becausewerehere

[becausewerehere]

Quick Update

Hi! Just making a very quick post here as I've realised I've not said anything in quite a while! (Where does all the time go... -_-) I've been tending to give (small) updates on the Discord channel, but in the off-season between releases, I forget that I should post things here too~

Essentially, I just wanted to reassure any BWH-blog-checkers that things are still ticking along! I'm sure you all know by now that (to lift from a comment I just posted on Itch) I tend to keep my head down and not post online very much while I'm working on things. But I care a lot about finishing this story; I really cannot foresee it being abandoned at any point, no matter how slow progress is.

As usual, I can't really give any estimates as to how much longer it'll be, because Real Life always comes along and gets in the way whenever I do that haha, but I do know that I'm going to have a lot more time to be working on things soon, so I'm quite hopeful about it all. I'll be making announcements, store pages etc. once I'm more sure of a release date~ I hope you're all doing well in the meantime!

[becausewerehere]

Just a very quick post to mention that Acts I and II of bleak WW1 otome VN Because We’re Here are currently 30% off in the Itch Summer Sale! Act III is really coming along and so this seemed like a good time to push the first two acts for one last potential influx of new players before the next act is released, ideally sometime this year~ I’m hoping to get the store page up within the next couple of weeks!

If you’re interested, you can buy them - together or separately - HERE ON ITCH.IO!

[becausewerehere]

The Because We’re Here fanart continues, in the slow run-up to Act III’s release! (I love the thought of making the fanart page of this tumblr as comprehensive as possible! It’s such a cool thing for me to look over when I need pepping up!)

Today’s selection comes in the form of an Otto Junkers Appreciation Post, all from Yaneko on Twitter! Thank you as always, Yaneko, these are fantastic~

[becausewerehere]

I seem to receive a good few Asks and messages from people yet to play BWH asking me about character deaths, so I thought I’d do a roundup reply! Given the nature of the game’s setting, it’s a big part of the story that a lot of characters, including love interests, die. And I get asked a lot whether it’s pre-determined, whether you can prevent any of these, or even whether it’s random. Maybe I should change the store copy a little bit in order to make this more clear - it’s something I’ll consider.

This was also the subject of a discussion on Windmill Corner (the BWH Discord) recently - so I’ll try and summarise it into something publicly on the tumblr here rather than locking it behind a Discord haha.

SO! ESSENTIALLY...

It’s pre-determined. The game has romantic scenes at irregular intervals, in which you can choose who to spend time with, but the remaining 90% of the game’s content is the plot, which is one set storyline that you cannot alter - including the fact that a large amount of the cast do not survive the war. The plot segments are almost reminiscent of a traditional novel, or a kinetic VN - but there are dialogue choices that affect your relationships with the characters and whether you can choose/remain on their route. The only branches to the storyline are very small alternate endings on occasion. 

I think Danganronpa is a good example of a VN that had the same narrative balance of ‘diminishing cast story with a pre-determined plot’ and ‘building relationships within that framework’. Characters' stories (including any unfortunate fates) remain the same regardless of whether you are on their route or not. (Although, in BWH you do get some additional scenes if you are on a character’s route at the time that they die.)

After this project is done, I'd definitely like to try and make a VN with a similar concept but with branching paths concerning characters' fates - after writing BWH, it would be a new challenge to try and capture the same feeling with a very different format. But this project, and its depiction of the war, really didn’t feel like the right fit for branching paths.

Although! A Small Announcement!

However! This seems as good a time as any to mention (and I don't think I've said this publicly before) that future acts are going to contain character-specific flashback arcs! So the death of a character does not mean that they won’t appear in the story anymore. I really think each of these characters brings something very different to the game, and I love them all (well... almost all) - so I’m keen for none of them to feel completely ‘written out’ just because their story, like a lot the cast’s, ended in tragedy. I think that these scenes are a really neat way to keep developing these characters and to paint a richer portrait of their wartime lives, whilst keeping the unflinching nature of the storyline in a way that I didn’t feel like branching paths would quite accomplish for this project. So I hope people enjoy seeing further windows into these characters’ stories. ^^ I’ll give more information on how these work at a later date.

