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[gosatsuvns]

As of today, our little murder mystery visual novel SHINRAI - Broken Beyond Despair is officially available on consoles! Thanks to the help of our friends at Ratalaika Games, you can now purchase the game on a variety of platforms:

Nintendo Switch

Playstation 4

Playstation 5

Xbox One

Xbox Series S/X

Be sure to head on over to the platform of your choice and grab it right away at a launch discount of 20%! I'll link the online storefronts here as well: Nintendo eShop, PSN Store, Xbox Store.

You can check out the launch trailer here:

With Halloween right around the corner, this is the perfect time to delve into a murder mystery taking place on the very night of All Hallows' Eve, wouldn't you agree? Nobara's already booted up her Nintendo Switch, but which version will you be getting?

No matter which one it is, we hope that you will thoroughly enjoy the experience!

[gosatsuvns]

While Natsu and I would like to wish all of you a very merry Christmas and happy holidays, Shiku's here to also wish you a merry Rexmas! Hopefully, you'll find lots of dinosaurs under the tree this year. I know that's what I'm hoping for!

The artwork has been added to our gallery and, as usual, patrons get access to a higher resolution version right here. The zip package also contains a "sprite" version of Shiku, meaning no background or text, just the full character, so you can plaster her over any background of your choosing (since mine are always very... simple "orz).

Now please enjoy a chill and festive time, take good care of yourself and, most of all, stay safe! 2020 was quite a ride, but it's almost behind us, so let's make sure we can start off 2021 in good spirits and good health!

[gosatsuvns]

The year is slowly coming to a close, which means it's time for the annual Winter Sale again! If you'd like to end 2020 in the only appropriate way, with lots of blood, death and despair, grab our murder mystery SHINRAI now and spend your holidays entangled in an elaborate murder plot!

The sale lasts until January 5, 10:05 AM PST and, as usual, you can shave off an additional 10% by getting the soundtrack bundle, which now features even more tracks compared to last year!

Feel free to visit the game's page to learn more about it. And if you're still not sure whether SHINRAI might be your thing or not, you can also check out our Steam Reviews to get some actual player impressions!

Buy the game here:

What's that? You've already played SHINRAI, but you're curious about our newest project? Well, how about giving the free demo for GENBA no Kizuna a try then? You can download it either here or on itch.io:

[gosatsuvns]

Weekly Update Compilation

Just realized that I kinda neglected the weekly updates here on Tumblr (sorry about that!), so I'll compile the last few right here:

Weekly Update #328: CG & BGM Progress

This past week, I've focused on drawing the "dead body" CG for GENBA no Kizuna, which is quite an undertaking to say the least. I've made a lot of progress on it, but there's still some work left to be done. It took me quite a while to figure out the exact perspective and angle. Thankfully, being married has its perks, so I got Kuna to take a bunch of reference pictures of me while I was lying on the floor, pretending to be dead, haha. That definitely helped tremendously.

Still, the details are going to give me another headache for sure. We're talking about a guy who got eaten by a T-Rex after all, so there's a lot going on in terms of, well... damage.

Anyway, every now and then, I've also continued working on the outline for Withering Without Hope. And speaking of which, I have just released a new Patreon post, delving into the topic of how Broken Beyond Despair sets up and dictates the direction for its sequel.

If you're curious about the changes I felt were necessary in our recent anniversary update, be sure to check it out!

Next week, I'm planning to make another post talking about the time in between BBD and WWH and what exactly happens there. There is quite a gap between October 30 and December 23 after all...

Now, in other news, I've been working with Solo, our composer, on a new BGM track for GENBA. I've already received a first preview of it and it sounds amazing! Can't wait to hear the full version and share it. This time, we're tackling another investigation theme, specifically for the segments you will play as Rei.

That kinda wraps up this week's progress report. I'll get back to working on that CG now, so please enjoy the rest of your weekend and, until next Saturday, take care! :3

Weekly Update #327: BGs, CGs, Sprites & WWH

After a bit more BG work, I have finally finished a variation for the 1st Floor Main Hall and one for the 2nd Floor Main Hall. That now only leaves one more variation of the 1st floor and all the necessary BGs for the first three chapters of GENBA are done! Hopefully, I can get to that soon, but first of all, I've decided to tackle the "dead body" CG instead, as it is kinda tied to that BG.

Basically, after recovering the body from the Rex jaws, it will be spread out in the main hall and you will be able to catch a glimpse of it on the missing variation of the 1st floor background. At least that's the plan, but I think drawing the CG first will better help me understand what exactly and how much needs to be visible on said BG.

