Darling Duality
A few things to note :3
Hey hey! So, I figured I'd make this post as I've been getting a massive increase in traffic since Manly put a vid of this up on YouTube :3
I don't want anyone to feel bad for supporting the game here x3 I just wanna be upfront about some stuff so no one winds up disappointed is all :3
Please don't expect a full game yet when supporting this project. It was originally made for a short game jam. On top of that, it is essentially episode 1 for 1 of 8+ characters of a much larger project that I have planned. Because the scope of the project is so big, I was thinking I would release updates episodically, as to make the entire game to 100% completion will likely take me years. So please keep that in mind. This is basically just the rough introductory episode for 1 character of many.
The reason that the project needs help with funding is the sheer cost of voice acting. The amazingly talented voice actors volunteered their time and skills to bring the characters to life, but it would be unfair to expect them to continue to do so without payment. As things stand, I am unemployed due to my poor mental health and am incredibly poor, so cannot afford to pay them for any future performances without help from others.
Any money that is spent on this game goes directly into future development for it. Without any funding at all, future episodes would have to be unvoiced.
So, bearing all that in mind, I hope you enjoy the game if you do decide to give it a go :3
Get Darling Duality
Darling Duality
We all have multiple sides. Pick your poison! Will you choose sweet or sinister? Let yandere shenanigans begin!
| Status | On hold |
| Author | Melancholy Marionette |
| Genre | Visual Novel, Interactive Fiction |
| Tags | Amare, Casual, Dark, Dating Sim, Horror, Otome, Psychological Horror, Romance, yandere |
| Languages | English |
More posts
- Development FAQJan 26, 2024
- Darling Duality Progress Report & Plans For The FutureJan 26, 2024
- 30 Days Wild Fundraising Again (wallpaper + more as thanks :3)Jun 01, 2023
- Demo WalkthroughMar 06, 2023
- Castor Needs YOU! (and he brought flowers ^_-)Mar 04, 2023
- End of the year rambling + 1st CG goal met :3Dec 23, 2022
- Mini-Update ReleasedNov 04, 2022
- Happy Halloween! (+ mini-update delayed due to internet death >.<)Oct 31, 2022
- Incoming mini-update for Halloween + OST ReleasesOct 26, 2022
- My Spooktober VN Jam 2022 Projects Are Out Now (one of them is related to DD) \^...Oct 01, 2022
Comments
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i just want to know when the next update will come, it doesnt have to be a exact time just a rough estimate.
I’m going to be writing up a big post about this as soon as I can because I keep getting asked this sort of question recently, but I’m really busy with irl stuff atm and also ill right now too, so I haven’t had the time or energy to answer everyone or type up a post >.<
The short answer is, not anytime soon. Like, not even within the next year. I’m not even close to finishing the writing on the project yet, so there’s that in itself that’s going to take quite some time because the scope is pretty big with multiple character routes. But on top of that, I also don’t have anywhere near enough funding to get all the art and voice acting done for all of the routes I have planned, so even if I had finished the writing, it will likely take years to actually raise the funds to cover the other aspects of the game.
I was going to try and release updates episodically, but I realise now that’s not going to work either, so the only way I can work things is to just finish the game completely and release it eventually. So there won’t actually be any updates. It will just be fully released whenever it’s ready. It really wouldn’t surprise me if that ends up being around 3-5 years from now or something. Cos I’m just working on it solo and I don’t have much money to put towards voice acting and art >.< Plus there are other things I want to work on/finish before this.
When I have a chance, I’ll write up a post on the project explaining everything in more detail :3
Thanks so much for your interest in the project in the meantime :3
Hey, I am here because of Manly and because I really liked what I saw. Just wanted to say awesome job and I'm looking forward to seeing more from you in the future.
Thanks so much :3 I think if Manly hadn't played this, practically o one would know it was a thing, haha. I've been working away on the project's upcoming update, but recently took a proper break cos of burning myself out like an idiot, haha. The initial plan was to aim for an end of summer release, but there's no way that's gonna happen now >.< I'm just gonna keep working on it when I can though and I'll get there in the end, haha.
Thanks again for taking the time to write such kind words :3
i love this game! :3
Glad to hear it :D Hopefully, you'll end up loving the next big update when I finally manage to get it out x3 It's so much work that I keep confusing myself, haha. But progress is happening, albeit slowly!
Who is the artist for this game?
