I gave the 11/4 update a try, got some first impressions. Did the good route first, I'll probably do bad route later.
The backlog screen is a lot better than last time. I can read it much easier.
The choices still under construction should have a graphic on them which indicates this, instead of clicking on one and finding it isn't ready yet.
It's a nice touch that Cast can still get mean for a little bit if you choose wrong on the good route.
Next chapter sounds like it will be interesting - looking forward to seeing how Cast will handle contact with the outside world. And I predict that Cast is going to have a problem with the landlord at some point.
I'm not sure how Cast will be able to supply ID for a job, though I honestly don't know how the UK handles that. Over here in the US, you need to fill out an I-9 form no more than a few days after you get hired, and that thing asks for lots of ID.
I'm thinking MC would probably be wondering how Cast violated the Law of Energy Conservation to manifest clothes, though MC might figure Cast wouldn't actually know anyway.
Kinda wish the MC would attempt safer reality checks first like attempting to push his pointer finger through his palm or trying to breathe through his nose while holding it closed. Though maybe MC isn't aware of them or he was in a panic.
I had voice acting turned off since I didn't want any jarring shifts between voiced and non-voiced, though I noticed that Cast's grunts still happen, probably as SFX. Not sure if that's intended.
The new backgrounds look pretty nice. It's kinda odd that the MC would leave his giant ground level window all the way open at night though. Honestly looks like anyone could just hop in.
Yeah, the reason those choices are still in there but have the note that tells you it leads nowhere currently is just because I was essentially working backwards to create this demo version x3 In my current version at the time, all those choices do lead somewhere because I'd gotten far enough to put all the stuff in for them, but I didn't want them to be included as part of the demo, so rather than remove too much of the more awkward parts of the code, I kept the choices in there and just made them jump to the 'not currently available' message, as opposed to them jumping to where they should x3
I can imagine it must be a bit annoying, but it was just faster for me to do it like that so that I don't have to make a bunch of copies of the code and can just continue editing my current copy cos I'm running out of space for backup files on my external hard drive, haha. Actually, I'm running out of space on my regular hard drive too now T_T My external one isn't very big though. I should probably buy another one that's a better size, but they're so expensiiiiive >.<"
As for the whole work and ID situation, it doesn't really matter how the UK handles it compared to the US anyways because the game isn't set in either location. It's set in a different reality entirely, where some rules are set, and others change depending on certain actions taken much later on. It's all stuff I can't really explain though because it would be too spoilery for a lot of the ideas I have for much further down the line. Funnily enough, I did once have a job years ago where all they wanted was my name and bank details to pay me xD Which I don't think is standard procedure cos other past jobs have required me to show ID, haha. That one was only temporary though.
And you're correct that grunts and other noises like laughter and stuff are all currently set as SFX since I can't add them through the usual voice mapping method when they're not associated with dialogue, and I can't seem to get the individual one-off voice command function to actually work >.<
Yeah, the curtains are wide open for some reason even in the night version of the background, but the window is shut. Don't ask me why the artists who make background packs sometimes draw closed curtains and sometimes don't, haha. I really wish they would draw both variations! We have our curtains open for a little bit at night with no lights on, but we turn the lights on draw the curtains at some point, haha.
Cheers for letting Mamahotpan know that! I was just too tied up trying to actually get the demo done + fight through the net troubles, so I only just saw this >.<
I'm glad that you are keeping the older versions up; it really helps for historical purposes to see how much things have changed/improved over time. Please mark the old versions as 'obsolete' or 'outdated' or some other indication in the name on the itch download page so we know about it.
I can help with testing the download thing once it is live to make sure it works in the itch.io desktop application. :)
Work on what you can and focus on that, the rest will follow.
I remember seeing a LP of this a year ago. I wanted to play something while waiting for the Chaos;Head patch, so I gave this a go.
So spoilers and such:
I did choices how I would do things - play along until I could stab Castoria in the back and get her arrested. I feel it would be pretty easy too - I would claim that she and I need to go to the police station so she could get a state ID (since she doesn't legally exist), and then immediately tell the receptionist to separate me from her first chance I get. Bonus points if she has a major overreaction at my betrayal so I can get her for assault as well. She gets dragged to jail kicking and screaming while I get to walk free.
I didn't realize that I saw a condensed version of the Good Ending from the LP I watched - the full Good Ending still feels a bit short compared to the Bad one regardless. Oh well. I was hoping for an opportunity to betray her.
Bad Ending is a blast. I'm amazed the MC survived all that. Dude totally would have died of circulatory shock, but I guess Castoria would never let that happen.
I kinda wish the MC would actually try to fight back when he still could in the bathroom in the Bad Ending. And it could still lead into the next scene - IIRC, she has actual combat experience from her time in the game world, while the MC has basically nothing (that I know of). It wouldn't surprise me if the MC whiffs his first punch and then gets counterattacked hard. It would be like an average joe trying to fight a XCOM rookie in a fist fight.
It makes me wonder where Cana is going to fit into this. The only way she would see the Bad Ending MC is if she somehow got into his home without getting spotted. Good Ending MC has a chance of getting outside to see Cana, but probably only if MC is onboard with my plan to betray Castoria. An MC actually wanting to be with Castoria would not stand a chance of getting out.
I'm not a fan of the backlog background. It can get hard to read text located in the middle of the screen since contrast isn't too good there. Rest of the UI looks alright.
Ahh, but DD isn't set in the same reality that we live in, so things wouldn't necessarily have panned out the way you might hope x3 For example, who is to say that state ID is even a thing? :P I mean, it actually isn't a thing where I'm from, but that doesn't matter because it's a whole other world anyways. I'm not even gonna get into that though because it would mean far too many spoilers x3
Don't worry about the length of those endings currently available anyways because they're not technically endings. They were just suitable endpoints for the purposes of the game jam it was made for. I only had one month to make it while learning how to use the new engine at the same time, so I had to pick some sort of cut-off point that still kinda worked as endings but where I could easily pick up from in the future :3 Think of them as more like the end of the first day or chapter rather than final endings.
In fact, I plan for each character to have 4 different final endings reached by a mixture of choices. And some bad endings along the way too, of course :D
No promises on MC fighting back in the bathroom, but MC will definitely be getting more choices in general, including the ability to fight back more :3 There will be different choices too. I don't know if you've already seen one of the videos I posted earlier this year about some of the new types of choices, but basically, some will simply be to act cruelly or kindly to a character (following the black and white/sinister x sweet theme of the project), some will be more detailed so that you have more control over the way MC acts or what MC says, and some will be timed, where electing not to pick a choice within the time also kinda counts as a choice in itself. Sometimes it might actually be better to do nothing!
Cana fits in a few different ways :3 Once Cana's actually added to the game, you'll have the opportunity to spend time with them before even beginning Castor/ia's route. Or you can try to play a bit of both, though, it's obviously gonna result in drama x3 Technically though, it would be possible to play with just Cana. I'm hoping to have all future characters playable solo depending on MC's choices at the beginning of the game. Some will only be reachable after doing certain other things, discovering stuff while playing other routes, or by refusing to pick any of the activities on the first night that lead to the solo routes of the first bunch of characters. But it will also be possible to encounter a second character while already playing with a first. Again though, I probably shouldn't say too much cos I don't wanna spoil stuff, haha.
As for the backlog background, honestly, it's been so long that I can't even remember what it looks like or if I've already changed it >.< I've been sitting on stuff for a long time now, unfortunately. A whole bunch of new content is written, some of which is coded in already, but I currently have no idea where I stand with the original VAs, which has largely killed my motivation to work on this particular project because it means either having the rest of Castor/ia's lines unvoiced while all the new characters get voice actors or recasting Castor/ia and getting the new VAs to re-record all the old lines >.< Neither of those are things I wanted to do, so I've been holding out, hoping to hear something back from the original cast members and working on other stuff in the meantime. There's gonna come a point though where I just have to put up a poll or something and see which option everyone would prefer and then go from there because I can't wait forever on it :(
It's partly why I plan to release a mini-update very soon. It won't have Cana in it, nor will it contain the continuation of Castor/ia's story, but it will have the new choices within Castor/ia's existing story content so I can at least try to show how the project will play going forward + some of the new UI I made a while ago.
I'll be sure to look into the backlog though and see if I already made changes or not, and if not, I'll see what I can do to make it easier to read the text :3
Thanks for supporting the project and taking the time to leave a comment ^-^
Were it up to me, I'd release the unvoiced version first and then provide voices in a patch later, if VAs are getting hard to find.
There's one Neptunia fangame I follow which did something like that. The guy released the full game with some of the audio out, and then a second version with the audio in. I think he did that because the audio was being weird with compression, but w/e.
There's also a RWBY fangame I've taken an interest in (JPDE) which got the main script of the game done, and then they gradually added voices character by character. That way a VA can do all their lines in one go, and their future willingness to do more lines isn't too important. I think those devs are focusing on specific characters for each update now.
There's also the Falcom way of voicing games, where there's so many voice lines, only the important scenes are voiced.
Of course, I favor the unvoiced first/voice later option, since that means I still get a full game in my hands even if the original VAs never show up.
Oh, and since I live in the US, a State ID exists if you can't get a Driver's License for whatever reason. Since a fantasy character isekai'd to our world wouldn't know the rules of the road, a State ID would be their next best option to present their identity. And of course I would exaggerate a bit that the cops are authorized to grant those. ;D
No worries, it's totally fine! Normally, I would say absolutely, drop me an email or something, and I'll send you a key! But I'm actually planning on dropping the $2 donation on Halloween along with making a small update to the game, so you're actually better off just waiting until the 31st of October, and then you'll be able to download the latest version from the game page :3
It would be a bit of a waste of time starting the current version right now because the update I plan to upload contains changes that will break old saves, so everyone will need to start over from the beginning anyways. It's not gonna have the new character or anything because I still need to sort out voice acting and stuff, but it will contain extra choices within Castor/ia's existing story and provide a better idea of how the game will function in the future :D
I'll also be keeping the old version of the game available to download on the page for anyone who still wants to check that version out, but either way, all versions will be downloadable on Halloween (and after that) for everyone :3
I'm so stoked to play this game, but for some reason, I can't even open the game on my computer. I'm playing on a mac with the latest bugfix and it says "The application 'Mac Fix' can't be opened." What do???
An hour later and I managed to find a way to open it, although I'm not sure if it's the safest so take this with a fat grain of salt. I opened the terminal, and typed in chmod +x once I typed that I went to the game file pressed show content for the file Mac Fix -> content -> MacOS drag the file you see into the terminal right next to where chmod +X is entered. at this point, the file you had dragged in should've turned into a black square with exec on it. it should open and you should be able to play it! Again I really just fiddled around with the files so I'm not so sure if it might ruin anything. and if it says cannot open due to unidentified, open system preferences -> security -> click the lock to make changes try to open the game and re-check system preferences, and you should see a button to just ignore the unidentified. this part doesn't do anything to mess your mac up.
I'm glad you managed to figure out a way that worked :3 I don't have a mac myself, so when people tell me all the different ways they've managed to successfully open stuff, it doesn't mean a whole lot to me >.< I'm not 100% sure without re-reading the whole post, but I think the method you described might already be on the list of things to try that I just linked in my reply to the above comment. If it's not, I'll add it to the list when I get a chance.
I have no idea which steps are the most useful/likely to work for the largest number of people >.< but everything on the list has apparently worked for someone at least x3
Hey hey! Unfortunately, from what I've been told over the years by other mac users, it's mainly down to the fact that mac has more enhanced security compared to windows, and so doesn't like unsigned indie games >.< Some folks have said they have the issue of not being able to open almost all mac builds of indie games on itch :(
Anyways, I made a whole post about it a while back that I keep updating with a bunch of info from different users with different things folks can try :3 But one of my friends was able to give me a really quick and easy way of fixing the not opening issue for most people!
So, she said that you just need to go to system preferences, then click on security and privacy, and then at the bottom, she said it should ask if you want to allow the app to play anyway.
If that doesn't work, this is the big ol list of other stuff I've compiled over the last couple of years xD Most of it doesn't make much sense to me, but hopefully, it does to Mac users x3
Hey hey! Well, that's super sweet that you decided to take the time to write such a lovely review, and I'm really glad you enjoyed it ^-^ Thank you so much!
Yeah, I don't think that many people would even know the game exists if Manly hadn't played it, haha. His video really helped a lot with shining a light on the project :3
When I'm eventually able to add more characters to the game, it will still begin as a normal boring day in the protagonist's life, but you'll be able to choose different ways to go about your day, so, for example, when Cana's route is eventually added, instead of playing the game that Castor/ia is in, you'll be able to choose to text Cana (since Cana is supposed to be MC's childhood friend). And then as I add more and more characters, you'll have more choices about what to do, and whose route you wanna go down :3 Some choices won't be available during the first night though, so the player will have to pick something else and find other characters later on in the game.
Hehe, you never know about those virtual assistants :P They have a lot of people's data! And AI seems to be getting smarter and smarter x3
In the future, you'll definitely have more control over how the protagonist interacts with Castor/ia and the other characters because I'm adding in a lot more choices and a basic personality system :3 Some choices will just be fluff and impact how a character or MC reacts/change the dialogue a little. Other choices will be more important and steer you towards different choices down the line and different endings.
I don't know if you've maybe seen it already, but I made a short video a while ago showing an example of how some of the new choices will work (because some of them will be timed). You can find it here :3
Basically, there will be different kinds of choices. Some normal. Some timed (and with the timed ones, you can choose to let the timer run out, and that will also give a different reaction from if you picked something), and then cruel or kind choices where you just click the heart or the skull to act kindly or cruelly to a character.
Sadly, the update has been badly delayed because even though I had already coded in all the extra choices in the existing parts of Castor/ia's story, I was waiting to hear back from the VAs before releasing it, so that the extra lines of dialogue I've added to go with all the new choices could be included. I also have the continuation of Castor/ia's story written + the start of Cana's route. Unfortunately, though, I haven't heard anything from either of the VAs for Castor/ia :(
But yeah, I'm hoping to make it so that each character has 4 proper endings that you can reach :3 One of them will always include a sweet ending of settling down in one way or another :D The other 3 will be a lot less happy, haha. And there will be a few bad ends along the way as well where poor MC doesn't make it x3
Both VAs did an incredible job voicing Castor/ia :3 That's why I've been so down about the project for most of this year, because I can't seem to get ahold of either of them, so it's looking more and more likely that I won't be able to get either of them back :( I think we're going to need to have a poll so everyone can vote on whether they would prefer to keep the original voice acting in the game and have the rest of Castor/ia's lines unvoiced. Or to try and find voice actors with similar voices to re-record all of the old lines and then the new ones as well. It's not a great situation to be in >.< and it's something that's killed a lot of my motivation to work on the project because I hate the uncertainty of it all :(
I actually didn't find either of the VAs myself. I usually do for my projects, but for this one, I didn't have time to recruit VAs, so my friend who was also voice director on this project (Anthony) did me a huge favour by finding those 2 epic VAs and passing on my scripts to them so that I could get this little demo completed by the end of the Winter VN and Secret Santa Jams!
The thing is, when he recruited them, neither he nor either of them were aware of the fact that this was only a small sort of episode 1 of many for the character, and that I would be writing a lot more in the future. They just thought they were helping out with a short jam game >.< And also, even though I had hopes and plans for the full game in the future, I kinda thought that I would never be able to get full voice acting for it outside of the jam anyways because I would never be able to afford it and didn't have anywhere near enough supporters to get any funding. It was only when Manly played it that people started following the project and supporting it, but it seems as though by then, it was too late to get the voice actors back onboard because they must have moved onto other things or something :(
I totally agree that the game needs VA to work. I mean, I actually wrote the script originally with the intention of it just being an audio drama to put up on YouTube or something, haha. So it was written/designed to be focused specifically around voice acting :3 I only ended up turning it into a VN because when jams came up at the end of the year, I figured I could probably tweak my plans a little and make it into a VN script instead!
But yeah, it's been worrying me for months now that the original VAs have been unresponsive :( I don't want to recast either of them if it can be avoided because they're both absolutely perfect for the part.
I'm glad you like Castoria's character :3 I'm trying to write her as being the sort of yandere who is completely devoted, but is almost childlike with her naivety and outbursts of rage when upset so that in order to get a good ending with her, you kinda have to teach her the correct sorts of ways to behave, show her what is acceptable and what isn't :3 So if you behave like a monster, you will make her into a monster. If you're kind, she will slowly learn to control her emotions a bit better and become more mature.
