husbandogoddess - Tumblr blog

[husbandogoddess]

Have you had the chance to meet Enya, the new employee at Mad Lobster Interactive and cinnamon roll in Monochrome Pixels yet? If not, you should change that! They're an absolute sweetheart. I mean, look at that smile! How can you say no to that?

You can download Monochrome Pixels for free on itch.io!

[husbandogoddess]

I Got Transported Into My How to Draw Manga Book!?

Mica (name changeable) is an art student burnt out on making art. Suddenly, they get transported into a How to Draw Manga book from their teens and have to draw to get themself home. With Sakura and Pigma's help, will Mica be able to return home when their creative self-esteem is at their lowest?

Play the demo for this visual novel here!

[husbandogoddess]

Gale's smile before kissing

[husbandogoddess]

Aftertaste

Just one taste. That's all.

Play here! But be sure to savor every bite.

Upon entering a cafe, you realize you do not remember anything about yourself whatsoever. But that's not important, for one customer is a Super Hot Guy. This Super Hot Guy seems to know who you are, and he might just hold the clue to remembering everything you've forgotten...or, at least, he'll be able to help you find a good coffee blend.

[husbandogoddess]

Monochrome Pixels

Can you bring back the colors into your life?

Story

Diana, a Senior Game Designer from Mad Lobster Interactive, deals with burnout, night terrors and work harassment at the hands of her narcissistic boss, Godric, on a daily basis.

One morning like any other, without paying any mind to her already busy schedule, Godric tasks her with mentoring their new employee: Enya, an upbeat and passionate newbie who's yet to see the struggles of the game development industry.

Very much at her wit's end, Diana has to make an important decision that may affect not only her career but her life as a whole. Will she mentor Enya in her own way and get to know them better? Or will she be at the service of Godric and her own inner demons?

A game made for NaNoRenO 2024, with @prikarin @theominute @chzhxiayun @florisam and many more!

Features

29k words, roughly 1.5 - 3 hours depending on reading speed!

3 Endings

4 CGS

Partial Voice Acting

Developer notes

Accessibility Options!

Font options

Change UI Colors

Sound & Image captions

Reduce Animations

This will disable bright flashes

Self-Voicing

Content Warning

Although the characters and story of Monochrome Pixels are fictional, the issues of abuse and mistreatment in the games industry are not. This game contains the following content:

Toxic workplace

Abusive and oppressive boss

Struggles with mental health/depression

Nightmares

Burnout

Harassment

Misogyny

Play now On itch.io

[husbandogoddess]

Finale Releasing April 5!!!11!!1!

SO. UH. THE GAME IS DONE. which means... i can finally give a release date! 😃💦

APRIL 5!!! GET READY!!! YEAH!!! DEF NOT GONNA BE TRAUMATIC...!!!1!!1!

YEAH....

...at any rate, check out the devlog for a few more deets. something something 109 CGs in just the finale... my usual tomfoolery...

I can't believe this thing is done... 💦

[husbandogoddess]

impostor syndrome is a common problem in academia. For example my colleagues keep putting me in the airlock and ejecting me into space

[husbandogoddess]

Advice for writing creepy/uneasy/ disturbing atmosphere?

oh fuck dude i dont know

i try to keep things pretty vague? give your reader something to work with, but what your viewers imagine will be scarier than anything you come up with.

[husbandogoddess]

You’re an Upperclassman, Baby!

The most stressful year of high school is also the most fun to be had if you can balance classes, extracurriculars, and the oh so elusive social life. 

You’re a high school junior starting the second quarter, who until now has made decent grades, held your own on the girls’ weightlifting team, and been through thick and thin with your supportive best friend, Billie Stevenson.

But maybe it’s time to switch things up? Step outside your comfort zone and cross a few things off your bucket list? After all, there’s more to life than straight As, and maybe old and new friendships can blossom into something more. 

There’s also the spot for future team captain and an annoying rival who can’t seem to take a hint. Maybe you’d be the better choice, or maybe you just don’t care enough to entertain her nonsense in and outside of meets.

