#Tuff Mallow

[tuffmallowinteractive]

Tuff Mallow Update 4/18/24

Let's talk about all the things.

I've always been a "tell you like it is" person to a fault. I have never had a problem being direct, even if it has been awkward sometimes communicating.

So if I haven't had anything to say, you can be sure something serious is up.

Most recently I moved. And it was necessary. I was in a previous living situation that made game dev nearly impossible. I'd kept trying though, even as the world was crashing around me, while trying to keep up a front that everything was good. My dev friends were like "JmB, things are not okay."

It was a hard pill to swallow. So I doubled my efforts, took on more work and finally moved and wow have things been moving fast since then!

I went to GDC 2024!!

Having peace of mind in my own home was already awesome, but then the opportunity to go to GDC arose and I couldn't turn it down! I traveled to San Francisco and attended the week long event for people of the gaming industry, via a scholarship initiative by Black Voices in Gaming! I learned so much and made so many connections with talented phenomenal game industry professionals. But most importantly, I came to understand that this little Mallow has a place in the gaming industry. That the way I am is valid. That I don't need to be perfect, and that other game professionals want to see other creatives succeed and are also actively working towards that goal. It was inspiring and humbling and I never felt more a part of a community. It just reminds me to try harder to build up the creatives around me because if we all come up together, we come up strong!

Well Now We Are Back in Action!

I am back home. Finally stabilizing a workable schedule. And finally able to finish the things I promised! I owe people content!

- The Closet Door main release

- Background art to clients

- Chibi art to a supporter

- Some art for upcoming jam releases (shhhh)

There's so much going on this month!

I want so desperately to promise that TCD will be out next month- I mean all I have to do is finish coding the game in!

But for now...

I'm just taking it one step at a time.

You'll definitely know when I release this game (as well as announce the other projects I've been fortunate to be a part of, as well as the solo projects I've been working on behind the scenes. Because I am SO READY!!

As soon as I can officially make a beta version of The Closet Door (late April or Early May), things will move pretty fast! So at that time I hope you will still be with me on this journey, as it's been hell for us all getting here. I'll most likely announce it on all media channels.

Professionals Do... Their Best

I'm thankful. Always thankful. I would never have made it this far without the kindness people have shown me.

I am not perfect.

Professionals are not perfect. And I refuse to attempt perfection anymore, as I've learned just how toxic that can be to anyone's physical and mental health.

Best believe at any point that I am striving to do the best I can. I will always give the best of what I've got to my work and to others if I can help in any way.

And I will continue to strive towards being genuine and expressing those beliefs in everything I do and make.

I probably won't post another very personal dev post like this again. But it needed to be said.

For those of you who don't know me, I'm AlwaysJmB.

And I am doing my best. 💗

Until next time~

[karayage-spoiler]

Impressive dialog and translation of Outer Wilds

This post is about the latest updates to my Outer Wilds fan site. (As a pilot project)

🔗No - Impressive Dialogues and Translations

In this post, titled "Impressive Dialogues and Translations", I wrote an article comparing the translated Japanese text of the game with the original English text and what I found particularly interesting. Due to the length of the article, only a portion of it is presented in this post. All the content can be found at the link.

The phrase "Give me the dirt" in the conversation with Tuff was unfamiliar to me (I am 99% Japanese speaker).

Gabbro "You know, I kind of wish I’d built a hammock here before we ended up in this time loop."

The dialogue where Gabbro talks about their hammocks is a bit vaguely translated in the Japanese version. Therefore I did not know they rebuild their hammock every time.

Feldspar "Hornfels would have my very handsome head if they knew I’d been riding the cyclones again."

I chuckled when I learned that in the dialogue when reporting to Feldspar about the secret of the tornado, Feldspar described their own faces as "handsome". This text is also a safe translation in the Japanese version.

I find it amusing that the slightly cynical Cassava described Avens and Mallow as "gooey". The Japanese English dictionary also lists "gooey" as one of the words used to describe the stickiness of natto.

Pye's phrase "I'm a gas" was also new to me. I wonder if she chose this phrase to allude to the gas explosion, since they were talking about an explosion.

