#gamedev log

[luxuriainash]

the idea of the ML player just being a kris + soul situation with the UX player as opposed to being a reincarnation or time travel thing has been on my mind lately and it just won't go away

it and the weird route / snowgrave route and the acts of hacking/glitching aerith back into the party are sorta floating around in the potential plot point soup for my ARPG concept??

a couple bonus thoughts from a previous concept with these inspirations (sans player+soul) were the idea that by reviving the aerith expy, she becomes the protag/player's "puppet"...

...and the infamous debug room aerith comment.

honestly the idea of debug rooms and "out of bounds" glitches and such are just a huge inspo in general and i've wanted to do something with them for ages. i think i might try to combine these tiny concepts with the idea i'm working on??

[seraphimslum]

Baby's first devlog!

We're so excited to talk about the game post-release's plans, and where you can go from here to truly enjoy the full Spooktober Visual Novel Jam experience — check out the post up ↑ here!

[meo-eiru]

DUDE I JUST PLAYED THROUGH THE GAME, WHY IS IT SO SADDDD😭😭😭

and why is he hot

Starling went through quite a few redesigns through the entire development process so let me talk about it a bit :3

It all started with this notes app drawing I made with my finger

Right from the start we knew his tail would be made out of tongues but figuring out how many and placed how was quite hard, I really had to girlmath my way thru

This was the first actual drawing I made of him. The story wasn't complete yet but I went ahead and designed something anyway. Here he was definitely "scarier" and his scar was also placed differently. He had gills on his neck but as you will see I changed their location to under his arms later on. We were actually considering not giving him a tongue of his own so I wanted to make his mouth terrifyingly big and empty.

Here I tried giving him bigger eyes like a fish. This was when his playful and childlike personality had started shaping as you can see from the expressions. I definitely liked this direction better but it also wasn't perfect just yet so I went ahead and did a few more changes

I slowed down on trying to figure out his design a bit after that and instead focused on how his sprite would look. He is a merman after all, he can't just stand straight like a lot of the other visual novel characters. This stage was PAINFUL.

These were the first ones I sketched, we ended up deciding we liked the 3rd one the best.

I carried that 3rd one over to another canvas and started playing around with how we could place his tail, we started entertaining the idea of having him sit on a big rock

This is when his pose really shaped up. The animated Little Mermaid movie was actually a big inspiration, I sat and rewatched the entire movie and studied how they animated her tail

And after that I finally finalized his design. We decided to change the end of his tail to be more eel like for aesthetic purposes (normal tail shape looked weird with tongues)

And for anyone wondering this is what Maelyn looked like at first. Since the story wasn't complete yet I thought it'd take place in a more modern setting and designed her with that in mind but we decided to have the story take place in 1800s so I changed the design based on that. I did a lot of research on glasses and corsets to make the design as accurate as I could.

Yes glasses! We didn't use the sprites in the main story but Maelyn does wear glasses and looks very pretty in them if you ask me. You will be seeing more of it in the bonus episodes!

[gravitycircuit]

🎂🥳IT'S GRAVITY CIRCUIT'S ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! 🥳🎂 Time sure has flown by, can't believe we're already a full year on from the game's release, and the reception still has us floored! To celebrate, we've got a few things in store for you lovely folks -- starting off with this wonderful group piece by @jmanvelez! Stay tuned for more! Have you played the game? What did you think? Let us know! Remember, Gravity Circuit is available now on PC, Nintendo Switch and Sony PS4/PS5!

[allieebobo]

Hiya everyone! ❤️

I'm starting a new thing where I do a monthly dev log to keep everyone a little peek behind the curtain on what's been cookin'. 

I love the community that has been built around these Interactive Fiction games so, so much, and although I'm not as good on social media as I should be, one thing I'd like to  prioritize is giving y'all a glimpse of the development work!

Read it here!

[manonamora-if]

May Check-In

Hi. It's been.... almost a year since I did one of those. And until Harcourt, I hadn't posted here since October. During that time, things... happened in my personal life. I'm not going to get into it* here, but it affected greatly my ability to create and interact with IF in general. I'm getting back on the tracks, slowly returning to my original routines and circles. *maybe through more cathartic writing? after more settling.

Let's get into the longer things:

Recap of last month's progress what I've been up to since July

The 2024 To-Do List

Plan for this month

Some general lines for the rest of 2025

TLDR on the important things because it's really long: Harcourt was my announcement of some return to normalcy. I'm in the process of moving. There's going to be an announcement later this month. It's good to be back. Here's to a healthier rest of the year!

What I've been up to since July?

Some posted here, some missed (I should make some separate posts). Instead of comparing posts, I'm just recap'ing it all.

The 100% Good Assets

I created a Harlowe guide for Saves and Settings, updated the huge SugarCube Guide to match the 2.37 release, generalized the Tweego Folder for Mac users and other Twine formats, expanded the ChoiceScript to SugarCube Guide, made a Harlowe template to resemble Chapbook, updated all the SugarCube templates to 2.37, ported Cloak of Darkness to Adventuron, started Chapbook templates (Save System out, Config.style still a WIP), and finally, made a Chapbook Reference Page for convenience*. *the Guide is already chef-kiss, but the Ref Page is easier CTRL+F'ing stuff

Releases

I participated in a secret jam from the Sacred Veins collective with Svipul (an excuse to create in Twine 1/SugarCane). The theme was Righteous. This is not a happy story.

