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coda-blue · 8 months

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Update: Collab VNs

(This is a crosspost from my Patreon. To explore more, click here.)

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Belladonna's Flight — A demo is RELEASED! Belladonna’s Flight by Night Asobu is a poison-dealing fantasy romance, inspired by the historic case of an uncovered poisoner network in 17th century Paris, France. Made for both the Otome Jam and newly-formed sister jam, Josei Jam, Belladonna's Flight takes place in the fictional French city of Solroy, where you follow Catherine Auclair, a witch who makes her living selling lethal wares under the table. But once word lets out that the law is coming to execute every last one of her criminal ilk, Catherine has to call upon untrustworthy business rivals to try and work out a safe escape. Will her wit and wiles help her succeed, or will she get what's coming to her in a fateful betrayal?

I voice Marie Chaligault, a sharp-tongued fortune teller and potential love interest who keeps in the good graces of her noblesse clientele. I had a blast during the live sessions in bickering and boasting as Marie with my fellow voice talent, so I hope you enjoy it too! And hey: no matter who your favorite character is, Belladonna's Flight is continuing development! So be sure to keep up with Night Asobu, as you'll hear more from us moving forward! Until then, please play, rate, and share the demo!

Hello Counsel — Version 1 is RELEASED! Created by miseri accordion for Otome/Josei Jam, Hello Counsel is a short romcom visual novel that follows criminal sensation, Poise, who just got arrested! She's not talking to the cops unless her lawyer (and boyfriend) Salem is present, but when he swings by, can she keep herself from flirting too much and distracting him from giving good counsel?

I was the Character Artist for this visual novel! I was in love with the premise and the character refs presented in miseri's recruitment document, and I also I hadn't drawn character sprites for a published game in a good while. This ended up being a great opportunity for me to flex my ol' drawing muscles, in a more expressive and cartoonish style than my darker personal projects allow. I love the outrageous world and petty banter of this story, so this was honestly a breath of fresh air for me, style-wise. Please go play, rate, and share the game!

My Reflections

I push myself in my roles if it means in the end, I produce something that I am proud of. But as I don't constantly produce a specific style of product, I tend to overestimate how much work I can get done in, say, an hour. It's interesting to me because these are specialty skills that have taken years for me to train and cultivate, so what I personally can get done in an hour has all that history behind it, compared to someone else who may be much earlier in their own journey. Yet still I feel... slow. But I'm not sure if I'm "slow" so much as I'm underestimating my average output for a work I deliberately intend to look, read, or sound a certain level of polished. At the end of the day, I need to have more realistic—or perhaps, forgiving—expectations for myself. I also need to permit myself to be able to make certain executive decisions in the creative process that speed up the process because of my years of experience already informing my judgements. I trust myself to find that balance, and this latest jam experience has been a great help in reminding me of my strengths and points of which I ought to improve.

That's a Wrap

Thank you for reading! If you dig my stuff and where I'm headed, don't be afraid to show your support by sharing this post, interacting, or sending a tip my way.

#devlog #visual novel #interactive fiction #game development #indie game dev #Belladonna's Flight #Hello Counsel

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coda-blue · 8 months

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I'm holding a short, anonymous survey for visual novel developers to see what social media sites they're currently using and how Twitter changes have affected them.

the results will be compiled onto my blog as well as another post here.

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coda-blue · 9 months

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Less than 24 hours left on the Kickstarter and it has us feeling something... 💦😱

There's still time for us to make it to 100%, and we'd love to see you amongst our backers 💖

Back the Of Sense and Soul campaign here!

Of Sense and Soul: A Queer Victorian Romance Game Play the Demo Update | Get our newsletter | Send us an ask 💌

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coda-blue · 9 months

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✨ pink Angel ✨

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coda-blue · 9 months

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I ever show you these chibis I drew of @forsythiaproductions's Hugo Brooks & Seamus Charkham?

These precious boys are my godchildren, and they love each other. Queerly.

