just-write-studios

[just-write-studios]

My CSP journey continues! First attempt at drawing concept art for Ray, your service dog and demon-slaying veteran in Catalyst: Blind Faith! This very good boi will definitely take some time and practice for me to get the hang of drawing him cleanly and consistently but I am tremendously excited!!

also worth noting that Ray is on screen for literally like 80% of the game and damn I spent 40+ minutes last night working on size and perspective for making sure he will be visible on screen okay with the textbox lol. He's more than worth the effort though <3

#indiegamedev #vn development #gamedev #vndev #character art #catalyst: blind faith #service dog #pet the dog #good boi #wolf collar #english mastiff

[just-write-studios]

Moar concept art, for a party member in the full game of my dark fantasy and horror VN Catalyst: Blind Faith!! This is Ofelia, an assassin who is dependent on poison to live--so, naturally, she has learned to weaponize it. ;^) Depending on the choices you make, Ofelia can become a dear friend or romantic partner!

I'm really enjoying working with these brushes in CSP, and can't wait to plug ahead with more character designs. You can find a free, early development demo of Catalyst: Blind Faith here!

Really can't wait to tackle coloring Ofelia too. The interior of her cloak is filled with starlight, and she's got the brightest blue eyes aaaaa

Got a couple fun other things I've been working on for visuals, like some height charts and the design for your service dog in the game! Looking forward to sharing more soon!

#indiegamedev #vn development #vndev #gamedev #character art #catalyst: blind faith #fantasy art #rogue #assassin #curly hair #freckles

[just-write-studios]

So excited to share some concept art of a party member from the full game of Catalyst: Blind Faith! This is Celegwen, a venerable elven sorceress. She can become a dear friend, romantic partner, or even your enemy depending on the choices you make!

This is my second sketch I've done with CSP and I really like this brush. Looking forward to sharing more art with you all soon!

If you're interested in checking out the early development version of the demo for Catalyst: Blind Faith you can find the free download here!

I've been pretty quiet on Tumblr, working very very hard on writing the last few months. I've got over 600k words written for the full game's script and am launching hardcore into art in the next few months to replace all the placeholder/concept assets in the demo with the final art! Look for more updates to the game's page soon!! <3

#catalyst: blind faith #indiegamedev #vn development #vndev #gamedev #character art #fantasy art #elf #sorceress #girl with piercings #I love her so much #can't wait for you all to meet Gwen omg

[just-write-studios]

2023 Celebration and Recap

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It is so good to round out the end of 2023 by looking back on the overwhelming amount of progress that has been made. I've been gathering up devlogs and progress reports over the last week and am sincerely shocked by (and very emotional about) just how much was accomplished!

Thank you all so much for joining me on this insane journey. I have so many plans for 2024 and could not be more motivated to press on with the development of Catalyst: Blind Faith! I'd love to recap all of this progress with you today. I'm going to break this into categories to help with navigation.

Without further ado! The recap is under the cut.

JUST WRITE STUDIOS 2023 RECAP

ART - BACKGROUNDS

Pictured: The second background for Catalyst: Blind Faith.

Pontos: A ramshackle fishing village, and the first location in the game.

Enchanted Stairs: A mysterious and unlockable location in the demo.

ART - CHARACTERS

Pictured: An early concept for Celegwen, a main character/party member/potential love interest for the full game of Catalyst: Blind Faith.

Father Richard Anscham: A polytheistic human priest—our young, troubled, and compassionate antihero.

Malimos: An easily-amused, spider-like mass murderer, and the first demon seen in the game.

Offala: A treacherously beautiful and unbearably violent monstrosity; the second demon encountered in the game's demo.

Orgoth: A gregarious orc warchief, one of the main characters in the demo.

The Goddess of Time: All of space and reality.

Celegwen: A venerable elvish sorceress, who loves knowledge and anarchy almost as much as her immense Magical power.

ART - GRAPHIC DESIGN

Pictured: An audition lines card I made for our upcoming, live performance of Catalyst: Blind Faith.

Logo for Just Write Studios created!

Logo for Catalyst: Blind Faith created!