And as a final hoera in 2024, Dénantir for the Partim500. It's a mini French parser made in Donjon.FI (which had been on my to-try-list for at least two years). Some more sadness and reminiscing.

As you can see, there was a mood...

Updates

Aside from the assets listed above, obviously, the major one: the final story update of The Trials and Tribulations of Edward Harcourt. Released 6 months later than announced, but out nonetheless. Granted, the game was 90% done last October, but I dragged my feet (when IRL wasn't in the way to begin with) to deal some major coding issues that messed a lot of things.

Neo-Interactives and other Events

After the major success Neo-Twiny Jam, where we raised more money than last time (help us repeat it?), there was the Single Choice Jam, Bring Out Your Ghosts, Anti-Productivity Jam, The Bare-Bones Jam, (from here, I was less involved) Educational Jam, ShuffleComp 2024, Smoochie Jam, and the recently ended Dialogue Jam. A lot of participation overall with pretty neat entries! After a very busy, but very exciting, first full calendar year of events, we've decided to scale it back a little*. In 2025, at least, only the month-long jams will be held. *I have a huge backlog of stuff to play now... and NTJ25 is coming soon...

In other events I've helped, there was the IFCOMP for which I did Socials and Moderation, and the SeedComp! that kinda fizzled out at the end (tbf being completely MIA didn't help).

And finally, the Interactive Fiction Showcase 2024 which had so many entries. Which reminds me, I didn't announce the 2025 Showcase yet, which I should do sooner rather than later.

I did play some games, and reviewed a bunch last winter, but that fell off as well earlier this year.

Awards and other cool things that happened

I interviewed Chandler Groover for @the-rosebush-mag, following his win at the 2024 IFComp. This was such an honour to sit down with him and talk about his journey through IF.

I PROMISE I AM WORKING ON THE GAME and machina caerulea was included in the 56 edition of Indiepocalypse! A double feature~ And included with some really cool other people too!

I PROMISE I AM WORKING ON THE GAME was in a 1st-place tie for Best Use of Interactivity at the IF Short Game Showcase.

Les lettres du Docteur Jeangille won Outstanding French Game of 2024 at the IFDB Awards!! And a bunch of nominations for most of my 2024 games (though none came as close). Really proud of this. Twice in a row too! Won't happen this year, because no French Comp for me.

And David Welbourn included Not Another Sad Meal in his monthly parser walkthrough (January 2025). It's kind of wild. I've been using his amazing walkthroughs when playing many old-school parsers. And now I'm in the list! That reminds me, I need to fix some things.

~ And I think that's it? I've missed some pretty eventful periods, so a lot of stuff fell through the cracks.

It does look like I've done a lot, even during my quiet times, but it's really been more in spurs. Short periods of extreme activity and long ones of nothing (half of the summer, the whole of November, most of December, most of January, and from February until mid-April). In other words, when I had some quiet time to actually do something and when shit really hit the fan. It's been hard to balance, but I think I'm regaining my footing. April's been somewhat of a blessing in disguise.

~

The 2024 To-Do List

... has not really been followed. I haven't fixed the bugs on any of my older projects, or finished any of my WIPs (well, Harcourt, but 6 months too late). Instead, the first half was filled with unplanned game releases. On the bright side, I've fulfilled my wish of testing out new programs, or getting better at them. Well, and with Harcourt now out, I guess one thing got crossed out.

On the other hand, I haven't reviewed/played as much as I had hoped*. Even updated my website is completely out of date. Also dropped the ball on all the social media stuff. Very lacklustre year. *esp. the Neo-Interactives entries. It was important to me that every entry got some comments, to ensure everyone knew people looked at their work.

So hum... yeah. ⭐for "participating", lol.

~

The PLANtm for May

Not so much of a plan, more of what to expect this month, which... won't be much. Because the thing is: I'm moving at the end of the month. So between packing, selling, cancelling stuff here, and unpacking, opening, and probably buying things there, my IRL To-Do is arm-length at this point. It's both super stressful and a huge relief. I picked such a good time to come back, lol.

But I hope to have time to do some things. If not in updates/engaging, at least in planning for the rest of the year.

Harcourt: while the story is finished, there are still some kinks in the code/interface that can be handled better. As mentioned in the the update post, it's currently an Open Beta. There are a couple of things I'd like to add in-game. Nothing major. I don't expect the polished version to be out this month, but I'd like to make some progress on it, at minimum.

Secret Project: this will have a proper announcement later this month, but I'm currently planning a summer project for myself. It's both related to IRL and IF. Some good stuff I hope.

Really Bad IF Jam: is back by popular demands. The whole month of May, you can let out some steam by making terrible stuff. If I manage some free time, I might wing something?

Website Update: because it's a long time coming. Half a dozen games are missing, so does a bunch of new info. And it could do with a new interface.

