#herotome update

[herotome]

Devlog #

Hi-ho, Wudge here.

I spent the day working on (hopefully) final concept art for the mysterious Myster, a love interest who will be introduced in the next demo. ... I can't promise he'll show up in person, but you should be able to talk to him!

I've been working on both his heroic and his civilian design for more than three!! years!!!

His hero suit was inspired by: Lelouch/Zero Code Geass, Berzerker Fate/Zero, Zer0 Borderlands 2, and a set of scifi League skins. ... Weird that the first three sources all use the word "zero" somewhere but that's not the focus of our devlog today.

I've also started working on some sprite expressions for Griffin - not ready to show those off just yet but they're coming along, here's a sketch page I made before transitioning to digital art -

I wrote a decent amount, I believe somewhere over 600 words including some important variable-based scenes and menu choices... I'm pretty sure I started coding in and formatting that scene while I was at it.

I also BACKED UP MY FILES somehow I hadn't backed up my files for months!!! I guess I let that get away from me after the demo came out, but I definitely had to get back into the practice.

And uh... that's it for now!

Stay safe and keep warm,

Wudge.

#RO: myster #interactive fiction #oelvn #visual novel #otome #english otome #otome game #indie game #herotome update #VN #english vn #vndev

[brightoakgame]

Irregular Monday Update, Edition 14

Not a whole lot new to share, but--I've updated the demo on Itch.io, and I'm (finally!) almost done getting the Steam page set up, too!

While still concluding at the end of the first act, the demo update focuses on smaller tinkering intended to draw the game closer to final intended quality, including: edits and tweaks to the UI and some visual effects; improved night skies; and (thanks to Wudge!) John, Marybeth, and Patti all now blink.

I'm still recovering from my little spell of burnout, but should still be on track for Bright Oak to release in full sometime in the early months of 2024; I'm looking forward to sharing more soon! In the meantime, if you're looking for something new as we enter the holiday season--might I suggest marking your calendars for the December 2nd release of the Herotome Super Demo...? It's going to be awesome!

That's it for the moment; look for the Steam announcement in the next few days! In the mean time, I wish you all well--

B.

#bright oak #monday updates #demo update #visual novel #interactive fiction #oelvn #interactive story #free demo

[crescencestudio]

Devlog #32 | 06.27.23

Hi everyone!

I'm here! With an Update! This is an exciting one because I am Finally releasing a Full! Game! <3 I will obviously still be talking about Alaris, but I am vibrating with excitement because I can't wait to release intertwine to you all! THE RELEASE DATE APPROACHES

Writing

Because we entered crunch mode for intertwine, this month was mostly focused on continuing to fill out Druk's route and my dissertation.

I didn't make as much progress on Druk's route as I would've liked (I was hoping to FINISH it, but Otojam crunch wrecked my ass). But I do have most of the route finished! At this point, I only have the final chapter to go, so we are Very Close! Druk's route is shaping up to be a really fun one. I like to sprinkle humor into all the routes, but because of Druk's character, there are a lot of funny (at least to me) cast interactions. I hope people enjoy it as much as I do because I have a big fat crush on him now!

Regarding editing, we are just about rounding out the last of Fenir's developmental edits (courtesy of local superhero dev Wudgeous of Herotome) and Kayn's line edits (courtesy of local royalty IF writer Vi of Next in Line). With Fenir's script coming up on the last of the developmental edits, that is basically two routes that are going to be ready for beta-testing after the updated demo, which is very exciting! I am extremely happy with how Fenir's route has turned out after some developmental revisions, and I hope you all like the sweet little (grumpy) baby's route!

Art

Again, most (all) of my attention was on intertwine art assets this month. I was focused on the rest of the GUI, sprite expression, and CGs so that the game will be ready for release at the end of this month!

I'm really happy with how intertwine has come out visually considering the two month time crunch! Many of the playtesters mentioned how they liked the GUI and overall aesthetic of the game, which---for my pea-sized brain that has no object permanence when it comes to compliments---meant the world to me!

Review of intertwine Screenshots (left to right, starting at the top row): Main Menu Screen, Options/Preferences Screen, In-Game Dialogue Preview, Exhibit Preview

For Alaris, I did still get some new backgrounds from Vui, and while they are beautiful, I can no longer share them since they venture into spoiler territory. Sorry folks!

