I never really know what to say in these launch posts because my brain tends to be so frazzled by this point that I have no words xD But we made it in time for the jam deadline, and the demo for LOVESTARVED is now out in the wild \^0^/

I'm not sure where all the time has gone these past couple of months. It's like one minute it was May, and now it's almost July x3 What LPB and I planned to be a lovely chilled-out jam for once became the opposite since we both had things completely out of our control to deal with that kinda screwed with our schedules, haha. 

Due to that, we haven't been able to include absolutely everything we originally planned to in the demo, but most of it is in there :3 And to be honest, I feel like it's a minor miracle that we even managed to finish and release the demo at all with everything that's been going on for us individually! So the main thing is that we did it despite everything :D

Now I just have to hope that I uploaded the right builds to the page >.< That's something which causes me endless paranoia on launch days!

!!! A WORD OF WARNING !!!

I just want to put a quick reminder here for anyone concerned about potentially sensitive content that I have written what I hope is a comprehensive warnings & triggers list for this project (hidden with spoiler dropdowns for those of you who don't want spoilers!)

So please make sure to either read the full list on the page or download the text document if you have any worries about the horror/suggestive content at all. I'm also launching the demo alongside a walkthrough which will explain how to avoid the suggestive scene if it's something you'd prefer to skip :3

I personally don't feel like any of the content is particularly bad, certainly not 18-rated IMO, but then I also don't think that the Terrifier films are that bad, and I'm sure there are many who would disagree with me on that xD

When I looked up ratings on video games + what makes em fall into each category, I feel like this would probably be closest to a PEGI 16 maybe? The suggestive scenes don't depict genitals, (or anything visually, for that matter) so going by PEGI stuff, 16 seems about right!

I'm just generally unphased by fictional content whatever it contains x3 Sure, I've been grossed out by stuff, but never enough to stop watching/playing, and not to the extent that it's harmed me in any way. Everyone is different though, which is why the warnings are there :3

I do struggle to know exactly what needs to be mentioned when it comes to that sort of thing, but I've been using a big database of warnings/triggers as a reference point for the last few games I've released, and I shall be going back through my old games soon and applying the same to those because I know my older stuff is a bit lacking when it comes to content warnings >.< They're there, they're just not very detailed!

WALKTHROUGH

As I mentioned above, I've already written a walkthrough guide for the demo to release at the same time :3 If anyone happens to want to use it, you can find it here.

THE FUTURE

As this project is currently in development and only contains around 17k words of the roughly 55k full script (I finished writing the story draft before we started working on putting everything together because I've reached a point where I can't stand only having part of the story written prior to working on constructing the game... mainly looking at Darling Duality >.> it's just impractical >.<), this will be taking number 1 place as a priority project in my workload.

This means that I intend to work on finishing this before touching anything else.  I realise that's completely deviating from my schedule cos I said I was gonna work on CIQ this year (and I still might, if there's time), but it's just one of those things that I couldn't help x3 The idea got in my brain and wouldn't leave, so I had to work on it, haha.

I can't put an exact date on when we'll be able to release the full game because life is just too unpredictable >.< We're attempting to finish the full otome/josei version in time for Monstrous Desires Jam later in the year, but it's possible the full release that will include the ability to pick a feminine version of Erys & masculine version of Loni (as well as the original masc Erys & fem Loni) might end up taking us into 2025 because it's a fairly hefty chunk of work.

Sometimes I regret including the option to have GxB, BxG, GxG, and BxB in my games because it essentially (over) doubles my workload for each project, haha. Not to mention the extra cost in VA x3 But, in the end, it's always worth the extra work cos it's just nice to give more options :D

SIGNING OFF

I'm not gonna lie, I have overworked myself like an idiot once again to get this demo done in time for the end of the jam x3 The past week with the heatwave we had has been absolute hell. I didn't think anything could make the experience of testing worse, but that sure did >.< Thankfully, it's cooled down a bit now! I'm very much looking forward to more sleep cos I've only had around 3-4 hours a night the last 10 days or so, and it's starting to show, haha. You better believe I'm just collapsing into bed once I've got the demo and launch posts sent xD

I honestly dread to think how much extra caffeine I've consumed this month because I've been drinking Red Bull, Relentless, Monster, and C4 pretty much every day for the past couple of weeks, which is not normal for me x3 Back to just coffee from tomorrow!

Anyways, it's been a labour of love and will continue to be as I work on it to completion :3

I hope that you will enjoy playing it if you do decide to check it out, and don't forget to give Limbo Line a chance too if you end up having fun with LOVESTARVED :D It's set in the same universe at around the same time (takes place at SSL with a bunch of different characters), and if you've not played it already, you'll recognise some of the references from LOVESTARVED once you play Limbo Line, haha. 

In the meantime, I hope you get to have a wonderful year in general ^-^ Thanks for checking out the project <3