I think I know how to start an Os-tan related Visual Novel

MajesticS · June 30, 2009, 12:01:48 PM

Quotefinnish equivalent "Linna" which means a castle too and we'd get the finnish association with that.

That's good... "Linna" sounds very similar to "Linux". So, surname decided... First name is the problem now, isn't it? Well, I'll look for something else...

VonDaab · June 30, 2009, 12:07:16 PM

Well, Linus having most probably swedish ancestry, so how about a swedish name, like example Mattias or something?

MajesticS · June 30, 2009, 12:10:52 PM

Well, "Mattias Linna" surely sounds well... But the meaning is wrong. BehindTheName says that it's derived from Matthias, which refers to New Testament, so it's another religious name. Another site explains this name as "Gift of God"... Erm, surely Linux Master is gifted, but that's... Erm... Wrong, I guess... But still, if there is nothing else, this name will be good.

VonDaab · June 30, 2009, 12:17:40 PM

Well it's all up to you if the names must have a proper symbolical meaning.
I'm just trying to suggest a name that sounds normal, something that fits in the modern times.

MajesticS · June 30, 2009, 12:22:48 PM

So... I'll check some other DBs for other names; but if I cannot find anything modern, then we'll choose Mattias.

All right, I'm done for today; it's evening and I've got things to do, so here I must take my leave. I'll show up here once I've done with Linux User's name or when I'll make a basic story flowchart. Good night (or day) to you all!

NejinOniwa · July 01, 2009, 12:16:10 PM

SCANDINAVIA IS HERE TO HELP >:3
(jk lol)

Anyway, just in that direction there are a number of other similar names to pick from. Dunno where they're derived from, but who cares - all the so-called biblical names are just translations from hebrew anyway (and WHO the HELL cares about hebrew?) and those translations would be derived from already-present names in the language to which they were translated to, so there.

Similar variants are Mats and Mattis (that I can pick out of my head). I'm not 100% on what Swedish names that are common in Finland, but there usually are myriads of variations on each one.

VonDaab · July 01, 2009, 12:24:11 PM

Eh, just go to 'Ã–sterbotten'. It's like an identical copy of the typical rural sweden.
Said that, I can assure finland has almost every swedish name there might exist.

NejinOniwa · July 01, 2009, 02:47:11 PM

Yeah, I toured Finland '03, and the north baltic coastline was pretty much Swedish in all but territory...

SleepyD · July 01, 2009, 07:38:46 PM

Sorry, I didn't read the whole thread, but it seems interesting.

I abuse blur, smudge, gradients, and filters in photoshop, but if you would like my services, I may help. I've always wanted to try doing backgrounds..... (haha, if you want a n00b to do it for ya XD) There's also the alternate route of taking real life pictures of places and messing around with those with photoshop filters or something...

If want to peruse (my mostly OLD works) take a look at my dA gallery at
http://sleepydoodler.deviantart.com/

Also, once school starts in late August, I will have little to NO time to work on this (or anything else) at all, so don't count on my services long term.

IanDanKilmaster · July 01, 2009, 08:15:03 PM

Quote from: "SleepyD"There's also the alternate route of taking real life pictures of places and messing around with those with photoshop filters or something...

Most of the fan-made VNs I've seen do use real life pictures, so that's definitely an option. Obviously the pictures should be in public areas, and should be devoid of any logos. I would highly recommend collaborating with Sleepy, MajesticS. From the sound of things, it might take awhile, though...

As for names, what about Mikael? I mean, that's kind of a prominent Swedish name, right?

Kiso · July 01, 2009, 09:45:36 PM

Suggestion for the character: seeing as how the depiction of the Linux user is rather stereotyped, you should also create the another user (probably his younger brother/sister) who, although preferring open source and is a great programmer, does not opt for aggressive measures to battle the proprietary format (read: the pacifistic liberal). Of course, this person has to be either equal to (or better than) the character in order for the two to be compared. The appearance of this Linux user's avatar OS could be that penguin character (think it's called Tux) that is often drawn. The character's appearance though... I don't have any idea besides he/she giving off an air of peace and tranquility... almost carefree.