Reader, if you're in the mood for a gentle queer Victorian romance, go play the ✨actually phenomenal✨ Of Sense and Soul visual novel demo: https://forsythiaproductions.itch.io/of-sense-and-soul

And should you love it (you will), help make the rest of the game a reality by pledging to or sharing their Kickstarter: http://ofsenseandsoul.com/ks

50% funded. 7 days left. God, you don't understand, I just want great indie stories to live. I want this gay love to thrive in every good soul's heart. It's actually maddening. 🥹

#I'm not lying this is actually a phenomenal game #I have extremely good taste as a fan #fanart #chibi art #visual novel #indie game #historical fiction #historical romance #interactive fiction #kickstarter #crowdfunding #game dev #victorian #gay #queer #lgbtqia

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coda-blue · 9 months

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I appear in the corner of your eye.

Don't talk. Just listen.

Since Twitter is in the shitter now, officially, as declared by me, here's a tiny lil update post stating that I'm gonna be posting all my dev, art, and mindless junk here starting August. Since I can only really handle one social media platform at a time, truthfully, I'm leaving the budding X while my knees still bend.

So hey, if you followed me or found me here, get ready for... me!!!

I hope you like! But it's ok if you don't. Just get off my page then.

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coda-blue · 11 months

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I MEAN-??? Vesper is so fine fr, why no route😭 Here's idea tho: secret joke (hahaha jkjk.... unless????) ending with breaking the fourth wall and romancing our beautiful MC as an Observer aka Voice In Their Head💅

Some day I am going to print all these comments out for the team and tell them we need to make a Vesper romance DLC and they will agree with me.

Truly the ultimate capture target of Obscura.

Romancing the MC as a voice in their head sounds like either a fun, bizzarro dating sim or a very good romance horror, and Night Asobu already has the horror version covered! (Heads up for body horror, it's a spooky one!)

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coda-blue · 1 year

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In 1875 London, an editorialist and a gentleman have an unusual first meeting… 👓💌🎩

The Extended Demo for Of Sense and Soul, a Queer Victorian Romance Visual Novel is now available!

Download it at ofsenseandsoul.com/demo

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coda-blue · 1 year

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Update: Collab VNs

(This is a crosspost from my Patreon. To explore more, click here.)

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Maledictorian [v1 prototype] — I've finally completed writing the bonus chapter! It earnestly took a good while as I ended up writing about 15,000 words for that chapter alone in order to account for branching amongst the three different love interests' routes. But this urban fantasy romance by Wisteria Realms now has both the three-chapter plot-focused demo and this character-building bonus chapter complete! Special thanks to our line editor, Allie Vera, for being a massive help. This story is for a younger New Adult audience that I do not typically write for, so I'm glad we have Allie's sharp pair of eyes and proximity to younger readers to help me stay sounding hip! (I promise it's working, lol)

I'm taking a break now after that achievement, but when I return, my first order of business is to go through and annotate each chapter with asset direction.

Drop Dead Daters — As part of the Quiet Days studio with Elm, our paranormal-woman-in-a-monster-escort-institute visual novel is picking back up. We've settled on initial character designs for the remaining three characters—the main monster love interests and your humanoid professor—and now I will be handling finer concept details and final sprite art after we inventory the poses and expressions from the minor characters in our completed script!

My Reflections

In January I was quiet as I worked to wrap up a number of things while adjusting to new medication. Thinking back, at the end of the day, I realized just how important it is to let your teams know where your head is, to give yourself more time and space to work on a task, to actively offer more achievable solutions, and to just keep everyone updated on progress. If you're doing great work and you're trying your best within a reasonable production timeline, a good team will accommodate you. I'm glad I recognized early when I was getting symptoms so that I could reach out and get help as soon as possible, letting the right people know what that would mean for me and my contributions until treatment started. Now a story and colorful art has come out if it!

That's a Wrap

Thank you for reading! If you dig my stuff and where I'm headed, don't be afraid to show your support by sharing this post, interacting, or sending a tip my way.

#devlog #visual novel #interactive fiction #game development #indie game dev #Maledictorian #Drop Dead Daters

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coda-blue · 1 year

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(This is a crosspost from my Patreon. To see the rest of the free, accompanying art dump, click here.)