And if that wasn’t enough to consider, what about the unresolved question of your ex-best friend? Years of history just don’t evaporate overnight, especially when it’s Lydia Barnhill, and maybe you’ve considered forgiving her. Then again, time doesn’t heal all wounds and you can move on just fine.  

…But it’s only nine weeks before winter break! What’s the worst that could happen?

High School Daze: Junior Year is a romantic, slice of life, amare visual novel. It features a female protagonist, 2 male love interests and 3 female love interests, and 1 friendship path. Different choices lead to different outcomes, with unique dialogue and events each playthrough.

This game is rated 14+ for language.

PLAY THE GAME!

Play the epilogues!

Game Trailer

Twitter

Ko-fi 

Game Updates

Core Reviews Spotlight

Character Aesthetic Boards

A Quiz??? A Quiz!!!

Art Treats

HSD:JY Track Playlist

HSD:JY Spotify Playlist

[husbandogoddess]

A more in-depth guide for creating visual novels, especially in the horror, horror-romance, etc circles

Some of you have seen my previous, smaller post on crafting visual novels, especially in this little space of Tumblr that a lot of us have found themselves in. Since that post took off, I've wanted to create a longer guide to help touch on some points I've thought about for the past few months.

In case you've never heard of me, I'm Kat, also known as catsket. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Game Design. I've been making games for nearly 5 years, and I've been doing visual novels more "professionally" for 2. You may know me for Art Without Blood, 10:16, God is in the Radio, or Fatal Focus. I'm here to help you make your first visual novel.

Please note that my advice does not fit everyone, and you may disagree with what I say. That's okay! It doesn't work for all. That's why there's thousands of resources out there.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE NEVER MADE A GAME

So, you have an idea for a huge visual novel. Horror, a shady and obsessive love interest, a little bit of woo-hooing. 100k words. Maybe a million. What is this, the 07th Expansion?

I notice a lot of people getting into visual novels are artists first. That's okay! I wanted to do art for games before I realized how much I enjoyed writing. And even less of you have probably touched Visual Studio. Again, perfectly okay. We all start somewhere.

My number one piece of advice? Make shitty games.

What does that mean?! My recommendation to those who have never done games is to make a bunch of shitty ones. Think of a theme, or hell, even join a game jam, where you make a game that fits a theme in a short amount of time. Spend about a week on your game. Focus on making something polished. Polish your mechanics. Polish your output.

I recommend, if you can, to make at least 4-6, if not more, kind of shitty games before hopping into longer projects. Making a game is a skill, just like art, just like writing. And game development is combining ALL of these together into one big soup being stirred by a skeleton hand puppet. You'll get into the rhythm and see what works for you.

It also helps you learn, perhaps, the second most important thing here: do you even like making games? There are cases out there where people have created video games (not saying visual novels) just for clout. That's no fun for you, that's no fun for your players. And you might go through this process and find that you don't like making games. That's completely okay! It's not for everyone.

Also, you can use these shittier games to gather an audience. I've built my audience because, for the past few years, I've been releasing games that slowly give me growing fields of eyes every day. A success story overnight is a rare one. It takes time. It's like building a brand, but you aren't a brand, you're an artist.

REV UP YOUR ENGINES!

Ren'py is the number one engine you will be recommended. It is very beginner-friendly, with lots of tutorials, assets on itch.io to use and download, and support. The engine comes with a few tutorials in the form of games, whose code you can freely browse. This is the engine I use most often. Most visual novels you see are made in this engine.

Twine is a text-based engine that most people use for interactive fiction. You can add images and audio, though, if you don't mind messing with HTML. I use Twine for text games and for outlining for my larger games. Ever played Degrees of Lewdity? Yeah, I know you have. Don't be why. That game was made in Twine.

RPG Maker has multiple versions and has been used for exclusively VNs if you don't mind fucking around with plugins. It can definitely give your game a super unique feel. I recommend RPG Maker MV, since it has the most resources. This line of engines usually costs money, but it often goes on sale for under $5-$15.