This is an illustration of the column at the end of the text of my article. In the game, all Nomai words are displayed through a translation tool. This means that the names of planets, etc. are all replaced by the Hearthian language. It occurred to me that it is possible that the Nomai language does not use names like "Brittle Hollow" or "Timber Hearth" but names of a completely different origin.

Since the inhabitants of The Stranger showed no interest in the game's star systems, they may not have given their planets unique names. However, I could not rule out the possibility that some of the inhabitants personally (as their own secret) referred to certain planets by special names.

----

That's all for this post. Thanks for reading.

[indiegamesofcolor]

[I.D.: A photoset containing four screenshots of the visual novel The Closet Door.

Image 1 shows off the fantasy world the game takes place in. Faun, the player character, expresses her thoughts in a text box: “Far as the eye could see, the view around me was fairytale worth. I’d never seen anything as expansive and surreal in my life.”

Image 2 shows three dialogue options the player can choose from. They’re listed as: “Alternate universe?,” “A whole new world?,” and “The fifth dimension?”

Image 3 shows the character Willow speaking to Faun, saying, “Don’t worry. Reality is what we make of it. And questions tend to answer themselves in time.”

Image 4 shows a scene where the character Scirocco leans towards Faun to speak to her. His dialogue in a text box says, “The binding of names is not a single thing that can be broken.” Behind them, Levi, Arun, and Octavious watch the interaction. 

end I.D.]

The Closet Door is a visual novel about having your world turned upside down! Play as Faun, a self-assured business diva as she falls into a new world filled with mysteries and magical men. Meet Arun, the joyful and inquisitive Fire elemental; Octavius, the prideful and strong Terra elemental; and Levi, the cool-headed Water and Ice elemental as Faun struggles to return home!

For Mac and Windows. Free demo is out now.

Developed by Tuff Mallow Interactive, a small company that aspires to make visual novels and other interactive media with compelling stories, enoyable gameplay, and that’ll make audiences smile. There’s also an official Tumblr for the company as well.

This game was recommended by @hummingbird-games​

[sunsetsunriseofficial-blog]

What the Future Holds for Sunset Sunrise

Greetings! I have so much to tell you! The newness of this all is really sinking in for me as the creator of Sunset Memory Sunrise Promise. I thought in the beginning this was going to be a small one time project. And maybe with that, the gravity of being a game developer making an otome for PC release seemed small as well. 

Between the last update and this one, I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with and learning from some amazing individuals and creators in the otome development community. It really gave me a dynamic perspective of the potential to really reach audiences and create stories we can hopefully all relate to and enjoy. 

As for Sunset Sunrise, progress is going great! I’ve got the character cards created, the common route completed and 70% of the GUI complete. Sprites are underway as well! CGs for the common route are being fleshed out, and all backgrounds are planned. 

There will be changes though! There are even more projects to come, including a free to play game in the works, and a collaborative effort with a talented colleague’s studio. I’d like to be able to showcase all of these developments. So I’m making a new account. One for Tuff Mallow Interactive - the umbrella for all of my interactive projects and collaborations! The discord is also available for those interested in joining in on the journey: Join the Discord!

I want to continue to post about the boys in Shoreville, but I plan to post about so much more as well! So be prepared to see these new changes take place! This is about to be one heck of a party! 

Now lets look at the boys of Shoreville

Thanks for coming along for this ride. Like Demetri, I can’t wait to see where adventure takes us! As always- keep a lookout!

~AlwaysJmb

[a-bitter-thought-blog]