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I've decided to do my first ever summary of my entire year. Frankly, this has only been made possible because I've gotten into the good habit of sharing my weekly victories over in a separate dev server, so recalling won't be a stress-fest.

I'm going to address my progress in various aspects of project development and personal development. Here's my massive dump:

Project Summary

Art

I mostly made art concepts and game assets for several visual novel projects in varying stages of production. The styles between them all are intentionally different and makes for a good test of skill for me. Notably this year, I felt no strong desire to draw for myself. Actually, most attempts were met with a deep-seated repulsion of the idea in a way that is hard to describe, because rationally I obviously want to draw, but subconsciously there was this violent blockage. It may be some form of burnout that is either unaffected or overridden by my sense of obligation to collaborative projects, considering I am admittedly a workaholic. Hopefully I can overcome that in 2023, as there's things I'd like to do just for my own self-betterment.

In 2022, I made...

A character sprite and graphical user interface overhaul, and brand new game page assets for my published visual novel, This Life Escapes Me

Incomplete character, storyboard concepts, and animation studies for my other personal visual novel, The Corpse Lieutenant

18 monster concepts of 6 side characters for Drop Dead Daters

Fae and human concepts for the cancelled MaFAEa by Katy133

Main character concepts and final render for Sails and Silk by Ryan Aldred

An entire point-and-click background, alternate interactable states, and prop and inventory assets for The Greatest Escape(room)! by Destini Islands and Allie Vera

A couple chibi character commissions for personal clients

A few pixel art doodles

A couple sketches

Writing

Almost all of my writing this year was produced for visual novel projects. And almost all of these works have some sort of fantasy element to them, but a few projects were developed for a younger or more general audience than the late 20s to early 30s target I usually write for (aka myself), so actively thinking of the language and voice to use for these different narrators and characters was fun. Unfortunately, the same issue of lacking a desire to create more short personal works shows up here as well, but maybe that may change in 2023.

In 2022, I wrote...

Line edits for Teisatsu by Pacchi Studio

The short epilogue story for This Life Escapes Me

Clarifying lore and research notes for The Corpse Lieutenant

Several short stories (and designed their respective quote graphics) published on my Ko-fi account

A short smut fanfic that I will never link here, lol

Edits up to a third of the 90,000-word common route second draft for Primrose Path

My assigned route and script annotations for Drop Dead Daters

My chosen route "Explore" for Blanket Cat by Studio Ghost Legs

A writing style guide, character bios document, appendix, three full chapters, a bonus chapter, script annotations, and in-character product marketing quotes for Maledictorian by Wisteria Realms

Audio

I lent my voice acting and voice editing skills to a number of small projects this year. All of this was volunteer work. I truly do love voice acting, but unlike art and writing, I don't currently view it as a career path to actively pursue, as the online hustle culture and general "grindset" of it is intensely wearisome. Outside of my network, I only apply to what seems interesting and pays fairly, but within, I am usually approached by fellow game devs for game jam opportunities. And I love to contribute to those! So it's no surprise that this year, all of my voice acting was a direct result of game jams. As for voice editing, while I have the skills, this year I only ever did them when the team needed a helping hand.

In 2022, I have...

Voiced the goth lesbian Saoirse in How We Show Love by tofurocks

Voiced the unpredictable spy otherwise known as Boss in Teisatsu by Pacchi Studio

Cleaned, edited, and mixed my fellow voice actors' lines in Teisatsu

Voiced the brain-eating amoeba-infected Marlowe in Parasite In Love by Night Asobu

Voiced the dimension-warping disgruntled employee otherwise known as The Game Master in The Greatest Escape(room)! by Destini Islands and Allie Vera

Business

I've shifted my business identity into the Coda Blue alias over the year. My social media presence expanded as well, though in the past month, it feels like it's also diminished. After a series of bad decisions from other corporate entities—the general NFT wave, Twitter's buyout and gutting, DeviantArt and ArtStation doubling down on siding with unethical AI generator art harvesting—I've made decisions that ultimately protect me of being subject to further platform failures and other people's valid yet wearisome doomscrolling. I am looking forward to creating an easier system for updates across platforms and potentially streamlining onboarding for certain client services.

