jeneara

[jeneara]

Issue 26 of Amare Fortnightly Bulletin 1/10/24 - 15/10/24

Hello everybody,

Issue #26 is out now! This month we are starting off with a bang with a brand new 'Autumn/Fall' themed design. What do you think about our cozy new theme? Are you enjoying spicy crunchy leaf season and spooky season? or spring? for those of us in the southern hemisphere. 

We’ve got a mix of everything in this issue, with quite a few new releases. So make sure to check them out. Thank you all for your continued support, and we can’t wait to see you again next issue!

~ The Team

Itch Link for Issue Download - https://amaregames.itch.io/amare-new-bulletin-2024/devlog/816536/issue-26-release-oct-1-oct-15

[jeneara]

Prospects and Peonies Update

Me: I'm gonna do monthly updates! Narrator: That was in fact a lie. SOOO it's been a hot minute and a lot of things have been happening in my personal life, which meant my updates were well. *crickets* I wasn't too worried about it mainly because I'm not in full development of P&P it's just currently a side project. When it is upgraded to centre stage updates will be more regular. That's all to say I have been slowly chugging along with P&P

So what is the current stage of the project. Common route: 90% done - Approx 31.5k This was 100% done but then I felt like it needed another day for pacing so I wrote that in for the character's route I was working on and will need to flesh out those scenes for the other 3 LIs.

First Route: 50% Done - Approx 17.5K I was very excited to hit 50% of the first characters route.

Other Routes: Not officially started I have outlines and scene breakdowns but I don't count any of that towards my total word count. Current Word Count: 50k - So just under 30% written.

Writing Rambles

How did I decide which character route to write first? I'm going in alphabetical order, it's easier for me in terms of practicality.

How long do I expect the routes to be? I'm currently estimating 35k per route but that is subject to change as I draft it. That puts the game at approx 170k

How much branching do I expect the routes to have? I'm currently sitting around 30% branching on the common route and that's kinda the goal. What does that mean? That approx 30% of the writing is conditional in each route. Meaning you won't see it on every playthrough of that route. I'm not sure how much that will translate over into the routes. I should update my spreadsheet and find out. Say tuned.

Anyway, I'm still slowly making progress. I'm hoping to have the first route's draft and complete common route finished during Qtr 2 of this year.

Talk to you soon.

[jeneara]

Prospects and Peonies - August Update

So quick update of what I have been doing for P&P. I wanted to do more regular updates but naturally life decided that was not to be the way. So here is just some random info dump. Current* info about Prospects and Peonies *I say current because this is subject to change at my discretion. Setting

Regency England Although set in the regency period, I am not aiming to be historically accurate - Think Historical Romance novels and Bridgerton. Main Character

Lady Wilhelmina Mansfield - First name Changeable. More details about our heroine to come. Love Interests

The game currently features 4 romance options. 2 Male and 2 Female. More details about our LI's to come.

Types of routes

This game will feature a common intro route that will split off into individual story routes. There may be scenes and scenarios that feature in all of them, but the routes are standalone. One does not have an impact on another.

Current Word Count: Around 42,500 words or 25% written This project is not my main focus so I suspect the word count progress will fluctuate depending on my current workload. My plan is to get a lot of the writing done before I start getting any more assets. I really want a strong foundation before I take this project to the next level. Alright that's all for now. Thanks so much

[jeneara]

So I started officially writing my first game - Prospects and Peonies. It's something I had worked on and off again over the past year as a palette cleanse after working on the website. Recently I've been making some more marked progress in development so I have come out of the woodwork to start posting updates on this account. I always feel like my updates on tumblr have to be super long and detailed and it was one of reasons I moved over to twitter. But we all know about that dumpster fire. So I have returned. My updates may not be long. Maybe only a few sentences. Word Count updates, premise and my thinking's and stuff.

So if your interested stick around.

I will try to do small updates weekly.

Logo by the amazing @magicbench

[jeneara]

Find more of my work here!

[jeneara]

Complex and Game art commissions

Aside from my emergency priced normal commission sheet- I wanted to go into the art that I draw that is either more complex or for more complex situations than just a one time commission or a digital painting made for personal use. I am opening my services for half body sprite art and watercolor/gauche style background art. (at this time I do not have approved background art that I can use for my portfolio- will update asap)

I am also opening commissions for more complex art styles such as stylized paint techniques and semi-realism art styles. Though this is not art I will do for game art such as sprites and CGs, I also feel like it should be definitely separate from my main commission sheet art, as the pricing is more unique to each commission versus a blanket price model. 