Announcement Over!

So, I hope this post has helped clarify some things! I've had some people ask me about specific characters ahead of playing Acts I/II (I appreciate that some people would prefer to know what they're in for!) but unfortunately I can't reply to those publicly for fear of spoilers - as this is such a tiny game and there isn't really any plot synopsis or wiki or anything like that yet, please do feel free to either get in touch with me directly if you'd like any information before starting the game, or otherwise drop by the Windmill Corner Discord (the link is on this tumblr’s main page!) - everyone there is super friendly, and there’s a whole channel for spoilery chat where you can ask any questions you might have. ^^

[becausewerehere]

Hello! I’m just going through some of the Asks I’ve had in the past few months. (As usual, I didn’t seem to get notifications about them, so apologies to anyone who’s received a late reply! ^^’’)

The year’s been slower for me than I’d have liked, but Act III is at least still slated for 2022. I’m working on getting the storepage just right and hoping to have that made public quite shortly!

There was an anonymous Ask that I wanted to repost so I can reply (as it had a lot of characters’ names that I had to redact for spoilers haha):

‘Okay okay.  I don't usually write to the authors of visual novels because it makes me so damn stressful.  But I HAVE to write it.  I am in tears after completing Act II and I don't know how to live now.  I do not hide, I was sure that [Redacted 1] would not die.  I made a list of characters for whom I was sure who would die.  And I was right every time.  But [Redacted 1] killed me.  I don't even know if I can play the third act without him.  I am literally in mourning.  Never understood people's attachment to fictional characters, but now?  I feel like a widow who lost her husband in the war 😭.  Before [Redacted 1]’s death, I thought about restarting the game after ending act II and trying [Redacted 2]'s route because he is one of my favorite characters, but I don't know if I can find a heart for it.  The fact that  [Redacted 1] could die without feeling loved. kills me too much.  The game is great, I love it. Right now I don't know if I can ever play different game for a long time.  Because I would feel like I am cheating on my dead husband 😭.  Now this game is the only thing in my head. I feel that I need to write a lot of fanfictions to ease my pain.  In my world,  [Redacted 1] is alive and happy BYE. But I don't have time for this right now because exams aaaaa.  I have always been interested in history, damn it, after all, I'm going to get degree in history goddammit.  And I only played your game because of the war theme.  But I'm broken now.  Of course, I'm going to play act three, I'll force myself do it.  For my second "beloved" I took [Redacted 3] because I know at least that he will not fucking die soon. At least I hope. And he's a great character.  I identify with him strongly because of our interest in [redacted ;)].  And his scene at the end of the act charmed me.  In general, I love the fact that each character tells about a different part of the war. As if, no character is even alike, and I love it.  So I had a problem with choosing the route.  But I chose [Redacted 1] because I didn't want him to suffer alone.  And I'm glad my Elfriede showed him that someone loved him and at least he didn't feel alone during this war.  I hope you will have a good day because I will 100% not have one.  It's time to live as the widow of a fictional character I guess. Btw English is not my first language and I had a problem with reading because I did not know a LOT of words.  But at least I expanded my vocabulary haha’

And I just wanted to say thank you so much for writing all that!! It’s encouraging to know the game still finds its audience even when I’m in these quiet periods of not posting online very often. I apologise for any anguish caused, but I’m glad you seem to have found it cathartic at least. :’) And it’s also really cool to hear that it helped you pick up some new English words! :’D

(I think the character limit for Asks must have been reduced since I received this, as I tried to paste this in the Ask box so I could answer it properly but it got cut off! So, please excuse this clunky repost format! (and for those who have played, and are curious as to the identity of the illustrious Redacted 1: it’s the final character to die in Act II))

[becausewerehere]

Some wonderful Dory fanart from skele-queen! oh my gosh thank you so much, he looks fantastic! TT_TT

A little sketch because why not make myself suffer I GUESS.