Made the audition line cards for a vtuber live performance casting event! If you are interested in keeping up to date with this event, check out our Catalyst Discord or MiMoMedia's official server!

Placeholder, animated credits screen!

Redesigned all 8 holy symbols for the Gods and Goddesses in the pantheon!

Concepts done for all 32 achievements!!

Revamped all of my social media!!

COMMUNITY

Pictured: Sweet mousepads!!

Hosted the 4 Year anniversary stream in the Catalyst Discord server in September!

Featured in the PARANOIA festival in October!

Partnered with mimomedia for a live vtuber performance of Catalyst: Blind Faith (this will take place on January 20th)!

Selected as a speaker for the upcoming VN Conf on January 27th, you can get tickets and more info here!

Monthly updates for our incredible Patrons.

Over a dozen Tumblr posts.

120+ new Twitter followers!

50+ new Discord members!!

8000+ new views on Catalyst: Blind Faiths' game page on itch.io!

800+ new downloads!!!

7 new glowing reviews on the game's page! (This is a great way to support the game, feel free to leave us a nice review if you have played the demo!)

Got the opportunity to make some merch from Vograce, a lucky Patron and we now have matching mousepads featuring Richard and Orgoth!!

DIRECTING

Pictured: The logo for Just Write Studios!

Founded Just Write Studios. <3

Brought together 7 of my strongest warriors (our art director, background artist, lead editor, quality assurance team, and composer)!

Created a studio compendium for Catalyst: Blind Faith!

Managed our 4 year community anniversary event!

Coordinated streams for PARANOIA and throughout the year!!

Partnered with mimomedia!!

Oversaw and picked from auditions from 146 vtubers for the live performance!!!

Participated in a research discussion regarding choices in interactive fiction!!

PROGRAMMING

Pictured: Our robust save and load system!

Timelapse animation with a pause and play button!

Scrolling credits screen

Toggle for any SFX

Toggle for quick menu

Slider for textbox opacity

Revamped inventory system!

Unlockable save system

Robust save and load screen

All splash screens and ending screens for the demo

Pimped out History menu

Sleek functionality for the entire players Journal

Functional gallery (will be finished in 2024)

Learned how to use the action editor in Ren'Py and incorporated tons of camera movement into the demo!!

TIME TRAVEL

SOUND

Pictured: A short sample of the MANY sound effects used in Catalyst: Blind Faith!

Harvested over 160GB of SFX and music.

Laboriously picked out placeholder music for the entire demo

Mixed many sound effects, including custom noises for gore

Unique SFX provided by Amidst None and Addigale Stewart for the JWS logo, choice menus, and more!!

Balanced EVERYTHING

WRITING

Pictured: The completed flowchart for the demo of Catalyst: Blind Faith. The full game's flowchart is way too long for here lol

Beat NaNo twice

Outlined, wrote and edited 545k+ words

Which completed almost three full passes through the script of Catalyst: Blind Faith (70 chapters, 66 chapters, and 49 chapters respectively)!

Mapped every single choice and variable across the script so far in a flowchart in Twine

Finalized choices for two more routes (the remainder of the script will be written in 2024)

Finished the 45k word script for the demo

Brought onboard 16 beta readers, editors, quality assurance leads, and reviewed a cumulative 185 chapters together.

Began a critique group and have reviewed 27 chapters together.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Pictured: Our new logo.

Made it through an awful health scare that had me in and out of the hospital (as a result of medication and many misdiagnoses). Luckily I am totally recovered!

Also made it through COVID for the first time (due to aforementioned health issues this was particularly difficult)

Got outstanding support for my long-term sleep issues

Fully upgraded my motherboard, CPU, and graphics card!

Lined up for a nice raise at my day job (I'm working 45-50 hours a week at a day job, on top of all of this, to fund the demo).

Celebrated my nine year anniversary with my partner. Without her support I could not have done any of this. 

We made it! That's the entire recap. I can hardly believe that this year was so remarkably productive, despite everything.

Thank you so much for reading this far and joining me in 2023! This coming year I have BIG plans for development. All of us at Just Write Studios are working incredibly hard to complete the demo of Catalyst: Blind Faith. My goal is to complete the script for the full game, and to get as many art assets commissioned as possible. We still have a lot of work to do, but I am more motivated and determined than ever to get it all done!

