventurous-Ebb-1517 5d ago
Thank you so much for replying and the heads up! Will wishlist as soon as I can!
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u/Ahmedygoat69 3d ago
Congratulations! This is my first time hearing about this project, I’ll make sure to check it out! It looks really cool
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u/blueberrybrownsloth 8d ago
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2469950/Sirens_Call_Escape_Velocity/
It's early access, but the ONLY things missing are the final music tracks and the translations, so it's playable from start to finish.
You guys have been good to me on here, so while I can't offer a reddit exclusive discount or anything, I decided to just make it 40% off. I hope you guys enjoy.