I half considered trying to draw him with a slightly less anime/more historical haircut but mehhhhhh it’s technically not set on our Earth anyway.

[becausewerehere]

So i'm going to be honest when i first bought both the acts i tried to play i didn't really like it. I recently decided to play them both and it's so good. I was so drawn into it i felt like i was there like i was in the trenches and every death and loss and attack hit me so hard. I have never played a game where i have become so detached from reality. It's so good and I will be impatiently waiting to immediately buy the next act!

Hahaha I'm glad to hear it won you back around! The tone of the first hour (or thereabouts) of Act I is definitely quite different from the rest of the game. The slow climb felt important for the story, but I tried to pepper hints here and there of the kind of themes that might be upcoming too~

And it's super cool that it hooked you in on Take 2! And wow, that's some high praise - thank you for letting me know, that's really nice to hear!! ^///^ I hope you enjoy Act III when it (eventually) arrives!

[becausewerehere]

Some more Because We’re Here fanart for the archive! Today’s post features a wide selection of characters, and these pieces have all been received since the BWH Act II release in late 2019. These are absolutely wonderful! Thank you all so much~

No. 1 + 2 - Marius Sauer and Walter Bergengruen (very much the two extremes on the ‘tolerable/intolerable human being’ spectrum), by the ever-wonderful @heidengames (check out their own games on Itch or Steam!)

No. 3 - Elfriede and Marius, by Marie from Windmill Corner (the BWH Discord server)!

No. 4 - Laurent Grebe, from Yaneko on Twitter!

No. 5 - Horst von Sankt, from Saeje’s Art on Twitter!

[becausewerehere]

So, after two years I replayed Act I & II... Still hurts like hell q_q Can't wait for Act III to break my heart even more, haha. (But for real, all those years later, BWH still is my favorite VN ever) Hope u r doing well <3

Ahhhh that's so lovely of you to say, thank you! <3 I'm glad it's still able to affect you in that way upon replaying ahaha.

I can't believe it's been two years since Act II came out! Well, two-and-a-half now. It feels like it's gone by in a flash. And a lot of Act III's development time (during the mess that was the past two years) has been pockets of extreme productivity surrounded by long periods of floundering. I wonder if progress was sufficiently slow-paced that it might even qualify as a semi-hiatus, when I eventually come to update the timeline haha. Regardless - it's fully underway now, and I'm enjoying working on it a lot! I'm very hopeful for some significant news on it within the next couple of months~

[becausewerehere]

Happy New Year from Because We’re Here! Here’s hoping 2022 is at least a little better than the lousy last couple of years.

I thought I’d share this beautiful piece of fanart from Brit (from Windmill Corner, the BWH Discord server)! Ouch, my feelings.

(Needless to say, if you’ve not played Act I of bittersweet WW1 otome VN Because We’re Here, it’s available on Itch and Steam if you’d like to better understand this piece~!)

The new year is bringing a small amount of cool BWH news! I’m hoping to make the Act III Steam page public later on this month, and talk much more specifically about a release date. Exciting! I imagine the first few months of 2022 will be me slowly trying to build up publicity towards the release~

I’m also going to continue posting the collection of fanart I’ve received via Twitter/Discord - I think it’ll make for some really cool posts on this tumblr, as well as building up a nice archive in the Fanart tab!

Okay! Happy January 1st, everybody! Let’s all keep on keeping on. ^^

[becausewerehere]

A fantastic Elfriede from skele-queen! This really has the feel of an old photograph you’d find in an attic somewhere, I love it! tysm!

I will never emotionally recover from this visual novel.

Elfriede (and the entirety of the cast for that matter) deserve a lot better than the trenches. Alas, the best I can give is a drawing.