The CG is kind of intimidating to think about, as it is going to be the most difficult to draw by far. As a result, I've been pushing it off for a while now, but I figured, if I get it out of the way now, that'll be a big relief, haha. I've actually started working on it a while ago, doing some initial sketches. You will see almost the entire body lying on the floor. It's going to be an interactive CG too, meaning that players will be able to click all over the body in order to examine it. As you can imagine, it's going to be a very crucial asset towards solving the mystery death at the Kaseki residence, so it will require a lot of attention to detail.

My goal is to finish it by the end of the month, so I have just about a week left, which will hopefully be enough!

Outside of finishing those BG variations and getting back into the body CG, I've been working on some more sprite variations for Keiichi and Amber. Unfortunately, I kinda suffered a setback of sorts by accidentally deleting one of Amber's new sprites "orz Thankfully, I still had the low quality preview I posted on Patreon, so I was able to restore it, even if that was kind of an annoying and rather frustrating occurrence...

I have to doublecheck with the script, but this might be it in terms of sprites for the first chapter, too. In the end, Keiichi only got one new one, depicting him with a somewhat worried expression:

Now, one other thing I've been working on is Withering Without Hope. With the Christmas season drawing near, I'm really getting into the mood for it, so I've been working on the outline for the first chapter. I'd like to continue working on this on the side and hopefully finish at least the entire first chapter outline before the end of the year. The goal here is to have the full script for the game done by the time GENBA will be released.

If you're a patron, you should keep your eyes open, as I'm also going to share some behind-the-scenes info for WWH soon! Been wanting to do that for a while now and just haven't gotten around to it...

Anyway, guess that about wraps it up for today so, please enjoy the rest of your weekend and, until next Saturday, take care! :3

Weekly Update #326: GENBA Background Progress

Alright, after a bit more work, I have finally finished the background for the second floor of the main hall and, along with it, adjusted the other two main hall BGs. If you want to learn more about my struggles with these, be sure to check out last week's blog post where I talk a little about visual consistency. I've also made a post on my private Twitter, showcasing the differences between the old and the new version of the first floor main hall. As for the second floor, here's another preview for that one as well:

Now, what's left are the variations of these two BGs, which I've also worked on. One variation for each of them is almost done as well, just missing one last detail which I'll take care of tomorrow. That will leave only one more variation for the first floor background, which will display a couple more pieces of evidence. As mentioned last week, once these are done, we're gonna be good on backgrounds for a while. That's because the second chapter will not need any new BGs, as no new locations inside the residence will be visited. As for chapter 3, the mid-point case discussion... that one will take place entirely in the exhibition room featured at the end of our demo. So no new BGs for that one either!

Well, I did mention before that I'm playing with the idea of making one more simple BG for said exhibition room. Since the cast will spent quite a while there, discussing the mysteries (think of the dining hall in SHINRAI), it would probably be nice to get some visual variety. However, as I don't deem this to be an "essential background", it's a bit lower on my priority list. For now, I just want to focus on the assets that are absolutely necessary to tell the story. And when we talk about "essential" backgrounds, there are actually only four left now: the wash room, the back corridor, the backyard and one of the suspect rooms.

Before I get to any of those, I'm still aiming to finish all the assets for the first chapter, though. Which (BG variations aside) now only leaves a couple of sprite variations and two CGs. One of those is going to be very elaborate, though, so it will probably take me a while to get it done. I'll most likely work on it next month and, for the rest of November, take care of the sprites and script revisions.

Anyway, that about sums up the current progress. Time to get back to work, so please enjoy the rest of your weekend and, until next Saturday, take care! :3

[gosatsuvns]

The background isn't 100% done, but I'm close to finishing it. Only a few more details need to be adjusted. Nevertheless, I wanted to share a little preview with you. If you're a patron, you can also check out this brand new post, which contains a full view of what I've actually drawn. Because the original artwork is almost square-shaped and shows much more of the ceiling and lower floor.

This will be an interactive background that you will be able to examine in detail later on, during the investigation of the main hall. This will also be when that footprint icon will finally come into play, letting you go back and forth between the 1st and 2nd floor, similar to how in SHINRAI, you could change your viewpoint. This time, however, there are actually three different backgrounds you can switch between. The third one basically shows what you'd see if you turn around and look behind you in the BG above.

Now, with three backgrounds depicting different perspectives of the same location, it proved quite challenging to make all of them visually consistent, which (next to all the plants) is the biggest reason why I've been working on this for so long. Because I don't want anything to seem off when you switch between these BGs. You know, like a plant sitting in a slightly different position or its leaves looking noticeably different all of a sudden. I'm not striving for perfect accuracy here, but I don't want anything to seem too jarring.