People will recommend TyranoBuilder, but as a user and player, the lack of options and the format the games often come in is just...not fun to navigate. It advertises itself as little to no code, but it's often evident in the final results. Some good games have been made in it, though, so if you want to use it for prototyping/practice, you can. I'm not a fan, but that doesn't mean that fans don't exist! This engine costs money.

Not an engine, but check out Ink! Super useful scripting language that's used for more professional projects.

DEMOS, DEMOS, DEMOS

You've got an idea for a long-term project, and now you want to show it to the world! But wait, wait, don't do that yet!

When should I start advertising my game? This is a personal opinion, but I say that you should not start advertising your game until 50-60% of your demo is complete. Why? As I've discussed with some fans of indie VNs, they can name quite a few projects that have been in the "working on the demo" age for 1-2+ years. I've been in the Kickstarter MMO circles. If you, making a single-player experience with little mechanics to balance and polish (aka a visual novel), are taking that long on a demo, I am going to assume the game is not coming out. There are some games I have seen out here that have been in "working on the demo" phase where I haven't seen a single ounce of what the project will look like.

What should I put in my demo? The purpose of a demo is to showcase the mechanics and the vibes and the mechanics of your game. It's a demonstration. In my last post, I pointed to the Dead Space 2 demo that was showcased at E3 (RIP), that takes place about 2 hours into the story and shows how enemies are defeated, some animations, bits of the story, etc. Usually, because it's less about mechanics and more about vibes, visual novel demos showcase a certain percentage of the full thing (5-10%.) Can you showcase the vibe of the game here and what players should expect? If not, show off another portion.

How long should I work on my demo? Before, I said 3-4 months. That can be true, that can also not be true. Think about how long the demo takes you in proportion to how long the actual game should take you. Don't put too much effort. The demo is to showcase the vibe. It's to see how much the public and fans may enjoy the game.

My game is 18+, what should I do? Make a splash screen when the game is downloaded to let players know your game is 18+. If it's going to contain sexual content, you can hide it with itch.io's adult content filter. Write it on the page itself that your game is for adults only. Don't put your demo behind a paywall. This is genuinely ridiculous. The purpose of a demo is to showcase what a game is like before a player purchases it. That defeats the point of a demo. I've seen this happen, and it discourages players from approaching, especially because most demos never make it past the demo phase. So...I'm paying you $10 for 2-3k words of a game that may never come out?

Should I make a social media for my game? YES! Go for it. These anchors are how people will find your game. Make a Tumblr and open that ask box. Make a Twitter. Go to BluSky. Advertising is not bad. Some YouTubers even take e-mail suggestions from developers. Feel free to shoot your shot. The worst they can do is not respond.

HOW TO SET UP YOUR ITCH.IO PAGE:

Getting your itch.io to a presentable state can be very challenging! There's many ways to do it. I highly recommend using this page image guide for learning how to size your images to make your page pop!

Itch.io themselves has suggested to not publish a page until the game or demo is released. You can make the page and keep it as a draft, but do not publish it until you're ready!

Your cover image is the image that will appear in the search of the website, on any front pages, in collections, and on your profile. What have I seen that works? Key art of one of the characters up close and the title of the game! If you can make it a .GIF, do it! Bitches love .GIFs!

Itch.io recommends 3-5 screenshots on your page. I recommend 1 of these 5 be a .GIF that shows how gameplay feels. This is effective, even for visual novels!

Write a 3-5 sentence summary about your game for the description. What is your story about? What is the draw?

DO NOT BE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO IS GOING TO SAY "This is not like other visual novels. It doesn't have that cheesy this or that or-" No one cares. Genuinely. You're putting down other games in your genre and elevating yourself to the pompous level.

TAG YOUR GAME! itch.io gives you a list of tags to choose from when you go to tag. DON'T USE THIS! Try to go for more specific tags. Arimia has a very good guide on how to use itch.io's tagging system to your advantage.