Okay, so this goes along with my previous post.  Don’t make a character trans just cause you are. Don’t make a character black just cause you are. Now which character am I talking about?  Ah yes. Dave Strider.  Now, before people come at me, I wish to ask why people view him as such when he’s not. I’d love to see your guys’ point of view on things and try to understand.  And on another note, if you don’t like what i’m typing them message me. I acknowledge not everyone likes my views on things, and that’s okay. But please, if you have a problem, message me kindly.  But as i was saying,  Lets get onto the first topic. Dave, in the comic, is classified as male. Andrew Hussie specifically made him that sex and gender. He is cis. But i wont delve too much into this. Now with people viewing Dave as Black, he isn’t.  He’s albino. Its not scientifically possible for him to be dark skinned. Sure, his race can be such, just not skin color. But i don’t want to see everyone going around and making him have curly hair, and dark skin when he doesn’t.  But before you use the ‘’Hussie made everyone racially ambiguous’’ excuse, I believe he didn’t. If everyone was racially ambiguous in the comic, he wouldn’t have stated that Dave’s a blonde on his formspring (ill get a link as soon as i can.)  He also wouldn’t have added these things into the comic:   ``beep beep albino hairless dickmonkey coming through `` http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004672  `` AT: cERTAIN FEATURES OF YOUR PALE ANATOMY MAY SERVE AS THE MARSH MALLOW INGREDIENT, nEEDED FOR THE MOLTEN SNACK, `` http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=005391 And most times, If a character has red eyes, its safe to assume they have ocular albinism, which can be linked to albinism as a whole.  Also, side note, don’t say Dave was ever a ginger. When rose was talking about those ``Orange tuffs of hair``, Hussie confirmed she was talking about a smuppet on his formspring. I hope this didn’t come off as rude to anyone. It was never meant to be. But if it did, i apologize sincerely.

[themallows]

How much is Mallow Haus worth?

While I’m not going to get into the gritty details of it I did some more math to figure out how much the items in Mallow Haus has cost them both. Mind you that they are ICly renting a small home in Ishgard. They have sold some of their old things to make the move easier and have a bit more money to work with. I had Ana’a help me with keeping track of the items currently in the home that can be bought from vendors, and restricted vendors. 

Their current Small House worth of vendor items?  234,350 gil The rest of the items had to be hand crafted or purchased over time. Ana'a, guaranteed, made or bartered most of their furniture to negate the cost of buying it from a vendor or the Market board. All of Mallows pots, pans, metal baking dishes and knives were made by him since he's a Blacksmith. Very few of her items have been bought. Once again, to put the work they do to make ends meet into perspective, they got their little girls a bunk bed. Right now they're too small to use both top and bottom so they just sleep in the bottom together. Eventually, they'll get a little older and bigger and one of them will be sleeping on the top. For now it acts as a high play area, storage for laundry and toys or a time out spot if they're fighting.   Mahogany Bunk Bed 4 Mahogany Lumber (Limsa/Costa)   - 12 logs 5 Undyed Felt (Gridania, Thanaland, Coerthas Central)   - 5 natron (effervescent water & rock salt) , snurble tuffs, 10 fleece 5 Apkallu Down (Limsa/Costa) 2 Steel Rivets (free Ana'a is Blacksmith) Travel cost to gather by hand: (Note is is only travel no meals, rest or mending) Starting in Ishgard Camp Dragonhead - Free travel by foot/chocobo South to Gridania - Free travel by foot/chocobo Further South to Thanaland - Free travel by foot/chocobo or pay 120 gil in Gridania to take the Airship or cut corners and go to the Gold Saucer for free and then take the free airship ride back to Ul’dah. (Mallow’s extreme gil saving techniques at work) To Limsa next. The options, ride to West Thanaland to Vesper bay and take Sea Ferry for 80 gil to Limsa and then ferry again to Costa for another 40 gil but round trip back to Limsa will cost 80 gil in total. Airship back to Ishgard 150 gil  (Grand Total 310 gil) Or Go to Ul'dah and take airship for 120 gil to Limsa and then pay 80 gil for round trip to Costa. Airship travel to Ishgard 150 gil (Grand Total 350 gil)   Or Take sea ferry to Limsa in Vesper Bay for 80 gil and then ride to Costa through Eastern La Noscea before traveling back to Limsa and paying 150 gil to travel back to Ishgard. (Grand Total 230 gil) OR Take sea ferry to Limsa in Vesper Bay for 80 gil and then ride to Costa through Eastern La Noscea before traveling back to Vesper Bay for 80 gil, and ride all the way back up through Thanaland, Gridania into Coerthas. (Grand Total 160 gil) All in All the cheapest route is going to cost a total of: 160 gil This isn't including how much TIME it will take to reach these locations, sleeping at an Inn or outside, meals, mending or chocobo feed. ...Putting it that way she'd probably see him in about a year. :D I'm kidding. Mahogany Bunk Bed with all the travel expenses, meals, gear mending, inns in total cost or estimates to be around 3000 gil or higher. That's not including the time to craft all the parts and make it for the girls and set it up for them.  