So yeah, a lot of time was spent working on all three backgrounds simultaneously, since I also needed to edit the other two a bit more. As a result, my statement from a little while ago, about the main hall BG with the T-Rex in its center being finally done 100%... retroactively turned out to be a little premature, haha. I kinda realized that not only ceiling lights and light switches were still missing... but even the metal closet that's supposed to be seen in the top left corner "orz

So here's an updated version for that as well:

I also had to adjust the size of the carpet and changed the lighting conditions a little bit, making the BG slightly brighter.

I really cannot wait to finally be done with all of this and not have to keep fixing details, some of which most players probably won't even take note of, buuut... it does bug me personally and I do want to get things as accurate as possible. Besides, once the main hall BGs are all done, we're gonna be set for a while, because up until chapter 4, no new backgrounds will actually be need, but I guess that's a topic I will delve further into next week.

So, until then, please enjoy the rest of your weekend and take care! :3

[gosatsuvns]

As voted by our patrons, this year, SHINRAI's purple little witch is here to celebrate the spookiest day of the year with you! If you are a patron, you can download a bigger version of the image here, along with just Kamen herself, no text, BG or anything! The image has also been added to our gallery where you can find all the other spooky artworks from past Halloweens, as well.

Also, don't forget that the game is currently 50% off, so if you've been wanting to try it for a while, or you know someone who'd enjoy it, this is the ideal moment to strike. What's better than to solve a Halloween-themed murder mystery on Halloween, eh?

Anyway, given the occasion, today's post will be kept brief, but we'll get back to some detailed GENBA no Kizuna progress soon. By then, I might even have something new to show off! My next goal is to finish up the new background artwork, after all.

But until then, Natsu and I wish you to spend a super spooky time and have a fun All Hallows' Eve! Take care ^w^

[gosatsuvns]

Once again, the spooky season is upon us and along with it, the annual Halloween Sale! So here is another great opportunity to experience our little murder mystery visual novel the way it was meant to be: on the very day its story takes place!

Until November 2, 10:05 AM PST SHINRAI, along with its complete soundtrack, is going to be on discount! As always, there is a Bundle available for another 10% off and, for non-Steam users, we are offering the same deals on itch.io.

If you're not sure if SHINRAI might be your thing, you can always check out some Steam Reviews to get some player impressions!

Buy the game here:

[gosatsuvns]

In order to fully complete the first chapter of GENBA no Kizuna, not only do we need to work on the remaining scenes which were not included in our extended demo, we also need to adjust the content what was included in it. And one example of this is the main hall.

Above, you can see the now final version of it, but for comparison's sake, I'll also show you the old one:

The most eye-catching change is the addition of that giant red carpet. This was really just a cosmetic change prompted by our friend Ezhno. During his playthrough of our demo, he commented on the fact that the lower half of the background looks somewhat plain. So, as a contrast to the dark brown floor, I added a carpet which also fits well together with the red staircases.

Now, all the other changes are much more subtle, but most of them have actual significance to the murder investigation.

For instance, the door in the top right corner originally featured the skull of a Velociraptor, indicating it to be Shiku's room. During the development of the story, I swapped the rooms, however, so that it now belongs to Terano and thus features a Triceratops skull.

Back when we released the extended demo, I didn't have every detail of the mystery planned out yet, but that has changed ever since. Now that GENBA's story and mystery are set in stone, I know exactly what kind of evidence to place where.

Of course, this is a topic I can't really elaborate much on, so I guess I'll leave it at that.

Next up, I'll be working on two variations of this background, which will be used in the remaining scenes of the first chapter. One of them won't show any major differences compared to what you can see above, but the other will contain a couple more pieces of evidence, spread out on the floor, which will be discovered while the police recover the body from those prehistoric jaws...

Speaking of BG variations, though, here is also once again the main hall before the incident occurred:

I also still have to finish up the BG for the 2nd floor viewpoint of the main hall, but the majority of the work is done now. Or, at the very least, the hardest parts are taken care of, so hopefully, I'll be able to share the finished version of it here soon as well.

So, what exactly is left to do now in order to code the next scene into the game? Two things, basically: The "slight" variation of the BG above and the final revision of the script. I'd like to get that done by next weekend, so I can then tackle the scene after that, which we will talk in detail about either next Saturday, or the week after that.

Next week is Halloween, after all, and I have to make some preparations for that as well! So, until then, please have a spooky time and take care! :3

[gosatsuvns]

Weekly Update #322 - Chapter I Progress

So, today, I will finally talk in detail about what's currently left to do in order to fully complete the first chapter of GENBA no Kizuna. And I guess the best way to start is to take a look at what's already been completed!

