Magical Diary Sequel

[Asevera]

Not sure if i'm writing in the right place, but i'm new here, so sorry ^^'

I must admit, this game was the best sim date i've ever played!SO many emotions I love the story
It's an interesting idea to see the same school from different perspectives, even though i'm not sure wether making the character male was a good idea...most of the players are girls, right? Will we get our romance?:o
But anyway, what i wanted to say is that if it's really hard to make the game or you like of ideas of how to make a sequel, i'm sure you could ask for help from fans To give ideas on stories, characters, events etc...

As for me, for a future second year at school game, it would be great to have the option to start from an ending of the first year (as for Damien, i'm sure there is some creative way to make him come back...i mean he's a demon, this is a magic world, there are many complicated rules, contracts etc) OR start without any previous romances, just friendship and discover a few new characters.
Would be great if there were more interactive options (we DO need to use all those spells somehow )
Speaking about spells, something like a 100 magic points could be given at the start to spread them how you want
AND maybe some special things/events depending on what your "major" magic is? Like...special field trips, battles, happenings (that lead to battles )

In conclusion, i really love this game and am really looking forward to any related/sequel games and would love to help in any way! Even if it's just some brainstorming ^^ Keep up the good work ;)

[Brianna1999]

Not to sound impatient, but are there any updates on Magical Diary Wolf Hall?

[hanako]

The only updates are what's been put in the Secrets forum.

I'm mostly busy with Black Closet (starting to write the final boss battle now). That game should at least be in testing by the end of the year.

[Eseli]

I personally DESPERATELY want a sequel for a sophomore year of horse hall.

In my opinion, I am much more wrapped up in the story than anything else. Is it possible at all to have such a sequel after production of any current games including wolf hall? I wouldn't mind an art style change, again, it is the story I have fallen in love with. As far as I am concerned, it could even be one of those old purely text-based ones (skip ahead to page ???) and I would still play it.

I do have some ideas on how the sequel would work (regarding loading saves from the first one, if possible). But that aside, I would rather know if it would even be considered at a future date.

[hanako]

Well, part of the problem is that some of the storylines people most want a sequel to are the ones that definitely can't be continued in any way. (Running off with Damien, for example. That is by necessity a totally separate story. For that matter, anyone wanting to continue with Grabiner would be better off in a story solely about him rather than trying to finish out their school career in the same game as everyone else... as many of the more interesting ideas of what could happen with him in the future often involve going off to places that wouldn't be suitable for any other character!)

I do not have any plans for a later-years game. Could it happen? Maybe, in some completely different gameplay style, after other freshman halls are written. But that's a slim maybe. I... don't actually like writing sequels, for one thing, and I have no solid storylines planned for the later years (I at least have plans for the other halls, and see how long it's taking me to get around to them!)

At this point if people put me up to "Write year 2 or write nothing!" then it would be "nothing".

[SilverBloodIllusion]

Honestly, I do NOT at all want to see a sequel. I have to many fanfics about later years. A sequel would ruin all of them for me! I want to see the freshman year of all the other halls though!

[Ariel Schnee]

Not interested in a sequel as it would mess up the fic where I have Player and Ellen in a relationship and then they stumble upon a certain madman with a blue box in a raggedy suit who asks them for fish sticks and custard.

Yes.

I'm replacing Amy and Rory with Player and Ellen.^_^

[ark99k]

I do not care as much for a second for horse hall unless it was added the game, because otherwise Hanako would have to make a way to completely transfer your every personalization made to your character to the sequel. The thing about that is I have maxed out 3 kinds of magic without using cheats and your skill points would probably start back at 0. Now if they decided your magic would be at the same level it was when you finished year one, then some people would spend half the game doing no classes. But I do think maybe a short little game (or story of some sort) saying what happened afterwards would be awesome. (If our character had kids or became an evil empress or even the new headmistress! SOMETHING!) Mostly because the game's ending really left things hanging in a way (that is great for fanfictioning!) that is sort of like someone plans to make a movie trilogy, make the first two movies, build of tension and mystery, and then drop the bomb about not making the third due to not have enough popularity.

[yinello]

At this point I'll take any MD game, alternate universe or not! It's too good to leave behind. I can totally understand how a second year would be pretty difficult to implement - you'd have to make 5 games for each love interest! @.@ Maybe just a tiny date mini-game where you and your LI go on a date and hi-jinks ensue the whole day. It would last no longer than 30 min. Though I'm sure someone who is proficient with Flash could make a fangame out of that!

[Nerakk]

After thinking about this, I came up with 4 possible games.
1st: A direct sequel, An expansion, An huge update to version 2.x.x requiring new activation codes and etc. (As for the problem mentioned by ark99k, Second year means stronger spells, literally changing the limits, to 200 maybe or starting at 0 with all the important spells and learning new ones while having the old ones replaced each time you learn a stronger version of it and new lessons like history)

2nd: Playing as a character from another hall.