Haha, yeah, I don't really know where that suggestive situation came from xD it's not usually the sort of stuff I write, but it felt like it fit well in the scenario x3
I'm the same, only I love yandere guys, haha. I still like yandere girls too, but it's the guys I prefer! That means a lot thought that you think so highly of Castoria ^-^ I mean, I don't think there's anything wrong with liking characters like that cos at the end of the day, it's all fiction, and heck, it's better to find fun in spending time with fictional yandere characters where it's actually safe x3 cos real life yandere relationships are just bad for everyone involved really >.< abusive relationships of any kind, in reality, are just not good. No harm done in games though as long as players know what they're getting themselves into and read content warnings and stuff :3
I'm pleased to say there will be more Castor/ia eventually :3 other characters who have both sweet and sinister sides too! Like I said earlier, the entire next chunk of Castor/ia's story is already written (though could do with a little editing) and the extra choices with them are already coded in. My plan was to release updates in like episodes, so basically, all of Castor/ia's next episode up to a good stopping point again is written. Castor/ia's full story isn't finished yet though.
I'm not happy at all with my progress on the project cos it's been slow this year for a number of reasons >.< I'll get there in the end, but it's gonna take me years to try and do everything I wanted to do with the game. That's another reason I think releasing chunks of new episodes is probably better than waiting for me to complete everything and release all in one go. I'm terrified of possibly finding new VAs though and then having them leave T_T
Speaking of artwork, CGs are something currently missing from the game that will eventually be added because I'm planning to commission my artist friend for CGs when she has time :3 So a scene like the one where Castor/ia has the knife is likely to end up as one of the scenes that gets a CG.
I can add blood to her sprite easily enough, but I don't know if I'd be able to edit her sprite in a way that it looks like she's holding a knife. I'd have to mess around and see if I could get it to work :3
With the sprite facial expressions for these particular sprites, the default sprites come from an asset pack. The first thing I do is edit all the colours to make them look different from default because I don't like to use them as they come if I can help it. I like to edit them so that they look unique to my projects :3 And then they come with a set number of facial expressions in png files or you can open up the PSD file and have more control over editing. In the PSD file, everything is on a different layer. So, that means that I can combine different facial expressions if the default ones available aren't enough for what I want. For example, if only one default expression comes with closed eyes, and by default, it has a closed mouth, but I want an expression with eyes closed and open mouth, I can just make copies of one of the expression layers that has the closed eyes, and one that has the open mouth. I can then erase the closed mouth from the first one, and erase the open eyes from the second one, and voila :D I now have a new expression with closed eyes and open mouth, haha.
Sorry if that's not very helpful x3 I feel like I didn't really explain it very well >.<
I do it a lot because I'm a sucker for details x3 So I made quite a few extra expressions for Castor/ia, haha. Sometimes, if I wanna get even fancier, I might take a mouth I like from a different character and combine it with pre-existing eyes xD Depending on the original proportions, I can sometimes even swap a sprite into an outfit that was intended for a completely different sprite just by tweaking the angles and scaling the body a bit.
It's all a lot of effort, and I know most people just take what you get by default in the asset pack and go with that, but I like to go crazy with the editing, haha. I feel like it's worth it, especially to make more expressions and have them in the middle of sentences in-game rather than just at the start or end of a line :3 I feel like it makes the characters seem a bit more alive.
Yeah, I totally agree. I don't think it's anywhere near ready for a steam release. I don't know if I will ever end up putting any of my games on Steam. I did think about it for the projects I've completed, but I just don't think it would be worth the amount of money you have to pay them to have your stuff on there. Since I don't really use social media and don't do much to promote my projects because I find all that too stressful, I think if I put anything on Steam it would just get buried with how many games are on there. You'd need like a proper marketing manager or something I think to be able to have any success with Steam >.<
Add to that the fact that I'm probably gonna be stuck in a position for the rest of my life where I'm not allowed to make money, only to accept donations, and it sorta renders Steam pointless cos I'd have to put all of my games on there for free and couldn't even earn back the fee for listing them :(
It would certainly be a dream come true to actually be able to make a living from creating VNs :3 And it was a dream I used to have. It's just I've pretty much given up on it at this point >.< I'm still making stuff because I enjoy it, so it would be silly to stop, haha. But yeah, I don't really know how a person is ever supposed to go from being unemployed to making a living doing something they love when they're kinda stuck thanks to mental health problems and stupid government rules.
Honestly though, I have a little spark of hope restored whenever I read something as sweet as what you've taken the time to type up :3 It really means a lot that you support the project, had fun with what little of it there is so far, and took the time to send such kind words my way <3 So thank you, I appreciate it more than you know ^-^
I just wanted to let you know as well that I did read what you wrote in your deleted comment, I just wasn't able to reply at the time because I was away from home with my dad >.< I didn't have any phone signal all day because we were out walking in the middle of nowhere, and then by the time we got to our B&B, it was super late. I checked my phone quickly on the B&B's wifi and saw your comment though. I still couldn't reply in the following days because we were up super early for a few days at a nearby theme park for their Halloween event >.< Now that I'm home, I just sat down at my computer and started typing up replies to everything I missed while I was away, and I realised you had deleted your comment. I can't remember everything you said, but I just wanted to let you know that a lot of what you mentioned regarding mental health stuff resonates a lot with me. As someone who's suffered with depression for as long as I can remember, I can't even really describe just how important it is to be able to escape to fantasy worlds for a bit when reality gets too much. Sometimes, I think it's the only thing that's kept me going, being able to read books, play games, and disappear from reality for a while. It sure helps make life much more bearable!
If you ever need someone to talk to or you just wanna vent or anything, you're welcome to email me or drop me a dm on discord or something. I'm not always the fastest at replying with how easily overwhelmed I get with everything >.< but I'm here and I'll always reply when I can :3
I'm so glad you think so! Thank you so much for supporting the project ^-^ And I can only apologise for how slow my progress has been on the current update >.< I had hoped to at least have it out by the end of this year, but now I'm not sure that's going to happen :( I'll get there one day though :3
I review along the same time when i progress in the game so if it’s weird no worry lol !
And! SPOIL TIME!
/!\ SPOILERS /!\
So! I like the way it’s handled, the feature when it’s like a visual novel are really well-made! The thoughts of the player (us!) too!
Argh i love so much what your doing with all yours game ! <3
The glitch was so well made! The voice actor <33
"I am more than just a few words a bunch of writers typed out!" HA. Ironic lol
For now i have a love-hate relationship with Castor. The character are not bad, he good writend! his character creep me out in a good writing way haha
I’m sorry if my review is short but that d9n’t mean i don’t like this game! Just too many thoughts at once lol
First try! So... i think i am in the bad end lol *finish the route* yep. I’m being mean so it’s normal. But god... your good for making creeping character! His lost of his mind is really ! I was pretty uncorfortable myself and saying nope, nope, get away for me creep ! lol It’s understandable but i guess in real life i will get the bad end! him/her popping out like that and can’t take a no! And the whole possessive personality no-no! But, it’s yandere character for ya!
Second try!
HA! I was habitued if your not choose a reponse in a game it's will not skip on it ! So i was passed a lot of dialogue lol but i retry with out skip :D
Oh, good "good end" i guess? The voice actor man, i said it so many times but really he make a good job!
I will try the F version someday! :D Oh and the art is good! Castor is well captured on sweet otome guy type! (with yandere tendencies)
It's not weird at all :3 Thank YOU for playing and being so kind ^-^
And now I should put...
!!!SPOILERS!!!
I'm glad you like the way it works! In the update I still haven't managed to release yet, I've polished up most of the content that's in this current version, so hopefully, it will look even better once I eventually get that out :3 And with the game within a game stuff, I've added a bit more in the way of detail to it so that it feels more like you're playing a game. I've also made the glitch stuff even freakier, hehe.
I'm happy you liked that line :P I love including lines like that :D
Hehe, yeah, if you're mean to him, things get really bad really quickly xD In the update, there will be more choices so that you can have more variety with what you say to him and also how you react :3 And with those, he will also have new reactions and stuff. It'll be sort of like a basic/mini personality system, where he'll be keeping track of the different things you've said and done, and even if they might not seem significant at the time, he will possibly bring them up later on x3 So you have to think carefully about how you behave with him, haha.
But yeah, Kevin did an epic job voicing the character! He gets everything so perfect for the character with his delivery :3
This game is so cute >< can't wait for more updates, but make sure to take care of yourself too! and um if you don't mind I'd really love to help, I speak Chinese fluently so if you're interested I can help translate the game, I'm also an artist and a vtuber so I can help with drawing CGs or voice over, for free of course!! my twitter is ryirakii you can see my works here!!
Sorry my reply is so slow >.< I was crazy busy working on Spooktober Jam all throughout September, so I'm only just getting a chance to catch up on everything I missed now that the jam is over!
I'm glad you like what there is of the game so far :3 Sadly, development has been pretty slow for a number of reasons >.< but I'll get there with the updates in the end :3 Actually, one of the projects I just made for Spooktober Jam (Dawn of the Damned) will eventually be related to DD because I plan to add the main characters from it to DD as love interests at some point in the future!
That would be so cool to have the game translated to Chinese :3 It would be brilliant to have it in as many languages as possible. I've spoken to a few different people regarding translations, but we haven't begun anything yet because I'm always busy trying to finish other things here and there or my depression is kicking my butt, haha. I guess it's something to revisit once I actually manage to get the next update out!
I just checked out your twitter and saw some of your art! It's soooo cute and adorable ^-^ Anyways, you're welcome to message me on there if you want to (I just followed you) or you can drop me an email! I'll just apologise in advance because I can be really slow to reply sometimes >.<
Thanks for being so sweet anyhow and for taking the time to leave such a lovely comment :3
This game is mega awesome!! I'm glad to be able to support such high-effort content as this careful concoction of sweet love and scary determination mixes in with our lovely, maybe even blood-bonded stalker video game character... that, and I really like yanderes and roleplaying =p
I give congratulations to the team that made this game available, especially the main dev, Marionette. Can't wait to see the next update if it arrives soon! Can't help but love it <3
I'm so glad you had fun with it ^-^ I certainly hope it'll be much improved when I finally get the update that I'm working on out cos I've made the UI and stuff look so much better now, haha. Not to mention all the extra choices and things in there as well. I might be able to finish everything on my end by the end of the year, but I don't know if the stuff that's out of my control like voice acting will be completed by then >.< I suppose I could always release the update without the voice acting when it's ready though for anyone who might wanna check it out and see the next part of the story + the characters, then add the VA later on. I dunno x3 I'm just annoyed with myself that it's taking me so long to work on the update!
Hehe, *high five* for the yandere and roleplaying love :D
Even if the update to the main project is taking a while, I hope to release a short side project related to DD for Spooktober Jam in September that will introduce a couple more of the characters that will be added to the main game in the future :3
Sounds lovely!! All good things take time to mold and create, I understand! If it comes from the heart -- hopefully not a disemboweled one, as per the existence of the obsessive characters that are in the game -- then I think the product will turn out well, no matter what happens. I'll be cheering from afar here! Good luck with your fantastic work for the future <3
Hey hey :3 Being able to translate stuff is like a superpower, so I have a lot of respect for anyone that can understand multiple languages! I'm trying to learn German myself, but I'm not very far yet >.< haha.
Anyways, it would be amazing to have DD available in as many languages as possible, so I really hope to be able to work with some translators to make that a possibility :3 I just saw your email, so I will write a proper reply there. Hope you have a nice day too ^-^
i am looking foward to more! I chose to be just rude to Castor and it was so much fun to see the situation escalate haha i was really sad when it was over, i want to read more :´)
Hehe x3 Well, hopefully, it will be even more fun when I eventually manage to get the next update out cos there will be even more choices in the old content, so you can technically bully him even more xD and more choices going forward with the new content as well :3
I'm glad you enjoyed what's there so far! Thanks so much for playing :3
I quite enjoyed the game. I really appreciate the MC not just being a blank slate and actually having a personality his own. However, Castoria is way more my type than his so I found myself getting frustrated at him from time to time.
I'm glad you enjoyed what little there is of the game so far :3 And the good news is, in the update I'm working on, the player will get a lot more choices when interacting with the characters, allowing them to better shape MC's personality. Some of these additional choices will simply be the option to be either kind or cruel towards a character and will impact available choices further down the line (think sorta paragon/renegade type stuff from Mass Effect), while other choices will have more of a direct impact on MC's actions rather than just their personality/way of responding during conversations :3
Once the update is released, you'll have the choice to be much kinder to Castoria, or bully her more than MC currently does, haha. Either way, all the new choices also feature brand new accompanying dialogue with her, along with a continuation of her story + the start of a new character route.
Thanks so much for playing and for your support ^-^
aaa when i discovered this vn a few months ago, i honestly couldn't stop playing it! I really like how there's two 'sides' to castor/castoria, a sweet one and a more obsessive and toxic one?? and i do appreciate that mc isn't an idiot who lets everyone walk all over them! i'm honestly very excited for the content this game will have in the future <3
I'm so glad you enjoyed it :3 The whole two sides thing is inspired by those Japanese drama CDs out there where you get a black side and a white side for each character :D I always thought it was a really neat idea to get to see two different sides of a character like that, and I've always had a thing for black and white, so I wanted to try and make a game where that was like the core thing about it! So yeah, I'm planning to make sure every character added to the game has a sweet side and a sinister side.
The update I'm working on will also give the player more control over MC with more choices :3 And then those choices will impact MC's personality somewhat as well as how the characters interact with them.
Originally, I had planned to get the update released by the end of summer, but that's just not going to happen now >.< Too much stuff went on in my personal life, haha. And some of the people I'm working with for art and VA are also super busy, so now I'm kinda just working on it all in a healthier way than I was before so I don't burn out x3 But I'll get there in the end! Haha. I actually need to make an update post here soon cos I've got a lot of stuff to say about the project + need to show the next character to be added, but I haven't managed to draft up a post yet x3
stop there missy *i put on cooll guys shades* how can you see me if IHAVE NO WEBCAM AND MY MIC IS ALWAYS MUTED BECAUSE I HAVE NO FRIENDS! her: o-objection! how NANI!
If one day you can put it on the steam，I think I will rush to buy it!I love your painting style（Sorry, my English is not very good, I use machine translation）
I hope I'll manage to get it on Steam one day, but that's probably a long way off, so in the meantime, you're welcome to email me here for a key if you want: melancholicmarionette@gmail.com Just put your username as the subject of the message so I know it's you, and I'll send a key as soon as I can :3
Sadly, I can't take credit for the art style of the sprites or backgrounds as they come from asset packs which I've previously purchased. However, because I don't like to use them exactly as they come, I always try to edit them myself, so the recolouring of the sprites was by me :3
And no worries, I could understand everything :D Thanks for checking out the game!
I would certainly like to at some point in the future :3 It's only on itch for now because the $100 fee to put a game on Steam is really offputting cos that's $100 that could go towards development instead >.< and I feel like since I totally suck at promoting my projects + the fact that DD is in development and has a loooooong way to go before it's finished, it would probably get buried on Steam if I try to put it there too soon. When more of it is finished though, I will look into it again :3
i know 100 dollar is a big money to spend in general. For clothes, toys or food. But in making games? Come on. You already made a really good game(at least u had chosen a right voice actor for the character which was a good choice.) to make the game noticeable.
You need to invest more, man. Tbh when i read that thisone was just the first episode of the first characters of 8 people?? I was like thats too many. U will lose interests from people during developmentof other characters because it will take so long you know.
I think u need to finish one character first. Dreaming big is good but do it slow and steady. I will definitely buy the game and support the game when i can.
So try to upload the game on the steam as soon as u finish the first character so u can open up the early access and get supports. Many games do that these days even tho it takes years to finish. At least u will be able to get enough fund to finish the game. Well, its just my opinion.