Patrons will be getting sneak previews at art assets as they are made, script excerpts, and a whole lot more. Keep an eye out on our socials for updates! You can find us on Discord, Twitter, Tumblr, Itch.io, Ko-Fi, and here on Patreon.

I hope you have a fantastic new year. Here's to a bright and productive 2024! See you soon!

#2023 art #indiegamedev #vndev #gamedev #vn development #character art #background art #uidesign #programming #sound effects #music #omg there is so much here this year was insane #glad you're still here with me in the tags #also #catalyst: blind faith #tons of links #I give up these tags are basically an entire devlog lol

[just-write-studios]

Which Route Should I Write Next?

Happy Halloween! I'm over 500k words into writing my dark fantasy and horror visual novel's script, but I can't decide which route to embark on next lol. I made a poll so you guys can vote to decide! (You do not need to be a Patron!) https://www.patreon.com/posts/which-route-i-92021611

This isn't an exhaustive list of every route that's in the game, cause I've already written a ton, but these are the ones that we're picking from! To show my thanks to my Patrons, they're getting a deep dive into my plans for whichever route wins with this month's post! There's a good three weeks for everyone to decide. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this goes!

Hope you have a very happy holiday, thanks so much for taking a look!

#catalyst: blind faith #indiegamedev #vn development #vndev #gamedev #writing #I am secretly rooting for a couple #even under pain of death I will not reveal which ones #we're having discussion in the community discord about this too #but asks and comments here are welcome #happy halloween

[just-write-studios]

Demon Month Feature: Yech and Remigius

To wrap up dEmOn mOnTh, we'll be taking a look at moodboards and script excerpts for two demons from the full game of Catalyst: Blind Faith! I've been posting all month long about the demons in our game and I'm so pleased to bring you more on Yech and Remigius under the cut!

“This is all a terrible idea. Of course I'll help you.”

“All I need is to satisfy my people. My darlings. My demons.”

I hope you all have enjoyed these teasers and have had a fantastic, spooky month! Tomorrow I have something I'm extremely excited to announce, looking forward to sharing with you then!!

#catalyst: blind faith #indiegamedev #vn development #vndev #gamedev #moodboard #kintsugi #green goth #god I love these two characters so much

[just-write-studios]

Demon Month Continues with another Teaser!

Hope October has been treating you all well! Today's teaser is for a demon represented by negative space, planned for the full game of Catalyst: Blind Faith — a demon of obscurity.

The art above are stunning inspirational pics by Tang Yau Hoong!

Script excerpt is under the cut!

"The demon's voice croons in your ear. Nails on a chalkboard would sound sweeter. Their voice is so hoarse, you don't doubt that they have screamed for the last several hundred years.

"Please look at me. Please. Please. I'm begging you.""

#catalyst: blind faith #indiegamedev #vn development #vndev #gamedev #writing this particular character is so much fun #he is actually inspired by a night terror i once had #my poor studio members hearing me literally say “it was conveyed to me in a dream” #worth it

[just-write-studios]

Demon Month Teaser!!

Happy Friday the 13th!!! Today we've got a particularly heinous monster's concept to share, as well as a teaser from the full script for Catalyst: Blind Faith! (The excerpt is under the cut.)

"From the direction you came—and lining the corridor you have yet to traverse from floor to ceiling—are hundreds of tooth-filled mouths. Each set of bloodied, gaping lips has coalesced into a singular, writhing mass. Despite invoking the power of your Goddess, She cannot reach this monster any longer. You recognize the being of pure communication for what it is in an instant. The demon of Spirit is not merely covering the walls and floor. It is the walls, ceiling, and floor—and your Spirit can discern intelligence in its collective, screaming madness."

#catalyst: blind faith #indiegamedev #vn development #vndev #gamedev #concept art #character concept #this encounter is actually completely optional #next post will feature the alternate demon you can face in the same area of the game!

[just-write-studios]

Demon Month Feature!!

A quick peek at the second demon from the demo of Catalyst: Blind Faith! A script excerpt is just below the cut!