3rd: A prequel, about when the seniors and professors attended the school and how they became who they are now.

4th: Playing as a PROFESSOR, that could be interesting. Dating students or other professors and instead of learning and maxing your stats, you will be trying to efficiently teach students to get good grades and will be passing judgments to them and by their success you will earn something similar to merits. Cute and weird will probably be changed to lovely and scary.

In the new game, if it becomes available, I really want new things like tournaments, duels, new shops and items and etc.

[warlock]

Hello. This is my first post, so please excuse any possible misunderstandings from my part.

Magical Diary is the best visual novel ever—period. Actually, it's more than just a common visual novel—it's a perfect blend of: mystery/dating sim/rpg/vn/interactive story etc.

Fans loved it. Critics loved it! And that's why it logically follows that this game deserves to be taken very seriously. It already created a nice, flexible universe that peaople can relate with and dream in, similar to the Harry Potter fashion. Tons of stories could be created further on in the same universe, and quite all of them could be gravitating, more or less, why not around the same magic academy?

So, some ideas (pick what you like):

1. There is definitely room for creating the sequel, 2nd year for the very first female char.

a) Running with Damien?

Simply start the game, almost 2nd year starting, where MC (main character) and Damien are on route to somewhere important, while Damien suddenly finds himself compelled to go (or kidnapped?hmm...) somewhere alone for a good while, crucial important stuff—a past oath maybe?, while urging the MC to go back to school and plead for being re-accepted (Damien could say something kinda: “This is the only way you could mature as a witch and then come after me if you want, blah, blah...”). Then MC is accepted into the school again, and further has the option to either continue after Damien (one story) or choosing a new romance (different story)...

b) Grabiner romanced? Make him ask MC in the 2nd year if she wants to continue with him or not. So what if the MC is his wife? She could very well continue to be a student, learn magic and explore story routes, just from a slightly different perspective. Nothing impossible here for creative people like the devs of Magical Diary...

c) Other romances? As 2nd year starts, MC would meet new characters and possible new romances—things should be made clear who is romance-able and who isn't! MC should choose soon enough in the 2nd year if she wants to continue with her previous romance, or would rather pursue others. (think Mass Effect...)

d) The MC attributes/stats from part 1—simply make her choose in the beginning what she prefers most (could be a short quiz...) and then give her a basic spell/stat in that area. Year 2 should be about improving 1st year spells, as well as learning new ones. Plenty of room to choose, and the game should be easy to finish no matter what direction you choose.

2. Other 1st year games, different halls, same time period as the first game. Plenty of personal stories, from each hall's perspective. By “personal story” I mean romance-able npcs, each with his/her own agenda, apart from the main game story (for example: secret societies ring a bell?)

3. Games with different stories, other time periods. Somebody already mentioned this brilliant idea. Definitely lots of possibilities...

4. Gameplay mechanics? Why change an already super decent system?? It is simple, intuitive, doesn't get in the way of story. If you can't improve, just leave it the way it is—already great.

5. No matter what, make more choices, with moral avenues—there's plenty of gray between light side and dark side, paragon or renegade etc. Include all, or at least 3 (white, dark, grey—ambiguous). Such choices, leading to different endings beside romances, would be a delicious feature...


….........
There's nothing truly important (meaning no insurmountable reason) actually stopping the devs from continuing this franchise. Personally, I think that's the most important game project they could embark on. If done right, it will attract so many fans you'd be surprised.

Thank you for reading this. Kind regards to everyone.

[ark99k]

I just realized something! It said in horse hall that Damian was expelled because he tried to do something to a boy... Would that fall under wolf hall territory or was it was random because he needed someone to be his magical sacrifice?
On a different note, I recently played Unbroken hours' Heartstring Bugs and it went on for 3 years. The first year was: This is so fun! second: A little boring. third: They have some new events... The point is: If the game did expand into 2 or 3 years, we would slowly die the boredom. Hanako is a great writer, but the hours of "this class, this spell, this class, say hi, this class," would discourage anyone from replaying the game.
So that is why I think Horse Hall is perfect the way it is!

[Ninjoshy]

So looking through this thread it looks like a Wolf Hall is in the works...

I have a question, since horse hall allowed female x male and female x female endings, I was wondering if Wolf Hall would have male x female and male x male?

[hanako]

It should, if and when we ever manage to get around to it.

[Miakoda]

Something you may consider if and when you get Wolf Hall off the ground is a mechanism to earn some extra cash. Maybe instead of going to class (or resting, etc.) the character could do some kind of work around the campus. (Of course, that is assuming you keep the magic shop in game ^_^)