As you may very well know, we've released a demo last year, containing the prologue and the majority of the first chapter, which introduces all the main players in this story: our investigation team and our circle of suspects. I'd say what you experience in the demo makes up about 70% of the first chapter.

Naturally, this means that its last 30% are not included and are thus what we're currently working on. This percentage number pertains to the script, however. In terms of the assets, it's a bit harder to pin down an estimate...

You have to keep the following in mind: when you just start out making a game, just getting the very first scene playable requires an extraordinary amount of effort, because you don't have any assets at all. No backgrounds, no character sprites with various poses and expressions, no CGs, no GUI, etc.

The further you progress into the story, however, the less new assets will be required. At some point, you'll have all the necessary sprites together for a character to portray a vast range of emotions. In GENBA's case, this is especially true for our main character Keiichi. Although he will get a few more sprite variations later down the road, the vast majority of them are already done, since he's been appearing in the game right from the start of the prologue.

Other characters that were introduced later, such as Rei and Shinketsu, or the four members of Raptor Pack Productions, haven't had much screen time yet, so they still require a bunch of new sprites for future scenes.

Similarly, as you progress through the story, more locations within the Kaseki Residence open up, meaning that new backgrounds will be required. In the beginning, however, most scenes take place in just a couple of different rooms, so not many backgrounds have been necessary thus far.

But what exactly is missing then, in order to finally finish up the rest of chapter I? Well, let's first take a look at the scenes that are currently missing:

Scene 09 takes place where the demo left off. It's a short scene in which Keiichi returns to the main hall and talks to Shinketsu.

Scene 10 is a bit longer, featuring a conversation between Keiichi and Amber as they head up to the 2nd floor for the first time.

Scene 11 is the first real investigation segment and thus a pretty long one, as players will not only be able to freely talk to Amber about a number of different topics, but they can also examine Ryuunosuke's room in search for clues.

Scene 12 is about the same length as Scene 10 and gives us a first look at the victim's body in its recovered state.

Scene 13 is the chapter's conclusion and another convo between Keiichi and Nobuhiko, similar to the one in the prologue.

Overall, the remainder of chapter I focuses on characters and places we've seen before, so a lot of assets are already available. Nevertheless, there is quite a number of new ones we'll need in order to visualize all this stuff.

First and foremost, there are two new locations: the 2nd floor of the main hall and Ryuunosuke's room, so that's already two new backgrounds. The good news about this is that Ryuu's room is already done and I'm halfway done with the 2nd floor BG. Not just that, there is even one extra BG showing Ryuu's door, which has already been completed as well:

That's it for completely new BGs, but we will also need some variations for already existing ones, depicting new details. After the body has been recovered, it will be spread out on the floor of the main hall, for instance, along with some new pieces of evidence that were discovered during the recovery process.

Furthermore, the BGs you can currently see in the demo aren't actually finalized. That's because I only finalized the story and mystery back in July and, based on this final result, a few more details need to be added to the main hall BG. Based on some feedback, I've also added a carpet to it, so the lower half isn't so plain and empty anymore:

Now, what about characters sprites? Again, we've seen quite a bit of Keiichi, so right now, he will only need one new variation. As for Amber, we will spend a lot more time with her now than we did in the demo, so naturally, she'll require a handful of new sprites, which I've already started to work on as well. Rei, Shinketsu and Nobuhiko only have short appearances, so they won't need a bunch of new sprites. Amber really requires the most work here.

CGs... now this is where it gets a bit more tricky. There is one relatively simple CG I want to use for scene 10 and then we will need a very complex and detailed one showing a close-up of the body. This will be a crucial CG in chapter 2 when players can actually examine the body, so this will definitely require a lot of attention and time.

There will also be some mini-CGs, like a picture frame depicting a much younger Ryuunosuke together with his grandfather. That, along with some mystery silhouettes for the chapter's final scene, has already been worked on, though:

Sound-wise, we already have all we need, but in terms of the GUI, a number of new DPA entries will be added, meaning more writing and a couple little display artworks will be needed, such as this profile image for Prof. Dr. Kaseki:

This almost wraps it up, so as you can see, not a lot of stuff is left to be done, buuut... I still need to do some script revisions as well, and not just in regards to the new scenes. I'm also taking the feedback to heart, trying to fix some issues with the demo content.

So yeah, that's where we're currently at. I'm thinking of releasing the rest of chapter I scene by scene for patrons, so they can get an early look and help us with polishing things. Don't expect anything playable to show up before December, though!