It took a while to come up with two distinct styles that I knew I could draw consistently and with multiple expressions. Each sprite style will include 10 expressions per sprite. This however, does not include clothing/hairstyle/pose variations. Hair/clothing variations start at $10 per outfit/hairstyle per sprite and poses are an additional $20 per sprite- each new pose will include the base 10 expressions. Additional expressions are $5 each after the initial base ten. I don’t mind assisting with character design. Women, men, elderly and children, as well as plushies and pets can be designed as sprites. I don’t draw highly detailed mecha or furries as these are not my strengths. 

Not all scenes are CGs, but for those who are looking to make games that feature CGs, here are a few of the styles I have previously drawn scenes in. If I draw the sprites, I can be sure to provide the consistency to draw the same characters from various angles in various situations and lighting to retain that consistency in your projects. CGs usually range anywhere from $80 to $150 depending on style, detail and complexity. 

About Game Art:

Game art and commission work for projects that may be commercial have different terms of use. If I am creating a piece that will be for commercial use, we must go into contract and need to discuss terms we both can agree on such as signage and the like. Also, game art commissions are not the same as one off art pieces for promotional purposes. Please be sure to contact me direct message if you are interested in a game art commission. 

Semi-realism art can be very stylized and/or very detailed. So because it can very so much, price is tbd based on the individual project. 

I hope to hear from you soon about the many styles of art I do- hopefully I can draw something complex for you or your projects!

Alwaysjmb~

[jeneara]

Emergency Commissions

I absolutely am dying of nervousness as I write this. 2020 has been a hard year on everyone. So I don’t expect anyone to be shocked that it has been a difficult year for me as well. I have been through the wringer- but I’ve kept myself as busy as I could with building my two main visual novel projects, The Closet Door and Sunset Memory Sunrise Promise. That’s where my passion has been these days. 

But in the present- recently I’d been pretty sick and missed a lot of work because of it. My son was the same- the last month we took turns being bedridden and going to a myriad of doctor appts. This really took a toll on my income stability, as I do live check to check. And this month- I am behind… and no sooner than I was late, I received a five day notice. So I am desperately trying to earn the money to save myself the heartache of termination of my lease and eviction. I’ve been completing some commissions! Of the $500 I was short a few days ago- I am proud to say that I’ve been commissioned and completed enough commissions to bring my dept down to $175! So I am thankful for all those angels who commissioned me in my time of need- and as well, I love the work I’ve done for them! 

I’m sharing my emergency commission sheet with you, with pricing discounted so that I can quickly complete any work you need, and in turn if commissioned by you I can possibly make enough to save my roof over my head as well as over my son’s. We work- but don’t get paid in time to beat the five day deadline. So I’m truly at the mercy of those who would take a chance on my talent as well as on me. 

Below is pricing for adding backgrounds.

I call this special sheet below same day guarantee, because these are default styles that I can complete rather fast. Each of these images were completed in between 15 minutes to an hour. I consider any background in these styles minimal, as I usually use template brushes or simple watercolors to complete them. It is still imperative that you be available and clear and communicative for this to work, however- if I don’t know what to draw, I can’t get it to you fast!

Guys, it would mean the world to me to stay in my place. Arizona is no place to be homeless, and though I’ve done it before- never here and never in a world wrought by a pandemic. So if at all you can commission me for something, i’ll be glad to take on your project! I’ve got great references and I have yet to ghost on a project. 

If interested, please reach out to me via direct message. All payment is to be made via Paypal in USD. Thank you again so much for reading, and if you can’t commission me at this time, that’s fine too- please pass this along and if you could wish me luck I’d appreciate it <3. 

[jeneara]

Heroine for Hire is so close to being funded right now with only 6 hours to go! If you are able, please help this dev get over the line. She is an amazing writer! Her works include Ocean Pearls: Kissed by the Sea and Pairs.

24 hours left!

It’s crunch time, everyone! This is the deciding day that really will show whether or not Fai’s route will be funded.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/chouette/heroine-for-hire/

First, I’d like to thank everyone for their support thus far, not only with the posts here on Kickstarter, but also for the retweets on Twitter and reblogs on Tumblr, the response on Reddit, the shares on Discord in various servers and pretty much everything you’ve done thus far to promote Heroine for Hire!

I really appreciate the ratings and the reviews that were done as well!

I am really hoping for the campaign’s success since anything can happen in the last 48 hours so, let’s aim for a miracle. :D

I mentioned before that I was posting in-character support so here’s a few more!