I have a sneak peek of a little Something Something.

Adorable emotes for a certain Something Something! That's all I will leave you with for now <3

Additional Notes

I spent A LOT of this month coding. I re-entered programming hell to get intertwine up and running. There were a lot of features that I coded for the first time, like a texting interface, some animations, and one Special, Very Game-Centric Feature That I Can't Disclose Due to Extreme Spoilers. It was really rewarding to see it all come together, and I am pretty happy with the end result ^^

You don't even know the hell I went through to customize this texting feature

We also have a lovely voice actor for Van, which we revealed on Twitter. Max has been an amazing talent to work with, and I am in love with the way he brought Van to life!!

Finally, I spontaneously ended up working with Orpheo Fenn and Kija of Faefield Productions for a custom intertwine soundtrack. I've been wanting to work with them for a while, so I'm so happy we were able to collab!

No market research this month, except for the fact that I played Tears of the Kingdom a little bit in my free time ^^ I am so in love with Link. Also, I didn't see the appeal to Sidon in the first game, but for some reason in this game, It Clicked. Like I Get It.

That's all from me for this month. Look forward to an intertwine release in the coming days! I'm excited to get back into Alaris full-swing this upcoming month. I didn't think I'd feel this way after feeling oversaturated with them for a hot minute, but I miss my Alaris gang <3 See you all next month, and stay safe!

#alaris #devlog

[studioghostlegs]

It's December 2nd! You know what that means:

🌟Happy Herotome Super Demo Release Day everyone! 🌟

To celebrate, I turned my dazzling future wife I mean, the fantastic and wonderful Mia into... a wind chime!

If you haven't played the updated demo yet, you absolutely need to. @herotome has poured so much heart and charm into this story!

#otome #herotome #Seriously you won't regret it #every character is so lovable #even.... YOUR LANDLORD #other games #one day im gonna throw warden against his desk so hard...

[hummingbird-games]

Dev Blog # 24

Hey party people, I think I’m ready to update y’all on what’s going on. Health tings, physical/mental/emotional lol, have made it difficult to stick to my personal schedule and I admit I’ve been getting super frustrated. Which as made me more tired and less able to concentrate. It’s a cycle and I need to break it. 

Sleep helps a bit! Keeping a bedtime also helps. Work stresses do not help.

HSDJY UPDATES/HOUSEKEEPING

Key art/game cover is still in progress, whoooo! It’s hilarious how busy me and my artist have both been so it’s like a game of message-tag 🤣 being an adult is something else. 

Beta testing is underway (and WOW am I learning a lot about how to better streamline the process for maximum benefits and the least amount of stress ☠️ *cues Live and Learn by Crush 40*). I knew going in that people were going to drop out, but I didn’t realize the sheer amount of people who could one day be game and the next be M.I.A. It’s terrifying. That being said, to the chosen few who have been active in helping me (special thanks to Wudge!! @herotome​) I’m simultaneously mad at you for making me do (simple) coding above my pay grade and eternally grateful that I have your assistance. This stage is a necessary step and I’m glad I’m taking it even if it’s painful AF and my brain is trying to tap out early.

...Future Gem, if you’re reading this, hire a damn programmer/coder. Put whatever money aside you need because if we have to do this again, you might not be making games no mo’...

Epilogues are being written and I’m being reminded that the writing is the most fun part for me, but not liking that I’ll have to edit...edit again...edit one more time???...code... and test the shits if I want y’all to play it after the events of the main game 🙃. At the time of this post, I have not touched the draft document in almost two weeks, half due to aforementioned busyness, and the other half is because Lydia’s section is giving me the most issues?? But I can’t jump to April (the only other unfinished part) until Lydia’s is done??? The issue is Lyd needs a new outline because personality and plot reasons, the current one I’ve been using as a template isn’t right.

In case you’re wondering, everyone is color coded in my document!. Ryan is blue, friendship is pinkish, Lydia’s green, Florence is red, April is orange, and Langston is purple!

YURI JAM ADVENTURES

My knee-jerk reaction is to put this under a read more, but we’re gonna ignore that. Deadlines where I don’t feel prepared make me anxious. The way I work, I need a completed script so I can start deciding what important things like 1) team solo?? or 2) recruit help?? and if so 3) can we slap together a budget (because ya girl has nothing to offer skill wise).