Yeah, it's a very long-term project, but I don't plan to work on just this (I'm actually working on another project at the same time as DD right now, but I don't really post about it.) I usually have about 2 projects on the go at once cos it helps me to switch between different sorts of stories cos some days I'm just not in the mood to work on one thing in particular x3 I don't know if I'll eventually manage to release every single character route that I have in my notes, but that shouldn't matter too much because each route can be played as a standalone story anyways, and I plan to always make sure that when I put out an update, even if the story is to continue from that point, it will also have an 'ending' like the current content does, so that things aren't just left hanging :3
If I'm honest, I don't even know how it works for putting stuff on Steam. I was really put off by what I read some other days saying a while ago about how difficult it is >.< They said you need like lots of images in loads of different sizes and resolutions (which would be hard for me to provide without distorting my assets since I'm not an artist) and numerous other problems and pitfalls. Itch is just so easy to use in comparison.
I'm also not allowed to sell the game anyways cos of my personal circumstances (I can accept donations to help towards funding its development, but I can't make it a proper commercial release currently.) And I don't really mind if people lose interest x3 I'm doing this as a hobby, so as long as making it is fun, I'll keep doing it regardless of what happens with folks following the project. If people are still playing it and enjoying it though, that's a really lovely bonus :3
Also, with the plans I have for the project further down the line, it's physically impossible for me to 100% finish 1 single character's content without working on other characters because certain choices made by the player can potentially cause different characters to cross paths during the story >.<
I totally get what you're saying though! It makes sense. And if I were a normal person, I probably would have already put it on Steam x3 But I don't really promote my projects and stuff because I don't like using social media >.< I have ASD and it stresses me out to spend the sort of time needed to promote a game on different social media platforms x3 I'm the type of person who would prefer to just work away on a project in the dark and never have to try and promote it at all, haha. So I don't mind if it takes forever to fund the full game or if it never gets fully funded cos I'd rather that than the stress and misery of promoting it. I'll just do my best with whatever funding I happen to get over time :3
You're welcome to just have a key if you want one anyhow :3 Feel free to drop me an email with your username from here so I know it's you, and I'll send you one as soon as I can if you decide you'd like one. I appreciate your support either way ^-^
Thank you :3 I was a little busy over the weekend, but I just saw your email and sent the key :3 I hope you enjoy it even though there is not much content yet.
Yeah, definitely. I understand where you're coming from, because it is a lot of investment that you could put into the game instead. It would indeed be a viable option once everything is finished or when you feel that you're at the place to put it on steam. Take your time with it, though as there is no rush at all! It takes time to create work that you love and that you're satisfied with and we are happy to wait for you! Also, it can be hard to put it on steam if you're not making much profit off it, because all of the money is coming out of your own pocket! We are lucky enough to have been able to play it on the first place on here either way! I personally think the amount of characters are lovely. It certainly does take a fair amount of work, but for us players it is quite exciting :D Remember to do what you want to and you're the creator of it, so you get the final say on what to do with it! As long as you are satisfied and comfortable with the situation - that's what matters. Whether it be on here or on steam, the only thing that matters is that we're able to play it in the first place. Not a moment has gone by where I wasn't excited over this project, since I have always enjoyed the works that you have created. Please do take your time in finishing this project or with putting it on steam( if it is something that you find that you want to do or is a viable option for you - there is nothing that you *have* to do at all!)! ^^ Good things take time after all :)
Yeah, I used to sorta work on my projects as though they were the only thing in my life x3 and that just wasn't healthy at all, haha. I kept making myself ill doing that, spending like 12+ hours a day staring at my screen working away (which my family always thought was insane considering I wasn't being paid for any of it xD) so now I'm changing the way I work on them in general to be much more casual so that I can make more time to do other things instead of working on my project stuff obsessively.
But yeah, I've heard it's really easy for stuff to get buried on Steam if it's not promoted really well, so I feel like I'd struggle a lot in that department with how little I use social media >.< It seems a bit worrying to give them $100 to have my game on there if it's just gonna be buried and unfindable >.< I've heard talk of their algorithms and stuff being heavily reliant on getting people to give good reviews and things if you want your game to be visible, and I really don't like pestering people to review my stuff.
As you say, it doesn't seem particularly beneficial to indie devs who don't expect to make profit from a project. I love itch because you're free to just put your stuff out there without having to spend anything first.
When I do finally get the next update out, I'll also be sure to make it so that there is a demo that can be downloaded for free, while keeping the $2 donation option open to fund development and that will contain all the currently available content :3 I just can't really do that with the version that's out now cos there's not enough content to make a demo when it's so short that it practically is a demo x3
That's really sweet of you to say all that, and I really appreciate the support and encouragement :3 As you say, doing whatever you're comfortable with is the best way to go, especially when it's a hobby project because as soon as you start doing stuff you're not comfortable with, or the work becomes a chore, it's like you've then managed to kill off your hobby, and that's not good x3 Better to try and keep it as fun and stress-free as possible :3
But yeah, I'll plod along at my own weird pace, sometimes it'll speed up when I get tunnel vision and don't do anything else like during jams xD and sometimes it'll slow down like recently when I've been feeling exhausted and not had my heart in it x3 either way, I'll keep going and get there in the end, and once stuff is released, it'll be there for anyone who fancies playing it :3
I really love Castor, he is so sweet......(in the happy ending route, not the scary route of course). And I must say that I do like the main character's personality(I mean the player , "me" in the game. Sorry my English is so poor). I have played a lot of Japanese Otome games and the heroins are all pushovers and most of them have no courage to fight back when they were hurt. That usually makes me angry >.<
Anyway, I want to express how wonderful you have done to create cute Castor. Thank you for letting me meet him~ this was the best two dollars I ever spent. Hoping for the big update to come soon.
Yeah, he's adorable but also terrifying x3 In the update I'm working on, the player should have more control over how they speak to characters as well. So you can be really nice to them all the time, bully them/be super mean, or a mixture of whatever. Then the character will react differeny depending how you treat them, and eventually your actions will result in different endings.
I'm the same though, I can't stand MCs who are total pushovera x3 it always frustrates me if I have to play as an MC who doesn't fight back in any way, haha. Yui in Dia Lovers annoyed the crap outta me with how much she let all the guys walk all over her >.<
I think your English is great anyhow! :3
Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to get the update out for when I hoped to cos my mental health has been so crap recently that I haven't really managed to get much done >.< Taking a break this month to immerse myself in nature and try and do some fundraising for my local wildlife charity is helping me to feel a bit better, but once June is over, I don't know if I'll be able to do much cos I always feel ill in the summer! The heat just gives me constant headaches and stuff which makes it really hard to get anything done >.< I'll get there eventually though!
Glad you enjoyed what's there of the game at the moment anyhow :3 Hopefully you will enjoy the new Castor content even more when it's finally released! Thanks so much for supporting the project and taking the time to comment ^-^
Hehe x3 glad you had fun with it! I honestly don't know where that scene came from xD Hoping to get similar sorts of situations in other character routes too, but not sure if they'll manage to induce as much blushing!
I would love to play the game but i don't have anything that can send money from. Not to mention i dont have money currently TvT. Life sucks TvT. I like the character design though both of them are pretty and handsome.
Sorry my reply is quite slow >.< If you haven't already sent me an email to melancholicmarionette@gmail.com then you're welcome to drop me a blank message and I'll send you a key whenever I'm next on my PC :3 And if you already sent an email and I haven't replied yet, sorry about that >.< I haven't been able to keep on top of things very well recently.
As for what I used to make this game in particular, it was a software addon for Unity that I got during a Unity asset store sale called Naninovel. It's brilliant for VN making if you're like me and proper coding gives you a headache x3 cos it's really easy to use without having to write proper code since it uses a simplified scripting language. The only downside is the price cos when it's not on sale, it's pretty expensive. I would say it's still absolutely worth the money at full price if it's something you were gonna use a lot. Ren'py is probably the best thing to use though for checking out what it's like to make VNs cos it's free and there's a huuuge amount of resources and help guides available from other users :3 I've also used something called Tyranobuilder in the past to make my first couple of VNs, and it was great at the time because it just uses drag and drop, so you don't need to do a single bit of coding! As I gradually became more familiar with what it's like to put a VN together though, I started to feel Like Tyrano was kinda clunky and slow to use. I got Tyrano as part of a HumbleBundle years ago though!
OMG thanks for replying and for the suggestion might try to purchase it one i've got money being a student sucks. Oh and ill email you OwO thank you again.
No worries, I just sent the email, so hopefully, you get the key okay :3 Don't worry about it anyhow! You need to save as much as possible when you don't have much money :3
Ahhh thanks for the key again. i played the game and i fell in love with castor voice. He is scary though TvT. Do you have any social platforms. since if i can i would love to send some fanarts to you OwO.
Why do I have the impression that regardless of my choices the end would be the same? Is there more than one end for this game? I was hoping there was different routes... a good, one we take advantage and another where they flip the game... this one feels just like being attacked on the same way regardless of what we do. And they move to psycho mode too quickly. This game has a lot of potential if you explore all that castor(ia) effort on pleasing/manipulating us... even before turning real once we realised that they actually chat with us they could access our records on the own game to know what we like them to do, change their looks, etc... making us crave for them to come to reality only to regreat later if we take the wrong options... Anyway, it will be a great game once finnished
There are currently two different branches/endings available in this sorta little jam/demo version. One leaning toward the sweet side of the character and the other toward the more sinister. However, both of those branches are expanded upon in the update that I'm currently working on, which in turn lead to more endings :3
In the update, different kinds of choices impact the ending you steer toward, as the player has more control over the way MC responds. Some choices let you act either kindly or cruelly, whereas other choices have more impact on a love interest's sanity. There will also be timed choices, where the player can choose not to act at all, for better or for worse. In order to implement all the extra choices, it's resulted in around 100 additional lines of dialogue for Castor/ia to respond with within the existing content of their route, meaning that all save data from the current version of the project will be unusable once the new update is released as it would cause some major bugs.
Aside from bad/dead endings, I'm aiming for each individual character route to have 4 proper endings to unlock. But yeah, as it is right now, there are just the beginning of two branches available because I made the game for a jam that only lasted 1 month. In that month, I also had to learn how to use Nani x Unity to put it all together since I'd just switched from using Tyranobuilder to make my previous projects, haha. That's why the game is quite short + a bit clunky. I just didn't know the best way to use the software back then and I didn't have much time to create it all in general. I wasn't even able to utilise the full month since it was so close to Christmas x3
The project was on hold for a long time after that because I didn't have the funding to continue since I'm too poor to pay voice actors myself (and having VA in my projects is a huuuuge motivator for me.) I wound up just working on other game jam projects in the meantime since it's much easier to work with others on jam games without having to worry about money :3
The update is not only adding more content for Castor/ia, adding more choices to the existing segment of their story while also continuing where it left off on both branches, but I'm also introducing the next character in the lineup and the start of their route. So it should be a fairly chunky update. I hope to try and leave it at a point again where it could be taken as a standalone story, and where the branches could be seen as endings even if they're technically not.
Fully completing the project will take a looong time though with me being a solo dev >.< Add to that my general poor mental health, which causes dramatically fluctuating levels of productivity, and then there's funding to worry about if I want to keep having voice acting in it. That's why I'm trying to do it episodically sorta thing cos otherwise it would just get far too overwhelming when I've got around 10 character routes in my notes x3
Thanks so much for checking out the game in its infancy anyhow! I appreciate you taking the time to both play and comment :3
Thank you so much for you answer... when it comes about the money, I understand what you mean, I am about to spend almost a month within a rainning forest in a project to protect it and the money they pay us is so little that I might have to sacrifice my savings... I hope that wont be the case... I am looking forward your progress... take care :D
That's such a noble project to be involved in :3 I'd love to be able to help with conservation myself in my local area, but my anxiety is so extreme that I really struggle to cope with things if I don't have someone with me that I feel comfortable around, and aside from that, everywhere that's looking for volunteers to help protect nature and animals near me are in rural areas that can't be reached without a car >.< And guess what; I can drive... but I can't afford a car! T_T haha.
That really sucks that you don't get paid much for doing something like that though because it's such important work to protect nature! I really hope you don't have to sacrifice your savings to survive :( The world needs more people to stand up and give nature a helping hand :3
I'm planning to take part in a project in June run by one of our local wildlife charities to try and do one small thing a day to help nature + attempt to raise some money for them at the same time. If I were rich, I'd give most of my money to help protect animals and nature x3 It was actually my childhood dream to get into conservation, but there just weren't any sort of options available to get started in something like that back when I was a kid in my area, and at school, we were all told to be realistic and pick careers in things like retail >.>
Good luck with the project and everything in general :3
This game is amazingly well done. From art, to voice actors, to the smooth layout. It's a tiny bit too fast paced in terms of having the chance to "warm up" to the characters right after they come to life, but overall, I'm extremely excited to see what you have in store and I will happily wait longer for quality like this. Thank you for making such an awesome game!
Yeah, I agree about the pace! There wasn't much I could do at the time since I had to make the entire thing in 1 month for a game jam x3 Every time I participate in a jam, I'm always really conscious about the writing stage cos there's only so much you can realistically write before you have to remind yourself that you need to put it all into a playable format before the jam is over, haha. I'm also reaaaally bad at judging how long it's going to take me to put everything together and test it x3
I've gotten a little better the more jams I've done, but when it came to making DD for Secret Santa + Winter VN jam, I had the additional issue of having changed software from using Tyranobuilder on SR and Impostor, to trying out Nani x Unity for the first time. So I needed to make it pretty short overall cos I was desperately trying to learn how the new software worked on the go. It was a fun but stressful month, haha. Especially when it got closer and closer to Christmas and my family started getting a bit annoyed that I was spending so much time away from them, working like crazy on my computer >.< That's why the current version of the game is somewhat clunky. I didn't really know the optimal way of scripting it. I've already tidied up that sorta thing in the update I'm working on now that I have more experience using Nani and Unity :3
Everything was going relatively smoothly back in March/April in terms of working on the update, but I've fallen into a depression pit again for most of May >.< So things have slowed down significantly. Which sucks :(
Thanks so much for taking the time to play and comment :3
I don't have money- but I can save tho- cause it's 104php in my country and I have like 50php- but I don't have paypal and I don't know how to use things like those- And I really really really wanna play it cause the art is so good T^T Castor looks like a guy I would marry- but if I have enough money to buy and if I already know how to use paypal- I'm sure this game would be one of the games I would buy :>
If you haven't already, you're welcome to just drop me an email and I'll send a key cos the $2 isn't a purchase price anyhow. It's to help support/fund the development of the game cos I'm too poor to be able to afford to pay voice actors by myself x3
this game looks so fun and i really wanna play it but i cant afford it :( wish i could but i saw youre giving free keys and i would really like one i have already sent an email :)
That used to happen to me a lot, which is why I now refuse to write anything directly on a web page xD I ramble too much, and it would often get lost, haha. I always write my replies and stuff up in a separate note now where I know I can save them, haha.
The $2 isn't a purchase price anyways, it's just to help the development of the game to fund voice acting and stuff since I can't afford it myself as I don't have money either x3 So if you want a key, feel free to drop me an email to: melancholicmarionette@gmail.com
A lot will be changing compared to how the game is now though once the update is out since I've revamped all the old stuff and added a lot more choices so that players have more control over MC's personality and stuff :3
oh shoot that's pretty nice, also thanks for the key thing... Yeah I used to write stories and stuff but I don't do it much anymore, used to post them, idk where tho, but I lost at least 6 pages worth of content just from the lack of a save progress button, sorry I went off-topic, sorry if I'm imposing or anything like that. I just want to say I see a lot of potential in this and stuff and I hope you go through and continue updating this! G'day (sorry if that was awkward at all)
It always sucks to lose a bunch of writing whatever you've written >.< I've sat there replying to messages on forums and stuff in the past where I'd been typing for over an hour only to finally hit send, then watch in horror as the page refreshes, asking me to log in, losing everything xD And while I was trying to write some of the CiQ routes a couple of years ago, my laptop just switched off outta nowhere (it's old and sucks), causing me to lose a few hour's worth of work cos I didn't have autosave turned on in the software settings T_T That was pretty soul-destroying, haha.
You don't need to apologise anyhow! And you're not imposing at all, so don't worry :3 I appreciate you taking the time to write such kind words :D I'm certainly gonna try my best to keep getting updates out for the game. It might take me a while, haha, but I'll keep pushing x3 And don't worry, it wasn't awkward at all :3
I just saw your email and sent over a key, so hopefully, it gets to you alright!