I know it's taking quite a while to finish this up, but again, keep in mind that the further we progress into the story, the less assets will be needed, and that chapter I is actually one of the longest parts of the game, sooo... things will definitely go much faster with chapters 2 and 3 (primarily because we will have most assets for those by then)!

Now then, since this post has gotten a little lengthy, and I'd like to get back to work on the 2nd floor BG (new preview for patrons tomorrow!), I guess I'll come to a close. Next time, I'll give you a look at the actual to-do list and a clearer idea of the progress, but until then, please enjoy the rest of your weekend and, as always, take care :3

[gosatsuvns]

This past week, I've been mainly focusing on the writing for scene 11, the first real investigation segment in GENBA no Kizuna. Here Keiichi examines Ryuunosuke's room alongside Amber, in search of the little grump's medication. Players will also be able to learn more about Ryuunosuke and his grandfather and uncover the first real clues towards solving the mystery death at the Kaseki residence. It still needs some work, but down below, you can find a preview of the intro scene for the investigation:

(I didn't bother to translate the coding instructions this time, so they're all in German, sorry!)

I'll post the entire script for scene 11 on Patreon, hopefully towards the end of the month, along with the other remaining scenes for the first chapter. But for now, I wanted to provide at least a little preview of the work I've been doing. As you might be able to tell, I had a lot of fun with it, especially in regards to writing Amber's lines, haha.

Now, in other news, we've added a new section to the website, containing an official timeline for the events of SHINRAI - Broken Beyond Despair. This was originally something I did for myself to keep track of all the individual events and the passage of time, while writing the story. After the recent anniversary update, however, I've decided to update it and thought I might as well share it for those of you who are interested in this sort of thing.

This timeline lists every event that was mentioned in the game, which had some sort of time indicator attached to it, from when Momoko started to work on Hiro's Halloween costume to when exactly the extra diary entries were written. There is also some extra info in there, which was never explicitly mentioned in the game itself.

I'll update this in the future and add the GENBA and WWH timelines as well. Once those games have finally been released that is...

(I'd also like to mention here that a very diligent individual compiled a timeline on TV Tropes. I'm impressed by how they managed to even pinpoint some of the exact dates, just by playing the game. I feel very humbled and grateful for the dedication and effort. It's honestly one of the coolest things I've stumbled across in regards to our little VN.)

Anyway, that about wraps it up for today, so please enjoy the rest of your weekend and, until next Saturday, take care :3

[gosatsuvns]

Weekly Update #317 - GENBA Continuation

Alright, with the SHINRAI anniversary update taken care of, I'm finally back to working on GENBA no Kizuna! And the first step I took was to go through the demo again, which we've released last year, and not just once but multiple times.

It's been quite a while since I've last played it myself, so I wanted to properly refresh my memory and immerse myself in the story again, before I continue working on the rest of it. This was also a good chance to see for myself how things holds up, now that I've had quite a bit of distance to the project. And there are certainly some parts which I'd like to work on a bit more.

I've gone through all the feedback we've received as well and the only thing people have criticized thus is the internal monologue by Keiichi, which apparently tends to get a bit too much and too distracting at times. So I was paying close attention to that.

For me, it's always a bit difficult to see this kind of issue. At least when it comes to my own writing. Then again, I'm also not the type to be particularly bothered by it when I see it in other VNs. So I've actually been struggling a bit with trying to fix this.

I mean, sometimes, the solution is obvious, but other times it's not. I might go into more detail about this topic and provide some actual examples in a future blog post, but for now, I don't want to spend too much time on this.

I've already made some tweaks to improve the pacing and I've marked some passages I'd like to change, but if I can't come up with a solution right away, I'm just going to skip that part and save it for later. Much more important right now is to fully finish the writing for the first chapter. Once that's done, it's time for some more revisions.

So, tomorrow, I'm going to work on scene 10, which is the scene that continues the events of our demo. It's fully written already, so it's just about refreshing my memory and doing some revision work. Scene 11 will then take a bit more effort, as I will need to write the conversation scenes between Keiichi and Amber, as well as the background investigation commentary, for when the two of them check out Ryuunosuke's room. I hope I can get all of this done by next week.

Anyway, that's about it, so please enjoy the rest of your weekend and, until next Saturday, take care :3

[gosatsuvns]

Weekly Update #316 - Final Fixes & Plans For September

Alrighty, first of all, here's another little reminder that we have just released an update for SHINRAI - Broken Beyond Despair. If you're curious what exactly this update entails, you can read all about it here!