I want to share something tangible with y’all SO bad but all I have are like eight or nine outlines and their unfinished prologues. Fantasy, contemporary, HSDJY related, and so on. I haven’t settled on the idea that I want to see to completion and for once I don’t think it’s the perfectionist in me. Its the tired adult 

Anywho, I’m super stubborn when I want to be and a game jam is still on my 2022 goals list so I’m not giving up just yet. Will keep y’all posted. When there’s something to be posted on LOL

- Gemini 💛

P.S. to those who celebrate, Happy Father’s Day!! and to those who this time of year is super rough, I hope you have some comfort and peace today.

P.P.S. HAPPY JUNETEENTH!!! I personally will be celebrating by staying my butt at home and smiling at all the Black authored YA books I own at my big age 😊

#gamedev #High School Daze: Junior Year #updates and rambles #visual novel #game development

[yurikaarisu]

Games in order: 

XOXO Droplets, These Nights in Cairo, Call Me Under (Demo), Tailor Tales (Routes release individually), Andromeda Six (Episodic releases), Akash: Path of the Five, Animal Lover, Magical Otoge Anholly, The Arcana, Love Spell: Written In The Stars, Our Life: Beginnings And Always, RockRobin, The Blind Griffin, Backstage Pass, Cinderella Phenomenon, The Confines Of The Crown, Changeling, Magical Otoge Ciel, Cinders, Demonheart.

Cute Demon Crashers, Dark Nights, Dead Wishes, Absolute Alchemical Potion, Ebon Light, Enamored Risks, Let’s not stay friends, Gilded Shadows (Demo), Heroine for Hire, Heartbaked, Hustle Cat, Heart Fragment, 1931: Scheherazade at the Library of Pergamum, Halloween Otome, Love Ritual, In Blood (Demo), Autumn’s Journey, Ise & Kai: Chosen Throne (Demo), Errant Kingdom (Episodic releases), Cardinal Cross, The Knife of the Traitor, Lake of Voices.

Locked Heart, Lucky Rabbit Reflex, Made Marion (Demo), My Candy Love, When The Night Comes, Nicole, Ocean Pearls (Demo, routes will release individually), (P)lanets - The Life of Normalcy Has Ended!, The Pretender’s Guild, Prank Masters, Pinewood Island, Royal Alchemist, Reanimation Scheme (Demo), RE: Alistair++, The Lady’s Choice, The Rose of Segunda, Softly With Teeth (Demo), Seduce Me, SoulSet, Aloners, Never Forget Me, Valentine’s Otome, Witches x Warlocks, Wilder, The Rose of Winter, The World Unknown, X-Note, Area-X, Magical Otoge Iris, C14 Dating.

Arcade Spirits, The Closet Door (Demo), Truths Untold, Fujiwara Bitterswet, Perfumare, 7 Kingdoms: The Princesss Problem (Demo), Nusantara: Bermuda Triangle, Nusantara: Legend of The Winged Ones, The Immortal Kingdom, XOXO Blood Droplets, Memories on the Shoreline, Unmoor, Anoldor (Demo), War of Roses.

Christmas Otome (Demo), As We Know It, Peachleaf Valley (Demo), Heart à la Mode, Celestia, Blooming Panic, Alloys Over Flowers, The Witch and Her Assistant, Drops of Death (Demo), A Pinch of Magic, Loveless on Lockdown, This My Soul, Deliver Us From Evil, Olympus Love, Anise Flowers, Imperial Deception (Demo), Doresys (Episodic releases), Fated, Delphine’s Discovery, Otome Boyfriend, The Three Princes and Adarna (Demo), Ysra Major, HEROTOME, Moonlighting To You (Demo), That Which Binds Us, Imperial Grace (Demo).

Updated 8/9/21.

[herotome]

Devlog #136

Hi-ho, Wudge here!

I wrote for and reworked the details of an upcoming scene this week - it's still very rough but it does finally feel like it's coming together.

Pretty much, it involves meeting Mia more officially in her hero get-up - and it involves her trying and failing to corral some paparazzi out of the road bc they don't wanna listen to someone who doesn't have that superstar rizz. (Though let's be real, they wouldn't listen to a superstar either).