"The head of the demon moves to face you. The resemblance she bears to a human is all but artificial. Even without standing on two legs, her proportions are monstrous. There are no pupils or whites in the pits of her insect-like eyes, as she leers down at you from a great height. Your stomach turns at the insects crawling beneath the surface of her skin. The hair atop her head is more akin to a shedded carapace than individual strands. Her teeth mirror the claws and fangs upon her more insect-like half, as she bares them all at you, and moves to charge."

#catalyst: blind faith #indiegamedev #vn development #vndev #gamedev #character art #fantasy art #monster art #monster girls #don't say catdog

[just-write-studios]

DEMON MONTH FEATURE: Mondost, the Demon of Calamity

A very special sneak preview of the script for this demon's appearance!!!! It's from an easter egg route, just for you all, right under the cut! I hope you enjoy!

"The frontmost head of the demon rears its head back and lets loose a blast of fire from its blackened lips. The heat it emits chars and blisters the peak of the ceiling. Heavy chunks of molten stone fall, then collide with the inferno that licks along the waterway. Steam clouds your sight. The lightning that momentarily danced along the water didn't seem to reach you, but the flames left in its wake are abundant. The sheer heat of the room makes your other injuries a trifle. It feels as if you're being cooked alive. As fire dances on water, every one of your lacerated fingers tenses and twitches. Mundane weapons will not do a thing against a monstrosity who rivals the height of a Church. There is only one way you can fathom surviving the brunt of this beast."

#catalyst: blind faith #indiegamedev #vn development #vndev #gamedev #monster art #character art #fantasy art #writing #can't wait to bring this big boi to you all in glorious detail once our artist gets his hands on the concept #but in the meantime I hope you like the goofy concept art #I had a lot of fun with the height mockup

[just-write-studios]

DEMON MONTH: Featuring Malimos, the Master of Webs

"Tell me more, human. Tell me of the ways of the insects that creep and crawl above our ruins."

Today's DEMON MONTH feature is Malimos, a spider-like demon who specializes in communication. Character design by our incredibly skilled character artist, Betto!

Spinning is one of the oldest things that makes us human. Spinning textiles, spinning tales— and in the case of this ancient demon, spinning webs.

Feel free to check out our free demo, if you'd like to share your story with Malimos or hear his own tale! He's one of the first demons you encounter in Catalyst: Blind Faith. Be sure to mind your step, though. Like all spiders, Malimos is a carnivore, and typically hunts for live prey.

#catalyst: blind faith #indiegamedev #vndev #gamedev #character art #monster art #monster #designing this guy so he doesn't instantly trigger arachnaphobia is such an achievement #seriously just look at that lovable little scamp #simply adorable

[just-write-studios]

It's DEMON MONTH!

Happy DEMON MONTH! It's the spookiest and most wonderful time of year. To celebrate this month and the release of the newest update to our game's demo, October will be all about our monsters! In Catalyst: Blind Faith, a phenomenon known as the "Catalyst" is turning mankind into demons. The Catalyst triggers in humans who fall prey to any one element, and it can be anything: fear, grief, generosity—even love. This wallpaper/teaser pic is of almost every demon planned for our full game. I hope you can look forward to meeting them with me!

#catalyst: blind faith #indiegamedev #vn development #vndev #gamedev #character art #character design #monsters #monster design #creature #creature design #creature art #monster art #someone told me this picture has “too many feet” in multiple ways #I'm still laughing about it #they're not wrong

[just-write-studios]

Catalyst: Blind Faith is a visual novel set in an apocalyptic world where a strange phenomenon turns mankind into demons.

❤️‍🩹Shape the fate of a troubled young priest. 🙏Channel the power of the Gods. 🩸Seek a cure.

The new update is HERE and I am SO excited to share with you all!!!

Before playing, select "NEW GAME" from the main menu. This will ensure you encounter no bugs during this major update!

Huge, exhaustive devlog under the cut!!!! I hope you enjoy!

The following is an exhaustive devlog regarding all of the changes and updates made to the current demo version. It is available for you all on the download page. I am so proud to share this with you all and hope you enjoy!!!!