There's no artist in particular :3 I've purchased a number of background and sprite packs to use with creating VNs, and then I just edit the colours and stuff myself so that they look more unique to my games since the packs are available for anyone to buy. I just don't like using assets as they come (especially sprites) if I can help it. So with this, I changed all the colours on the sprite I picked for Castor/Castoria. I think the original artist selling the sprite packs is Japanese, same goes for the seller of the background packs. The UI is mainly just made by me though in a mixture of GIMP and ComiPo :3
If I had the ability, I'd draw stuff myself, but I'm not very good at art >.<
Hello.
I have been watching the MBAH channel for years.
Mainly because he plays games that I would never touch.
What can they say? I rarely play anything that is not a strategy, "mass effect" or "Witcher" . Your game is the second exception to this rule.
The way you write ...
There's something about it, that really resonates with me...
Aside from the financial issues, do you need some help with this project? Could I help translating this game into Polish languge for example, send a golden thought of the day, or something like that?
Aww, well that's awesome and I'm very honoured! I'm also a huuuge Mass Effect fan, haha. I'm excited to play the remastered trilogy, but I don't know when the heck I will get to because I struggle with allowing myself to take breaks from project work >.< I never did manage to play any of the Witcher games, but my brother has been telling me for years that I need to x3
I'm glad you feel that way about my writing :3 I have basically no confidence in anything I do, haha. So it's very difficult for me to tell if I'm making an okay job of things or if I suck!
It would certainly be cool to have a Polish translation :D But it would be a hell of a lot of work for you if you were to translate everything I have planned for the full game because, by the eventual end of it, it's probably going to end up quite long >.< It might also be a bit difficult to implement in terms of getting the expression changes to match up again because even though they only need to match the voice acting, I would likely have to change the trigger time of the expression changes in the text to account for like the difference in sentence lengths between languages and stuff. But still, it would be doable! And it would be nice to have the game available to play in different languages :3
You'll have to excuse how much of a noob I am because I had to Google what a golden thought of the day was x3 I don't know if Google is telling me the correct thing, but is it like an inspirational quote of the day type thing? If so, that's super sweet! If it's not, you'll have to explain to me what it is so I can learn, haha.
Either way, I really appreciate your kind offer :3 Any sort of support is wonderful because it can be tough working solo sometimes. Especially if you're having a hard day cos it can get very frustrating, and a few kind words can really make all the difference and lift your spirits ^-^
Don't worry about it. That's how things end when I try to tell a joke. As for translation, I have some experience in this matter and I know that like all things worth doing, they will require a lot of work.
As for help with the project, well ...
I've always wanted to make my own VN. Having an insight into the creative process would help me a lot. As you can see, I am driven by purely selfish reasons :)
Love to write more but I don't want to clutter your forum. How about e-mail?
Haha, I'm very hit and miss with jokes xD Sometimes I get them, other times I have to have them explained to me x3 or I get them after 5 minutes of thinking about them intensely, haha.
You should definitely give it a go when you feel comfortable to cos it's a lot of fun to make a VN :D
And sure, you're welcome to drop me an email: melancholicmarionette@gmail.com
I try to respond to stuff as fast as I can, but sometimes I end up forgetting, and other times my introvert brain decides it's had enough of communicating for one day so just shuts down and leaves stuff until the next day, haha. So don't worry if I'm a little slow to respond! I'll get there in the end :3
I can't believe I found this gem~
I thank Thee for your work and the VA who made this awesome game.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date with Castoria~
Best Wishes and may you continue to create amazing works.
Well, thank YOU for the support :3 I'm glad you had fun with Castoria! I can't wait to bring more of her story and everyone else's to life in the future :D
Thanks for the kind words! They're much appreciated.
I enjoyed my first date with her, and I didn’t get turned into a bloody mess with a bloody name on my back, I count that as a success~
I can’t wait for the continuation of the game but I just want to say a few words.
I’m not a great writer I just dabble so I might sound like a-know-it-all a little… but, you have a way of writing that sucks the attention of whomever reads the lines of characters you write. The VA may have given them more colour but your writing gave the characters life aswell made a great story.
I may have stumbled on this great hame due to manly, but Your game and writing made me stay for more things to come.
And sometimes you just need someone to say it to you to realize what you do is amazing. Thanks for making these treasures that lift some peoples spirits up, specially if they need it.
Thanks for the game and I’ll play your other work while I wait for some more Castoria time and some other girls~
P.s just… don’t tell her I said that……
Hehe, yeeeah, that is always a bonus when you get to keep your flesh intact xD You should have seen the scene I cut which takes place after that not-so-nice ending, aheh >.< I cut it not just because there wasn't time to add it during the jam, but also because I wasn't sure if it would be acceptable! It may sneak its way back into a future episode though, haha.