Thankfully their little girls are too small to understand the cost of living and what their parents go through to make sure they’re fed, warm and happy.

[tuffmallowinteractive]

TUFF UPDATE 9/7/23

You know... I always talk about how I started The Closet Door, sorta like those old geezers in the 1980s movies. "Back when I first started this game in fall of 2019..."

But this is this is the first time I can talk about actually finishing it. I've been avoiding discussing it for a while. So much has happened in the last year. When I finally got to a point I could have released TCD, I won't lie- I got scared. I learned the world is a rough place. Even in the indie game development arena. Not everyone has your best interest at heart as a creative, and just about anything in life can happen, regardless of what your goals and plans are- including while making a game.

I am so very fortunate to work with others to bring Lake of Reflection - a short visual novel about life, loss and community to life. If I'd never made that much smaller game, I'd never have the courage to release TCD, which has grown so close to my heart, along with everyone that has joined me during my journey to complete it. Thank you so much everyone who helped me make this game. In so many ways, I am like Zeroi- humbled by your kindness and support more than you can ever know.

My first full length project, The Closet Door will be available to play on November 1st, 2023. I think I've discussed all the features (except for some of the backgrounds having animations) before- but if you'd like to know more about the game's features, its synopsis, as well as read the main character bios, you should check out the game page and make sure to follow for the notification when the game goes live!

But you know there's more, right?

Not only will this release have a voiced opening, but I'll be streaming the common route and first few chapters as a sneak peek this upcoming October 1st as a way to celebrate Tuffmallow.com's live launch on that day! I'll also be announcing some other goodies that I've been HARD at work on- it's been feeling so good getting to a point where I can say things are coming together! I'll be doing so in the Tuff Discord (link) because I want to chat with you guys, answer questions and have a ball! Make sure you're there to save the date for the event!

All the negativity in the world couldn't hold me back, my heart is so full right now! I can't wait to share more with you guys, but for now, thanks for everything and just yeah! This Fall is going to be amazing! <3

~AlwaysJmB

[tuffmallowinteractive]

Tuff Update Incoming...

AlwaysJMB 2018. We've come a long long way.

I have a lot to say and will be talking about where we are in all things Tuff Mallow and why it's been so quiet on Tumblr.

There's so much I have to tell you and don't think for a moment I haven't missed the Tumblr crowd!

Updates will resume on Wednesdays, as that's my most available day for social engagement. I look forward to speaking with you then, starting this Wednesday 4/17/24! See ya there!

~AlwaysJMB

[tuffmallowinteractive]

Tuff Mallow Update 4/24/24

At three am I think most sane people who work a day shift are asleep. Me however:

That's just dev life tbh. I think I get all time zones with fellow dev friends mixed up because we are all up in the wee hours when our brains suddenly go OMG IT'S TIME FOR PRODUCTIVITY!!! XD

So I'm doing the thing. I tend to edit as I transfer script to Ren'py. And as many times as I have rewritten and re-edited.. I can tell you it's a labor of (madness) love at this point.

Once I finally convert all the documentation over to Visual Code (the data script editing software I use to communicate with Ren'py's engine), I can finally get rid of unneeded text and markup and get an accurate word count. Each route is currently at 85-90k. I think this would put the game close to 300k if I add in the prologue. But I want an accurate number to give you all, so please give me a week to get on it. This week I'm finishing my part for the Amare Game Festival games I'm fortunately helping in! So I'll be sure to have something interesting to update next week!

As I get closer to the finish line, I am definitely looking for folks who will be willing to beta test and who are willing to offer feedback on final touches! Definitely could be you!

The Closet Door Gang is all here!

The Tuff Mallow Discord is open for new members (well it always is, lol) and we hope to see you there! Join the journey, weigh in and talk all things Tuff Mallow!

Well, it's a small update, but glad to be able to write it this morning. Hope your morning goes well! Back to burning the midnight oil!

~Always JMB

[tuffmallowinteractive]

TUFF UPDATE 7/13/23

A Developer Soldier Writing Home From The Trenches

It's been a while. And let me tell you- I HAVE MISSED YOU.