Yay ^-^ I'm so glad you had fun with it! I really hope you'll end up enjoying the new content when I can finally manage to get the update out :3 Thanks for playing!
She looks so prettyyyyy! I love it ^-^ Especially the way you've drawn her eyes! Beautiful :3 I wish I could draw T_T haha. If I could, I think I'd never stop. I was working throughout the week on the sprite for one of the new characters being added in the upcoming update. She's not ready to be revealed yet, but I hope she'll be able to compete with Castoria :D
I've played The Yandere Heaven Vn ( Which is My Favorite Vn Atm) & Than I've just completed this one,I gotta say.You Definitely Understand the word "Yandere" because these vn's you've made so far has me itching for what lies within the future for the both.I Know It'll take some time because i can see the hard work within the two vn's but even so,I'll still be waiting for the both of these outstanding vn's to be completed,Ah & To The Female VA's & Creator Ofc! Ganbatte Kurete Arigato ;)
Glad you enjoyed them both :D I'm a big yandere fan, hehe. My love of yandere characters and wanting to create some of my own was one of the reasons I started making VNs in the first place ^-^
I'm hoping I'll be able to update both games at least once before the end of the year :3 Maybe even twice if things go well!
Thanks for taking the time to play + leave such a nice comment :3
The BxG version of Apartment No.9 also has a female voiced yandere in it if you're interested :D The story is a lot more serious/darker than in YH and DD though. And there's a platonic yandere with a feminine voice in Limbo Line as well :3
Woo! So glad you had fun with what little there is so far! With any luck, you'll find the update to be even better :3 I feel as though the numerous improvements I've made so far to the existing content make a big difference. Now that I've completed those, I can work on introducing another character to the roster and adding more story content for Castor/ia!
Thanks so much for taking the time to play and comment ^-^
THIS LOOKS SO INTERESTING i've been keeping a close eye on this for a really long while but i sadly can't afford it :( but then i saw that you were giving out free keys on the comments and i think that's really nice of you!!! so if it's alright, i would also like to ask for one! i have sent u an email already, thank you so much and i'm really looking forward to playing this game! <3
I'm glad you like the look of it so far :3 It's gonna look waaaay better once I get the update I'm working on released cos I've improved the UI and stuff + added a bunch of mechanics. I feel like it looks much slicker now, but I don't just wanna release that on its own >.< I wanna add the new content as well as part of the same update, so it's gonna probably take me another couple of months or more to get it all finished and ready for release T_T I wish I could clone myself and work faster, haha. I sent a key anyhow :3 Hope you enjoy it even if it's just the old jam version still for now.
Been musing about making my own VN but I think Ren'py would be a lot easier to use than Unity since you basically just drop everything into the corresponding folder. Not sure how that would change the visuals but I've seen incredible looking VN's made in Ren'py. Also, love Castoria's route so far but take as much time as you need on developing. Costs for drawing different poses and expressions along with the voice acting must cost an arm and a leg
Go for iiiit :D I've pretty much been addicted to making VNs ever since I started out trying to create them, haha. Ren'py was actually the very first tool I used since it's free with loads of helpful tutorials. I managed to make a small test project that didn't really have a story, more just learning how to code in choices and such with some placeholder sprites. I didn't enjoy it at all >.< In fact, I almost gave up on the idea of making VNs completely, haha.
It's not that Ren'py was bad. Far from it! It's just I found the coding aspect a total headache. Sure, I didn't give myself enough time to learn everything I needed to, but I spent enough time on the test project to know that I didn't like coding one bit. And that's when I came across Tyranobuilder in a Humble Bundle.
Tyrano promised it was for writers, not coders. For people who just wanted to get on with telling a story using an easy drag and drop interface, but also with the ability to add more in-depth features if you do decide to delve into coding.
In short, it absolutely does what it says on the tin. I found it extremely easy to use, though a tad clunky in execution. I made all of my first ever game (Solipsism Reigns) using it. I wouldn't say I was 100% happy with it, but I did enjoy myself more than when I attempted to use Ren'py.
Years later, when I eventually finished SR, I ended up coming across Naninovel for Unity. From what I could see, it seemed to be the perfect sort of in-between tool that I was looking for. It also promised it was for people not too keen on proper coding, but rather than using a drag and drop interface, it uses simplified scripting. Which is soooo much faster and more efficient than drag and drop, provided you're a swift typer. The scripting language is genuinely easy to understand as well, so I've had very little in the way of headaches, haha.
Darling Duality - Winter Wish, is the first project I created using Naninovel x Unity, and because I was both trying to finish a game while also learning how it all worked within the space of a month, it's not the greatest example of what you can do with it >.< There was a lot I didn't know. My script is extremely messy. Which is why I'm currently going through all of DD's existing content and making sure everything is much smoother while making various tweaks and additions. Because my script was so bad that now I've got so much more experience, it would be too impractical to work with going forward. I've essentially had to rewrite most of it, haha.
For a far better example of what can be done with Naninovel x Unity, I would recommend checking out my Spooktober Jam project, Limbo Line. I feel as though it's much more polished than my other projects, not just because I was able to work with an incredible team of artists during the jam, but because I had learned more in general about how things work by then. Heck, I'm still learning now! I recently discovered how to create particle effects in Unity so that I can use them in Darling Duality :3
Sorry anyhow, I'm rambling here >.< What I'm trying to say is that Ren'py is amazing, and I'd say probably the best tool out there for creating VNs for most people. But for me, I find it much easier and more fun to use Naninovel x Unity :3 Nani did cost a fair bit of money even though I got it at 75% off during a Unity asset store sale, but I'd say it's been worth every penny, and I have no plans to switch to using anything else anytime soon :3 It's all just a matter of personal preference I suppose. With Ren'py, you're learning a skill that can be used for other things since you're learning Python. Naniscript can't be used outside of Naninovel, so it's far less useful as a skill but much easier and faster to grasp if you don't have the head for coding like me x3
I'm sorry I went on for so long there, haha. It's a bad habit I have whenever I get talking about stuff I'm passionate about x3 I'm really glad you've enjoyed what little there is of DD so far :3 With any luck, you'll like it even more once I've got the next update out with everything being revamped to look better, run smoother, and, of course, additional story content!
No problem, mate. I find myself rambling when I talk about something I like the same. Don't worry, Renpy isn't the make-all of visual novels. You use what you're comfortable with. I usually only code in C# in Unity but I like the simplicity of Python.
Moreover, other than just making a label and say "do this", Renpy is kinda my life when it comes to making and modding visual novels. It's good but there are multiple engines just as good or even better so never think you have yo be limited.
The thing I hate the most is that I've spent so long making VNs now, but not taken the time to learn a proper coding language, which I feel is a waste >.< but the problem is, I just hate it so much xD It's my least favourite thing about making VNs, haha. I love seeing it all come together, but actually sitting there and typing out what's necessary to make that happen kinda does my head in >.< I like writing stories, putting BGM together, editing sprites + voice acting... pretty much every aspect of making VNs, aside from the coding part, haha. It's more just a necessity with being a solo dev T_T
I've been giving some serious thought to attempting to learn C# recently though after getting a supposed complete course in a Humble Bundle a while back! Not knowing proper coding does make me feel somewhat inadequate sometimes when it comes to making VNs x3 As though I'm somehow cheating compared to the folks who have made the effort to learn Python and use Renpy! But then that's just me being silly really cos I've taught myself a whole bunch of other stuff instead >.<
I did like the look of Visual Novel Maker for a while, but I read too much about it having a number of issues so that sort of put me off of it.
I mean with you already knowing how to code, you've got so much more choice than me for what you can use, haha. I've been extremely impressed by some of the Renpy games I've played, that's for sure! I guess you're right about never having to limit yourself though :3 Someday I'd like to make a hybrid VN game, but that's a long way off cos I just don't have the required skills/knowledge for that right now, haha.
Good luck if you do end up starting a project anyhow! :3
I'd say I'm somewhat competent with coding instead of knowing how to. It's more of a repetition thing if you know what lines to use to achieve what outcome. Yeah, I like writing stories and I've lost motivation for the same amount of them simply because I think they'd be a ton better with visuals. The ideas are still there, just not taking front and centre at the moment. Giraffe Academy on YT has some really neat beginner courses on different langauages which should be able to help if you're interested.
Being a solo dev has a lot of drawbacks but the payoff is worth it in the early days. I've never really been on a team myself and about all of my work have been for my self gratitude or fantasy. It's fine though, I like to think the more you struggle, the better it's going to feel when you see how it blossoms
I'm very much a tinkerer when it comes to trying to learn stuff, even if it's not the most practical way of learning x3 So most of what I have managed to pick up has been through experimenting, haha. I struggle to find tutorials that I can actually follow >.< I don't know what it is about my darn brain, but instructions have to be written in a very specific way for me to actually understand. I guess that could be my ASD in play there. Many a time I have gone to look up help for stuff, spent ages reading through people's advice and instructions on how to achieve certain things, and just been utterly baffled by it. I often wind up super frustrated. It's as though the instructions are missing key steps, perhaps because they assume the reader would already have that knowledge, but it leaves me lost. So then I just resort to brute-forcing a problem again, haha.
I kinda get what you mean about thinking stuff would be better with visuals because I sometimes come up with ideas for audio dramas, only to buckle and end up making them as VNs instead (pretty much what happened with Darling Duality xD cos it wasn't reeeeally supposed to be a VN, haha.) I'm not sure I could ever go back to thinking about making things as text or audio-only based now because I've been infected by the VN bug x3
I'll have to give Giraffe Academy a look up when I get a chance then! With any luck, I might actually be able to follow the courses :3
Yeah, I definitely enjoy being a solo dev, but not being able to cover all the roles that a team would can sometimes be frustrating >.< Oh, how I wish I could draw! I actually used to think years ago that I would never be capable of working as part of a team cos of my anxiety, and that solo would always be the way to go for me, but after taking the plunge to team up for last year's otome jam and spooktober vn jam, I can honestly say that I reckon being part of a team made each project more fun to work on :3 Especially Limbo Line for spooktober cos that was a pretty big team when you include all the voice actors who were involved. There was such wonderful energy! And there's no way I could've come up with everything that's in the game were I on my own. It was just one of those lovely patches in time where all the pieces of the puzzle fit perfectly together ^-^ I think I was hyper pretty much all of September thanks to that, haha. It's really difficult to describe the sheer amount of joy I felt while working on that project with everyone.
All of my stuff has been self-indulgence too pretty much, haha. I don't think I'd even be capable of working on something that I wouldn't be interested in playing myself. I was actually approached last year by someone scouting for writers for a vn-style romance app on mobile. It was paid work, but with pretty strict deadlines. They wanted a sample story to see if I'd be a good fit if I were interested, and encouraged me to take a look at their current content to get an idea of what their users like to read. Since I'm broke and relatively unemployable, I thought I'd give it a shot. Well, I did not enjoy any of the chapters I sampled one bit >.< I tried a few different opening chapters of various genres, but none of them were my cup of tea. I could clearly see the sort of stuff they were after. Essentially smut stories, where choices had next to no impact, the story itself was practically non-existent, the characters were all shallow, and the steamiest of scenes were locked behind a paywall so that users would be forced to purchase the in-game currency to even see them.
Despite that, I attempted to come up with something I thought would be suitable. I purposely dimmed down the details and tried to focus on the tension-building (because one of their guidelines was to have a climactic moment + corresponding choice that could be a microtransaction in every chapter, even though the chapters were only a 5-15 minute read), but I was told that there was still too much detail and not enough drama in my submission >.< They gave me another couple of days to submit a revised version, but I was just honest and told them that I couldn't do it. I already pretty much despised what I submitted the first time. If I shaved any more off of it it would have just been a pointless husk. I could already feel a creeping dread at the thought of having to write an entire story like it, so I backed out. The money wouldn't have been worth the misery it would have caused me.
But yeah, I totally agree that the struggle makes any sort of payoff that much sweeter :3 I'm still blown away every time I get a nice comment on one of my projects! I'd carry on making stuff for as long as I'm enjoying doing it even if nobody else knew it existed, but every single bit of positive feedback I get from others is enough to fuel my hope that I might someday be able to actually make a living doing what I love. I'd rather die than slave away for someone else doing something that I hate anyways (sidenote: I think it was working in retail for a short while that really made that attitude flourish!)
I really should stop rambling anyhow cos I've just gone off on a really long one again, sorry xD I hope you do manage to bring some of your ideas to life in VN form though cos that would be brilliant :3
im not gonna play the game yet (just gonna ready myself after reading that it has self-harm) but seeing the screenshots, just wanted to say that i love the art and the designs for Castor/ia!!
Yeah, I wasn't really sure how to mention the self-harm because I knew it had to be said, but at the same time, it's not really self-harm in the typical sense. I just didn't wanna leave it out of the warnings/triggers because the last thing I want is for anyone to get hurt while playing my games :3
I'm glad you like their character designs! Though, I can't take too much credit for that because I can't draw to save my life >.< The original sprites are from an asset pack I own by a Japanese artist. I changed all the colours myself in GIMP because I like to try and do what I can to make sprite assets in my projects look as unique as possible :3
Happy to have supported and bought Darling Duality! What a fun game, omfg. The immersion in such a short amount of time was nothing short of being on par with going to the movies on release day in a dark cinema with the best popcorn and a delicious slushie. I loved the story you told and I would love to have more of it-- even if it was a book! The idea of a character being brought into "our world" and falling in love with the MC has been done before, sure, but what makes this VN unique is Castor. He/She emphasizes they are their own person, and I love how it brought a depth to the game. I'd love another VN where we get to play the game our MC played, and get to see Castor in his/her glory before being brought into our world. I'll be sure to check out other works of yours! Thank you again for an incredible experience.
Thanks so much for supporting the game ^-^ I'm super happy to hear you enjoyed what little there is of it so far! I feel honoured you think the immersion is like that :3
I can't 100% promise there will be a full version of the game Castor/ia is from to read through, BUT, I can say that their story is far from over :3 In the update I'm currently working on, not only have I added more choices + content throughout Castor/ia's existing story segments, but I'll also be including additional story for them. So you can think of the currently available 'endings' as more like paths splitting off down different routes. I just needed a way to wrap things up so it could all work as a standalone story for the jam since I only had a month to complete something to submit :3
The next update will also add a new character, but it won't even come close to completing the project >.< I have a hell of a lot planned, haha. And I think having episodic releases is probably the only viable way to go with this project because otherwise, it would be years before I could get anything out. Having episodic updates also helps a lot with funding the voice acting because I feel like if I just tried to make the whole game in one go, people might lose interest with there being a lack of updated content, and then I'd never be able to afford to fund VA for the whole game >.<
Anyhow, I'm rambling, sorry x3 If you do end up checking out any of my other games, I hope you enjoy them just as much :D
is there any chance there will be more free copies in the future? i can't afford to pay for any game right now but i'm sooo interested in playing this.
The $2 price isn't a payment/purchase for the game anyways, it's just to support development because my voice director friend told me that if I list it as free to download, people will just take advantage and never donate (that's pretty much exactly what happened when I kept refilling the community copies >.< haha) and then we won't be able to afford voice acting for the game cos it's gonna be around $800 per episode/update, and I sure as hell can't afford that myself, haha.
So while I can't refill the community copies for that reason, you're welcome to drop me an email to melancholicmarionette@gmail.com for a key :3 You don't need to write anything, just put your username from here in the subject and I'll know it's you.
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I gave the 11/4 update a try, got some first impressions. Did the good route first, I'll probably do bad route later.
Pretty cool. Looking forward to more.
Yeah, the reason those choices are still in there but have the note that tells you it leads nowhere currently is just because I was essentially working backwards to create this demo version x3 In my current version at the time, all those choices do lead somewhere because I'd gotten far enough to put all the stuff in for them, but I didn't want them to be included as part of the demo, so rather than remove too much of the more awkward parts of the code, I kept the choices in there and just made them jump to the 'not currently available' message, as opposed to them jumping to where they should x3
I can imagine it must be a bit annoying, but it was just faster for me to do it like that so that I don't have to make a bunch of copies of the code and can just continue editing my current copy cos I'm running out of space for backup files on my external hard drive, haha. Actually, I'm running out of space on my regular hard drive too now T_T My external one isn't very big though. I should probably buy another one that's a better size, but they're so expensiiiiive >.<"
As for the whole work and ID situation, it doesn't really matter how the UK handles it compared to the US anyways because the game isn't set in either location. It's set in a different reality entirely, where some rules are set, and others change depending on certain actions taken much later on. It's all stuff I can't really explain though because it would be too spoilery for a lot of the ideas I have for much further down the line. Funnily enough, I did once have a job years ago where all they wanted was my name and bank details to pay me xD Which I don't think is standard procedure cos other past jobs have required me to show ID, haha. That one was only temporary though.