It makes me super happy to hear you think that about my writing :3 Due to unfortunate circumstances in my personal life, I was never able to go to college or uni to study anything despite always having a love for reading and writing fiction since I was a kid. So I'm certainly not qualified in any way, haha. I kind of just muddle along hoping that it's not too bad when I write stuff x3 And also keep hoping I will improve the more I write because one of the scriptwriters I most look up to gave advice on writing during a Q&A, and he said the best thing you can do to improve is to keep on writing, haha.
Dialogue is actually my favourite thing to write :D As a kid, I remember my teachers in school telling me, you have a wonderful imagination, but you write too much dialogue in your stories xD When I came across visual novels and found that they have more dialogue than a typical novel, I thought, oh yes, this is my cup of tea! Plus, I mean, VNs are like a more epic version of those choose your own adventure books that were around and I adored as a kid :D
But yeah, having voice actors speak the lines absolutely breathes true life into the characters in the most incredible way :3 I'm a huuuge fan of voice acting for that very reason.
With my self-confidence being so crappy, it's all too easy to tell myself that I suck, or on really bad days, that everything is pointless even when I know in my heart it's not because I love it. So yeah, hearing kind words such as yours does genuinely make a difference :3 You mentioned lifting people's spirits, well any time I get a lovely comment and the like, that's exactly what it does for me! It can be the difference between having a poopy day or feeling like everything is okay after all, haha. So thank you for everything ^-^
If it's BxG stuff that you're interested in, I'm hoping to have the BxG version of Apartment No.9 out by the end of the summer! Though, it's quite a different style of VN to DD! I am, of course, also working on DD's writing.
And yeah, probably shouldn't tell Castoria you said that or you might end up tied to your bed for fuck knows how long x3
Oh wow, so there Was an even more gruesome scene....I wished I saw it, not wanting that to happen to me tho XD
Life is unpredictable, sometimes it will deal you the best hand in the world.. and sometimes you get the worst cards in history, but what we can control is how we deal with it. If you can keep moving forward despite the circumstances then you're already amazing to keep on pursuing your love for writing. I wished I continued writing myself, so don't let the fire burn out.
For me it was the scenes that was my forte, putting the fight/dance/love scene into words on paper was what gave me the greatest joy. As for dialogue I could do one on one but, as the characters increase I lose tract easily. I remembered the first VA I played, it was magical and I got hooked easily. I wished I could have gotten advise back then, so keep fighting and writing! ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ✎
It's amazing! They add even more colour and life~
Everyone needs a couple of good words for when things start to go grey.
But worry not, cause the positive words are on the way!
You make people smile with just a few words that you wrote.
Just look at the people here that your writing brought!
It's easy to let dark thoughts get in the way.
But don't let those pesky things ruin your day!
Just think of all the people that read your work and just smile~
You bring laughter and enjoyment all across the Nile!
So I wont waste more time and just get to the point.
You are amazing, not just writing and all, you don't disappoint.
But as the you who keeps living each and every day.
You give strength to people life us who just muddle our way.
So from all of us weary travelers who read your works~
We are thankful even though our life sometimes hurts...
Life isn't so bad specially with you around.
So thank you, for all the works that you do.
So smile, because that what you give people too.
Just a little poem I wrote!
Haha I'd like that, I do like to project myself into the mc, it makes playing better~ so yeah BxG, but I still play anything really. I can't wait for more to come~
She knows........... omg.. she's hunting me! send halp! (╥︣﹏᷅╥᷅)
As much as I want to get mauled by her and spam this thread with post, can I talk to you via email then?
Yeeeah, and even though there wouldn't have been any art depicting it, it was R18 in nature and got quite grim, haha. I still don't know if I should ever include it because while I'm sure most fans of yandere characters are likely okay with horror elements, R18 sexual stuff can be a whole different kettle of fish!
You're absolutely right about at least having some control over how we deal with stuff :3 I was going through a bad patch late last year I think around maybe September/October time, and a friend told me something along the lines of, the darkness can never fully engulf you as long as you hold on to a little bit of light. I had sorta been fuelling my depression by listening to some very angry music. Thinking that because I was feeling so low, happier or more motivating tracks would just piss me off. When my friend told me that, I stopped listening to the song I had on immediately, and switched it to something more upbeat. Those words + changing the song already improved how I was feeling enough for me to realise I'd just been sorta wallowing/drowning in depression. Sometimes it just takes one little push to help pick yourself up and climb outta that hole!
Hey, you could always pick writing back up if the mood strikes you :3 It's never too late to pick up a pen or start typing away if you have some ideas flying around.