I can also say that this point in game dev, I am not the person I started out as. I definitely have been through much more than I or anyone else anticipated getting into game development and design. I am forever grateful for the fellow devs and peers that have been supportive of me along the way, as well as each and every fan who believes in my ability and has stuck with me. You guys have been my saving grace in this.

So where have I been?

I decided (for the last time) to join the Amare Game Festival. I figured I could shell out a small lore game for The Closet Door called Lake of Reflection in a month- why not?

Because game jams aren't for everyone. I spent the month burning myself out and still not being done with the game when the festival ended. (Mind you I loved the jam and you should check out the Amare Game Festival Entries!) But I didn't want to give up on the game. A cast of amazing VAs and a budding background artist helped me bring it to life! Not to mention help from fellow devs that lent me their talents when I inevitably got stuck with programming. I did hit a major burnout. And cooldown time where anxiety of release made every milestone more stressful than enjoyable.

Again, thanks to everyone around me lending me their confidence, I was able to finish and release Lake of Reflection today! It's a fairly small VN/IF hybrid game in comparison to TCD, only claiming 45k words, 6 CGs, 8 sprites and 5-6 endings. But Lake of Reflection boasts a lot of love and that means the world to me.

Lake Of Reflection game page!

This story ties into The Closet Door and hopefully for those who play both games, they'll find it a delightful addition to the worldbuilding of TCD. However, Lake of Reflection is also a stand alone project and hopefully will warm the hearts of those who play it of its own merit. 💗

But game dev doesn't stop at this first release! Earlier this year I experienced an event that really made me recognize how childhood trauma impacts us. Because I write about childhood trauma in TCD, it really made me revisit the script. I've made some what I feel are necessary changes. And I think the new build I'm doing for TCD will be better for it.

I'm back into development for TCD now, so I will be doubling down on the grind.

But there's so much more going on!

And most of it requires more time to address. And you know what that means! Yesss, it's time Tuff Mallow returned to Tumblr and social media. I have a lot to share with you:

Upcoming projects

Release Dates

Shiny new Tuff Stuff

Comics?

So know that I'm fighting hard to stay Tuff like I've promised. I hope people like Lake of Reflection and that includes fans of TCD. I'll tell you next week about more exciting news, so stay tuned!

~Alwaysjmb

[tuffmallowinteractive]

we need a booty ranking for the ROs, stat! thank you OwO

Okay. I knew I couldn't "sit" on this forever. I tried though! But I mean booties really do come in all shapes and sizes and then there's preference and one person's cake is another person's badunkadunk! Anyway. I just decided I'd give the sheet over to Levi. I figured he would be able to read it without being flustered.

...and well, I might not have told him what the letter he was reading was about...

...and I might not have told Octavius he'd be hearing his booty ranking today...

I'm sure it'll be fine X'D

[tuffmallowinteractive]

Tuff Mallow Update 3/8/23

Hello! As I approach the release for The Closet Door, I sometimes have a hard time trying to figure out what to discuss. I believe aside from updated trailer(s), I have shown off all the visual assets I can without getting too spoilery, and showing code snippets always seems boring to me. 

Faun the 25yr old prodigy and a respected woman in the corporate world!

I have done a few cool things, such as add animations to The Closet Door that previously did not exist, so I’m excited about that! I also am at the last few chapters of coding and editing the code- I should be clear on the exact wordcount then. Before I began adding the script to code, I was at 270k+ words and was very proud of the script. (I write everything in Google docs, but edit as I export chapter by chapter to the Renpy game script files)

I’ve had to make some sprite corrections and some script corrections to accommodate fluidity in storytelling. That’s a big deal to me, so these are little corrections I’m making. I’m also tallying up choices/branches in order to flag a point system that is fair across routes. Some chapters split off at the start, so I want to make sure everything is fair in the end- or as even as I can make the routes without having to rewrite anything major. I did find out the silly way that there are a total of 15 possible endings. Somehow I forgot to add the bad endings in the tally before. Sorry about that! As soon as I’m sure of all changes, I’ll update the game page. 

As for other news, I do intend to finish Lake of Reflection for the Amare Game Festival 2023. It was a project close to my heart and I would like to finish it and share it and the talented voices that brought it to life with the world. 