MAIN MENU

New main menu - New game, first playthrough, and saves unlock variants

Ending achievements redesigned

JOURNAL

Holy symbol redesigned

Journal redesigned (WIP paintover)

Bookmarks for all pages are interactable to flip to that section of the journal

Bookmarks flip from left to right to indicate where you are

UI

New textbox - Default, Flesh, Agriculture variants

New default font

New CTC icon - Default, Mercy, Flesh, Agriculture, Time variants

New cursor - Idle and Hover

New quick menu - Default and saves unlocked variants

Quick Menu toggle - Always or hover

Textbox opacity slider

Choice menus - default and several custom screens

New, clear indicator of choices made previously, turns red on hover.

New history menu

New death screen

All options screens redesigned - Default options, specific sound toggle, controls, and gallery

Chapter Titles - Colors, appearance, and quality quality updated - also now has a full stop so it's easier to read

High contrast outlines on all text at all times for legibility

NVL Mode!!! (In addition to the ADV mode used primarily throughout the game)

SPLASH AND WARNING SCREENS

New photosensitivity screen

New autosave screen

New content warning screen

UNLOCKABLE SAVE SYSTEM

Variable to track first completion of the game

New screen to explain save mechanic unlocking

New quick menu once saves unlocked

Custom save/Load screen accessible from quick menu

Custom load screen accessible from main menu

ART

FINAL ASSETS

Pontos (First BG) - Four color variants

Crowd in Prologue - Two color variants, one pose variant

CONCEPTS or WIP

Richard - Protagonist character concept art

Orgoth - Supporting character concept art (default + color variant)

Malimos - Demon concept art CG

Centipede Demon - Demon concept art CG

Enchanted Stairs - WIP BG (default + color variant)

Holy symbol - Item concept art

Bloody handprints - Item concept art

Buttons during Time travel - UI concept art

ALL OTHER VISUALS ARE PLACEHOLDERS, SUBJECT TO CHANGE

AUDIO

SFX added upon clicking on the choice menus

SFX changed when clicking through the Journal

SFX shortened for Ray, your best pal

SFX added for a burning building scene

WRITING

Several new contingencies added for time travel

Minor adjustments and additional descriptions throughout for clarity!

ANIMATONS

Timelapse - Transitions begin at the end of the prologue, leading into a brand new scene

Skip and pause buttons programmed in the timelapse for accessibility

Softly flashing light on quick menu during Gods monologue in Chapter 1 to point out  the journal

Time travel - Variant scenes dependent on if transitions are on/off, or if flashing lights are on/off

Endings - Each of the 8 endings has a custom series of screens

Credits - Brand new, animated sequence accessible from the options menu and at the end of each playthrough

Socials - All of our socials are available at the end of each playthrough. Kickstarter and Steam coming soon! 

Whew!! It's a lot, right? We're all working exceptionally hard to bring the final assets to you all. In the coming months I'll be sharing my progress on our socials, and strive to bring the completed demo to you all in 2024!

Please share your support on itch.io if you have fun, by leaving a positive comment or a 5-star rating!

Thank you all so much for your time and enthusiasm. I'll be sharing more updates with you all soon!

#catalyst: blind faith #indiegamedev #vn development #vndev #gamedev #game update #character art #fantasy art #background art #ui #ui ux design #uidesign #my hype is off the fucking charts #seriously cannot wait to see how you all like it #thank you for your support everyone!!!

[just-write-studios]

NEEEWW Upcoming Demo Features!!!

THERE'S A LOT OF COOL STUFF IN STORE I am working incredibly hard so I'll keep this short!!! More under the cut.

WE GOT A LOT INBOUND, STRAP IN

The starting scene/Prologue is totally done with the visuals for our final BG, a crowd, and final UI!!!

The fully interactive, diegetic Journal menu, with bookmarks for navigation!

Dynamic pages in the Journal for every God, the demons you see, people you meet, the items you carry, maps you make, and notes you take! (You can even write your own notes aaaa)

The Gallery has gotten a huge makeover, matching the new UI!

There's literally dozens of new images.

Tons of SFX have been adjusted, balanced, and a few new ones have been added!