It does mean I have to scrap a different scene (Mia showcases her powers by lifting something heavy) for now, but I may be able to re-use it a little later.

Other than that, I started putting together more art assets. Neverending art assets. Sisyphean art assets.

Concept for how MC's phone will be shown in the game, concept for the "imagination" filter I mentioned the other week (thank you to @bunnyrules and @velvet-cupcake-games for reminding me that radial gradients and vignettes exist!!), and concepts for Mia's hero outfit.

That's about it for now I think.

Stay safe and keep warm,

Wudge.

#herotome update #interactive fiction #oelvn #visual novel #otome game #english otome #otome #indie game

[herotome]

Devlog #132

Hi-ho, Wudge here.

I did some writing!!!! 🎉

I scribbled over it here because I'm embarrassed, but I'm REALLY trying to embrace the suck(tm) and let my first draft be rough and ugly just so it can Exist. Other writers know the pain. I think.

I also did more expressions for Warden! Like... this one...

And drafted up concepts for the annoying couple at the federal center:

This isn't exactly how I imagined them, but it's a start.

On another note, has anybody been getting an influx of these on tumblr?

Apparently they're called "Back in Town" and they are... unfortunately getting on my nerves. Like I think it's great that people I follow are posting stuff!!! But I have followed A LOT of people over the years and when I wanna look at their stuff, that's what my dash is for 😭

Tumblr please I don't need all these pings auuUGHGHHGHHH. I tried going into Settings > Activity to filter them out but apparently that only filters them out from that specific activity page, not from my notifications.

If anyone has figured out how to shut these off please let me know. Thanks!

Stay safe and keep warm,

Wudge.

#interactive fiction #herotome update #oelvn #visual novel #otome game #otome #english otome #indie game

[herotome]

Devlog #132

Hi-ho, Wudge here!

Not much to update with, just doing my best to plug actual expressions into the game. Some of these will be dedicated to donors, I'm just gonna try to finish out the code before putting the images together to post on Ko-Fi.

I've also been writing a bit and sketching out moooreee NPCs... I keep in mind that there's a chance these people won't even show up in the game, but if they do, I'll want to have their assets mostly ready. Plus I get to exercise my art muscles.

I previously mentioned starting a new weekly schedule - and I think it's been going well. Keeping the daily task as bare bones as possible was really helpful.

Stay safe and keep warm,

Wudge.

#interactive fiction #herotome update #oelvn #visual novel #otome game #otome #english otome #indie game

[herotome]

Devlog #130

Hi-ho, Wudge here.

Phew! I've been really, really tired. I may be taking 2-3 weeks off - at least from writing devlogs if not from dev work.

Some things I did since last week;

Started plugging newly written scenes into the game to test pacing and see how they feel.

More expressions.

Lots of writing. Most notably, I wrote some dumb choices that I'm quite fond of.

Stay safe and keep warm,

Wudge.

#herotome update

[herotome]

Devlog #133

Hi-ho, Wudge here.

I plugged in a bunch of expressions for Warden! (Don't mind the... recording window I accidentally left in the middle of the screen, and the way his eyes randomly turn gray after GIF compressions.)

Special thanks to my Ko-Fi donors - the variety of faces this man makes would not exist without them!

This past week I also drew some additional expressions not featured here, but I'll be putting them up on Ko-Fi soon. And, totally no relation, here's a mood board I made as reference for myself:

I also redrew an upcoming NPC, and put her into a test scene...

And I did a bit of writing and outlining. That's about it, I think!

Stay safe and keep warm,

Wudge.

#interactive fiction #oelvn #herotome update #visual novel #otome #english otome #otome game #indie game

[herotome]

Devlog #135

Hi-ho, Wudge here!

jksdbj I finally put some expressions together for Ko-Fi after a delay I've felt very guilty about, and Ko-Fi won't let me post it. :( CURSES. It keeps logging me out when I'm on the herotome page?? ???

I suppose all I can do is to store it here on tumblr for now, and try ko-fi again tomorrow

More Warden expressions! One of these days I'll move onto Griffin.. one of these days.... Her eyebrows genuinely intimidate me.

Anyway.