This is Ivis, the younger sister of Princess General Esmerelle. They don’t always get along but… well. Yeah, no that’s about it.

This is Sir Veris, whose route is already completed. He’s a bit… lazy so you can trust he was dragged out of bed for this one. Still, at least he tried! Kind of. Sort of. A little.

Last but not least, Lyre’s twin sister, Lute, gives her support and greetings!

The final message will come from Fai and Lyre together, so look forward to it as much as I’m looking forward to seeing if we fund!

Let’s do it!

//owl.

[jeneara]

24 hours left!

It’s crunch time, everyone! This is the deciding day that really will show whether or not Fai’s route will be funded.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/chouette/heroine-for-hire/

First, I’d like to thank everyone for their support thus far, not only with the posts here on Kickstarter, but also for the retweets on Twitter and reblogs on Tumblr, the response on Reddit, the shares on Discord in various servers and pretty much everything you’ve done thus far to promote Heroine for Hire!

I really appreciate the ratings and the reviews that were done as well!

I am really hoping for the campaign’s success since anything can happen in the last 48 hours so, let’s aim for a miracle. :D

I mentioned before that I was posting in-character support so here’s a few more!

This is Ivis, the younger sister of Princess General Esmerelle. They don’t always get along but… well. Yeah, no that’s about it.

This is Sir Veris, whose route is already completed. He’s a bit… lazy so you can trust he was dragged out of bed for this one. Still, at least he tried! Kind of. Sort of. A little.

Last but not least, Lyre’s twin sister, Lute, gives her support and greetings!

The final message will come from Fai and Lyre together, so look forward to it as much as I’m looking forward to seeing if we fund!

Let’s do it!

//owl.

[jeneara]

We’re less than 1k away from meeting our goal! It seems that Veris has some words to say! 

 https://kickstarter.com/projects/chouette/heroine-for-hire 

…Thanks, Veris. -__-;;

[jeneara]

Just ten days are left on this campaign! If you want to show support and romance a half-human, half-fire elemental blacksmith, don’t miss out on your chance!

[jeneara]

We’re 67% of the way there with 32 hours to go! We won’t be able to make our game without your support ♥ You can get the full game starting at 13USD!

Kickstarter

The Spanish Privateer is a pirate otome that takes place during the Golden Age of Piracy, featuring Isabel Carlota de Castilla, the altar runaway, and three romanceable men (the captain, the quartermaster, and the bard)! The game will feature 227K words, sixteen endings total, love, friendship, and personality meters, and approximately seven CGs per route! Support our Kickstarter here, and play the demo here. 

[jeneara]

Hey guys! Here with this week’s update!

Summary:

2 new BGs this week

Numerous small sprite variations for Morgan

Two CGs 

Asset coding for the interludes

Editing a few scenes to flesh them out

Scoring Caissa’s route

Testing Caissa’s entire route playthrough

Released a new build for beta testers

Received feedback. Corrected a lot of annoying typos like “to to”

The Ramble:

So…you may have noticed a lack of one particular thing in the summary. Writing.

That’s because I didn’t do any writing this week! LoL

I think if you look back on last week’s updates it’s actually obvious I was starting to burn out on writing and needed a break, though I kept pushing myself to try to write more, write faster. And early this week, I thought I’d give myself a day off from it and work on CGs or something. And it was just…*nice.*

So I thought I’d give myself a few more days off from writing. And then I decided I was going to take a week off from writing. 

About midway through I kind of started having the itch to work on writing again but I forced myself to not do it. I focused on art, on coding, on testing. On anything but writing.

I got a lot done but I did not write. And I think it was a much needed break, honestly. (To be fair, I did write some - but it was in the form of editing a few scenes. Nothing major.)

So let’s talk about what I did this week:

For Morgan’s sprite, I added a ton of her variations and some new outfits. I coloured and set up three additional hairstyles (wet hair, formal hairstyle, ponytail for training scenes). I added a few other small variations - injuries she gets at a couple of points, for instance. I also did a couple of her additional outfits. Like the gown she wears during the party in Caissa’s route, Reuben’s shirt, and a few other things.

I didn’t actually code these into the scenes yet. But they are there now! 

I completed two more “introduction” CGs - one for Quill and one for Yuu.  

I did asset coding throughout the “interludes” but do need a couple of additional BG variations for part of it. While asset coding, I made a few edits (as I always do). 

I also put the actual choice scoring into Caissa’s route so his content would be accessible for testing. Then I playtested it once.

