That's right. The beta script of Katawa shoujo was found mere days ago.
User reports have noted that many routes were all around sub-par compaired to their finished conterparts, understandibly.
All exept one, that is. Shizune Hakamichi's finished route was regarded with an all-around 'meh' for it's slice-of-life aspects.
If you were one of those 'meh'ers, have no fear! Shizune Hakamichi's beta route would be much more interesting to you!
As there are many ethical concerns as to it's leaking, I leave it up to you if you want to download it. I'll link to the reddit page.
http://www.reddit.com/r/katawashoujo/comments/vz41y/katawa_shoujo_beta/
So, Discuss. Is this leak a good/bad thing/Is Shizune the only route that improved/Did Shizune's route improve?
UPDATE:
User reports have noted that many routes were all around sub-par compaired to their finished conterparts, understandibly.
All exept one, that is. Shizune Hakamichi's finished route was regarded with an all-around 'meh' for it's slice-of-life aspects.
If you were one of those 'meh'ers, have no fear! Shizune Hakamichi's beta route would be much more interesting to you!
First two acts are pretty similar, other than the fact that you get a few options, some things happen in different order, Hideaki's character is completely changed but he's still not too important, I think there's some more Kenji ranting, etc.
Misha is more obviously depressed earlier in the game. She talks to Hisao about the same stuff as the normal route pretty much, but near the end of Act 3 it switches to Misha's perspective. Depressing internal monologue about how she was bullied in school, all of her old friends forgot her, Shizune will probably leave her behind, it's impossible for her to ever move forward without losing Shizune, etc. She believes she is only a burden on Shizune, and that one day she will also grow to resent Shizune.
Then she stops in front of a moving car and gets hit. She wakes up in the hospital, thinking about how she was never even able to hug Shizune. She puts on a smile to try to cheer up Shizune before passing away.
THAT'S NOT EVEN THE BAD END
Shizune spirals into depression. She reads Misha's journal, where she learns that Misha still loved her and wished she could speak more freely. She reveals that she has been lying and could read lips, and only Hisao knew. She regrets not telling Misha she loved her and that she could have spoken to her without signing.
Then the difference between the good end and the bad end is whether or not Shizune also kills herself. If she does the last scene is pretty much her stretching out her hand from the hospital bed, which Hisao interprets as a wave goodbye, and he just kind of leaves and she dies a few hours later.
Misha is more obviously depressed earlier in the game. She talks to Hisao about the same stuff as the normal route pretty much, but near the end of Act 3 it switches to Misha's perspective. Depressing internal monologue about how she was bullied in school, all of her old friends forgot her, Shizune will probably leave her behind, it's impossible for her to ever move forward without losing Shizune, etc. She believes she is only a burden on Shizune, and that one day she will also grow to resent Shizune.
Then she stops in front of a moving car and gets hit. She wakes up in the hospital, thinking about how she was never even able to hug Shizune. She puts on a smile to try to cheer up Shizune before passing away.
THAT'S NOT EVEN THE BAD END
Shizune spirals into depression. She reads Misha's journal, where she learns that Misha still loved her and wished she could speak more freely. She reveals that she has been lying and could read lips, and only Hisao knew. She regrets not telling Misha she loved her and that she could have spoken to her without signing.
Then the difference between the good end and the bad end is whether or not Shizune also kills herself. If she does the last scene is pretty much her stretching out her hand from the hospital bed, which Hisao interprets as a wave goodbye, and he just kind of leaves and she dies a few hours later.
As there are many ethical concerns as to it's leaking, I leave it up to you if you want to download it. I'll link to the reddit page.
http://www.reddit.com/r/katawashoujo/comments/vz41y/katawa_shoujo_beta/
So, Discuss. Is this leak a good/bad thing/Is Shizune the only route that improved/Did Shizune's route improve?
UPDATE:
1) They seem to have been in the middle in the process of altering the designs for Emi and Yuuko. The "emicas" (Emi in casual clothes) sprites are all updated, but only a few of the sprites for her school and gym uniforms were, and the CGs of her still show the old design. Yuuko has not yet been updated at all. Interestingly, Meiko -Emi's mom- has sprites included in Emi's old style; apparently she got updated at some point along this process, but that had not yet happened here.
2) The music which corresponds to the demo was still in place (the "GeoCities music" that TC mentions): either the piano player had not yet signed on or had only just started. There were a few other tracks that didn't make it to release, like the cello performance of Sarabande. Some other tracks, like Innocence, are completely absent.
