#Chronotopia: Second Skin

[natalie-waite]

Omg I’m so excited, it goes straight to my wishlist <3

Surprise! After years of endless wait, the Steam Page of Chronotopia: Second Skin is finally available! 🥳

…Which means that we’re surely but slowly getting closer to the finish line! It was quite the marathon; I’ve lost and regained hope countless times during the course of the project.

Every time I thought we had finally reached the end of the tunnel, there was another struck of bad luck, another unexpected issue. But, well, there is only one remaining ending to code and edit, so I can now announce I’m aiming for Q1 2022 as a release window.

Many thanks to those who supported me, who regularly told me they were looking forward to play  Chronotopia: Second Skin. The game would not be alive today without you ❤️.

[dontthinkonithermione]

I’m streaming this Sunday!

Snuggle up and join me! I stream queer POC games because...it’s what I like, and there’s games being made but no one even knows about them!!

This one called Chronotopia: Second Skin looks so cute. It’s just the demo, so we’ll be trying it out together!! Come hang Sunday 6:00 PM PST!

@traumendesmadchen 💕✨

[interact-if]

Hi! Any recomendation of CYOAs based or inspired by fairy tales??? Thank you!

Hello! There’s some that we’ve managed to find, so here’s what we’ve got for you! 

If anyone has further suggestions, please feel free to leave a reply and we’ll add it to the list!  

Chronotopia: Second Skin (Donkeyskin Tale) by Traumendes_Madchen (note: Tumblr is not letting us add a link, the game is on itch)

Kabaret (Southeast Asian folktales) by Persona Theory Games

Little Red in the Woods by Kuismai

MAMA BIRD and  The Solstice Hunters: Act One (Grimm’s “The Seven Ravens”) by Erin Elise  

More Things In Heaven and Earth (Hamlet) by morethingsgame

The Frog Prince and the Iron Heart and The Old Woman in the Wood by Celia

Snow Queen by Jenna Yow

Up & Coming (no demo yet!)

Swan Song by lyragames

The Fairy Tale Dead by thefairytaledead  

Thursday’s Child by thursdays-child

Venatici House (demo pulled) by prettyboyhowl

[coralnightcoffee]

Chronotopia: Second Skin Kickstarter

http://dlvr.it/QfsS5r

[thepolishlynx]

Chronotopia: Second Skin - Lord's Day [Part 10]

[traumendesmadchen]

Chronotopia January Update: Always Tied

I hope the new year is treating you well! If you’ve read my latest year-end post on the team’s devblog, you probably already know that I didn’t have a great time in 2022. In fact, I started 2023 quite depressed due to December’s fallout. I have good and bad news to announce and they are both kinda intertwined.

A New Roadmap

My partner and I have been dreaming of going to Japan for a very long time now and this dream should finally become reality this year. I’m elated, of course, but that trip has to happen in March and I’ll be away for almost a whole month. Needless to say that the deadline I had designated for Chronotopia: Second Skin is now entirely out of the question, which is why I have been feeling quite depressed lately. I know I’m often joking about a curse but I’m very tired of missing every single one of my milestones. You must be too.

This led me to take a painful decision. Up until now, I’ve been helping fellow developers on their own projects and it constantly required my attention. I’ve frankly spread myself too thin, I need to go back to the basics. That’s why I declined several offers and had to cut some collaboration short so that I could focus on Chronotopia as much as possible. January turned out to be a transition period as I wrapped everything I needed to do on those projects. No more outsourcing contracts for a while! It’s a financially dangerous decision but I’m hellbent on not wasting any more time.

I’m now hoping to put a new roadmap in place. Something that should look like this:

February: Fixing all remaining bugs (more on that below)

March: /

April: Directing harmonization

May: TL revisions

June: Completing intimate scenes and, hopefully, release

This time I included an extra month just to be safe so let’s pray that it’ll be enough!