[becausewerehere]

and my final post for tonight - thank you so much for this incredible Because We’re Here fanart! (to my knowledge, this is the first time Gerhardt and Floris have ever had full fanart! Valentin too ahaha. and Tiny Klett!) I love this artwork,  and it’s pretty darn close to a full cast lineup! :O It’s much appreciated, patchyrean~

bwh dood(le)s

[becausewerehere]

Holy moly I played this game's demo long ago and can't believe I finally got around to play it. I wanted to pace the game but I got so absorbed into it I basically speedran both Act 1 and 2. Don't regret it at all. Thank you for such a great game! It was such a roller coaster of emotions and in the end...I feel so depressed. But I look forward to Act 3! Please take care of yourself in the process!

Ahhh it's so cool you played that old demo when it came out and then found the eventual real release! And I’m glad you got so into it! Hopefully it wasn't too disorienting to emerge from that playthrough blinking into the sun :'D I promise that I'm taking much more care of myself than when I was working on Act II ahaha, and I feel better about how long it's taken when I bear that in mind~

[becausewerehere]

I audibly shouted "no!" quite a few times during act II hahaha..... It's rare for games to elicit such an emotional reaction from me- good job.

ahahaha I'm happy to hear that! The involuntary "no!" is always a magical moment when reading/watching/playing something plot-heavy, so that means a lot. xD

[becausewerehere]

Not really an ask, more of a kudos: I've had to take a break from playing twice because I legitimately cried when characters died. Still haven't come back YET to finish Act II, but I will. The writing is very, VERY good, and the psychological hits come hard and fast and they cut deep and this is SUCH A GOOD GAME.

Thank you so much! This is all really nice to hear (I mean, not the parts where you’re upset, but, you know what I mean), I'm glad that BWH continues to find its quite niche audience even when I'm not plugging it super-heavily! Thank you for your kind words aaaaa! ^^

[becausewerehere]

Hello! I discovered Because We're Here recently and couldn't stop playing until I went through both Acts. I'm still a wreck from Act II and was wondering if you had any updates on when Act III will be released? I recall that you mentioned Spring 2021 in one of your earlier posts, at the end of last year. Should I prepare the tissues for anytime soon or do I still have some bandwith to prepare myself mentally? :) Thanks!

Hello all! As you doubtless know if you're one of the people who check the devlog here - I tend go very quiet when I'm working on BWH, and Act III is coming along well! So that's the reason for the radio silence~ I'm just being my hermetic self and polishing up the next act amidst the usual array of Slowdowns And Circumstances. Thanks for your patience.

(Side note: oh my gosh it’s nearly been a full year since I posted! and yes, spring 2021 was quite the optimistic prediction, eh? >.>)

I'm briefly popping my head back round the door to answer a few asks that have built up into my inbox now! I won't answer every single one as a lot of these are a variant on "any news on Act III?" and I don’t want to fill up people’s timelines! But I appreciate all the interest, thank you so much if you contacted me! It's nice to know that people are anticipating it! But I get a bit shy posting publicly during the BWH off-season, and tend to reply to things in big waves like this. :')

I'm hoping to reveal some cool Act III stuff (storepage, most likely!) relatively shortly (r e l a t i v e l y), and will have more detailed release information then! In the meantime, I hope some tumblr posts can tide you over haha. I’ve got a small mountain of fanart from the Windmill Corner Discord that I should really start sharing soon, I’m excited to start filling up that part of the site again! ^^

[becausewerehere]

Would you ever release an AU game of Because We're Here so everyone can be happy and nothing bad ever happens, or would that detract from the point of the story and characters? Good luck in Act 3; I'm rooting for you!

ahahaha I don’t know! that’s an interesting thing to think about. if you mean a WW1 AU where the harshest plot events don’t happen, I’m not sure I’d do that. but I’m not that averse to the idea of some kind of coffee shop AU - though whether I’d end up going the full journey to actually making it happen is another story. maybe if I feel nostalgic after finishing, hah! and thank you!! that’s so nice to hear!! ^^