Disclaimer: This is a project by a person contributing to Fuwanovel to some degree. They're a community member and act as an advisor in design questions.
This past Tuesday, the German indie game developer Elduator has started promoting her newest idea, founding a new visual novel development collective: Weltschmerz:Collective. As the name implies1, this collective’s creations will focus more on the dimmer aspects of life and the dissatisfaction with the world.
This project repurposed the previously dedicated Project Yominokuni twitter account and now uses this platform as a main avenue of promotion. Weltschmerz:Collective aims to be a studio that sets up entire development teams to work on projects. However, this is not just meant to be joined as contributors filling roles, but it is also possible to publish personal projects under the collective’s brand.
This is not the first collective community of its kind, with places like LoveVN and DevTalk serving as the previous central gathering points for such dedicated VN communities – with our Forums soon to follow.
More information is disclosed here.
Weltschmerz:Collective Google Form
- *Wikipedia excerpt: Weltschmerz (German: [ˈvɛltʃmɛɐ̯ts]; literally “world-pain”) is a literary concept describing the feeling experienced by an individual who believes that reality can never satisfy the expectations of the mind, resulting in “a mood of weariness or sadness about life arising from the acute awareness of evil and suffering”. ↩︎
INFORMATION ABOUT WELTSCHMERZ:COLLECTIVE
What is Weltschmerz:Collective?
Weltschmerz:Collective is, as the name suggests, more of a collective than a studio. You can join projects and fill roles, but also lead and publish your own projects under the collective.
This group is meant to give you the opportunity to quickly and efficiently get in touch with qualified people who are interested in your project and want to assist you!
Do the projects have to run on a theme?
Yes and no. As the German word “Weltschmerz”* implies the projects should deal with “darker” topics and the general dissatisfaction with the state of the world (this can be modern / realism / historical / fantasy / sci-fi, literally anything!).
But don’t forget; this is only a “general guideline”! We are open to any project proposals!
Do I have to join permanently?
No, you don’t have to be a permanent member of Weltschmerz:Collective.
We understand that being a fixed part of a studio can often take a toll on one’s mental health, so we also want to give you the opportunity to apply to certain projects exclusively.
If I publish my project under Weltschmerz:Collective, does that mean I lose my rights to the work?
Of course not. You are and will remain the leader and (creative)owner of the project. We will only support you in the development process, as well as publish the finished project on our itch page (on which you will also have admin rights).
What about monetary compensation?
About that… We are also just hobby game devs who do this alongside our full-time/regular jobs and day-time responsibilities. The goal behind Weltschmerz:Collective is to bring like-minded people together and work on the same passion – and maybe find a foothold in the community.
Long story short: For monetized projects, a proper rev-share with contracts should be taken into! But your stay and work in Weltschmerz:Collective is not financially covered by us. We encourage you to discuss further details with your respective team leader!
Are there any rules?
As long as you don’t act like a total asshole and at least show respect to everyone, you’re welcome. As previously mentioned, we treat this like a hobby and not a “business” (maybe someday, who knows). So let’s not take all this too seriously – after all, we’re all just some strangers on the Internet who have more important things to do than get hung up on some trivialities.
But you should be over 18 years old (just to be safe).
About Elduator
Anna-Lena is an indie developer from Germany, mainly working as Artistic Director on Yominokuni.
She also runs the podcast The Visual Novel Corner together with HusbandoGoddess and Lunamakaio, available on Spotify and YouTube.
Besides developing games, Elduator also creates visual novel user interfaces on Ren’Py as well as backgrounds.
You can commission one of those from her for an affordable price via her commission page.
Yominokuni (黄泉の国) is a mystery otome visual novel project with point-and-click investigation scenes. It was created by Elduator and her team for the Otome Jam 2023 in June. What started as a demo entry will be turned into a full game, with the demo already containing a total of 20k words. The full game will contain 6 love interests to pursue.
The Yominokuni staff went through some changes since Otomejam concluded:
Hiro: old writer: Snakkiez new writer: Dana (team's programmer and proofreader) Rei: old writer: Snakkiez new writer: Mari (Emi's writer) Art department: old sprite artist: Farbtron new sprite artist: Hamuco new in general: background artist: ramyeonguksu Logo Design & Proofreading olivia / lunamakaio promo & chibi artist: Aixen object artist: Waikikired Person who generally left: Keenie (proofreader)
One fateful night you are dragged into a world between life and death - a world illuminated only by a scarlet moon. This is the Yominokuni. This strange realm is a place created for souls who live in unrest, for souls who have been denied entry into the afterlife. But are you not dead. Right...? Though you may think you're on your own at first, you will encounter 6 companions who share a fate similar to yours. Will you be able to unravel the mystery of the Yominokuni and go back to your everyday life? Itch.io description
Full description here or on itch.io!
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