Early Bug Report

For those of you who applied, I hope you’re enjoying Chronotopia’s beta so far! To be perfectly honest, I haven’t received a lot of feedback yet: I suspect releasing the build in the middle of the holidays might not have been the smartest move, ahah.

But I did receive reports of the point system still leaving a lot to be desired, effectively locking people out of the endings. Since it had been a persistent issue with private beta-testing already, I will have to rethink the whole system to ensure this won’t happen with the final version. If you have this problem, don’t hesitate to send me a mail and I will provide you with a guide in the meantime. Not having the end of a story is a shame, after all!

Likewise, I’ve been told the translation bug was back. I thought I had managed to nip it in the bud before the beta started but that was unfortunately wishful thinking on my part. Sometimes special text stubbornly refuses to be displayed in English when it’s supposed to be your chosen language because the main version of Chronotopia: Second Skin is considered to be French. One especially egregious example would be a full letter that appears on-screen during the C routes. Needless to say that I need to find a workaround!

Many thanks to the testers that reported both of those issues, I will work on fixing them shortly. I’ll likely put an end to the beta phase after I’m back from Japan so, until then, please keep the feedback coming!

[traumendesmadchen]

Chronotopia October Update: On & On

The house move went more or less smoothly and things are finally settling down on that front. I was without internet for a while though; longer than expected. Truthfully I’m only just now able to use my phone’s connexion and it’s still not ideal (not very stable). Due to the prolonged lack of internet, I fell behind on what I needed to do for the release of Chronotopia’s beta version, especially backer surveys, so it’s likely going to be available slightly later than planned. My apologies for that.

I’m still working on Chronotopia: Second Skin regardless: I’m currently in the middle of coding the purgatory epilogue. Here’s a quick preview of what it looks like when one of the memory fragments you found unlocks a flashback (spoiler-free, don’t worry). Flashbacks are quite camera-intensive but I’m proud of how they’re turning out.

Unfortunately, Mae has been busy this month as well so the last intimate illustration is yet to be completed. I really hope we’ll be able to finish it on time because they've all been great so far.

On another note, thank you to everyone who participated in the latest survey. I was actually surprised by the results so I’m glad I asked for your opinion! I thought batches n°1 & n°2 would be the most popular but n°3 is ahead by a large margin. Someone remarked that I had a lot of close-ups in the selection and that larger angles would make more sense for wallpapers and they’re probably right.

All of that to say that this is going to be the set for Chronotopia! Moreover, the promotional art will be used as a fourth wallpaper because why not? At this point, I feel adding extras is the least I can do.

Anyway, I will now do my best to finish what remains to be done on the beta version of the game before the end of the month. I expect my next update to be either about that or backer surveys...if not both!

[traumendesmadchen]

Good morning everyone. Did you enjoy the Elan Festival? I promised a cameo from Chronotopia: Second Skin, didn't I?

Well, if you watched the event live, you already know it: The little surprise I was preparing is actually a brand new trailer for Chronotopia 😃. While the previous ones were made around the demo, this one showcases the full game~

You can now watch the trailer on Youtubube. It's also included on our Steam store page so consider adding us to your wishlist if you're interested! ✨

(Video editing by WhiteCharisma)

[traumendesmadchen]

Chronotopia September Update: Wallpaper Pre-Selection (backers-only)

CinnamonDevil has completed all purgatory illustrations for Chronotopia and I’m currently implementing them. It’s taking time as this part of the story is where variables can get a little tricky. After all, there are 4 memory fragments to collect and the player can have found any combination of them so the code has to reflect that! I’m adding polish to make the animation pop when memory fragments release their power too. The reward for completing the game has to be worth it, has it not?

On Mae’s side, she still has two illustrations left so intimate scenes are not done but they’re next on my To-Do List.