MajesticS · July 02, 2009, 02:40:57 AM

Ow damn... I told myself that I'll reappear here only once I have something to present you... But I couldn't help. Ah all right.

Quotetaking real life pictures of places and messing around with those with photoshop

That's good; I know a lot of visual novels where the backgrounds were photos from real life... So, thank you for your suggestion for help, SleepyD; I've scanned through your gallery, and it's, well, far better than my crappy sketches. But as you said, you'll have a little time starting from August. And I must say that backgrounds should be photoed only when we know in which places the story will take place, which requires a script done... Which won't be done in a long time, since I'm the only one who's working on it. So I guess we'll need your help just when you won't be able to provide it.... ^_^"

QuoteSuggestion for the character <...>

Well, it's a good idea, but... As I said, we have already too much characters ^_^ There are about 7 OSs and same amount of Masters, plus second-plane characters... We can't afford to introduce another one. But see, 95% of Linuxoids are this hostile against proprietary software, I can tell ^_^ So we won't be abusing these who are liberal since no one knows them... This is our stereotype. And what about Tux - maybe Linux-sama would summon him to her aid...

2Everybody: Thank you for the name suggestions... I'll think about it. (I *hate* this part of character-making, really...)

NejinOniwa · July 03, 2009, 01:35:23 AM

Hey, guise, I'm pretty sure most of us have a digicam or two lying around, so we'll be able to cook that up pretty damn fast, my bet. Besides, old archives can help, too.

As for Mikael, that is a very minor variation of the all-so-ever-prominent Michael in all different languages; this variant might even be russian-derived from Mikhail, for all I know.

I'd like to recommend Gustav, the most prominently Swedish name I know of. It's old norse-derived, I believe.

MajesticS · July 03, 2009, 12:31:04 PM

Well, concerning the name of Linux User. I've checked some sites for both meanings and popularity indexes, and this is what I've digged up. First, let me present you my info sources so that you know that my suggestions weren't just dragged in with my imagination:

Wikipedia name popularity index - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_popular_given_names#Male_names_3
Nordic Names - http://www.nordicnames.de/svestat.html and http://www.nordicnames.de/finstat.html
BehindTheName for name meanings - http://behindthename.com/

Well, there were plently of names which sounded well, but most of them (damnit!) had religious origin (such as names of angels or apostles or prophets or quotes from holy texts, etc.) which is, I believe, unsuitable for our goals. So I skipped thes and choose two names that appeared here and there, being most popular ones in 2006-2008. One of them is still religious (well, it can't be helped - Christian did a god job to embed their beliefs into every culture they could reach), while another is not. Here:

Mattias - Finnish, according to BehindTheName, is derived from Matthias which appears in New Testament as the name of apostle <...>. According to Nordic Names, it means "gift of God". I've choose it because it was just common and popular, according to both people here and references in my, erm, sources.

Oscar - Sweden, according to BehindTheName, it could either derive from Gaelic "os" ("deer") and "cara" ("lover"), or drom Old English "os" ("god") and "gar" ("spear"). It's rather popular, was marked in history by Kings and so on, and in its Old English background has the meaning of "spear", which could be a good hidden correllation to Linux-sama's spear art.

I personnaly prefer "Oscar", since it has no religious background (as you can see, I'm not into religion). I would appreciate VonDaab-san's comment on these and his suggestion which one to choose. Or neither. (In the latter case, I'll go and kill myself with Ethymology tome).

Update: checked NejinOniwa-sama's "Gustav". It was carried by six Sweden Kings, and means something like "staff of Goths". Well, it's good and sounds well too. I would add it to the list as well. Awaiting VonDaab-san for his opinion.

Quotemost of us have a digicam or two lying around, so we'll be able to cook that up pretty damn fast, my bet.

Most have... Well, maybe, but not me. I would be glad if there were someone else on this forum who's good with writing or at least plot imagining. And yeah, I'm also lazy and afraid of doing things, since I have horrible case of Syndrome of Estimation Dependence.

VonDaab · July 03, 2009, 01:45:54 PM

Oscar sounds really fine to me.