I struggle with making scenes sound exciting I think >.< I can see them so vividly in my head, but I don't do a very good job of bringing them to life on paper, or on-screen I guess to be more accurate. Yeah, I definitely find it harder to deal with dialogue the more characters there are too, haha. I prefer one on one interactions in both reality and games though just because they're more personal. And being on the spectrum, I've always found interacting with more than one person at a time extremely difficult anyhow.
But yeah, you should definitely keep writing if you still have a passion for it :D I mean, look, you technically already started there with that poem! Which is incredibly sweet and I really appreciate it by the way :3 I used to love writing poetry when I was younger! Mostly dark stuff, surprise, surprise x3 but I did enter the odd local competition and wrote one that was just feelings from the heart for my grandma at her funeral since she always loved to read my poems.
It put a big ol' smile on my face reading your poem anyhow, so thank you for writing that. I shall try to keep it in mind when I'm having a crappy day :3
Well, hopefully, I'll be getting BxG A9 out before the end of summer. Then something probably gender-neutral for Spooktober VN jam if I can manage it. Plus I'll be working on DD at the same time!
Hehe, oh dear! If she's hunting you... you're probably screwed x3 Sorry!
And sure, you're welcome to drop me a message to: melancholicmarionette@gmail.com
If it takes me a while to reply to stuff, it's just cos my introvert brain gets overloaded easily and kinda shuts down on its own after a certain interaction threshold for the day xD
I'm glad to see that you're stuff is finally able to get out there! I love all of your work! Cheers to the future!
Aww, thanks so much for saying so :3 I'm honestly a little overwhelmed (in the best possible way, of course) by these last couple of days, haha. I never expected in a million years that the game would get so many people looking at it because there have been almost no views/downloads since the jam ended x3 I sure do owe Manly a hell of a lot for the spotlight he shone on the game!
Cheers, indeed :3 I shall keep working away, haha. Thank you again for your support :D
Right on
You'll be popular and your game too
That sure would be pretty cool if it happened :D Regardless, I'll keep on working away because I'm super passionate about this stuff :3 Thanks for the kind words!
You're welcome
Dou itashimashite
im glad your getting more support :)
Thanks :3 Me too cos any support makes a huge difference :D
That's understandable! Maybe staring a Kickstarter or Paetron could help? I'm sure there are many people who would love to see your unique visual novel idea to life!
I have had a Patreon account since launching my first game last summer, but I don't really get a lot of folks heading over there x3 I think maybe because I can't really offer much that's exciting? Like I know some devs who are also artists can put up cool sketches and stuff! But I have no drawing talent T_T haha. It probably also doesn't help that I think I'm generally just quite unknown as a dev. It's my own fault for not trying to be more active on social media and build a following, but with social anxiety, I find social media terrifying >.<
My friend who was the voice director for this + voice actor in some of my other projects wanted to try and put together a Kickstarter for one of my other projects (CiQ). His artist friend from Japan redrew all the sprites in her style, we got a cast together to make a brand new fully voiced acted demo, and then the plan was to launch the new demo alongside a KS. To try and build up some kind of a following, we were posting character intro/reveal vids on YT once a week, but they only got like 30-ish views >.<
So, right now, I'm super stuck with CiQ. The demo has been sat on my PC waiting to be released since January, but it looks like there's no way we can get a KS off the ground because hardly anyone knows about the project. If we had an artist to post regular sketches to help build a following, that might help, but as it stands, it's like the project is just dead in the water :( Which sucks because I have the entire thing written and ready to be made into a game.
I will definitely finish it still at some point because I never leave things unfinished :3 But it's disheartening, ya know. We only wanted to do the KS to get enough funding to have the game fully voiced + get a CG artist + cover fees and maybe put it on Steam. We weren't even gonna pay ourselves a penny out of it xD If I have to finish and release it without voice acting, so be it, but it's a shame because we have an amazing cast.
A KS for DD sure would be handy too since it's a project which is heavily reliant on voice acting and I plan to have 8+ characters with 4+ episodes each in the final version. I'm still not sure if enough people know about it/would support it for a campaign to be successful though >.< I've heard that it's super hard to get a KS to be successful :(
PS. Sorry for rambling so much x3
No no don't be sorry! I'm glad you took the time to type out a throughout response! its shame that you have all of those obstacles though. I wish i could help somehow! Unfortunately I'm poor as well and I'm just starting to take art classes to learn how to illustrate. I'll still support you however i can!
Well, you're already helping just by being so sweet :3 A few kind words never fail to lift my spirits! Sometimes a nice comment is enough to turn a bad day into a good one, so I really appreciate the support.
That's awesome that you're starting art classes :o Good luck with those and I hope you have lots of fun in the process :3