Participation in the TOKYO INDIE GAMES SUMMIT was a delightful experience, especially since we received an unexpectedly positive response to "Momotoko Crash", and we all returned with smiles on our faces. It's great to see tangible reactions at events. Without this kind of feedback, it's easy to feel lost about what we're doing.
While it was nice to feel good about it, the next step is finally the playtest. It's time for testing. By the way, "playtest" is a bit of industry jargon, isn't it? When I first heard it verbally, I was like "?" But once I saw it in kanji, it was clear. That aside, SKOOTA GAMES really needs to create a game and head to BitSummit! The event is in July, giving us about four months to prepare. Oh, we have four months? Then, I guess we have some leeway. With four months, we should be able to accomplish something... or so I thought, but no one in our company has ever made a game before! It's because no one has that we can say, "Isn't it possible?"
Regarding visual novels, I heard there’s a plugin called Utage for Unity, so I quickly got it and started working on "Negolove" as a trial. While researching and working, the game started to take shape little by little. Of course, since we were using Utage's features, it looked just like the "standard form." Something was taking shape, but no one had a solid image of what the final product would look like. Moreover, the most attention-grabbing project, "Momokura," isn't a visual novel, so creating it solely with our current team is a bit too high of a hurdle.
At the venue, we received many questions like, "Are you really making a game even though you're an animation studio?" The straightforward answer is "Yes." I believe it’s meaningless if we don’t create it ourselves. Many of our members, perhaps due to generational factors, grew up more with games than with movies or dramas, and even when trying to create an anime project, it tends to end up with a game-like worldview. However, since we’ve decided to focus on creating original projects through games rather than making anime, we have no choice but to launch the project ourselves!
So, it sounds a bit like a slogan from the Showa era when I say, "If you try, you can do it," or "What we've accomplished is everything we are now," but isn’t it fun to shape our own projects with our own hands? It’s fun, right?
【Negolove Team】 We have decided to create a game for #BitSummitDrift.
We will be sharing progress today as well!🤸🤸🤸🤸 #Unity初心者 #ゲーム制作 #Unity #ネゴラブToday, we will be building the game!!
We have set the icon, title name, version name, and export size. … pic.twitter.com/kpbuuxhgOR— 【Official】SKOOTA GAMES🎮TGS2024 Hall 10-W05 (@SKOOTAGAMES) June 6, 2024
This was the post from that time! We were fully in the mood to turn our trial and error into content! Looking back, this could have been a good series for SKOOTA. (I’ll create a summary article soon!) This series continued until the day of BitSummit, as it was a project to provide playtesting at the event.
In preparation for BitSummit, we also decided to advance the development of "Himegoto." "Himegoto" might have resonated with the core audience more than we initially imagined, and there are many people who are really looking forward to it, which has greatly encouraged us. (Honestly, it’s truly wonderful to know the reactions of the general public at this early stage.) So, we decided to prioritize its development and push forward.
The struggles of creating are pretty much as expected, so we just have to do what we can!
Another concern is, "Isn't it far to participate in a trade show in Kyoto?" For a small company based in Tokyo, bringing everything to hold an event is quite tough. Equipment rental is ridiculously expensive.
Bringing in LCD monitors is quite tough, so we decided to do the playtesting on a laptop. I thought about how to maximize the experience in a small booth and decided to fix the laptops to music stands and line them up. I think this worked quite well.
Also, our identity is that we are "video creators," right? So, I can't compromise on the feeling of wanting a "large screen!" However, when I tried to rent a large monitor, the price was enough to double the booth size.
That’s just not feasible.
That's right, last year's BitSummit venue was really dim. If it was that dark, couldn't we use a projector?
That said, I only applied for one slot. How do you project in such a limited space? What about the screen? After thinking about it, I realized I could use "height." This means setting up the screen above the back panel. When I checked with the office, they said it was okay! So, I started designing a lightweight and compact portable screen. Well, we are a video production company after all.
The result is this. The way the screen is attached is a bit haphazard because the construction manager (me) got lazy on-site, and I sincerely apologize for that. The real issue was that the venue itself was way too bright! There was a tense back-and-forth about lowering the lights, at least the ones directly above us, and I have to excuse myself by saying we couldn't focus much on the screen installation! There were various issues like the booth in front of us being too bright, but overall, the entire room was too bright, so turning the lights on and off at the booth didn't have a significant impact. Well, it can't be helped. (This article isn't an event log, so let's leave it at that.)
Despite various challenges, we managed to set up quite well for our first expedition! That's the story.
However, there is one problem.
We brought in equipment and everything else from Tokyo by Shinkansen, set it up, and then jumped right into the event the next day. There were three of us on the team. No substitutes! Naturally, everyone was on duty the whole time! Before I knew it, we had no photos of the venue during the event at all. I deeply regret not being able to think about that while we were there. What a shame.
That aside, SKOOTA GAMES showcased playable versions of three titles at BitSummit: "Momo Club," "Himegoto," and "Negolove"! Three titles for their first public play! Amazing! (Self-praise)
By the way, I intentionally avoided discussing the development of "Momo Club." There are some incredible stories about meeting talented game creators and various development anecdotes, so I'll compile those into a separate article!
Thank you so much to everyone who played our games and gave us warm reactions. Thanks to you, we were able to see various challenges (as expected). Seeing people actually play and hearing their feedback is truly invaluable. It raises the resolution of our understanding significantly.
There were many international attendees, and a lot of them showed interest in our games. This is really exciting. I can somewhat gauge which titles resonate with which cultural spheres. Some people came back to our booth multiple times, played repeatedly, and pointed out considerations for international expansion, which was incredibly helpful.
I was really glad to report to Mr. Kimura from room6, "We brought it properly!" Next up is the Tokyo Game Show!
SKOOTA GAMES will be exhibiting in the indie game corner! We will be sharing the latest information on X, so please follow us and turn on notifications to await further updates!
At the venue, you can play the following three titles!