And you're correct that grunts and other noises like laughter and stuff are all currently set as SFX since I can't add them through the usual voice mapping method when they're not associated with dialogue, and I can't seem to get the individual one-off voice command function to actually work >.<
Yeah, the curtains are wide open for some reason even in the night version of the background, but the window is shut. Don't ask me why the artists who make background packs sometimes draw closed curtains and sometimes don't, haha. I really wish they would draw both variations! We have our curtains open for a little bit at night with no lights on, but we turn the lights on draw the curtains at some point, haha.
Dev took the links down for a few days. Something to do with pushing an update, I hear.
Cheers for letting Mamahotpan know that! I was just too tied up trying to actually get the demo done + fight through the net troubles, so I only just saw this >.<
I'm glad that you are keeping the older versions up; it really helps for historical purposes to see how much things have changed/improved over time. Please mark the old versions as 'obsolete' or 'outdated' or some other indication in the name on the itch download page so we know about it.
I can help with testing the download thing once it is live to make sure it works in the itch.io desktop application. :)
Work on what you can and focus on that, the rest will follow.
thank you
I remember seeing a LP of this a year ago. I wanted to play something while waiting for the Chaos;Head patch, so I gave this a go.
So spoilers and such:
I did choices how I would do things - play along until I could stab Castoria in the back and get her arrested. I feel it would be pretty easy too - I would claim that she and I need to go to the police station so she could get a state ID (since she doesn't legally exist), and then immediately tell the receptionist to separate me from her first chance I get. Bonus points if she has a major overreaction at my betrayal so I can get her for assault as well. She gets dragged to jail kicking and screaming while I get to walk free.
I didn't realize that I saw a condensed version of the Good Ending from the LP I watched - the full Good Ending still feels a bit short compared to the Bad one regardless. Oh well. I was hoping for an opportunity to betray her.
Bad Ending is a blast. I'm amazed the MC survived all that. Dude totally would have died of circulatory shock, but I guess Castoria would never let that happen.
I kinda wish the MC would actually try to fight back when he still could in the bathroom in the Bad Ending. And it could still lead into the next scene - IIRC, she has actual combat experience from her time in the game world, while the MC has basically nothing (that I know of). It wouldn't surprise me if the MC whiffs his first punch and then gets counterattacked hard. It would be like an average joe trying to fight a XCOM rookie in a fist fight.
It makes me wonder where Cana is going to fit into this. The only way she would see the Bad Ending MC is if she somehow got into his home without getting spotted. Good Ending MC has a chance of getting outside to see Cana, but probably only if MC is onboard with my plan to betray Castoria. An MC actually wanting to be with Castoria would not stand a chance of getting out.
I'm not a fan of the backlog background. It can get hard to read text located in the middle of the screen since contrast isn't too good there. Rest of the UI looks alright.
Ahh, but DD isn't set in the same reality that we live in, so things wouldn't necessarily have panned out the way you might hope x3 For example, who is to say that state ID is even a thing? :P I mean, it actually isn't a thing where I'm from, but that doesn't matter because it's a whole other world anyways. I'm not even gonna get into that though because it would mean far too many spoilers x3
Don't worry about the length of those endings currently available anyways because they're not technically endings. They were just suitable endpoints for the purposes of the game jam it was made for. I only had one month to make it while learning how to use the new engine at the same time, so I had to pick some sort of cut-off point that still kinda worked as endings but where I could easily pick up from in the future :3 Think of them as more like the end of the first day or chapter rather than final endings.
In fact, I plan for each character to have 4 different final endings reached by a mixture of choices. And some bad endings along the way too, of course :D
No promises on MC fighting back in the bathroom, but MC will definitely be getting more choices in general, including the ability to fight back more :3 There will be different choices too. I don't know if you've already seen one of the videos I posted earlier this year about some of the new types of choices, but basically, some will simply be to act cruelly or kindly to a character (following the black and white/sinister x sweet theme of the project), some will be more detailed so that you have more control over the way MC acts or what MC says, and some will be timed, where electing not to pick a choice within the time also kinda counts as a choice in itself. Sometimes it might actually be better to do nothing!
Cana fits in a few different ways :3 Once Cana's actually added to the game, you'll have the opportunity to spend time with them before even beginning Castor/ia's route. Or you can try to play a bit of both, though, it's obviously gonna result in drama x3 Technically though, it would be possible to play with just Cana. I'm hoping to have all future characters playable solo depending on MC's choices at the beginning of the game. Some will only be reachable after doing certain other things, discovering stuff while playing other routes, or by refusing to pick any of the activities on the first night that lead to the solo routes of the first bunch of characters. But it will also be possible to encounter a second character while already playing with a first. Again though, I probably shouldn't say too much cos I don't wanna spoil stuff, haha.
As for the backlog background, honestly, it's been so long that I can't even remember what it looks like or if I've already changed it >.< I've been sitting on stuff for a long time now, unfortunately. A whole bunch of new content is written, some of which is coded in already, but I currently have no idea where I stand with the original VAs, which has largely killed my motivation to work on this particular project because it means either having the rest of Castor/ia's lines unvoiced while all the new characters get voice actors or recasting Castor/ia and getting the new VAs to re-record all the old lines >.< Neither of those are things I wanted to do, so I've been holding out, hoping to hear something back from the original cast members and working on other stuff in the meantime. There's gonna come a point though where I just have to put up a poll or something and see which option everyone would prefer and then go from there because I can't wait forever on it :(
It's partly why I plan to release a mini-update very soon. It won't have Cana in it, nor will it contain the continuation of Castor/ia's story, but it will have the new choices within Castor/ia's existing story content so I can at least try to show how the project will play going forward + some of the new UI I made a while ago.
I'll be sure to look into the backlog though and see if I already made changes or not, and if not, I'll see what I can do to make it easier to read the text :3
Thanks for supporting the project and taking the time to leave a comment ^-^
Were it up to me, I'd release the unvoiced version first and then provide voices in a patch later, if VAs are getting hard to find.
There's one Neptunia fangame I follow which did something like that. The guy released the full game with some of the audio out, and then a second version with the audio in. I think he did that because the audio was being weird with compression, but w/e.
There's also a RWBY fangame I've taken an interest in (JPDE) which got the main script of the game done, and then they gradually added voices character by character. That way a VA can do all their lines in one go, and their future willingness to do more lines isn't too important. I think those devs are focusing on specific characters for each update now.
There's also the Falcom way of voicing games, where there's so many voice lines, only the important scenes are voiced.
Of course, I favor the unvoiced first/voice later option, since that means I still get a full game in my hands even if the original VAs never show up.
Oh, and since I live in the US, a State ID exists if you can't get a Driver's License for whatever reason. Since a fantasy character isekai'd to our world wouldn't know the rules of the road, a State ID would be their next best option to present their identity. And of course I would exaggerate a bit that the cops are authorized to grant those. ;D
I feel ashamed to ask but may i get a copy ?
No worries, it's totally fine! Normally, I would say absolutely, drop me an email or something, and I'll send you a key! But I'm actually planning on dropping the $2 donation on Halloween along with making a small update to the game, so you're actually better off just waiting until the 31st of October, and then you'll be able to download the latest version from the game page :3
It would be a bit of a waste of time starting the current version right now because the update I plan to upload contains changes that will break old saves, so everyone will need to start over from the beginning anyways. It's not gonna have the new character or anything because I still need to sort out voice acting and stuff, but it will contain extra choices within Castor/ia's existing story and provide a better idea of how the game will function in the future :D
I'll also be keeping the old version of the game available to download on the page for anyone who still wants to check that version out, but either way, all versions will be downloadable on Halloween (and after that) for everyone :3
understandable its not a problem to wait thank you
Hey Marionette,
I'm so stoked to play this game, but for some reason, I can't even open the game on my computer. I'm playing on a mac with the latest bugfix and it says "The application 'Mac Fix' can't be opened." What do???
I've had the same problem! it has happened with a few other games to, I'm very desperate to find out what's going on.
An hour later and I managed to find a way to open it, although I'm not sure if it's the safest so take this with a fat grain of salt. I opened the terminal, and typed in chmod +x once I typed that I went to the game file pressed show content for the file Mac Fix -> content -> MacOS drag the file you see into the terminal right next to where chmod +X is entered. at this point, the file you had dragged in should've turned into a black square with exec on it. it should open and you should be able to play it! Again I really just fiddled around with the files so I'm not so sure if it might ruin anything. and if it says cannot open due to unidentified, open system preferences -> security -> click the lock to make changes try to open the game and re-check system preferences, and you should see a button to just ignore the unidentified. this part doesn't do anything to mess your mac up.
I'm glad you managed to figure out a way that worked :3 I don't have a mac myself, so when people tell me all the different ways they've managed to successfully open stuff, it doesn't mean a whole lot to me >.< I'm not 100% sure without re-reading the whole post, but I think the method you described might already be on the list of things to try that I just linked in my reply to the above comment. If it's not, I'll add it to the list when I get a chance.
I have no idea which steps are the most useful/likely to work for the largest number of people >.< but everything on the list has apparently worked for someone at least x3
Hey hey! Unfortunately, from what I've been told over the years by other mac users, it's mainly down to the fact that mac has more enhanced security compared to windows, and so doesn't like unsigned indie games >.< Some folks have said they have the issue of not being able to open almost all mac builds of indie games on itch :(
Anyways, I made a whole post about it a while back that I keep updating with a bunch of info from different users with different things folks can try :3 But one of my friends was able to give me a really quick and easy way of fixing the not opening issue for most people!
So, she said that you just need to go to system preferences, then click on security and privacy, and then at the bottom, she said it should ask if you want to allow the app to play anyway.
If that doesn't work, this is the big ol list of other stuff I've compiled over the last couple of years xD Most of it doesn't make much sense to me, but hopefully, it does to Mac users x3
Hey hey! Well, that's super sweet that you decided to take the time to write such a lovely review, and I'm really glad you enjoyed it ^-^ Thank you so much!
Yeah, I don't think that many people would even know the game exists if Manly hadn't played it, haha. His video really helped a lot with shining a light on the project :3
When I'm eventually able to add more characters to the game, it will still begin as a normal boring day in the protagonist's life, but you'll be able to choose different ways to go about your day, so, for example, when Cana's route is eventually added, instead of playing the game that Castor/ia is in, you'll be able to choose to text Cana (since Cana is supposed to be MC's childhood friend). And then as I add more and more characters, you'll have more choices about what to do, and whose route you wanna go down :3 Some choices won't be available during the first night though, so the player will have to pick something else and find other characters later on in the game.
Hehe, you never know about those virtual assistants :P They have a lot of people's data! And AI seems to be getting smarter and smarter x3
In the future, you'll definitely have more control over how the protagonist interacts with Castor/ia and the other characters because I'm adding in a lot more choices and a basic personality system :3 Some choices will just be fluff and impact how a character or MC reacts/change the dialogue a little. Other choices will be more important and steer you towards different choices down the line and different endings.
I don't know if you've maybe seen it already, but I made a short video a while ago showing an example of how some of the new choices will work (because some of them will be timed). You can find it here :3
Basically, there will be different kinds of choices. Some normal. Some timed (and with the timed ones, you can choose to let the timer run out, and that will also give a different reaction from if you picked something), and then cruel or kind choices where you just click the heart or the skull to act kindly or cruelly to a character.
Sadly, the update has been badly delayed because even though I had already coded in all the extra choices in the existing parts of Castor/ia's story, I was waiting to hear back from the VAs before releasing it, so that the extra lines of dialogue I've added to go with all the new choices could be included. I also have the continuation of Castor/ia's story written + the start of Cana's route. Unfortunately, though, I haven't heard anything from either of the VAs for Castor/ia :(
But yeah, I'm hoping to make it so that each character has 4 proper endings that you can reach :3 One of them will always include a sweet ending of settling down in one way or another :D The other 3 will be a lot less happy, haha. And there will be a few bad ends along the way as well where poor MC doesn't make it x3
Both VAs did an incredible job voicing Castor/ia :3 That's why I've been so down about the project for most of this year, because I can't seem to get ahold of either of them, so it's looking more and more likely that I won't be able to get either of them back :( I think we're going to need to have a poll so everyone can vote on whether they would prefer to keep the original voice acting in the game and have the rest of Castor/ia's lines unvoiced. Or to try and find voice actors with similar voices to re-record all of the old lines and then the new ones as well. It's not a great situation to be in >.< and it's something that's killed a lot of my motivation to work on the project because I hate the uncertainty of it all :(
I actually didn't find either of the VAs myself. I usually do for my projects, but for this one, I didn't have time to recruit VAs, so my friend who was also voice director on this project (Anthony) did me a huge favour by finding those 2 epic VAs and passing on my scripts to them so that I could get this little demo completed by the end of the Winter VN and Secret Santa Jams!
The thing is, when he recruited them, neither he nor either of them were aware of the fact that this was only a small sort of episode 1 of many for the character, and that I would be writing a lot more in the future. They just thought they were helping out with a short jam game >.< And also, even though I had hopes and plans for the full game in the future, I kinda thought that I would never be able to get full voice acting for it outside of the jam anyways because I would never be able to afford it and didn't have anywhere near enough supporters to get any funding. It was only when Manly played it that people started following the project and supporting it, but it seems as though by then, it was too late to get the voice actors back onboard because they must have moved onto other things or something :(
I totally agree that the game needs VA to work. I mean, I actually wrote the script originally with the intention of it just being an audio drama to put up on YouTube or something, haha. So it was written/designed to be focused specifically around voice acting :3 I only ended up turning it into a VN because when jams came up at the end of the year, I figured I could probably tweak my plans a little and make it into a VN script instead!
But yeah, it's been worrying me for months now that the original VAs have been unresponsive :( I don't want to recast either of them if it can be avoided because they're both absolutely perfect for the part.
I'm glad you like Castoria's character :3 I'm trying to write her as being the sort of yandere who is completely devoted, but is almost childlike with her naivety and outbursts of rage when upset so that in order to get a good ending with her, you kinda have to teach her the correct sorts of ways to behave, show her what is acceptable and what isn't :3 So if you behave like a monster, you will make her into a monster. If you're kind, she will slowly learn to control her emotions a bit better and become more mature.
Haha, yeah, I don't really know where that suggestive situation came from xD it's not usually the sort of stuff I write, but it felt like it fit well in the scenario x3
I'm the same, only I love yandere guys, haha. I still like yandere girls too, but it's the guys I prefer! That means a lot thought that you think so highly of Castoria ^-^ I mean, I don't think there's anything wrong with liking characters like that cos at the end of the day, it's all fiction, and heck, it's better to find fun in spending time with fictional yandere characters where it's actually safe x3 cos real life yandere relationships are just bad for everyone involved really >.< abusive relationships of any kind, in reality, are just not good. No harm done in games though as long as players know what they're getting themselves into and read content warnings and stuff :3
I'm pleased to say there will be more Castor/ia eventually :3 other characters who have both sweet and sinister sides too! Like I said earlier, the entire next chunk of Castor/ia's story is already written (though could do with a little editing) and the extra choices with them are already coded in. My plan was to release updates in like episodes, so basically, all of Castor/ia's next episode up to a good stopping point again is written. Castor/ia's full story isn't finished yet though.
I'm not happy at all with my progress on the project cos it's been slow this year for a number of reasons >.< I'll get there in the end, but it's gonna take me years to try and do everything I wanted to do with the game. That's another reason I think releasing chunks of new episodes is probably better than waiting for me to complete everything and release all in one go. I'm terrified of possibly finding new VAs though and then having them leave T_T
Speaking of artwork, CGs are something currently missing from the game that will eventually be added because I'm planning to commission my artist friend for CGs when she has time :3 So a scene like the one where Castor/ia has the knife is likely to end up as one of the scenes that gets a CG.