GENERAL GAME MAKING ADVICE

SCOPE KNIFE IS SUPER USEFUL! Everyone makes games that are way over their workload. It's okay to cut out features and add them later. Prioritize making a finished game before hitting those stretch goals.

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN! Writing outlines is super helpful. I use Twine for my outlines, because you can connect your passages together and make really well-thought webs.

IT'S OKAY TO ASK FOR HELP! Whether it's from friends, professionals, or anything in-between. They can help with assets, editing, etc.

HONE YOUR SKILLS OUTSIDE OF GAMES! Write some poetry. Do some sketches everyday. Improve on your craft to improve your games

MUSIC IS HARD. THERE ARE RESOURCES. Most of us aren't musicians. That's okay. Make sure the music you get for your game is allowed to be used. You can use anything non-commercial if your game will not cost money or donations. I try to do songs in the public domain or free to use overall with credit if I don't have a musician. Consult the Creative Commons website if you're unsure how you're supposed to use a certain piece of music. If you don't use the right stuff, not only can it put you in legal trouble, but it can put streamers in hot water if they play your game and they can't upload the video because music is copyrighted.

PLEASE, DO SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR UI. Wanna know an easy way to get your game to look more professional? Edit the damn UI for your game. Make a new textbox, even if it's just a black box. Change the font. Eventually, players recognize the defaults and patterns of games made in certain engines and may attribute a lack of UI changes to a developer being lazy. It doesn't take very long to change the colors around and move text! Please do it to add a little pop to your game.

DEADLINES ARE AWESOME. Not everyone works well under pressure, but if you give yourself an infinite amount of time to make something, it'll never get done. Set goals for yourself for how much you can work on something.

IF YOU HAVE TO GIVE UP, GIVE UP. Making things is hard, especially long-term. Emergencies happen, jobs happen, life happens. Let your fans know that a project isn't happening anymore. Don't leave them in the dark. You don't need to tell strangers your medical history or anything, but transparency + honesty are really hot traits. You should use those in your creative work. This is one reason why I advocate for not publishing or advertising things until you know it's stable.

SHOWCASING YOUR CONTENT

People love to see WIPs for games! This is what the devlog is good for! A devlog is a post where a developer talks about and showcases some things happening in the game? What can you add to your dev log?

PERCENTAGES! How much of the artwork is done? How much of this character's route is done?

SNEAK PEEKS AT ARTWORK AND SPRITES!

GIFS! GIRLS LOVE GIFS!

Anything else to showcase your game's content! Posting consistent updates retains and even gains a fan's attention for your work.

RUNNING YOUR TUMBLR

You've joined us, and you've made a Tumblr for your blog! Link it on the itch.io page, so people can come find you after playing your awesome demo!

Do I have to respond to every ask? No. It's your blog. Delete whatever asks you want.

I got a hate comment! What do I do? Delete it and move on. I have a more detailed section on hate below.

I want to interact with [blog]! How do I do that? Reach out to the devs for silly little collabs. If you come onto a developer slightly headstrong, they might feel you are being abrasive or using them for content.

If people make fan content, interact with it! Encourage it! Reblog it. Show your love.

OTHER IMPORTANT THINGS

PROFESSIONALISM IS KEY. These may be pet projects, but you want to appear some level of professional on your actual itch.io page.

Being dismissive of player and fan complaints or criticisms will make you appear childish.

If your game is broken, fix it. I have been told by some amateur developers to ignore game-breaking bugs. It does not make me, a player, want to engage with your content. It seems messy and unfinished.

With the above point, it's 100% okay to have bugs and errors upon release. Every developer and their brood mother has. To decrease these issues, get playtesters. Friends can play your games, spot any errors, and help you point out things that can be improved upon. I recommend having playtesters at every stage of development.

Make sure your game runs before you publish it. Please.

You can still be silly and giddy! There's no reason to not be, especially when you get positive comments! The point of this is to not be outright rude to potential players and fans.