That being said, today’s main attraction will be the wallpaper selection. As promised during the Kickstarter campaign, the team will send 3 wallpapers to every backer. Since Chronotopia: Second Skin contains around 50 event CGs, I have a hard time choosing and thought you could help me with the task. Even if it’s a small reward, I want to make sure everyone is more or less satisfied! That’s why I have selected 4 different batches of CGs. According to you, backers, which batch should be turned into wallpapers?

N°1 (Character introductions)

N°2 (Romance-oriented)

N°3 (Romance & story mix)

N°4 (Story-oriented)

Next update might be slightly late since I will likley not have internet for a few weeks during my house move. Don’t panic if that’s the case: I’m working on the game nonetheless!

[traumendesmadchen]

Chronotopia June Update: No Problem

Thanks to our artists, today’s update will mark the return of our general tracker. It’s been far too long since I last used it, I think you’d probably like to have a better overview of what’s left to do. Somehow, the answer is "not much" and "still too much" at the same time. Make it make sense!

This update will also be devoted to mystery because, even though we’re working hard behind the scenes, I unfortunately cannot show you our progress. Not thoroughly, anyway. Just know that CinnamonDevil has finished Chronotopia’s second purgatory illustration and it’s just as gorgeousas the last one. The level of details on display is astounding, I really like the result~

As for Mae, she’s completed another illustration for Nahima’s intimate scene. Yes, you heard that right! I had originally planned for a single event CG per character but Chronotopia: Second Skin has been through so many tribulations that, when I started writing the outline, I decided that it would be worth it to add a second one. There’s still only one intimate scene but said scene is now more flexible and you can enjoy the characters under different angles...so to speak. Kionna looks so dreamy in this picture~

And because it would have been too easy otherwise, life was indeed not much kinder to me this month. But the good news is that I seem to be reaching the end of my personal struggles so I should finally be able to focus on editing the Bear’s Ending translation. Fingers crossed...

I should have more to show you next time: I just can’t wait to make another build and implement all those cool new illustrations!

[traumendesmadchen]

Chronotopia August Update: Don’t Hesitate

After generating the last build, a lot happened in my life. One of the contracts I was working on took much longer than anticipated and I got sick with what appears to be my 3rd COVID infection (luckily I’m not doing too bad compared to the previous ones but it’s still incapacitating). All of that while I was taking a new gig in the hope of being able to pay my future rent because I’m actually going to move to a new place sometime next month. As such I was not able to make much progress on Chronotopia and it got me thinking.

The end of the year is looming and I have no idea how much of my time this sudden house move is going to steal. I am clearly not in condition to crunch: burnout is rearing its ugly head after all those years and I don’t want to risk getting long COVID another time. But I don’t want to wait aimlessly either: this game has been delayed enough times already. So I thought a change of strategy was in order.

CinnamonDevil is currently on the last purgatory illustration. Mae was unfortunately busy for a while so she is quite behind with intimate scenes but she should be able to complete the remaining ones soon. So my plan is to code and edit the purgatory epilogue as well as integrate the abridged SFW version of the intimates scenes in September-October. Then, a beta version of Chronotopia: Second Skin will be available in (early) November to any backer who pledged for a copy (digital or physical). It will be an opt-in system, meaning that you only get early access if you want to.

The beta version will contain the entire game, minus the full intimate scenes. Everything will be playable, just expect minor bugs and mistakes here and there. In the meantime, I will keep polishing Chronotopia: fixing bugs, harmonising the directing, hunting typos, revising the translation and integrating the full intimate scenes. Those are all little things that quickly add up but I hope that, with your help, I will be able to work toward an early 2023 release. Hopefully before my birthday; wouldn’t that be a great gift?

To this end, I will send surveys in the next few days/weeks to ask you what kind of key you’d like (itchio or Steam), if you’d like to play the beta, what illustrations you’d like to see become a wallpaper, and the name you'd like to be credited as. So make sure to check your emails in the foreseeable future and to update your address if necessary.

Speaking of surveys, here are the results of the fun summer poll both on SurveyMonkey and Twitter. A lot of you seemed to love Médeia’s illustration too, that makes me happy <3.