I can add blood to her sprite easily enough, but I don't know if I'd be able to edit her sprite in a way that it looks like she's holding a knife. I'd have to mess around and see if I could get it to work :3
With the sprite facial expressions for these particular sprites, the default sprites come from an asset pack. The first thing I do is edit all the colours to make them look different from default because I don't like to use them as they come if I can help it. I like to edit them so that they look unique to my projects :3 And then they come with a set number of facial expressions in png files or you can open up the PSD file and have more control over editing. In the PSD file, everything is on a different layer. So, that means that I can combine different facial expressions if the default ones available aren't enough for what I want. For example, if only one default expression comes with closed eyes, and by default, it has a closed mouth, but I want an expression with eyes closed and open mouth, I can just make copies of one of the expression layers that has the closed eyes, and one that has the open mouth. I can then erase the closed mouth from the first one, and erase the open eyes from the second one, and voila :D I now have a new expression with closed eyes and open mouth, haha.
Sorry if that's not very helpful x3 I feel like I didn't really explain it very well >.<
I do it a lot because I'm a sucker for details x3 So I made quite a few extra expressions for Castor/ia, haha. Sometimes, if I wanna get even fancier, I might take a mouth I like from a different character and combine it with pre-existing eyes xD Depending on the original proportions, I can sometimes even swap a sprite into an outfit that was intended for a completely different sprite just by tweaking the angles and scaling the body a bit.
It's all a lot of effort, and I know most people just take what you get by default in the asset pack and go with that, but I like to go crazy with the editing, haha. I feel like it's worth it, especially to make more expressions and have them in the middle of sentences in-game rather than just at the start or end of a line :3 I feel like it makes the characters seem a bit more alive.
Yeah, I totally agree. I don't think it's anywhere near ready for a steam release. I don't know if I will ever end up putting any of my games on Steam. I did think about it for the projects I've completed, but I just don't think it would be worth the amount of money you have to pay them to have your stuff on there. Since I don't really use social media and don't do much to promote my projects because I find all that too stressful, I think if I put anything on Steam it would just get buried with how many games are on there. You'd need like a proper marketing manager or something I think to be able to have any success with Steam >.<
Add to that the fact that I'm probably gonna be stuck in a position for the rest of my life where I'm not allowed to make money, only to accept donations, and it sorta renders Steam pointless cos I'd have to put all of my games on there for free and couldn't even earn back the fee for listing them :(
It would certainly be a dream come true to actually be able to make a living from creating VNs :3 And it was a dream I used to have. It's just I've pretty much given up on it at this point >.< I'm still making stuff because I enjoy it, so it would be silly to stop, haha. But yeah, I don't really know how a person is ever supposed to go from being unemployed to making a living doing something they love when they're kinda stuck thanks to mental health problems and stupid government rules.
Honestly though, I have a little spark of hope restored whenever I read something as sweet as what you've taken the time to type up :3 It really means a lot that you support the project, had fun with what little of it there is so far, and took the time to send such kind words my way <3 So thank you, I appreciate it more than you know ^-^
I just wanted to let you know as well that I did read what you wrote in your deleted comment, I just wasn't able to reply at the time because I was away from home with my dad >.< I didn't have any phone signal all day because we were out walking in the middle of nowhere, and then by the time we got to our B&B, it was super late. I checked my phone quickly on the B&B's wifi and saw your comment though. I still couldn't reply in the following days because we were up super early for a few days at a nearby theme park for their Halloween event >.< Now that I'm home, I just sat down at my computer and started typing up replies to everything I missed while I was away, and I realised you had deleted your comment. I can't remember everything you said, but I just wanted to let you know that a lot of what you mentioned regarding mental health stuff resonates a lot with me. As someone who's suffered with depression for as long as I can remember, I can't even really describe just how important it is to be able to escape to fantasy worlds for a bit when reality gets too much. Sometimes, I think it's the only thing that's kept me going, being able to read books, play games, and disappear from reality for a while. It sure helps make life much more bearable!
If you ever need someone to talk to or you just wanna vent or anything, you're welcome to email me or drop me a dm on discord or something. I'm not always the fastest at replying with how easily overwhelmed I get with everything >.< but I'm here and I'll always reply when I can :3
Been waiting a long time to be able to pay for this and boy was it worth the wait! Really excited to see future updates!
I'm so glad you think so! Thank you so much for supporting the project ^-^ And I can only apologise for how slow my progress has been on the current update >.< I had hoped to at least have it out by the end of this year, but now I'm not sure that's going to happen :( I'll get there one day though :3
Hello!
First, thanks for your game !
My review is with Castor !
I review along the same time when i progress in the game so if it’s weird no worry lol !
And! SPOIL TIME!
/!\ SPOILERS /!\
So! I like the way it’s handled, the feature when it’s like a visual novel are really well-made! The thoughts of the player (us!) too!
Argh i love so much what your doing with all yours game ! <3
The glitch was so well made! The voice actor <33
"I am more than just a few words a bunch of writers typed out!" HA. Ironic lol
For now i have a love-hate relationship with Castor. The character are not bad, he good writend! his character creep me out in a good writing way haha
I’m sorry if my review is short but that d9n’t mean i don’t like this game! Just too many thoughts at once lol
First try! So... i think i am in the bad end lol *finish the route* yep. I’m being mean so it’s normal. But god... your good for making creeping character! His lost of his mind is really ! I was pretty uncorfortable myself and saying nope, nope, get away for me creep ! lol It’s understandable but i guess in real life i will get the bad end! him/her popping out like that and can’t take a no! And the whole possessive personality no-no! But, it’s yandere character for ya!
Second try!
HA! I was habitued if your not choose a reponse in a game it's will not skip on it ! So i was passed a lot of dialogue lol but i retry with out skip :D
Oh, good "good end" i guess? The voice actor man, i said it so many times but really he make a good job!
I will try the F version someday! :D Oh and the art is good! Castor is well captured on sweet otome guy type! (with yandere tendencies)
Thanks again for your game! :D
It's not weird at all :3 Thank YOU for playing and being so kind ^-^
And now I should put...
!!!SPOILERS!!!
I'm glad you like the way it works! In the update I still haven't managed to release yet, I've polished up most of the content that's in this current version, so hopefully, it will look even better once I eventually get that out :3 And with the game within a game stuff, I've added a bit more in the way of detail to it so that it feels more like you're playing a game. I've also made the glitch stuff even freakier, hehe.
I'm happy you liked that line :P I love including lines like that :D
Hehe, yeah, if you're mean to him, things get really bad really quickly xD In the update, there will be more choices so that you can have more variety with what you say to him and also how you react :3 And with those, he will also have new reactions and stuff. It'll be sort of like a basic/mini personality system, where he'll be keeping track of the different things you've said and done, and even if they might not seem significant at the time, he will possibly bring them up later on x3 So you have to think carefully about how you behave with him, haha.
But yeah, Kevin did an epic job voicing the character! He gets everything so perfect for the character with his delivery :3
Hi! Oh... you said so many things who spark my curiosity ! <3 Well, when i will be back play at your game, i will try to remember all of that ! <3
Thank again for your work ma'am haha ! :')
(I'm sorry for my short review, i read all your reply but i don't know what to say more than thanks for your hard work! ><)
This game is so cute >< can't wait for more updates, but make sure to take care of yourself too! and um if you don't mind I'd really love to help, I speak Chinese fluently so if you're interested I can help translate the game, I'm also an artist and a vtuber so I can help with drawing CGs or voice over, for free of course!! my twitter is ryirakii you can see my works here!!
Sorry my reply is so slow >.< I was crazy busy working on Spooktober Jam all throughout September, so I'm only just getting a chance to catch up on everything I missed now that the jam is over!
I'm glad you like what there is of the game so far :3 Sadly, development has been pretty slow for a number of reasons >.< but I'll get there with the updates in the end :3 Actually, one of the projects I just made for Spooktober Jam (Dawn of the Damned) will eventually be related to DD because I plan to add the main characters from it to DD as love interests at some point in the future!
That would be so cool to have the game translated to Chinese :3 It would be brilliant to have it in as many languages as possible. I've spoken to a few different people regarding translations, but we haven't begun anything yet because I'm always busy trying to finish other things here and there or my depression is kicking my butt, haha. I guess it's something to revisit once I actually manage to get the next update out!
I just checked out your twitter and saw some of your art! It's soooo cute and adorable ^-^ Anyways, you're welcome to message me on there if you want to (I just followed you) or you can drop me an email! I'll just apologise in advance because I can be really slow to reply sometimes >.<
Thanks for being so sweet anyhow and for taking the time to leave such a lovely comment :3
"You're not from an R18 game!" That is the best quote ever.
Hehe x3 Man, imagine if Castor/ia actually was from an R18 game though o.O The consequences would be horrifying x3
This game is mega awesome!! I'm glad to be able to support such high-effort content as this careful concoction of sweet love and scary determination mixes in with our lovely, maybe even blood-bonded stalker video game character... that, and I really like yanderes and roleplaying =p
I give congratulations to the team that made this game available, especially the main dev, Marionette. Can't wait to see the next update if it arrives soon! Can't help but love it <3
I'm so glad you had fun with it ^-^ I certainly hope it'll be much improved when I finally get the update that I'm working on out cos I've made the UI and stuff look so much better now, haha. Not to mention all the extra choices and things in there as well. I might be able to finish everything on my end by the end of the year, but I don't know if the stuff that's out of my control like voice acting will be completed by then >.< I suppose I could always release the update without the voice acting when it's ready though for anyone who might wanna check it out and see the next part of the story + the characters, then add the VA later on. I dunno x3 I'm just annoyed with myself that it's taking me so long to work on the update!
Hehe, *high five* for the yandere and roleplaying love :D
Even if the update to the main project is taking a while, I hope to release a short side project related to DD for Spooktober Jam in September that will introduce a couple more of the characters that will be added to the main game in the future :3
Thanks so much for the support and kind words ^-^
Sounds lovely!! All good things take time to mold and create, I understand! If it comes from the heart -- hopefully not a disemboweled one, as per the existence of the obsessive characters that are in the game -- then I think the product will turn out well, no matter what happens. I'll be cheering from afar here! Good luck with your fantastic work for the future <3
AND YEEEEESSSS! *returns high five* =D
Hey hey :3 Being able to translate stuff is like a superpower, so I have a lot of respect for anyone that can understand multiple languages! I'm trying to learn German myself, but I'm not very far yet >.< haha.
Anyways, it would be amazing to have DD available in as many languages as possible, so I really hope to be able to work with some translators to make that a possibility :3 I just saw your email, so I will write a proper reply there. Hope you have a nice day too ^-^
i am looking foward to more! I chose to be just rude to Castor and it was so much fun to see the situation escalate haha i was really sad when it was over, i want to read more :´)
Hehe x3 Well, hopefully, it will be even more fun when I eventually manage to get the next update out cos there will be even more choices in the old content, so you can technically bully him even more xD and more choices going forward with the new content as well :3
I'm glad you enjoyed what's there so far! Thanks so much for playing :3
I quite enjoyed the game. I really appreciate the MC not just being a blank slate and actually having a personality his own. However, Castoria is way more my type than his so I found myself getting frustrated at him from time to time.
I'm glad you enjoyed what little there is of the game so far :3 And the good news is, in the update I'm working on, the player will get a lot more choices when interacting with the characters, allowing them to better shape MC's personality. Some of these additional choices will simply be the option to be either kind or cruel towards a character and will impact available choices further down the line (think sorta paragon/renegade type stuff from Mass Effect), while other choices will have more of a direct impact on MC's actions rather than just their personality/way of responding during conversations :3
Once the update is released, you'll have the choice to be much kinder to Castoria, or bully her more than MC currently does, haha. Either way, all the new choices also feature brand new accompanying dialogue with her, along with a continuation of her story + the start of a new character route.
Thanks so much for playing and for your support ^-^
Great! Here's hoping there's a marriage ending.
aaa when i discovered this vn a few months ago, i honestly couldn't stop playing it! I really like how there's two 'sides' to castor/castoria, a sweet one and a more obsessive and toxic one?? and i do appreciate that mc isn't an idiot who lets everyone walk all over them! i'm honestly very excited for the content this game will have in the future <3
I'm so glad you enjoyed it :3 The whole two sides thing is inspired by those Japanese drama CDs out there where you get a black side and a white side for each character :D I always thought it was a really neat idea to get to see two different sides of a character like that, and I've always had a thing for black and white, so I wanted to try and make a game where that was like the core thing about it! So yeah, I'm planning to make sure every character added to the game has a sweet side and a sinister side.
The update I'm working on will also give the player more control over MC with more choices :3 And then those choices will impact MC's personality somewhat as well as how the characters interact with them.
Originally, I had planned to get the update released by the end of summer, but that's just not going to happen now >.< Too much stuff went on in my personal life, haha. And some of the people I'm working with for art and VA are also super busy, so now I'm kinda just working on it all in a healthier way than I was before so I don't burn out x3 But I'll get there in the end! Haha. I actually need to make an update post here soon cos I've got a lot of stuff to say about the project + need to show the next character to be added, but I haven't managed to draft up a post yet x3
Thanks so much for the support ^-^
stop there missy *i put on cooll guys shades* how can you see me if IHAVE NO WEBCAM AND MY MIC IS ALWAYS MUTED BECAUSE I HAVE NO FRIENDS! her: o-objection! how NANI!
Hehe x3 I would like to see this scene in a blooper reel!
If one day you can put it on the steam，I think I will rush to buy it!I love your painting style（Sorry, my English is not very good, I use machine translation）
I hope I'll manage to get it on Steam one day, but that's probably a long way off, so in the meantime, you're welcome to email me here for a key if you want: melancholicmarionette@gmail.com
Just put your username as the subject of the message so I know it's you, and I'll send a key as soon as I can :3
Sadly, I can't take credit for the art style of the sprites or backgrounds as they come from asset packs which I've previously purchased. However, because I don't like to use them exactly as they come, I always try to edit them myself, so the recolouring of the sprites was by me :3
And no worries, I could understand everything :D Thanks for checking out the game!
are you gonna upload this game on steam??? i wanna add it to my library lol
I would certainly like to at some point in the future :3 It's only on itch for now because the $100 fee to put a game on Steam is really offputting cos that's $100 that could go towards development instead >.< and I feel like since I totally suck at promoting my projects + the fact that DD is in development and has a loooooong way to go before it's finished, it would probably get buried on Steam if I try to put it there too soon. When more of it is finished though, I will look into it again :3
i know 100 dollar is a big money to spend in general. For clothes, toys or food. But in making games? Come on. You already made a really good game(at least u had chosen a right voice actor for the character which was a good choice.) to make the game noticeable.
You need to invest more, man. Tbh when i read that thisone was just the first episode of the first characters of 8 people?? I was like thats too many. U will lose interests from people during developmentof other characters because it will take so long you know.
I think u need to finish one character first. Dreaming big is good but do it slow and steady. I will definitely buy the game and support the game when i can.
So try to upload the game on the steam as soon as u finish the first character so u can open up the early access and get supports. Many games do that these days even tho it takes years to finish. At least u will be able to get enough fund to finish the game. Well, its just my opinion.
Best regards
Yeah, it's a very long-term project, but I don't plan to work on just this (I'm actually working on another project at the same time as DD right now, but I don't really post about it.) I usually have about 2 projects on the go at once cos it helps me to switch between different sorts of stories cos some days I'm just not in the mood to work on one thing in particular x3 I don't know if I'll eventually manage to release every single character route that I have in my notes, but that shouldn't matter too much because each route can be played as a standalone story anyways, and I plan to always make sure that when I put out an update, even if the story is to continue from that point, it will also have an 'ending' like the current content does, so that things aren't just left hanging :3
If I'm honest, I don't even know how it works for putting stuff on Steam. I was really put off by what I read some other days saying a while ago about how difficult it is >.< They said you need like lots of images in loads of different sizes and resolutions (which would be hard for me to provide without distorting my assets since I'm not an artist) and numerous other problems and pitfalls. Itch is just so easy to use in comparison.
