Dustbin Dreaming ~ The Beginning [Slice of Life]

Good day everyone.

Author's Note: So first, it has been a rather painful but entertaining experience creating my first Visual Novel. Note that since I am a beginner and my team is practically non-existent (Once again, a million thanks to jeje, Kingv and Ziassan for their generous help, seriously), many of the settings are left default and some sections may be painful to watch. However, I plead that you play through my game and provide as much feedback as possible! Thank you!

Also, here's an online survey I'd like players to fill in and submit. I need it for my final presentation, so I'll be extremely grateful if everyone can lend a hand! Thanks in advance!



Link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFJSUFRHdzF6SzBNdEhVTWR6MUF2Rmc6MQ

Game Download Link : Windows



Dustbin Dreaming ~ The Beginning

This is a linear and educative Visual Novel with Bully as the main theme of the story.

Note: This is a completed Visual Novel. However, since this is actually a 'short' version of the actual Dustbin Dreaming Visual Novel that I'm trying to create, and it's not tested by the public.


Synopsis :

Ceiland, high school student,15 years old, and a boy who is looked down upon and bullied by almost all students of the same grade. His high school life had been normal and uneventful until one day, he accidentally stumbled onto a bully situation and since found himself the fresh and brand new victim for the year. Fearful of the leader of the bullies, Zhon Yang – the youngest son of the town’s gang, with no lack of rumors of deaths and drugs – the entire student body turned on Ceiland and treated him like trash in order to prevent themselves from being targeted. However, unlike previous victims, Ceiland kept a cool mask and actively searched for ways to defuse the situation – without resorting to any violence – behind the bully’s back, but so far nothing had seemed to work.

Fortunately, he had two good friends, Shenea and Quron, who are undaunted by the bullies’ threatening presence and talked to him frequently, but Ceiland kept his distance as much as possible to avoid getting them involved. Also, there was a café called Midori which he frequented often and got acquainted with the owner Maine. Maine was former military and taught him some self-defense, which Ceiland had learned with great interest, but not once he had used them to protect himself from the bullies. He had a past that would stops him short whenever he thinks violence is a solution, and it’s slowly but surely forcing him into a corner.

But he can no longer run away from reality. With his final sanctuary invaded and his friends kidnapped by the very same bullies that tormented him every day, Ceiland must make a choice: Triumph over his fears once and for all, or be crushed underneath them – forever.


Characters :




Ceiland (MC)- A peculiar young boy, 15 years old, weight 60kg, height 170cm. Has messy jet black hair, black eyes and could’ve been handsome if he bothered fixing his attire. His uniforms are always dirty and torn due to bullies picking on him. He carries a number of terrible burdens from the past, but has not given up in seeking redemption yet.





Hersa - An enigmatic young girl, 15 years old, weight 39kg, height 155cm. She often wears a pair of black-framed glasses over her blue eyes and carries around a disproportionately huge, seven-colored school bag. She has long, smooth, to-the-waist black hair, a beautiful face and an attractive figure.





Maine - The owner of the Midori Cafe. He is a retired serviceman and is a good friend to Ceiland. He often listens to his customers' problems and offers advice whenever possible.






Shenea - A good friend to both Ceiland and Shenea. While she has a rather cute and innocent appearance, her personality is bullish, rash and stubborn to the bone *is shot*. She is forever cheerful, and her sunlit smile has been a constant source of comfort for Ceiland.






Quron - Shenea's do - I mean, boyfriend. He is a good friend to Ceiland and is quite the successful basketball player with his incredible height.






Zhon Yang - The son of the Saigon Gang's boss, he is a sadistic and twisted gangster who enjoys nothing more than the suffering of another. He is Ceiland's bully.

Sen Meng & Yusof - Zhon Yang's underlings.


Screenshot :

It looks great! But why do the guy designs look better/fancier then the girl designs? Cause there easier to draw I guess?

To be honest? No idea. The guy's character sprites are taken from free sources, Hersa's is commissioned, and Shenea's is done by an artist in my team. So perhaps there's just a skill difference there.

The only things I take credit for is the script writing and the programming, and while I do take pride in my writings, I cannot say the same with the latter. >_> Well at least I did nail the basics in. I hope.