Next time, I’ll show you a pre-selection for the wallpaper candidates. Feel free to suggest some if you already like a specific illustration I’ve shown in the past.

[traumendesmadchen]

Chronotopia April Update: Illusion

A lot happened this month, surprisingly! It seems some of the things I was working on are finally coming to fruition so let’s examine them one at a time.

Health-wise, I had a bit of a dry spell around the middle of April, being suddenly tired for no good reason, but it quickly passed. I suspect this was supposed to be the Omicron equivalent of the relapse I had last year with my Delta infection. If that’s all, I’m incredibly relieved!

Since I was feeling pretty normal overall, I was able to begin translation editing for the Bear Ending and I’m currently 1/3 into the script. It’s not the easiest part of Chronotopia: Second Skin due to Aalis’ speech impediment (I don’t remember if I had ever mentioned this detail?) but I’m making good progress. If everything goes well, I should be almost done next month, though I doubt I can wrap everything up by then. Or can I? I’ll certainly try but 200 pages is still a lot!

Great news: @jubberry​ is back in action to draw the intimate scenes I had deliberately set aside up until now. The first rough draft she showed me is already pretty good so I can’t wait to see how the finished version will look! Bad news: poor Mae got sick almost instantly after that so she needs to rest for a while. I wish her a prompt recovery and hope COVID won’t be too mean to her… As you can see, Chronotopia’s curse is still going strong.

Another unfortunate occurrence is that I’m having trouble finding someone for the purgatory illustrations. I’ve asked several talented artists throughout the last few weeks but it’s not working out so far and it’s becoming more and more urgent over time. I have a very specific style in mind and it’s hard to find a good fit, I clearly need to start thinking outside the box!

On a completely different note, my little surprise is finally ready! Well, it has been ready for a while but I wanted to reveal it under unique circonstances to make it more fun. The game’s development has been going on for so long that I seriously expect everyone to have forgotten about us. I think we need some excitement! That’s why I advise you to check Studio Elan’s social networks in the next few days: Chronotopia might make a cameo appearance in their upcoming event~

I’ll make a separate update later in May to properly show you said surprise. It’s not much but I think it helps make the release of the game more concrete =).

[traumendesmadchen]

Chronotopia February Update: Starry Eyes

I’m very happy to report that I’m almost done with Chronotopia: Second Skin’s programming (90%)! Once I have put the finishing touches on the Bear Ending (namely sound design and implementation of the last archives), I will finally be able to start translation editing for that part of the game. To tell the truth, I could have completed everything with a few more days but I didn’t want to delay this update any longer. Anyway, the last push is in sight and that’s all that matters to me!

As for the little surprise I was preparing, I’m still working on it and it should be ready soon. I unfortunately can’t show you anything yet because it’s a coordinated effort and I need the greenlight of other people. And it looks like it may time more time than expected so I’ll update you as soon as I know more~

In the process, changes had to be made so the survey I posted last time will likely not be relevant until close to the release of the game. I did look at the responses and they’re pretty divided: I suspect I didn’t structure the questions very well, my bad. I might redo the survey a bit later with only the two most extreme options, that way it’ll be easier to decide the winner!

I completely forgot to mention it before but, I’m still helping GB Patch Games from time to time with Our Life’s additional content. A wedding DLC for Cove recently came out around Valentine’s Day. If you’re the hopeless romantic kind, I hightly recommend it~

[traumendesmadchen]

Chronotopia November Update: Go Big or Go Home

Surprise everyone, I’m back! Well, it’s not that much of a surprise considering I’ve already announced it on social networks but it is still a surprise to me, at least!

I was losing hope, not knowing when I’ll be able to work again. And then, a few days after the last update, my symptoms suddenly disappeared. I waited a bit, to see if it was yet another short-lived improvement, but no, it seems I have indeed recovered. I went to see the doctor once more and they couldn’t really explain what happened either. So this whole ordeal will have to stay a mystery...to my great displeasure. (I’m that type of person who cannot handle uncertainty very well.)