I'm also not allowed to sell the game anyways cos of my personal circumstances (I can accept donations to help towards funding its development, but I can't make it a proper commercial release currently.) And I don't really mind if people lose interest x3 I'm doing this as a hobby, so as long as making it is fun, I'll keep doing it regardless of what happens with folks following the project. If people are still playing it and enjoying it though, that's a really lovely bonus :3
Also, with the plans I have for the project further down the line, it's physically impossible for me to 100% finish 1 single character's content without working on other characters because certain choices made by the player can potentially cause different characters to cross paths during the story >.<
I totally get what you're saying though! It makes sense. And if I were a normal person, I probably would have already put it on Steam x3 But I don't really promote my projects and stuff because I don't like using social media >.< I have ASD and it stresses me out to spend the sort of time needed to promote a game on different social media platforms x3 I'm the type of person who would prefer to just work away on a project in the dark and never have to try and promote it at all, haha. So I don't mind if it takes forever to fund the full game or if it never gets fully funded cos I'd rather that than the stress and misery of promoting it. I'll just do my best with whatever funding I happen to get over time :3
You're welcome to just have a key if you want one anyhow :3 Feel free to drop me an email with your username from here so I know it's you, and I'll send you one as soon as I can if you decide you'd like one. I appreciate your support either way ^-^
oh crazyy. U r doing A lot of things. Well i hope u do well.
About the game key can i get it on the jchu9151@gmail.com?
I found out that i didnt set my card to spend money on foreign website even tho i chose master card to do that🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
Thanks anyway.
Thank you :3 I was a little busy over the weekend, but I just saw your email and sent the key :3 I hope you enjoy it even though there is not much content yet.
Yeah, definitely. I understand where you're coming from, because it is a lot of investment that you could put into the game instead. It would indeed be a viable option once everything is finished or when you feel that you're at the place to put it on steam. Take your time with it, though as there is no rush at all! It takes time to create work that you love and that you're satisfied with and we are happy to wait for you! Also, it can be hard to put it on steam if you're not making much profit off it, because all of the money is coming out of your own pocket! We are lucky enough to have been able to play it on the first place on here either way! I personally think the amount of characters are lovely. It certainly does take a fair amount of work, but for us players it is quite exciting :D Remember to do what you want to and you're the creator of it, so you get the final say on what to do with it! As long as you are satisfied and comfortable with the situation - that's what matters. Whether it be on here or on steam, the only thing that matters is that we're able to play it in the first place. Not a moment has gone by where I wasn't excited over this project, since I have always enjoyed the works that you have created. Please do take your time in finishing this project or with putting it on steam( if it is something that you find that you want to do or is a viable option for you - there is nothing that you *have* to do at all!)! ^^ Good things take time after all :)
Yeah, I used to sorta work on my projects as though they were the only thing in my life x3 and that just wasn't healthy at all, haha. I kept making myself ill doing that, spending like 12+ hours a day staring at my screen working away (which my family always thought was insane considering I wasn't being paid for any of it xD) so now I'm changing the way I work on them in general to be much more casual so that I can make more time to do other things instead of working on my project stuff obsessively.
But yeah, I've heard it's really easy for stuff to get buried on Steam if it's not promoted really well, so I feel like I'd struggle a lot in that department with how little I use social media >.< It seems a bit worrying to give them $100 to have my game on there if it's just gonna be buried and unfindable >.< I've heard talk of their algorithms and stuff being heavily reliant on getting people to give good reviews and things if you want your game to be visible, and I really don't like pestering people to review my stuff.
As you say, it doesn't seem particularly beneficial to indie devs who don't expect to make profit from a project. I love itch because you're free to just put your stuff out there without having to spend anything first.
When I do finally get the next update out, I'll also be sure to make it so that there is a demo that can be downloaded for free, while keeping the $2 donation option open to fund development and that will contain all the currently available content :3 I just can't really do that with the version that's out now cos there's not enough content to make a demo when it's so short that it practically is a demo x3
That's really sweet of you to say all that, and I really appreciate the support and encouragement :3 As you say, doing whatever you're comfortable with is the best way to go, especially when it's a hobby project because as soon as you start doing stuff you're not comfortable with, or the work becomes a chore, it's like you've then managed to kill off your hobby, and that's not good x3 Better to try and keep it as fun and stress-free as possible :3
But yeah, I'll plod along at my own weird pace, sometimes it'll speed up when I get tunnel vision and don't do anything else like during jams xD and sometimes it'll slow down like recently when I've been feeling exhausted and not had my heart in it x3 either way, I'll keep going and get there in the end, and once stuff is released, it'll be there for anyone who fancies playing it :3
cool story. castoria reminds me of my mom
Uhh, what?
I really love Castor, he is so sweet......(in the happy ending route, not the scary route of course). And I must say that I do like the main character's personality(I mean the player , "me" in the game. Sorry my English is so poor). I have played a lot of Japanese Otome games and the heroins are all pushovers and most of them have no courage to fight back when they were hurt. That usually makes me angry >.<
Anyway, I want to express how wonderful you have done to create cute Castor. Thank you for letting me meet him~ this was the best two dollars I ever spent. Hoping for the big update to come soon.
Yeah, he's adorable but also terrifying x3 In the update I'm working on, the player should have more control over how they speak to characters as well. So you can be really nice to them all the time, bully them/be super mean, or a mixture of whatever. Then the character will react differeny depending how you treat them, and eventually your actions will result in different endings.
I'm the same though, I can't stand MCs who are total pushovera x3 it always frustrates me if I have to play as an MC who doesn't fight back in any way, haha. Yui in Dia Lovers annoyed the crap outta me with how much she let all the guys walk all over her >.<
I think your English is great anyhow! :3
Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to get the update out for when I hoped to cos my mental health has been so crap recently that I haven't really managed to get much done >.< Taking a break this month to immerse myself in nature and try and do some fundraising for my local wildlife charity is helping me to feel a bit better, but once June is over, I don't know if I'll be able to do much cos I always feel ill in the summer! The heat just gives me constant headaches and stuff which makes it really hard to get anything done >.< I'll get there eventually though!
Glad you enjoyed what's there of the game at the moment anyhow :3 Hopefully you will enjoy the new Castor content even more when it's finally released! Thanks so much for supporting the project and taking the time to comment ^-^
this one really got me.... I was bright red with my face in my hands for the majority of the latter half / w \ very very good job
Hehe x3 glad you had fun with it! I honestly don't know where that scene came from xD Hoping to get similar sorts of situations in other character routes too, but not sure if they'll manage to induce as much blushing!
Thanks so much for playing :3
I would love to play the game but i don't have anything that can send money from. Not to mention i dont have money currently TvT. Life sucks TvT. I like the character design though both of them are pretty and handsome.
I also wanna know what apk do you use to make this visual novel i actually wanna make a Visual novel game too OwO.
Sorry my reply is quite slow >.< If you haven't already sent me an email to melancholicmarionette@gmail.com then you're welcome to drop me a blank message and I'll send you a key whenever I'm next on my PC :3 And if you already sent an email and I haven't replied yet, sorry about that >.< I haven't been able to keep on top of things very well recently.
As for what I used to make this game in particular, it was a software addon for Unity that I got during a Unity asset store sale called Naninovel. It's brilliant for VN making if you're like me and proper coding gives you a headache x3 cos it's really easy to use without having to write proper code since it uses a simplified scripting language. The only downside is the price cos when it's not on sale, it's pretty expensive. I would say it's still absolutely worth the money at full price if it's something you were gonna use a lot. Ren'py is probably the best thing to use though for checking out what it's like to make VNs cos it's free and there's a huuuge amount of resources and help guides available from other users :3 I've also used something called Tyranobuilder in the past to make my first couple of VNs, and it was great at the time because it just uses drag and drop, so you don't need to do a single bit of coding! As I gradually became more familiar with what it's like to put a VN together though, I started to feel Like Tyrano was kinda clunky and slow to use. I got Tyrano as part of a HumbleBundle years ago though!
OMG thanks for replying and for the suggestion might try to purchase it one i've got money being a student sucks. Oh and ill email you OwO thank you again.
No worries, I just sent the email, so hopefully, you get the key okay :3 Don't worry about it anyhow! You need to save as much as possible when you don't have much money :3
Ahhh thanks for the key again. i played the game and i fell in love with castor voice. He is scary though TvT. Do you have any social platforms. since if i can i would love to send some fanarts to you OwO.
Why do I have the impression that regardless of my choices the end would be the same? Is there more than one end for this game? I was hoping there was different routes... a good, one we take advantage and another where they flip the game... this one feels just like being attacked on the same way regardless of what we do. And they move to psycho mode too quickly. This game has a lot of potential if you explore all that castor(ia) effort on pleasing/manipulating us... even before turning real once we realised that they actually chat with us they could access our records on the own game to know what we like them to do, change their looks, etc... making us crave for them to come to reality only to regreat later if we take the wrong options... Anyway, it will be a great game once finnished
There are currently two different branches/endings available in this sorta little jam/demo version. One leaning toward the sweet side of the character and the other toward the more sinister. However, both of those branches are expanded upon in the update that I'm currently working on, which in turn lead to more endings :3
In the update, different kinds of choices impact the ending you steer toward, as the player has more control over the way MC responds. Some choices let you act either kindly or cruelly, whereas other choices have more impact on a love interest's sanity. There will also be timed choices, where the player can choose not to act at all, for better or for worse. In order to implement all the extra choices, it's resulted in around 100 additional lines of dialogue for Castor/ia to respond with within the existing content of their route, meaning that all save data from the current version of the project will be unusable once the new update is released as it would cause some major bugs.
Aside from bad/dead endings, I'm aiming for each individual character route to have 4 proper endings to unlock. But yeah, as it is right now, there are just the beginning of two branches available because I made the game for a jam that only lasted 1 month. In that month, I also had to learn how to use Nani x Unity to put it all together since I'd just switched from using Tyranobuilder to make my previous projects, haha. That's why the game is quite short + a bit clunky. I just didn't know the best way to use the software back then and I didn't have much time to create it all in general. I wasn't even able to utilise the full month since it was so close to Christmas x3
The project was on hold for a long time after that because I didn't have the funding to continue since I'm too poor to pay voice actors myself (and having VA in my projects is a huuuuge motivator for me.) I wound up just working on other game jam projects in the meantime since it's much easier to work with others on jam games without having to worry about money :3
The update is not only adding more content for Castor/ia, adding more choices to the existing segment of their story while also continuing where it left off on both branches, but I'm also introducing the next character in the lineup and the start of their route. So it should be a fairly chunky update. I hope to try and leave it at a point again where it could be taken as a standalone story, and where the branches could be seen as endings even if they're technically not.
Fully completing the project will take a looong time though with me being a solo dev >.< Add to that my general poor mental health, which causes dramatically fluctuating levels of productivity, and then there's funding to worry about if I want to keep having voice acting in it. That's why I'm trying to do it episodically sorta thing cos otherwise it would just get far too overwhelming when I've got around 10 character routes in my notes x3
Thanks so much for checking out the game in its infancy anyhow! I appreciate you taking the time to both play and comment :3
Thank you so much for you answer... when it comes about the money, I understand what you mean, I am about to spend almost a month within a rainning forest in a project to protect it and the money they pay us is so little that I might have to sacrifice my savings... I hope that wont be the case... I am looking forward your progress... take care :D
That's such a noble project to be involved in :3 I'd love to be able to help with conservation myself in my local area, but my anxiety is so extreme that I really struggle to cope with things if I don't have someone with me that I feel comfortable around, and aside from that, everywhere that's looking for volunteers to help protect nature and animals near me are in rural areas that can't be reached without a car >.< And guess what; I can drive... but I can't afford a car! T_T haha.
That really sucks that you don't get paid much for doing something like that though because it's such important work to protect nature! I really hope you don't have to sacrifice your savings to survive :( The world needs more people to stand up and give nature a helping hand :3
I'm planning to take part in a project in June run by one of our local wildlife charities to try and do one small thing a day to help nature + attempt to raise some money for them at the same time. If I were rich, I'd give most of my money to help protect animals and nature x3 It was actually my childhood dream to get into conservation, but there just weren't any sort of options available to get started in something like that back when I was a kid in my area, and at school, we were all told to be realistic and pick careers in things like retail >.>
Good luck with the project and everything in general :3
This game is amazingly well done. From art, to voice actors, to the smooth layout. It's a tiny bit too fast paced in terms of having the chance to "warm up" to the characters right after they come to life, but overall, I'm extremely excited to see what you have in store and I will happily wait longer for quality like this. Thank you for making such an awesome game!
Glad to hear you think so :3
Yeah, I agree about the pace! There wasn't much I could do at the time since I had to make the entire thing in 1 month for a game jam x3 Every time I participate in a jam, I'm always really conscious about the writing stage cos there's only so much you can realistically write before you have to remind yourself that you need to put it all into a playable format before the jam is over, haha. I'm also reaaaally bad at judging how long it's going to take me to put everything together and test it x3
I've gotten a little better the more jams I've done, but when it came to making DD for Secret Santa + Winter VN jam, I had the additional issue of having changed software from using Tyranobuilder on SR and Impostor, to trying out Nani x Unity for the first time. So I needed to make it pretty short overall cos I was desperately trying to learn how the new software worked on the go. It was a fun but stressful month, haha. Especially when it got closer and closer to Christmas and my family started getting a bit annoyed that I was spending so much time away from them, working like crazy on my computer >.< That's why the current version of the game is somewhat clunky. I didn't really know the optimal way of scripting it. I've already tidied up that sorta thing in the update I'm working on now that I have more experience using Nani and Unity :3
Everything was going relatively smoothly back in March/April in terms of working on the update, but I've fallen into a depression pit again for most of May >.< So things have slowed down significantly. Which sucks :(
Thanks so much for taking the time to play and comment :3
I don't have money- but I can save tho- cause it's 104php in my country and I have like 50php- but I don't have paypal and I don't know how to use things like those- And I really really really wanna play it cause the art is so good T^T Castor looks like a guy I would marry- but if I have enough money to buy and if I already know how to use paypal- I'm sure this game would be one of the games I would buy :>
WAIT FOR MEEEEE MYLOVE I'LL BE BACK-
If you haven't already, you're welcome to just drop me an email and I'll send a key cos the $2 isn't a purchase price anyhow. It's to help support/fund the development of the game cos I'm too poor to be able to afford to pay voice actors by myself x3
Is that okay for you-? If so I'm gonna email you in a sec-
I'm sorry but- I don't know how to send an email- is it okay if I message you on twitter-?
oh- nevermind- I found your email in the creator page- SORRY FOR THE BOTHER- THIS IS SO EMBARRASSING- SKKKDKABKDJBSFBX,LCBGJBGSDJKD
It's fine so don't worry about it x3 I just saw your email now and have sent the key :3 Hope you end up having fun!
this game looks so fun and i really wanna play it but i cant afford it :( wish i could but i saw youre giving free keys and i would really like one i have already sent an email :)
i had a whole ass review... but then it somehow got deleted.
overall great job, especially with how it is a lot more rational with the character
i've watched as much as i can to make a viable review but don't have money :|
looking back on it, prob would be weird to write a review on something i've only watched, so that may have saved me from awkwardness
That used to happen to me a lot, which is why I now refuse to write anything directly on a web page xD I ramble too much, and it would often get lost, haha. I always write my replies and stuff up in a separate note now where I know I can save them, haha.
The $2 isn't a purchase price anyways, it's just to help the development of the game to fund voice acting and stuff since I can't afford it myself as I don't have money either x3 So if you want a key, feel free to drop me an email to: melancholicmarionette@gmail.com
A lot will be changing compared to how the game is now though once the update is out since I've revamped all the old stuff and added a lot more choices so that players have more control over MC's personality and stuff :3
oh shoot that's pretty nice, also thanks for the key thing... Yeah I used to write stories and stuff but I don't do it much anymore, used to post them, idk where tho, but I lost at least 6 pages worth of content just from the lack of a save progress button, sorry I went off-topic, sorry if I'm imposing or anything like that. I just want to say I see a lot of potential in this and stuff and I hope you go through and continue updating this! G'day (sorry if that was awkward at all)
It always sucks to lose a bunch of writing whatever you've written >.< I've sat there replying to messages on forums and stuff in the past where I'd been typing for over an hour only to finally hit send, then watch in horror as the page refreshes, asking me to log in, losing everything xD And while I was trying to write some of the CiQ routes a couple of years ago, my laptop just switched off outta nowhere (it's old and sucks), causing me to lose a few hour's worth of work cos I didn't have autosave turned on in the software settings T_T That was pretty soul-destroying, haha.