With BGs, scoring and some sprites (not all LoL), Caissa’s route is now in the alpha state and is ready for the first route of testing! Exciting!

I sent this out to beta testers and have started receiving feedback! (And have already made some corrections and fixes - some minor typos and some bigger issues with variations not being triggered properly.)

Sneak Peeks and Previews:

This week in BGs, we got one of the images I’ve most been looking forward to - the Cor Solaris in-door garden. A lot of sweet scenes in the Endgame routes take place here. It is a favourite spot for people to relax.

And it turned out so lovely!

Here are some of Morgan’s new variations - wet hair, a fancy dress, and a hospital gown. There are several others - two additional hairstyles, a couple of additional outfit changes have been completed, and a few other things like bruises, cuts, etc.

Upcoming Week:

Honestly, I’m not sure what all I’ll do. Probably some writing and some asset related stuff.

I need to get some BG variations set up and coded, so I will probably do that.

I expect I’ll continue hearing from beta testers too! So it’ll be a “Whatever I want to work on” sort of week! That is all for now!

See you next time.

[jeneara]

Tuff News

10/13/20

This week is going to be a doosy for me. I'm not sure how much development I can pack in with everything that will be going on. So essentially it will be the quiet week. I've just been doing maintenance things, such as set the game's chapters up in the game's code for TCD. Renpy and I are back to spending time with one another... (Sob noises in the distance)

With the Lets Play with sneak peek included around the corner, I'm just making sure the i's are dotted and the t's crossed. XD

For Sunset Sunrise, I am doing more reading than anything else these days. I've been attempting to get myself acquainted with Naninovel, as I have been very intetested in more flexibility with this game and the direction I want to take it.

Not a lot of exciting things going on- but here's something cool:

The sleepy town of Shoreville celebrates the fall season with a local Oktoberfest. The locals really get into the feastive spirit with it. So I'm looking for a way to share some fun doings to show off the Shoreville town spirit! Who knows what I'll come up with! (Just know Demetri has already put in his bid)

I'll keep you guys in the loop!

AlwaysJmB~

[jeneara]

Save the Date!

Tuff Mallow Discord server will be hosting a Let's Play of The Closet Door including the not yet released Chapter Three on October Friday, October 30th at 7:30pm MST. It'll be read by yours truly, AlwaysJmB!

I'm excited about it and looking forward to it! (Flailing in my seat right now) I'll be using my silly voices and answering any questions live, so make sure to tune in! And as always, know that you guys help me make great games, so I appreciate your participation and support! I definitely wouldn't have gotten even this far without you! 💗

I can't wait to see you there!

Always JmB~

[jeneara]

Tuff Tuesday 10/6/20

FALL SEASON IS UPON US!!!

I’m hyped for it. So hyped that I actually did something pretty awesome and I wanted to share it. All sprite bases for TCD are done! You read correctly! The full cast of The Closet Door, which turned out to be eighteen sprites in total are done and currently being plugged into the game’s code. 

Meet everyone you haven’t already met in the demo! I can’t wait to show you their part in Faun’s story! 

And you know what that means! I’ll be posting a special Tuff Mallow Server only Let’s Play for TCD featuring chapter 3 later this week! Keep a lookout! 

As for SMSP, I’m working on the common route for the demo. After really revisiting my suspense roots, I wanted to make Sunset Memory Sunrise Promise actually embody that suspenseful mystery and romantic story style I remember so well from my favorite books and movies from back in the day. So though the common route was at a time written out- I’m revamping it yet again to make the story flow better. Fingers crossed guys!

Fall! I can’t say it enough! Some of my favorite holidays and celebrations are in fall! I won’t talk you to death but just know I’ll be bombarding you with lots of fall happenings surrounding Tuff Mallow and Tuff Mallow Discord server. Stay tuned and I’ll be checking in with you sooner than you think!

[jeneara]

Hi everyone! Please consider backing this game by an incredibly talented writer and game developer for whom I have a ton of respect. She is crowdfunding additional content for a game you can find here:

https://chouette.itch.io/heroine-for-hire

It’s a really adorable and fun fantasy project that is so very worthy of your support. Chouette writes really wholesome and fun content with representation sorely needed in this genre.

I really believe she’s a great person, a great writer, and a developer who deserves support. Please check out her project - and more importantly, spread the word. Marketing is so tough for small developers like us and we really rely on word of mouth advertising.

If you play her game and enjoy, please also leave a review. Reviews help *so* much when it comes to visibility on sites like itch.io. And that kind of thing is just crucial to our ability to succeed and continue making games.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to have a look at this project!