Likewise, I was disappointed to have to spend all the personal money I had set aside for Chronotopia on health expenses. But, luckily, I managed to secure a few outsourcing contracts in very short notice. Not only will Träumendes Mädchen not have to deal with financial jeopardy in the near future, but that will also help me commission the few things I need here and there before release. Those contracts do not have constraining deadlines either, which is a huge relief!

With all that ground work being laid, my goal is to give my all to focus on Chronotopia: Second Skin. The timing is rather awkward, as the holidays are right around the corner, but it will take more than that to stop me.

Speaking of which, those last few months have been so unbelievable that I completely forgot that there was something I wanted to show you. On top of handling scripting, I’m also fixing residual bugs and minor issues. And a recurring issue I was confronted with was the UI.

I made quite a lot of mistakes at the very beginning of development because I didn’t know how to integrate the "Where’s Waldo?" element into a traditional visual novel UI. Throughout the years, I’ve learned to gradually declutter the screen from all the little gadgets I thought were useful to keep a single menu, discreet enough to be invisible. So the latest version of Chronotopia includes a completely revamped tutorial to explain what it is for and how to use it.

Farewell crystal placed in the upper-right corner, hello flickering screen whenever a memory fragment is nearby. Already looks cleaner, don’t you think?

That will be all for today. Long story short: I’m back and I fully intend to make the most of it for as long as my body will allow me! And there is much to do…

[traumendesmadchen]

Chronotopia January Update: How Do I Make You Love Me?

Updates are coming slightly later than usual but be assured that they are still coming!

I made good progress in December partly because I didn’t give myself a two weeks vacation as I would normally do. As a result, I had no time to write the year-end posts and ended up doing that in early January instead. Which means the holiday slowness couldn’t be totally avoided, just delayed. It’s unfortunate but I really can’t perform two tasks simultaneously and it's still important to give a summary to the people who don’t follow the Kickstarter (for whatever reason).

February is such a short month that I’ll likely be a bit late next time as well but, hopefully, I can go back to the usual schedule in March.

With that out of the way, let’s talk about Chronotopia: Second Skin! Planets were unfortunately not aligned this time around: I couldn’t sleep well for too many consecutive days and it affected my productivity. I still made progress on the Bear ending’s directing but, since I work in two passes nowadays (taking care of scene composition first, then adding expressions and little flourishes), I don’t really count that as completed work until I’ve done the second pass. Even if it’s technically the most time-consuming part and I did a lot of scene composition. Hence the lack of numbers this month.

Speaking of slow progress : Remember how I had to squeeze five characters on-screen last time? I thought it’d be the hardest part because I had completely forgotten that a sixth character was going to join the family way sooner than my memories led me believe. And I know the final and seventh character will appear after that… Someone save me. Group scenes are hard; duo and solo scenes can’t come soon enough!

Other than that, I’ve been working on a surprise. Since contracting COVID completely derailed Chronotopia’s schedule, I don’t think I’ll be able to release the game for my birthday, after all (would have been the nicest gift though). But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing I can do, right? That’s why I’m preparing a little something.

I will hopefully be able to show you that in the next update or the one after~

[traumendesmadchen]

Chronotopia April Update: Doom's Night

The last few weeks have been pretty hectic: for some reason, I couldn’t seem to catch a break! I thought I wouldn’t be able to work much on Chronotopia: Second Skin and that this update would ultimately be pretty barren but, against all odds, I managed to turn the tables.

That’s why I’m especially happy to say that I’m already almost done programming Médeia’s ending! Just like last time, I only have the finishing touches left.

Hopefully I can do those pretty quickly and make progress editing the translation in a reasonable timeframe. I can’t wait to be able to show you more: after all, this is a part of the game that allows you to discover all the different sides of Médeia. Yes, she can be both fearsome AND cute~

See you next month!