You don't need to apologise anyhow! And you're not imposing at all, so don't worry :3 I appreciate you taking the time to write such kind words :D I'm certainly gonna try my best to keep getting updates out for the game. It might take me a while, haha, but I'll keep pushing x3 And don't worry, it wasn't awkward at all :3
I just saw your email and sent over a key, so hopefully, it gets to you alright!
Finished the game and it was so fun!! Tried to find other games like this but couldn't find any. Looking forward for the new update!! :>
Yay ^-^ I'm so glad you had fun with it! I really hope you'll end up enjoying the new content when I can finally manage to get the update out :3 Thanks for playing!
Thank you so much for a free copy, just played and sketched our beautiful Castoria~
She looks so prettyyyyy! I love it ^-^ Especially the way you've drawn her eyes! Beautiful :3 I wish I could draw T_T haha. If I could, I think I'd never stop. I was working throughout the week on the sprite for one of the new characters being added in the upcoming update. She's not ready to be revealed yet, but I hope she'll be able to compete with Castoria :D
I've played The Yandere Heaven Vn ( Which is My Favorite Vn Atm) & Than I've just completed this one,I gotta say.You Definitely Understand the word "Yandere" because these vn's you've made so far has me itching for what lies within the future for the both.I Know It'll take some time because i can see the hard work within the two vn's but even so,I'll still be waiting for the both of these outstanding vn's to be completed,Ah & To The Female VA's & Creator Ofc! Ganbatte Kurete Arigato ;)
Glad you enjoyed them both :D I'm a big yandere fan, hehe. My love of yandere characters and wanting to create some of my own was one of the reasons I started making VNs in the first place ^-^
I'm hoping I'll be able to update both games at least once before the end of the year :3 Maybe even twice if things go well!
Thanks for taking the time to play + leave such a nice comment :3
The BxG version of Apartment No.9 also has a female voiced yandere in it if you're interested :D The story is a lot more serious/darker than in YH and DD though. And there's a platonic yandere with a feminine voice in Limbo Line as well :3
This was an utter treat-- immersive and dark and delightful.
I cannot wait to see what else you come up with.
Woo! So glad you had fun with what little there is so far! With any luck, you'll find the update to be even better :3 I feel as though the numerous improvements I've made so far to the existing content make a big difference. Now that I've completed those, I can work on introducing another character to the roster and adding more story content for Castor/ia!
Thanks so much for taking the time to play and comment ^-^
THIS LOOKS SO INTERESTING i've been keeping a close eye on this for a really long while but i sadly can't afford it :( but then i saw that you were giving out free keys on the comments and i think that's really nice of you!!! so if it's alright, i would also like to ask for one! i have sent u an email already, thank you so much and i'm really looking forward to playing this game! <3
I'm glad you like the look of it so far :3 It's gonna look waaaay better once I get the update I'm working on released cos I've improved the UI and stuff + added a bunch of mechanics. I feel like it looks much slicker now, but I don't just wanna release that on its own >.< I wanna add the new content as well as part of the same update, so it's gonna probably take me another couple of months or more to get it all finished and ready for release T_T I wish I could clone myself and work faster, haha. I sent a key anyhow :3 Hope you enjoy it even if it's just the old jam version still for now.
My poor ass can't afford it :'( and IT IS ONLY 2$ 😭😭
You're welcome to drop me an email to get a key: melancholicmarionette@gmail.com
Just put your username in the subject and leave the message blank if you want :3
The $2 isn't a purchase anyways. It's a donation towards the project's development because I can't afford anything either x3 haha.
Been musing about making my own VN but I think Ren'py would be a lot easier to use than Unity since you basically just drop everything into the corresponding folder. Not sure how that would change the visuals but I've seen incredible looking VN's made in Ren'py. Also, love Castoria's route so far but take as much time as you need on developing. Costs for drawing different poses and expressions along with the voice acting must cost an arm and a leg
(no pun intended)
Go for iiiit :D I've pretty much been addicted to making VNs ever since I started out trying to create them, haha. Ren'py was actually the very first tool I used since it's free with loads of helpful tutorials. I managed to make a small test project that didn't really have a story, more just learning how to code in choices and such with some placeholder sprites. I didn't enjoy it at all >.< In fact, I almost gave up on the idea of making VNs completely, haha.
It's not that Ren'py was bad. Far from it! It's just I found the coding aspect a total headache. Sure, I didn't give myself enough time to learn everything I needed to, but I spent enough time on the test project to know that I didn't like coding one bit. And that's when I came across Tyranobuilder in a Humble Bundle.
Tyrano promised it was for writers, not coders. For people who just wanted to get on with telling a story using an easy drag and drop interface, but also with the ability to add more in-depth features if you do decide to delve into coding.
In short, it absolutely does what it says on the tin. I found it extremely easy to use, though a tad clunky in execution. I made all of my first ever game (Solipsism Reigns) using it. I wouldn't say I was 100% happy with it, but I did enjoy myself more than when I attempted to use Ren'py.
Years later, when I eventually finished SR, I ended up coming across Naninovel for Unity. From what I could see, it seemed to be the perfect sort of in-between tool that I was looking for. It also promised it was for people not too keen on proper coding, but rather than using a drag and drop interface, it uses simplified scripting. Which is soooo much faster and more efficient than drag and drop, provided you're a swift typer. The scripting language is genuinely easy to understand as well, so I've had very little in the way of headaches, haha.
Darling Duality - Winter Wish, is the first project I created using Naninovel x Unity, and because I was both trying to finish a game while also learning how it all worked within the space of a month, it's not the greatest example of what you can do with it >.< There was a lot I didn't know. My script is extremely messy. Which is why I'm currently going through all of DD's existing content and making sure everything is much smoother while making various tweaks and additions. Because my script was so bad that now I've got so much more experience, it would be too impractical to work with going forward. I've essentially had to rewrite most of it, haha.
For a far better example of what can be done with Naninovel x Unity, I would recommend checking out my Spooktober Jam project, Limbo Line. I feel as though it's much more polished than my other projects, not just because I was able to work with an incredible team of artists during the jam, but because I had learned more in general about how things work by then. Heck, I'm still learning now! I recently discovered how to create particle effects in Unity so that I can use them in Darling Duality :3
Sorry anyhow, I'm rambling here >.< What I'm trying to say is that Ren'py is amazing, and I'd say probably the best tool out there for creating VNs for most people. But for me, I find it much easier and more fun to use Naninovel x Unity :3 Nani did cost a fair bit of money even though I got it at 75% off during a Unity asset store sale, but I'd say it's been worth every penny, and I have no plans to switch to using anything else anytime soon :3 It's all just a matter of personal preference I suppose. With Ren'py, you're learning a skill that can be used for other things since you're learning Python. Naniscript can't be used outside of Naninovel, so it's far less useful as a skill but much easier and faster to grasp if you don't have the head for coding like me x3
I'm sorry I went on for so long there, haha. It's a bad habit I have whenever I get talking about stuff I'm passionate about x3 I'm really glad you've enjoyed what little there is of DD so far :3 With any luck, you'll like it even more once I've got the next update out with everything being revamped to look better, run smoother, and, of course, additional story content!
No problem, mate. I find myself rambling when I talk about something I like the same. Don't worry, Renpy isn't the make-all of visual novels. You use what you're comfortable with. I usually only code in C# in Unity but I like the simplicity of Python.
Moreover, other than just making a label and say "do this", Renpy is kinda my life when it comes to making and modding visual novels. It's good but there are multiple engines just as good or even better so never think you have yo be limited.
The thing I hate the most is that I've spent so long making VNs now, but not taken the time to learn a proper coding language, which I feel is a waste >.< but the problem is, I just hate it so much xD It's my least favourite thing about making VNs, haha. I love seeing it all come together, but actually sitting there and typing out what's necessary to make that happen kinda does my head in >.< I like writing stories, putting BGM together, editing sprites + voice acting... pretty much every aspect of making VNs, aside from the coding part, haha. It's more just a necessity with being a solo dev T_T
I've been giving some serious thought to attempting to learn C# recently though after getting a supposed complete course in a Humble Bundle a while back! Not knowing proper coding does make me feel somewhat inadequate sometimes when it comes to making VNs x3 As though I'm somehow cheating compared to the folks who have made the effort to learn Python and use Renpy! But then that's just me being silly really cos I've taught myself a whole bunch of other stuff instead >.<
I did like the look of Visual Novel Maker for a while, but I read too much about it having a number of issues so that sort of put me off of it.
I mean with you already knowing how to code, you've got so much more choice than me for what you can use, haha. I've been extremely impressed by some of the Renpy games I've played, that's for sure! I guess you're right about never having to limit yourself though :3 Someday I'd like to make a hybrid VN game, but that's a long way off cos I just don't have the required skills/knowledge for that right now, haha.
Good luck if you do end up starting a project anyhow! :3
I'd say I'm somewhat competent with coding instead of knowing how to. It's more of a repetition thing if you know what lines to use to achieve what outcome. Yeah, I like writing stories and I've lost motivation for the same amount of them simply because I think they'd be a ton better with visuals. The ideas are still there, just not taking front and centre at the moment. Giraffe Academy on YT has some really neat beginner courses on different langauages which should be able to help if you're interested.
Being a solo dev has a lot of drawbacks but the payoff is worth it in the early days. I've never really been on a team myself and about all of my work have been for my self gratitude or fantasy. It's fine though, I like to think the more you struggle, the better it's going to feel when you see how it blossoms
I'm very much a tinkerer when it comes to trying to learn stuff, even if it's not the most practical way of learning x3 So most of what I have managed to pick up has been through experimenting, haha. I struggle to find tutorials that I can actually follow >.< I don't know what it is about my darn brain, but instructions have to be written in a very specific way for me to actually understand. I guess that could be my ASD in play there. Many a time I have gone to look up help for stuff, spent ages reading through people's advice and instructions on how to achieve certain things, and just been utterly baffled by it. I often wind up super frustrated. It's as though the instructions are missing key steps, perhaps because they assume the reader would already have that knowledge, but it leaves me lost. So then I just resort to brute-forcing a problem again, haha.
I kinda get what you mean about thinking stuff would be better with visuals because I sometimes come up with ideas for audio dramas, only to buckle and end up making them as VNs instead (pretty much what happened with Darling Duality xD cos it wasn't reeeeally supposed to be a VN, haha.) I'm not sure I could ever go back to thinking about making things as text or audio-only based now because I've been infected by the VN bug x3
I'll have to give Giraffe Academy a look up when I get a chance then! With any luck, I might actually be able to follow the courses :3
Yeah, I definitely enjoy being a solo dev, but not being able to cover all the roles that a team would can sometimes be frustrating >.< Oh, how I wish I could draw! I actually used to think years ago that I would never be capable of working as part of a team cos of my anxiety, and that solo would always be the way to go for me, but after taking the plunge to team up for last year's otome jam and spooktober vn jam, I can honestly say that I reckon being part of a team made each project more fun to work on :3 Especially Limbo Line for spooktober cos that was a pretty big team when you include all the voice actors who were involved. There was such wonderful energy! And there's no way I could've come up with everything that's in the game were I on my own. It was just one of those lovely patches in time where all the pieces of the puzzle fit perfectly together ^-^ I think I was hyper pretty much all of September thanks to that, haha. It's really difficult to describe the sheer amount of joy I felt while working on that project with everyone.
All of my stuff has been self-indulgence too pretty much, haha. I don't think I'd even be capable of working on something that I wouldn't be interested in playing myself. I was actually approached last year by someone scouting for writers for a vn-style romance app on mobile. It was paid work, but with pretty strict deadlines. They wanted a sample story to see if I'd be a good fit if I were interested, and encouraged me to take a look at their current content to get an idea of what their users like to read. Since I'm broke and relatively unemployable, I thought I'd give it a shot. Well, I did not enjoy any of the chapters I sampled one bit >.< I tried a few different opening chapters of various genres, but none of them were my cup of tea. I could clearly see the sort of stuff they were after. Essentially smut stories, where choices had next to no impact, the story itself was practically non-existent, the characters were all shallow, and the steamiest of scenes were locked behind a paywall so that users would be forced to purchase the in-game currency to even see them.
Despite that, I attempted to come up with something I thought would be suitable. I purposely dimmed down the details and tried to focus on the tension-building (because one of their guidelines was to have a climactic moment + corresponding choice that could be a microtransaction in every chapter, even though the chapters were only a 5-15 minute read), but I was told that there was still too much detail and not enough drama in my submission >.< They gave me another couple of days to submit a revised version, but I was just honest and told them that I couldn't do it. I already pretty much despised what I submitted the first time. If I shaved any more off of it it would have just been a pointless husk. I could already feel a creeping dread at the thought of having to write an entire story like it, so I backed out. The money wouldn't have been worth the misery it would have caused me.
But yeah, I totally agree that the struggle makes any sort of payoff that much sweeter :3 I'm still blown away every time I get a nice comment on one of my projects! I'd carry on making stuff for as long as I'm enjoying doing it even if nobody else knew it existed, but every single bit of positive feedback I get from others is enough to fuel my hope that I might someday be able to actually make a living doing what I love. I'd rather die than slave away for someone else doing something that I hate anyways (sidenote: I think it was working in retail for a short while that really made that attitude flourish!)
I really should stop rambling anyhow cos I've just gone off on a really long one again, sorry xD I hope you do manage to bring some of your ideas to life in VN form though cos that would be brilliant :3
im not gonna play the game yet (just gonna ready myself after reading that it has self-harm) but seeing the screenshots, just wanted to say that i love the art and the designs for Castor/ia!!
Yeah, I wasn't really sure how to mention the self-harm because I knew it had to be said, but at the same time, it's not really self-harm in the typical sense. I just didn't wanna leave it out of the warnings/triggers because the last thing I want is for anyone to get hurt while playing my games :3
I'm glad you like their character designs! Though, I can't take too much credit for that because I can't draw to save my life >.< The original sprites are from an asset pack I own by a Japanese artist. I changed all the colours myself in GIMP because I like to try and do what I can to make sprite assets in my projects look as unique as possible :3
Happy to have supported and bought Darling Duality! What a fun game, omfg. The immersion in such a short amount of time was nothing short of being on par with going to the movies on release day in a dark cinema with the best popcorn and a delicious slushie. I loved the story you told and I would love to have more of it-- even if it was a book! The idea of a character being brought into "our world" and falling in love with the MC has been done before, sure, but what makes this VN unique is Castor. He/She emphasizes they are their own person, and I love how it brought a depth to the game. I'd love another VN where we get to play the game our MC played, and get to see Castor in his/her glory before being brought into our world. I'll be sure to check out other works of yours! Thank you again for an incredible experience.
Thanks so much for supporting the game ^-^ I'm super happy to hear you enjoyed what little there is of it so far! I feel honoured you think the immersion is like that :3
I can't 100% promise there will be a full version of the game Castor/ia is from to read through, BUT, I can say that their story is far from over :3 In the update I'm currently working on, not only have I added more choices + content throughout Castor/ia's existing story segments, but I'll also be including additional story for them. So you can think of the currently available 'endings' as more like paths splitting off down different routes. I just needed a way to wrap things up so it could all work as a standalone story for the jam since I only had a month to complete something to submit :3
The next update will also add a new character, but it won't even come close to completing the project >.< I have a hell of a lot planned, haha. And I think having episodic releases is probably the only viable way to go with this project because otherwise, it would be years before I could get anything out. Having episodic updates also helps a lot with funding the voice acting because I feel like if I just tried to make the whole game in one go, people might lose interest with there being a lack of updated content, and then I'd never be able to afford to fund VA for the whole game >.<
Anyhow, I'm rambling, sorry x3 If you do end up checking out any of my other games, I hope you enjoy them just as much :D
is there any chance there will be more free copies in the future? i can't afford to pay for any game right now but i'm sooo interested in playing this.
The $2 price isn't a payment/purchase for the game anyways, it's just to support development because my voice director friend told me that if I list it as free to download, people will just take advantage and never donate (that's pretty much exactly what happened when I kept refilling the community copies >.< haha) and then we won't be able to afford voice acting for the game cos it's gonna be around $800 per episode/update, and I sure as hell can't afford that myself, haha.
So while I can't refill the community copies for that reason, you're welcome to drop me an email to melancholicmarionette@gmail.com for a key :3 You don't need to write anything, just put your username from here in the subject and I'll know it's you.