In 2022, I have...

Made several moves to arrange my work and solidify my identity under my alias Coda Blue

Set up with various payment processors for better ease of client transactions and game sale payouts

Selectively offered story and project consultation services for narrative-focused game devs

Worked on my unpublished personal website

Created a Carrd to arrange my various site links

Created a Ko-fi for writing commissions and cross-posting devlogs, the latter of which I've just been too tired to do since the idea's inception

Created this Tumblr for cross-posting devlogs and promo, though it's quickly becoming my timeline replacement for Twitter

Deactivated my DeviantArt account

Deleted my ArtStation account

Personal Review

Career

The biggest and best decision I made this year was deleting various unused or unhelpful job board and portfolio website accounts. I had such a fixed idea of what my success was "supposed" to look like—working as a 2D character artist in a local art studio—and relied on sites and services that did not accommodate my atypical work history (transitioning out of almost a decade of retail and customer service into freelance game development). I became embittered when I kept getting passed up, tying that to a view of my worth. It wasn't until I killed off everything and just focused on my own projects that I felt so much happier, naturally producing what I wanted to, and ended up freelancing in more enjoyable ways. It's possible that I keep working for myself in a self-employed capacity, but ideally, I would switch from specialized labor into an administrative and/or consulting role. It's less tiring and distressing when you feel exhausted from making calls all day versus the frustration of burnout when your livelihood relies on the physical output of drawing and typing.

In 2023, I will move into an associate or assistant position in the producer, product management, or project management role, or a full-on art director role for a steady day job. I just want the money to roll in so that I can invest it into what I actually have a strong interest in, which absolutely are these narrative-focused projects and the talented people working on them.

Hobbies

My biggest concern for me is figuring out why I had an entire year of doing barely any creative personal work for study or fun. I'm afraid it will extend into the new year, and with it, consequences that may creep into my collaborative output as well. While I'm not sure, I believe that if I do end up needing a break from art and writing, I think my collaborators will understand as I discuss with them expectations and next-steps in private. But my guess is that my dwindling desire to partake of my hobbies is that my hobbies have become work, so I need to engage in new, different, and exciting ones. I think doing so will rekindle my old flame by bringing in a new passion into my life.

In 2023, I will try a new hobby. I've been thinking about whittling or playing bass guitar as a start. I may try the former, as it is more accessible out of the two.

Health

I made massive strides towards my physical and mental health this year. I was finally able to identify with a proactive doctor an underlying health issue I've been having, and in going on a specialized treatment, so much was corrected in a matter of months. I had more energy, my general moodiness vanished, my appearance improved, and I returned to exercising (my usual de-stressor). I have a better understanding of my body and I can now make more informed and conscious decisions on my health. That said, towards the end of this year, I have started to become anxious and depressive with the change in seasons. I recognize this as seasonal affective disorder, so aside from getting back on proper medication for it, I realize that my current work environment is stifling.

In 2023, I will go back to exploring the public. I'm a people-person extrovert, so I get energized by socializing, even against depression's best efforts. The various, simultaneous public health failures have made me more anxious of being back outside, but I need to make a conscious effort to go out and be immersed in nature, in cultural enrichment, and just your usual recreational activities. I need the uplift for my sanity and creativity, and as long as I continue to stay masked and up to date on vaccinations, I should go back to the adventurousness I used to have a few years back. I'll start by choosing one new event to visit every month.

Final Words

I did plenty, and I'm proud of every single bit. I'm thankful for those who support me, who encourage me, and who keep me company. You help me be who I am today.

#devlog #eoy 2022 #visual novel #interactive fiction #new year resolutions #original character #oc #game development #indie game dev #artists on tumblr #still figuring out how to use tags on this goddamn site #there's just too many possible ways to tag something #notice me tumblr

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