is a Japanese

visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...

developed by

Front Wing is a Japanese visual novel studio known for the production of adult ''bishōjo games''. Its main office is located in Taitō, Tokyo. The representative producer and president is Ryūichirō Yamakawa. “Frontwing” is the company's main brand, ...

. It was first released as an adult game for

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...

on December 27, 2007, and it was followed by an all-ages version release for the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...

on June 25, 2009. ''Time Leap'' is Front Wing's thirteenth title, along with previous titles such as ''Megachu!''. The game is Front Wing's first title to feature

3D computer graphics 3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for t ...

, as well as utilizes

anti-aliasing Anti-aliasing may refer to any of a number of techniques to combat the problems of aliasing in a sampled signal such as a digital image or digital audio recording. Specific topics in anti-aliasing include: * Anti-aliasing filter, a filter used be ...

and HDR rendering technologies. The gameplay in ''Time Leap'' follows a linear plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction and focuses on the appeal of the five female main characters.

Gameplay

The

gameplay Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and pl ...

in ''Time Leap'' requires little player interaction as much of the time is spent on reading the text that appears on the lower portion of the screen, which represents either dialogue between characters, or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. Every so often, the player will come to a "decision point", where he or she is given the chance to choose from multiple options. The time between these points is variable and can occur anywhere from a minute to much longer. Gameplay pauses at these points and depending on which choice the player makes, the plot will progress in a specific direction. There are five main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story. To view all five plot lines, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and make different decisions to progress the plot in an alternate direction. Outside of ''Time Leap'' normal gameplay, there are several additional content that serves to lengthen the game. A graphical benchmark was released both online and along with the game. To evaluate the graphic capabilities of the player's system, the benchmark generates a dance sequence featuring characters from the visual novel in

real-time Real-time or real time describes various operations in computing or other processes that must guarantee response times within a specified time (deadline), usually a relatively short time. A real-time process is generally one that happens in defined ...

. Prior to the evaluation, the benchmark also allows the player to modify multiple graphical settings, such as rendering techniques, visual appearance, as well as the characters' costumes. While the online version features the characters Ayumu and Ayumu Nagase singing the song, the version included with the game features the characters Ayumu Nagase and Yuu. Both of the versions feature the song "Happy Holiday". Subsequent versions that are included with

image song An image song or character song is a song on a tie-in single or album (often called an image album or character album) for an anime, game, '' dorama'', manga, or commercial product that is sometimes sung by the voice actor or actor of a characte ...

singles instead feature characters and songs from the respective CDs.

Development

''Time Leap'' is the thirteenth title developed by

and is also their first title to feature

. The producer for the game is Ryūichirō Yamakawa, as with their previous titles. The characters in the game are both designed and modeled by Ma@ya. The scenario for ''Time Leap'' were written by four people: Hare Kitagawa, Kazuya, Takeyuki Kizumi, and Eiji Narumi. Kazuya and Narumi has also provided the scenario for ''Time Leap Paradise'' along with Mai Shinjō. The development team for ''Time Leap'', with the exception of Ma@ya and Kitagawa, has also worked on previous Front Wing titles such as ''Megachu!''. Kitagawa has previously also provided scenario for Minori's ''

Haru no Ashioto is a Japanese adult visual novel by Minori released on July 23, 2004. A PlayStation 2 port, , was released on April 6, 2006, and a fandisc, , was released on March 31, 2006. The deluxe ''Step of Spring Paku Paku Pack'' comes with puppets of th ...

''. ''Time-Leap'' utilizes various rendering techniques such as

cel-shading Cel shading or toon shading is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make 3-D computer graphics appear to be flat by using less shading color instead of a shade gradient or tints and shades. A cel shader is often used to mimic th ...

and

high dynamic range rendering High-dynamic-range rendering (HDRR or HDR rendering), also known as high-dynamic-range lighting, is the rendering of computer graphics scenes by using lighting calculations done in high dynamic range (HDR). This allows preservation of details tha ...

in its graphics processing, resulting in a 3D environment that resembles 2D animation. While graphics in the

version run at a consistent 60

frames per second A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

, frame rate in the

version is determined by various circumstances such as the game's native resolution, the rendering techniques being selected, as well as the player's

graphics processing unit A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, m ...

Release history

Before the game's release, a

benchmark Benchmark may refer to: Business and economics * Benchmarking, evaluating performance within organizations * Benchmark price * Benchmark (crude oil), oil-specific practices Science and technology * Benchmark (surveying), a point of known elevati ...

of ''Time Leap'' was released online on August 3, 2009. The benchmark program consisted of a short conversation sequence typical of the

found in a

and a

dance sequence used to evaluate the graphic capabilities of the player's system. ''Time Leap'' was first released as an adult game for

on December 27, 2007 in both limited and regular editions. The limited edition release, in addition to the game itself, contains a five hundred-page partial storyboard collection drawn by various artists such as

Akio Watanabe is a Japanese animator, illustrator, character designer, supervisor, director, dōjin artist and a member of the circle . His pseudonym is . He worked with Akiyuki Shinbo at Shaft. His representative works include key animation for ''Popotan'' ...

. An all-ages version for the

was published by Prototype on June 25, 2009 in limited and regular editions: the limited edition release includes a music album containing three tracks used in the version's benchmark. A

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November ...

version, also published by Prototype, will also be released in early 2012. The Xbox 360 version contains additional scenarios, graphics, as well as remastered, real-time rendered sequences in place of the

pre-rendered Pre-rendering is the process in which video footage is not rendered in real-time by the hardware that is outputting or playing back the video. Instead, the video is a recording of footage that was previously rendered on different equipment (typic ...

sequences found in the original Windows release, and the PS3 version will also provide

stereoscopic 3D Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stereoscopic image is ...

compatibility.

References

External links

Front Wing's official ''Time Leap'' website

* {{vndb, 759 2007 video games 2009 video games 2016 video games Frontwing games 3D eroge Bishōjo games Japan-exclusive video games PlayStation 3 games Romance video games Video games developed in Japan Video games with stereoscopic 3D graphics Video games about time travel Visual novels Windows games Xbox 360 games Prototype (company) games