Unfortunately, with the release of this update, an issue regarding the Steam Achievements arose, preventing players from unlocking them. The issue has since been fixed, however, so if you haven't seen it yet, there is another small update available on Steam now. After downloading it, everything will work again as intended and you can unlock the achievements during a new playthrough!

Using Skip Mode (Ctrl) and one of the Achievement Guides, it should take you no time at all to get all fifteen of them.

Still, if you have been affected by this issue and completed the game (partly or even entirely) without unlocking a single achievement, we sincerely apologize for the trouble and inconvenience!

While fixing this issue, we also fixed a few more typos and inconsistencies in the script, which I stumbled across during another personal playthrough after the initial update was released. Moreover, the Help button on the title screen now shows in-game info, rather than opening up your browser and linking to an outside source. Outside of that, nothing else has changed, however.

With this, we are done with BBD and thus, it's time to get back to GENBA no Kizuna and SHINRAI - Withering Without Hope!

During the next couple of days, I will need to make a proper plan on how to tackle things, but the first course of action will be to go through GENBA's extended demo again, as well as the plot outlines for everything beyond that, in order to immerse myself in the story and world again. At the same time, I'll be doing some planning for WWH, since working on BBD has sparked some new ideas.

In general, I guess I'll be using September for script-related work, hopefully finishing the entirety of GENBA's first chapter and getting it ready for proofreading. What's missing right now is writing the rest of the investigation (scene 11), finding a solution on how to handle scene 12 (not happy with its structure right now and it's way too complex and long-winded) and general revisions for scenes 10 to 13, which comprise the rest of the first chapter, not included in the extended demo.

That about wraps it up, but before I get back to work, there's one other thing I'd like to share with you. The amazing Kuna has drawn an absolutely amazing Amber (one of GENBA's four suspect characters) and it would be a crime not to show you:

Now, as always, please enjoy the rest of your weekend and, until next Saturday, take care! :3

[gosatsuvns]

Weekly Update #315 - Post-Update Notes & Plans For The Remainder Of 2020

If you haven't caught the news yet, we've just released an update for SHINRAI - Broken Beyond Despair in celebration of its 4th anniversary! If you're curious about what exactly has changed, you can read all about the additions and changes to the game here.

Today, I'd like to say a few more words about the update, our new projects and our plans for the rest of 2020!

The Update:

First of all, I need to say that I would have loved to do way more than what we ultimately managed to infuse into this update. Unfortunately, we kinda ran out of time, since we couldn't allocate too much to it in the first place. I mean, it's been four years now since we've released this visual novel and, rather than keep tweaking it, I'd like to focus on our new titles and make sure that those are going to be improved in the areas that players criticized with BBD.

Besides, there are always going to be things that can be done even better and I am quite a perfectionist, so I'll never be satisfied anyway. Therefore, I originally didn't really intend to touch this game again, as I'd like to move forwards and accomplish new things.

I would have eventually made some tiny script adjustments, due to some of the developments regarding GENBA no Kizuna and Withering Without Hope. Both stories have evolved quite a bit from my plans in 2016, after all. But those adjustments would have only been minor continuity/consistency fixes. Like how the place where Raiko lives has been upgraded from a town to a giant metropolis. Thus, the word "town" has been taken out or replaced during the recent update, for instance.

(I told you, I'm a perfectionist... *cough*)

Earlier this year, however, we've been presented with an opportunity I couldn't pass up on. It's something I'm personally super excited about, so I can't wait to finally make the official announcement (which should happen within the next two months, I guess). And it's this opportunity that led us to make an update now, a little bit bigger in scope than simple script adjustments.

Given what we're working on in secret right now, I ended up deciding to also address the bigger criticisms we've received. Unfortunately, in some regards, there was only so much I could actually do about them.

The slow pacing in the beginning is almost always brought up and I did try my best to revise some parts, making them more concise, but ultimately, I doubt there is a noticeable difference. I didn't want to simply erase big parts of the game and I didn't have the time to completely rewrite and restructure things, nor did I really want to. After all, even though most people criticized the slow start, there are also players who didn't mind or even enjoyed it.

But yeah, if it was too slow for you, you probably won't feel any different even after this update.

Still, overall, I do think that we've improved the experience quite a bit. And delving so deeply into BBD's script again was quite beneficial to its sequel, as well.

GENBA & WWH:

After SHINRAI's release in 2016, I immediately started working on GENBA and WWH. One year later, however, I realized that working on two murder mysteries simultaneously maybe wasn't the smartest idea. Not only did it drag out development for both of them, it also complicated things as I was trying to craft two different murder cases, filled with dozens of mysteries, at the same time.

So, I eventually decided to put WWH aside and fully commit myself to GENBA, as this title sets up quite a few things for WWH.