I'm not sure I have much to update with. I did some more potential-future-antagonist sprite design (Clammy Lady's boss) and feel like I haven't made as much forward progress as I really should. It's already April... 😩 Looking through some previous devlogs, it seems I wrote some trashfire first draft and stored it somewhere. I should probably look for and get back to it.

Stay safe and keep warm,

Wudge.

#herotome update

[herotome]

Devlog #125

Hi-ho, Wudge here! Gosh! I missed last week's update.

Happy holidays from Herotome!!

I haven't drawn anything this year-- oh but hmm, I could do a quick edit, here -

Tadah! For anyone who hasn't already seen it, we got those 50 reblogs to make Warden shirtless! A pure version without the christmas lights went up yesterday, just scroll down my blog a bit or check out the #ro: warden hashtag.

I'm pleased with how much mileage I'm already getting from this picture, ha.

Anyway.

Seems like I'm gonna be focused on writing new scenes and drawing expressions for a while. They're some of the more tedious tasks for me, so I'll certainly be looking for every opportunity to do other things on the side - like coding.

Today I've decided that the LI sprites should have their eyebrows on a separate layer from the rest of their face, to offer me the greatest amount of variety in creating new expressions - and I've come up with a naming system for it, too!

I'm looking forward to implementing this. Eyebrow shapes have much, much less variety compared to mouth shapes, so I might even finish drawing every possible eyebrow for every LI sometime soon. I've already gotten a strong start with Warden and Mia's eyebrows.

Speaking of, I did turn in more expressions over on Ko-Fi!

Tadah!! Thank you again to everyone who has donated so far!

I'm realizing that in the set dedicated to Dia, Warden and Mia have the same mouth shape on the upper right side... A fascinating subconscious decision on my part.

Outside of art, I did write... once. Er, it went pretty okay. I'm usually the biggest hater of my first drafts.

I think my goal is gonna be to show off the abilities of all the characters as equally as I can; Warden and Jade have had their time to shine (during the job fair and flying MC home, respectively), and I think MC, Griffin, and Mia are gonna be queued up next.

I'll put the rest under a cut for potential spoilers and further rambling - as always, if you don't see the cut, make sure to check out my blog directly!

I have a good idea of what I wanna do with Griffin (it may or may not involve obliterating your rent debt, and I may or may not have written about that in the first-draft-I-don't-hate).

I've been thinking that this scene would involve a change of clothes btw, and did some fashion concepts for Griffin that I also don't hate;

I'm not super sure what I'm gonna do for Mia's eventual ~special show-off scene~, but I'm sure it will come to me.

For MC, I want to show off her relationship with the city, and showcase how qualified she is for the job in a low-key way. I recently discussed with a friend how Men in Black is a huge source of inspiration for me... Y'all know the scene where Will Smith has his interview and did things differently from all the other candidates?? I kinda wanna capture that vibe...!

And ah... I think that's about it, Herotome-wise.

Wudge-wise, honesty hour - I've had ssssome mild health concerns this year.

I don't want to go into detail; I want to say it's been like... nothing life threatening, thankfully, but a lot of small physical inconveniences that pile up and make it harder to concentrate.

I did rest a lot last week so no worries. <3 It's just that parts of my body have been weird and annoying, and I think it's helpful to acknowledge that the flesh prison can be a weird and annoying place. But I value it! And I'm doing my best to take care of it. Health comes first, etc, etc.

With this new year, I hope you guys take care of yourselves as best as you can, too. The person who's most qualified to take care of you is you!!!

Stay safe and keep warm,

Wudge.

#interactive fiction #oelvn #otome game #visual novel #english otome #indie game #otome #vn dev #vn development #amareteabreak #amare game #digital art #herotome update #ro: warden #ro: griffin

[herotome]

Devlog #131

Hi-ho, Wudge here. I'm back!

... Well, I've still been working on Herotome on and off this whole time, but I'm back to writing devlogs.

Here's a look at what I've been working on low-key:

Some mysterious (fully functional!!)fast forward code...

...Some writing...

And, fuck it, a before and after touch-up of an NPC I've been working on:

Very very wip but it's Warden's best friend, Akio! Here they are together -

I'd also like to talk about my workflow today.

For the past couple of years, I've been working from home and have largely assigned myself tasks on the fly - which has worked for me with mixed results in the past, but I think contributes to a general sense of overwhelm as well.