3) The "Disable adult content" feature is already present in the engine, as are graphics to go with it. Some (myself included) have theorized that the block was a last-minute addition, but this would seem to prove that that wasn't the case.
4) Text for the H-scenes is present (though drastically different from the final release), but there are no graphics of any kind for them. Was drawing left to the last minute to prevent leaks?
5) The animated "super-CGs" of Lilly, Hanako, and Hisao in the tea room seem to have been done with a couple of "base CGs" containing no facial features, combined with transparent overlays allowing for a variety of expressions. The "base CGs" look REALLY CREEPY.
6) The title cards for the acts are totally different. It's worth noting that Hanako's title cards get increasingly ominous as her path (which, remember, was until very recently a trap) continues. There is no "hanatrue" title card, and Lilly's Act 2 and Act 4 title cards appear to be the same. I suspect that the hanatrue card was taken out before this build, but this doesn't explain the thing with Lilly's title cards.
7) There are backgrounds for locations that got cut, including dorm rooms for all of the major characters (even Kenji).
8) There's a movie of a heart beating in its owner's chest, and it seems to be live-action rather than animated. It looks like Hisao was intended to have some kind of nightmare at some point, and this video was to have been part of that.
9) Almost every script has at least two versions: the *.rpy version and the *.rpy.bak version, the latter of which is several months older. In most cases, the differences between the two versions are minor, but Hanako underwent major revisions.
10) Minor change for Lilly's design: she apparently used to wear a yellow nightgown instead of the navy blue pajamas seen in the release. Sprites for this are NOT included; the only remnant of that design by this time is a mention or two in the text.
11) Earlier versions of the game contained more anime-isms than later ones. By this time all actual Japanese had been taken out, but although even the final version still feels a bit like a translation, the beta feels much more like one. If code comments are any indication, at least some of the devs wanted to keep the anime-isms intact and in fanboy-Japanese.
12) Lilly is much more of a Mary Sue in the beta. She also still has the cello, but the dog is in the process of being written out. Any graphics that might have existed for the dog are gone, but there are still a few mentions in the text, and the devs don't seem to have settled yet on exactly how she gets around without the dog.
2) The music which corresponds to the demo was still in place (the "GeoCities music" that TC mentions): either the piano player had not yet signed on or had only just started. There were a few other tracks that didn't make it to release, like the cello performance of Sarabande. Some other tracks, like Innocence, are completely absent.
3) The "Disable adult content" feature is already present in the engine, as are graphics to go with it. Some (myself included) have theorized that the block was a last-minute addition, but this would seem to prove that that wasn't the case.
4) Text for the H-scenes is present (though drastically different from the final release), but there are no graphics of any kind for them. Was drawing left to the last minute to prevent leaks?
5) The animated "super-CGs" of Lilly, Hanako, and Hisao in the tea room seem to have been done with a couple of "base CGs" containing no facial features, combined with transparent overlays allowing for a variety of expressions. The "base CGs" look REALLY CREEPY.
6) The title cards for the acts are totally different. It's worth noting that Hanako's title cards get increasingly ominous as her path (which, remember, was until very recently a trap) continues. There is no "hanatrue" title card, and Lilly's Act 2 and Act 4 title cards appear to be the same. I suspect that the hanatrue card was taken out before this build, but this doesn't explain the thing with Lilly's title cards.
7) There are backgrounds for locations that got cut, including dorm rooms for all of the major characters (even Kenji).
8) There's a movie of a heart beating in its owner's chest, and it seems to be live-action rather than animated. It looks like Hisao was intended to have some kind of nightmare at some point, and this video was to have been part of that.
9) Almost every script has at least two versions: the *.rpy version and the *.rpy.bak version, the latter of which is several months older. In most cases, the differences between the two versions are minor, but Hanako underwent major revisions.
10) Minor change for Lilly's design: she apparently used to wear a yellow nightgown instead of the navy blue pajamas seen in the release. Sprites for this are NOT included; the only remnant of that design by this time is a mention or two in the text.
11) Earlier versions of the game contained more anime-isms than later ones. By this time all actual Japanese had been taken out, but although even the final version still feels a bit like a translation, the beta feels much more like one. If code comments are any indication, at least some of the devs wanted to keep the anime-isms intact and in fanboy-Japanese.
12) Lilly is much more of a Mary Sue in the beta. She also still has the cello, but the dog is in the process of being written out. Any graphics that might have existed for the dog are gone, but there are still a few mentions in the text, and the devs don't seem to have settled yet on exactly how she gets around without the dog.