And in the end, it turned out to be a really good idea, because working on GENBA, along with the recent SHINRAI update, has really helped me in shaping the story for WWH into something much better than it was three years ago.

I'm really excited about it and, with GENBA's story fully set in stone now, can't wait to finally do the same with WWH's!

Plans:

For the next week, there is still some post-update stuff to take care of, which I'll probably talk about in next week's blog post. However, in general, I'm going to get back to GENBA now. As mentioned in the update announcement post, I have the perfect release date for it in mind, and I will do everything I can to get it done by then.

Before I make any promises, however, I want to see how the remainder of the year goes and if I can actually accomplish all of my goals. So you'll have to wait until our New Year's post before I will elaborate on any of this (sorry).

Anyway, with GENBA's story planned out and vast chunks of the script written, it's mostly asset work that's left. So that will be my main focus until the end of 2020. Although the first big goal is to get the first chapter fully done (the extended demo only contains about 70% of it), so that will include some script revisions, too.

At the same time, I also want to get a full outline done for WWH, so that next year, I can write its actual script!

As you can see, there's still a lot to be done, but I'm feeling very motivated. I'll further detail some of our plans in our next few blog posts, but for now, I guess I'll wrap this up! As always, please enjoy the rest of your weekend and, until next Saturday, take care! :3

[gosatsuvns]

To celebrate SHINRAI's 4th anniversary, not only have we released an update to the game, we are also running a sale! So if you've been considering to give our little murder mystery VN a spin, now's the best time to do so! Not only can you snatch it at a reduced price, your experience will also benefit from the update!

The sale will last until August 30, 10:00 AM PST. As always, there is a Bundle available for another 10% off.

Feel free to visit the game's page to learn more about it. If you're still not sure whether or not SHINRAI might be your thing, you can always check out our Steam Reviews to get some player impressions!

Buy the game here:

[gosatsuvns]

SHINRAI Anniversary Update

Today marks the 4th anniversary of SHINRAI's release and, in celebration of that, we've just released a little update for it!

Although no new major content (such as additional scenes or diary entries) has been added, this update applies a number of tweaks and changes to the game, which will definitely provide a better experience. From simple bugfixes and typo eradication to the addition of new music tracks, as well as a much desired checkpoint system for the final chapter.

But let's have a closer look at the changelog, shall we?

General Fixes: As mentioned above, a number of minor issues such as typos, bugs and visual errors have been fixed (like Henjin's arm being cut off on his profile page or the characters' legs being hidden behind the black bar on their intro cards).

GUI Adjustments: The textbox design has been updated to better fit with the rest of the GUI.

Sound Adjustments: With the help of our new composer, Solo Acapello, we've tackled a number of sound-related issues. BGM/SFX loops are now seamless, the volume for various sounds has been adjusted, and some have even been redone.

Music Addition: Since some players found the occasional (rather long) stretches of silence to be awkward, new ambience and music tracks have been added to fill the auditory void. In total, there are four new BGMs, one of them being a variation of an already existing track, whereas the other three are completely original compositions*.

Notebook Update: The text size for the notebook content has been slightly increased (yes, it was even smaller before). As a result, all "Diary", "Trivia" and "Clues & Evidence" entries, as well as all character profiles have been revised. In some instances, new tidbits of information have been added, along with references to our new projects. Since some players have gotten confused by it, the "DD/MM/YYYY"-format for D.O.B. information has been changed, as well.

Script Changes: A bunch of dialogues and narration segments have been revised for better readability and structure, as well as to make them more concise and thus improve the pacing a little. Some parts have even been rewritten, while others were elaborated on. This mostly affects the first two chapters and the game's extra content.

Checkpoint System: If you pick the wrong culprit and end up getting a bad end, you will now get a choice between going to the title screen, or returning to an automatic checkpoint that will let you try again. Thus, players who don't save often or overwrite their save files a lot will not run the risk of locking themselves into a bad end anymore.

Code Cleanup: Natsu has taken the time to optimize the game's script, getting rid of thousands of unnecessary lines of code. Honestly, this is something that you, as a player, won't notice. Nevertheless, it makes us feel pretty good!

*(If you've bought the OST on Steam, they've been added to it through an update. Itch users will have to download the new zip.)

There are a number of reasons as to why we've decided to update SHINRAI now, four years after its release. Some of the changes are tied to something we can't quite divulge yet, but it will be unveiled within the next two months.

What I can already tell you, however, is that this was also done in preparation for our next two projects: GENBA no Kizuna and SHINRAI - Withering Without Hope.