Post Super Demo, I've had more eyes on the game - more comments, more Ko-Fi donations, more engagement - which is GREAT I cannot stress enough that this is a good thing! And it is also more responsibility, which doesssnnn't jive super well with my work style.

I did some introspection, as I do, and this time hypothesized that I might benefit from setting a clearer weekly schedule. This was somewhat devastating because I have an innate hatred of schedules and routines and tend to rebel against them when given half the chance-- but I do believe Herotome and I will benefit from it.

I did my best to keep my work schedule bare bones with a lot of room to diverge and do other things; after a few days of trying it out, so far so good!

.... That's a whole lot of words though so tldr? Here's a visual--

I can still work on Herotome in addition to client work (and vice-versa), the "focus" will just gives me a sense of prioritization.

Stay safe and keep warm,

Wudge.

#oelvn #interactive fiction #herotome update #otome game #visual novel #english otome #indie game #otome

[herotome]

Devlog #126

Hi-ho, Wudge here.

Happy new year! And open disclosure, I uh... kinda worked through the holidays. And in fact, I... worked this past weekend...

My friend @crescencestudio informed me I also worked through the holidays last year... So uh, I think I owe myself a break.

ᵂʰᵉᵗʰᵉʳ ᵒʳ ⁿᵒᵗ ᴵ ᵃᶜᵗᵘᵃˡˡʸ ᵗᵃᵏᵉ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᵇʳᵉᵃᵏ…

A-- Ahem.

On expressions - I'm reaching a point where I drew enough assets that I can mix and match! ... Mia doesn't have a single smile just yet.

I organized the PSD/.clip files for Mia and Warden a great deal too - much easier to find revelant layers now. Haven't finished importing/coding the expressions into the game yet - that'll be a whole song and dance for another day.

There's a few more small parts I wanna draw (namely irises to the side, and a 'talking' open mouth), and then she should be all set for her demo scene. Fingers crossed.

I'll either jump back to Warden next, or move onto Griffin.

I also drew.... three concepts for potential upcoming characters (and for 2 objects!). I don't wanna show them off since there's no guarantee that they'll be in the game/that this will be their final designs, but I can at least give a lil peek:

I had a nice time comparing these concepts to my concept art from 1-2 years ago! My line confidence seems to have improved :D

It's kinda weird since gesture and linework were always My Thing when I worked traditionally, but when I transitioned to digital art there was still a huge learning curve! I'm happy to have gotten better at it, but it took a surprising long while.

Writing-wise - I came up with what I think is a preeetty solid idea for showing off Mia's powers in-game! I have a rough draft/notes of the scene, it's not remotely near first draft completion, but I can at least show off this choice menu:

That's about it, I think...!

Sorry I've been slacking a bit on getting back with yall - I see yalls messages and they are delightful. I've been spending my spoons too recklessly - I'll really try to take a bit of time off to get myself back to normal. So uh, maybe no devlog next week - I'll try not to hold myself to it and just. try. not to work. lol.

Thank you for bearing with me!!!

Stay safe and keep warm,

Wudge.

#herotome update #how can I rest when my work is so exciting?!?!?! SIGH #but ill do my best ill do my best TT_TT

[herotome]

Devlog #129

Hi-ho, Wudge here.

I have more Ko-Fi expressions!

And I've been writing... more...!

MENU CHOICE: "Griffin, are you crazy?! What are you doing? He’s gonna kill you…!" Daeng: “You should listen to [MC2], twerp. I could break you in half.” Griffin quirks his thumb over his shoulder, gesturing to the windshield of his car. Griffin: "You know, dash cam footage is some of the most compelling evidence that can be presented in court; particularly in cases of battery and assault." Griffin: "If I remember right, it’s a maximum sentence of… three years in prison? And there’s a strong chance you’ll be paying for my medical expenses." Griffin: "I’ve got Mulligan & Drake on speed dial if you want me to check."

I've also designed a casual outfit for Griffin that I'm finally happy with:

Worn by an invisible mannequin here because I uh.... drew this onto one of those deviantart anime bases. Don't judge me!

I think that's all I have to report for this week...?

Stay safe and keep warm,

Wudge.

#herotome update #ro: mia #ro: griffin #basketball boy