Because I have to make a Visual Novel in about 4 months (The first two months plus was spent completely on just narrowing down the scope and writing the script), it's been one heck of a time just trying to meet the deadline lol.

Ren'py, right? I feel your pain, by the way. I'm the Lead Programmer for a flagship project, and Co-Founder for our group. The pain... Looks good, man. I'll give it a whirl later, after I'm not so tired.

I'll probably give a read to your work after I watch an anime that I'll start now since I just finished Otoboku so expect an opinion from me in some days.

For now, have some rep. I'm sure it really took a lot of effort to make this VN.

Thanks, and yeah. The two days marathon last weekend was... let's just say that it's brain damaging. Lol.

Playing through it now. I'll fill out that survey once I'm done. And have some rep. I know it's quite difficult to make, since I made a short 5-10 minute one for a school project before.

Thanks man, I appreciate it!

Just finished reading your work.

First of all, great job Zolnir.
I really liked the atmosphere you gave the story given it's theme. The soundtrack and the way you used it with some parts without sound at all contributed a lot to feel at least a bit like the protagonist and get more into the story. You did pretty great managing the sounds.

Regarding other aspects, I think you did well in the characterization though you didn't put that much into it which is understandable since it's a short story. But the characterization was enough to see at least a bit of what the characters are and how they would eventually act.

I liked the way you started the story.


After finishing, taking out the soundtrack that I already mentioned I think you did pretty well.


Still speaking about the end, I think that the last interaction with Hersa was unexpected since it didn't add up that well to their last encounter.


Finally, you really took bullying to an extent I wasn't expecting to since I never witnessed something like that. Initially it really bothered me but I coped with it.
Also, I think you know that you basically just used one form of bullying and there are other reasons for someone to be bullied like not being accepted in the class for some reason which originates rumors and so on. Since this is a school work maybe it'll be taken into account that you basically only used one form of bullying.

It was also pretty clear to me the message you wanted to transmit regarding the bullying. In fact, it also applies to a lot of other stuff:


Now, questions:


I give about a 7.5 or 8 to your work. Still a bit undecided but it's pretty good for a short story.
I filled the survey but didn't write my thoughts in there since I already posted them here.

Once again, great job Zolnir. Congratulations to you and the whole team.

Btw, how about creating an entry in VNDB so that other people can give their own thoughts?

Wow, this is probably the longest review I've ever gotten from anyone lol. Where do I start replying...?

First, only this version of Dustbin Dreaming will be educational. There were certain moments in the story that were intentionally over-idealized in a way that they might be wholly unrealistic. For example, as the son of a notorious gang in town and an intelligent psychopath (implied when his attitude turn 180 degrees after Hersa showed up), do you really think that he would be taken down this easily?

The original Dustbin Dreaming - that is the next VN I hope to do... hopefully soon, I really can't find much help around >_> - would NOT be educational and feature the real style that I've avoided due to my lecturer's insistence. And with good reason too, because one of my friends reminded me that in this VN Hersa might already make too much of an impact and uh, teach kids to use steelbars and fight their wars instead. Oops. >_> In short, it would retell Ceiland's story in slightly different but much harsher reality, as well as Hersa's storyline within the same 3 days.

The next VN is probably going to be twice as long as this one by adding in Hersa's story, so I guess it's still going to be short, but considering how my 'team' consist of me, Shenea's artist (who really needs to improve her drawing skills rapidly), Hersa's artist (which... might or might not help me, even though he/she agreed to help me out as a real member instead of commissioned next time), another missing artist who never managed to do anything but a sketch for Maine >_>, and ANOTHER artist who's working on Zhon Yang's new sprites as we speak...

Uh, yeah. A little too many artists lol. Still, I'll make sure to pass on your gratz to them, and many thanks!

Speaking of the BGMs, I did spend like an entire week scavenging for sound effects and BGMs, so yeah, REALLY glad it turned out okay. Guess my music sense isn't completely out of touch yet.

Hersa, Hersa is well... not going to spoiler anything. Just note that she is lacking a 'motive' in this story, because I've taken it out for suspense purposes. As for the little girl... I might or might not reveal her identity in the future. Who knows? :P