As some of you may know, SHINRAI was originally written as a short novel in 2011, never intended to be a VN until 2013. So it's actually been nine years since its initial conception, and ideas for a sequel have been gathered ever since.

Naturally, these ideas have greatly evolved over time, especially during these past four years, while we've been busily working on GENBA and WWH. Thus, I wanted to take the opportunity to update SHINRAI with these developments in mind.

There is also the fact that, back in 2016, when I decided to add some extra content to the game, hinting towards the sequel, it was done pretty much last minute. As a result, it ended up being a little rushed, which is probably why we've found most of the typos in there. Some minor things also didn't quite make a lot of sense, so I wanted to fix that as well.

If you've already beaten the game, there may not be enough new stuff here for another full playthrough, but you might at least want to check some of the extra content again, particularly Kamen's secret diary entry. She now elaborates more on her feelings towards a certain someone, which will naturally play a big part in the sequel.

So, how is development going on our next project anyway, you may wonder...?

Well, we've made some major progress on GENBA this year, which is still scheduled to be released first. Although it chronologically takes place 'before' SHINRAI, it further sets up WWH by introducing characters, themes, relationships and important plot points.

As of right now, I don't want to make any promises. I can tell you for sure that it won't be out this year, but we have a release date for it in mind, which we'd really like to meet. So keep your eyes peeled for more information towards the end of the year, I guess!

I will talk more about this update, the BBD changes, GENBA's and WWH's development, as well as our plans for the upcoming months in our next weekly blog post. However, before this one gets any longer, I should better wrap it up.

We know that a lot of you guys are eagerly awaiting our next projects and we're really sorry for the long wait. Which is why we appreciate your patience and continued support all the more! Believe me, no one wants to finish these games more than we do!

It's been four years now, and we still receive messages of new and old players on a regular basis, telling us how much they enjoyed our little murder mystery and that they're looking forward to what's next. However, even though we'd love to release something ASAP, we also don't want to disappoint you. So, while it is taking quite some time, please rest assured that we keep working as hard as we can to deliver something that will live up to your expectations!

We're sincerely grateful for all the positive feedback and reviews, the kind comments and messages, and the exorbitant amounts of motivation your support has supplied us with over these past four years!

As developers, we couldn't ask for more!

[gosatsuvns]

Weekly Update #314 - Almost There!

Today, I'm just gonna leave you with a super quick post. In exchange for that, you will get a pretty lengthy one on the 26th, detailing everything you need to know about the upcoming SHINRAI update.

Right now, we're still hard at work on getting the last things fixed and settled, which is why I wanna get right back to work. I have a lot to say, but again, I'll save that for Wednesday, so until then, please take care and enjoy your weekend! :3

(This might actually be the shortest post I've ever made!)

[gosatsuvns]

Weekly Update #313 - SHINRAI Notebook Update

As the title already states, today I'll be talking about the notebook related changes that will be applied to SHINRAI with the upcoming anniversary update. Since the kanji for some character names have been changed, along with the D.O.B. format on the introduction cards, I had to update the character profiles accordingly:

Those aren't the only things that have changed, though. I took the opportunity to also fix some visual issues here and there, like how the arm of Henjin's sprite is currently cut off on his profile pages, for instance...

The biggest adjustment is the text size, however. I've actually increased it a little for all character profiles, trivia entries, diary entries and clues & evidence entries. I'm honestly not sure why exactly I decided to go with such a tiny text size back in the day. No one ever complained about it, so I guess it's not been a real issue, however, given the main reason for this update (which I still can't talk about publicly yet), I've decided it might be a good idea to increase the text size, even if just by a little.

Unfortunately, due to the GUI and entry format, I was kinda restricted in how far I can go. Because bigger text obviously means that it won't really fit into the designated windows anymore. And the only solutions then are to slash text away completely, or to add more pages to all individual entries. So, in the end, I decided to go with what you can see above, which still required some rewriting and reformatting for basically the entire notebook content in the game.

Content-wise, nothing is going to be lost, though. I just put things down in a more concise manner and, in some instances, even managed to squeeze in some new tidbits! Of course, I also couldn't resist the temptation to add some GENBA no Kizuna and Withering Without Hope connections here and there:

That about wraps it up. Only eleven more days until SHINRAI's anniversary! I'm getting excited but also kinda nervous... Don't want to add any new errors/typos into the game with this update, so some thorough proofreading and testing is still in order. We're getting close to the finish line, though!

Now, as always, please enjoy the rest of your weekend and, until next Saturday, take care! :3

(PS: You might have noticed, but Raiko's D.O.B. is August 14, meaning that... it was actually her birthday yesterday!)