It’s been a little late on getting Instagram posts going- but no worries! Sweet treats will be there before you know it- so stay tuned! 

~AlwaysJmb

[tuffmallowinteractive]

Speaking on Nice Things:

A Tuff Mallow update 8/1/22

Have you taken the time to look back over the past three years? I hope when and if you do, you congratulate yourself for making it through. It has been a very difficult time for so many. I'm glad you're here and I hope you're well 💗.

I had to look back over the past three years and realize I'm doing way more than I thought I was. I've accomplished more than I realized I have and now that I'm revving up to share things with everyone, I'm actually proud and humbled as to where life and game development has taken me.

First of all,

Let's discuss The Closet Door! MANnnnn THIS GAME! I have so many emotions about it. It started as a little side project, and already it has grown into a full sized game with two mini holiday DLCs planned (I already finished one of them and plan to release it publicly this fall! 👀) I spent a lot of time fixing and trimming and adding script, CGs, sprites and redesigning the UI. I'm finally at a place where I'm like OK. TIME TO CLEAN THIS BABY UP AND RELEASE IT IN THE WILD. So I'm plugging any holes in my script and already adding assets to the code- we're in the final countdown now and I'm full of so many emotions about it- I can't even express them all. Just know a lot of love has gone into Faun and the gang. I truly love all of it for everything I could give it.

Coming Soon page is up so you know it's on now!

The demo page is gone, but the official full release page is up and ready for the countdown!

The next thing that may surprise you is that I am halfway through production of a related game as well. This game is called Lake of Reflection, and it is shaping up to be a visual novel/ interactive fiction hybrid that stars two unseeming protagonists finding their way through helping and healing on the heels of tragedy and trauma. I'm in the process of hosting a casting call, as there will be partially voiced lines in this story, which takes a slightly different direction from my usual storytelling design. This small game will most likely be released sometime late 2022 and only range about 20-30k words. I'll be sure to update everyone on the progress.

Lake of Reflection title screen

Also!! Sunset Memory Sunrise Promise is still on the rise in my dev tasks! It's already turning into less of a lone project and more of a collaboration involving so many talented individuals I am fortunate to meet let alone work with! I'm really excited to be moving towards the development of this game. I have wanted to work on this game so long and it has taken a lot of learning about myself as a developer and storyteller to get to this point. As The Closet Door finally comes to a full release, I will be actively working on production for SMSP with gusto and introducing you guys to all the amazing talent that will be responsible for ultimately bringing it to life. Keep your stations tuned in! There's so much to see coming up!

...Not what I meant by so much to see Demetri...

We have come so far

And it keeps getting better! There will be some pretty cool media creations releasing with insight to the games and their backstories, so I will definitely ping you on those as soon as they drop!

I'm also sitting down to revamp the Patreon and give it the professional love it has deserved all along. I can't wait to show you guys what Patreon and Kofi will look like starting this month 💕🔥💯

And uh... There's a comic I have been designing? And plan to release on Tuff Mallow website- (which is a thing!) as soon as the website is up and ready to share with the public- still working on responsiveness and fluid design that says "Marshmallow, but A Tough one". When I do, I can give you more info about these guys and the shenanigans they get into!

Your Wish or Mine~ (details soon!)

Thanks for sticking around and I promise to keep doing my best to create and release the works you guys have been inspiring me to make over the years. Things are about to move fast and I hope I can keep up! Either way, I'm better for the ware having you guys along for the ride with me!!

Stay awesome and I've got more posts coming up!

~AlwaysJmB

[tuffmallowinteractive]

Ok. All edits I could possibly make are done for The Closet Door. I literally can't pick at this thing anymore. Time to plug everything in code and get it up and running. Wish me luck. 💗🙏🥺

[tuffmallowinteractive]

Tuff Mallow is up to something...

I can’t wait to finish this sketch! We’ll see what Tuff is up to when the image is done!...

[tuffmallowinteractive]

I love Faun's sprite- I love ALL of them, all the art sprites you do/have in your games, they have such amazing details, little hints at backstory and personality and things I can't wait to learn more about- but also Faun is so beautiful omg <3

Complement overload! I don't know if Faun can handle it! <3

Thank you so much!