IGNORE HATE COMMENTS. In this case, a hate comment is a statement that contains no constructive criticism and are only here to be insulting or malicious. People are going to leave you with actual piles of dog shit in your ask box. They are trying to provoke you. Giving hate comments any attention, even if you're there to "clap back" proves that they got to you, even if you don't take the hate to heart. They will continue to pester you. Delete any hate comments and ignore them completely. Laugh about them with friends in a private setting, sure.

THINK BEFORE YOU REFERENCE! I know one big thing in this community is adding references to other games in yours, such as plushies of other characters or putting them on posters. The best thing you can do it ask the developer before adding this. How would you feel if some random person you've never met put your character in a video game? Most of us would feel weird and potentially violated. Open communication with devs is awesome. I am usually okay with it as long as someone asks for permission.

As a complete aside, I prefer more tasteful references to other games as opposed to 523482346 plushies and posters. These have been slightly overdone. Why not theme a candy after another game's character? Maybe your characters know each other.

[husbandogoddess]

The demo for They Speak: Zenith is out NOW!

[husbandogoddess]

Reel Me In out now!

I’ve finished my final update to my little experimental visual novel, Reel Me In! If you like body horror, fishing, or cute guys (or all the above?!) then check it out!

It’s a short horror dating sim with two love interests, multiple endings, and a fishing mini-game 🐟 It’s my very first game and I had so much fun making it, thank you guys for the support! 💕

[husbandogoddess]

🌷My VGen commissions are officially open!!🌷 Offering drawings in my normal style and chibi style~

Order here

Reblogs appreciated! ♥

[husbandogoddess]

Mwah 💖 mwah 💖

[husbandogoddess]

If you're on Windows 11 like I am for my "main" computer (in my case for school purposes and because I can't get Baldur's Gate 3 to play on Linux), then you might've seen this annoying piece of AI shit show up on your taskbar:

This is Windows Copilot, and it's fulled by the same shit ChatGPT is fuelled by. There is currently no way to uninstall it, but there is a way to deactivate it completely, which I've linked below. It's very easy, and it took me like, 2 minutes to do.

[husbandogoddess]

hey i just came here from your game A Late Night Convo and. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa i could not fight back my tears!!! im demisexual guy like seo-jun and it just meant so much to me to see another demi guy happy with his gf. im not going to get into my own personal experiences but i just want to say that game really made me feel seen. thank you so much. have a wonderful day

OH MY GOD??? ANON YOU'RE SO SWEET FDHSJKHGJKHG

I'm so friggin' happy that A Late Night Convo made you feel seen!!! I'm sorry for whatever experiences you may have went through as a demisexual man. But I want to let you know that you're VALID, Anon. No matter what anyone may say about you and how you identify, just know that you're amazing and that you are lovable. If anyone tries to tell you otherwise, they can piss off.

Thank you for the wonderful message and for playing the game. I hope you have a wonderful day as well and keep a smile on that face. <3

[husbandogoddess]

First Skate (Prequel to A Late Night Convo)

Story

In the glittering expanse of a New York ice rink, Detectives Hwan Seo-jun and Iris Rodriguez share their first date, forming a connection that goes beyond their professional partnership.

Note: First Skate is the prequel to A Late Night Convo, a free 999 word story that takes place after Seo-jun comes out to Iris as demisexual and the two enter a committed relationship.

Features

5k words (10-15 minutes of gameplay)

4 CGs

Accessibility Options

Font Options (Default, Atkinson, OpenDyslexic)

Self-Voicing (Can turned on in options or by pressing 'V')

A cozy (and maybe emotional) story about relationships and asexuality (WINTER EDITION!!)

One very cute winter date

An anxious but super cute asexual (demisexual) man

An overprotective pet duck that may or may not want to kill said asexual man?

Play or Download Now for Free!

You can play both A Late Night Convo and First Skate on itch.io for free. It's available for Windows/PC, Mac, and Linux! Additionally, you can play both games in-browser.

First Skate | A Late Night Convo