A sweet credits animation has been added too, to credit all of the wonderful individuals who have been working on Catalyst: Blind Faith too!!! I'm SO HYPE for this and need to get back to work, but thank you all so much for your support and feedback. Feel free to shoot me an ask about anything (but keep it SFW ty ty <3) The update will be on my itch.io page no later than this Saturday!!!!! Hope to see ya there!

#catalyst: blind faith #indiegamedev #vn development #vndev #uidesign #hype #super hype

[just-write-studios]

I am VERY pleased to announce that the demo for my dark fantasy and horror VN, Catalyst: Blind Faith, will be getting a HUGE update very soon! The current, publicly available version of the demo is quite old, using art placeholders from the earliest stages of development, and is lacking some awesome features:

My laboriously made, sleek, accessible UI. gRaPhIc DeSiGn iS mY PasSiOn

Cute, troubled, dog-loving, priest MC concept art

Rugged, axe-wielding, family man, bat-like orc concept art

Unhinged 2-minute long timelapse animation that isn't even in the current demo

Deranged, spider-like demon concept art (still cute)

Time travel cutscenes based on your choices!!!!

and much more!

Given that I've been working on Catalyst: Blind Faith since March 2022, that's quite awhile without you all seeing all this hard work! I swore to myself I would make the last update the penultimate version, but I don't want to keep you all waiting well into next year (when I anticipate the completion of all art and music commissions). I'm extremely excited to provide a few teasers here for you all while doing the last bits of polish for this update, and can't wait to share more! In the coming days I'll be posting here about some of the main features the updated demo will have.

Please feel free to shoot me any questions. I love to see your comments too! Our Discord community has been so incredible during the last several months, and we have been working VERY hard to make this game the best it can be for you all!

You will be able to find the demo's update here just as soon as it's ready!

#indiegamedev #vn development #catalyst: blind faith #character art #fantasy art #background art #dog lover #I stand by our demons being cute

[just-write-studios]

there is nothing more threatening then when a fanfic author hits you with a single :) in the authors note

#reblog #:)

[just-write-studios]

Intro To Alaric and Her Weird Game Catalyst: Blind Faith

Hi there! I'm Alaric, a bi horror and dark fantasy indie dev with a serious love of worldbuilding, TTRPGs, and character writing. I'm making a very bizarre dark fantasy and horror-themed VN called Catalyst: Blind Faith! Thanks for taking the time to read about it!!

Catalyst: Blind Faith takes place in a world where the threat of demons is as real as the Gods Themselves. The year is 605, and you play as a troubled young priest: Father Richard Anscham, leader of the Church of Mercy. The challenges that you face in Richard's shoes come not only from the effect that the power of your multi-faceted pantheon has on you in mind, body, and soul— but also as a consequence of your own decisions.

The power of choice is deeply important to me with game design, and my game has a gargantuan network of meaningful options. Each choice changes your relationship with the Gods, and often carries long-lasting or permanent ramifications. Death is a constant threat, the unusual cast of characters you meet are not always as they seem, and an expansive world is truly yours to explore as you seek a cure for the phenomenon turning mankind into demons: the Catalyst.

There's also a dog companion, tons of weird monsters, and the full game will feature two love interests with a rich history and the option to befriend them as well!

This is just some concept art from me, as I'm commissioning all of the art and music for the demo and full game from a professional artist. From left to right: Ray (your service dog), Father Richard Anscham (you!), Celegwen (LI, starlit elven sorceress), and Ofelia "Eagle-Eye" Banks (LI, halfling rogue and master of poisons).

Our demo just got a huge update, where I put all of the accessibility options into the game, polished the mechanics, finalized the writing, and truly have every feature done excluding the final art and music assets!!! If you would like to check out this penultimate update, you can find it in the link below (and it's freeeeee)!

Click here for a spicy link to my game's itch.io page. The download is on the page!

If you have a good time, please leave a 5 star rating or a comment, as it helps enormously with helping other people find the game! I also love any questions, if you want to ask me anything here about the design process, features for the full game, or anything else! Thank you so much for reading. I look forward to bringing you all many more updates on my game's development soon!

#intro #pinned #vndev #indiegamedev #gamedev #Just Write Studios #Catalyst: Blind Faith #weirdcore #dark fantasy #horror #nice to meet you