Reconnect with the community. As a whole. I want to catch up on a lot of stuff I missed, and return notes that have been sitting in my inbox for too long.

I think if I can update the website and manage to tick off enough from planning of the secret project, I'll be pretty pleased with myself.

~

Some general lines for the rest of 2025

Normally, this is where I whip out my yearly to-do list of things I want done but probably not even manage to make a dent into it. You know the list from the start of the year, when I do my retrospective. Which hasn't happened this year either. So there's no list.

But for now, my main goal is to get back into a good healthy rhythm, where I can balance IRL stuff, IF responsibilities, and my own projects, without burn out looming or me being unable to do the things I enjoy doing. I think I'll need to make peace with my own capabilities, and stick to proper limits.

In terms of limits, the first has to be participating in events. It's not sustainable for me to try and make a game for all the IF events/game jams that catch my eye - even if I really want to or find them inspiring, and even if I can combine them. Almost all my projects have been created for or ended up submitted in a competition or jam; with ~90% of those being done on a whim/last minute. And because nothing I put out is a perfect bug-free experience, that means re-adding more to my plate with each submission. Because I still like those events very much, I need to be more realist with what I can do, and back out when things are not attainable. Like I have so far this past year. I had full planned or some form of ideas for the SingleChoice, Anti-Productivity, Educational Jam, ShuffleComp, the French Comp, the SpringThing and the Text-Adventure Jam, which all passed without a peep from me; as well as projects I've pushed for a later time for the ParserComp, IntroComp, IFComp (can't since helping organising), and EctoComp from last year. It's both been a disappointment (because I can't work on those ideas), and a relief (less stress to meet a too-short deadline!). So, for now, I'll most likely stick to just @neo-twiny-jam (for a good cause), and the Partim500. In huge part because it's only 500 words max. But also because they are the most fun experience I recall having, consistently. For any other jam, I'll restrict myself to long length (>= 1 month dev) only if I have actual time and a concrete plan (not just a vague idea/vibe - even if I want to test a new program). As for competitions, no submissions until I've finished at least one more WIP - and the entry is actually polished and tested properly (maybe I'll get better reviews now lol). That should leave me with more time to fix older projects, and complete current (and secret) WIPs. Actually actively removing stuff from my desk. For actual realsies now.

In terms of limits pt.2, IF responsibilities. I've been a part of a bunch communities, at different levels of organising, and with different amount of required efforts. Since getting more involved in the community, I've given more than 100% of myself to everything I've said yes to. It was working great for me... until I realised how much piled up. It was already too much last year, and I knew it - I couldn't keep up with most things then. Which is why I said my goodbyes to the great @interact-if last summer, and left a bunch of other discords/spaces. As mentioned above, Neo-Interactives is scaling back as well in terms of events. I had the foresight of preparing a bunch of stuff in advance (this is why @neointeractives has had scheduled posts with reminders). It's been less hectic and stressful, since not having something looming and having to untangle every 2-3 weeks. Gotta give major props to @lapinlunaire-games and @cyberpunklesbian for all their work too (esp during my breaks), they've been real rocks! As for other events, I can be pretty laissez-faire with random unranked events (like the Showcase or Really Bad IF), like posting it and let it be. But comps (and anything with more than one clear rule) require a minimum of admin and promotion*. Time and energy I need to see if I can spend (especially if I delegate) and reevaluate. *seriously... it's more work than you think it is, because it's very concentrated on specific days. It's exhausting. Rewarding too! but exhausting. That would give me a a more balanced planning at least. More time for updating stuff (the reason why yall are following me) :)

A potential path for myself in the soon future (brought to me by moving) is maybe being able to start a Ko-Fi or Support author button on itch. There's a bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo attached to that, but it's definitely something more attainable than it was while being here. It's something I'll be checking out this summer, and if possible, there will be an announcement (maybe even a new dev name?). Anyway, that's at least for late-2025-me to worry about. Also will need to find a new job first...

In any case, a slower, calmer, healthier "normal" on the horizon. And a new website! 🤞

[pillowprincessgames]

Dev Log! 1.04 BETA Release Date Confirmed & Info Dump!

I was going to post up a video update, but editing videos is time consuming!!  ​So, written devlog it is! This devlog is a long time coming. There's been some trials and  tribulations leading up to this point. There was a situation of lost coding, lack of time, and even some health issues that kept it from coming out sooner! I was hoping to have it out in March around my birthday. That didn't work out. So it's late! However, no lie, this feels like the biggest update I've ever done for Camp Gash! So, sit tight and get a snack. This may take a minute to read! I feel guilty for not saying much until now.

​ However, I'm here to rectify that! Release date for this update will be placed at the  very end of this devlog! So, here's what is all coming to the:

1.04 BETA Consequences and Scenarios Update

First off: An Inventory System!

That's right! A working, real, inventory! WOOO! I thought it was just going to be a list for now, but I figured out a system! There will be 4 categories of  items:

Consumable Items

Dialog Items

Mission Items

& Special Items

Consumable Items can be clicked on and used in the inventory. Instantly. Consumable items can help with raising and lowering your horny meter, some can be shared to NPCs, and even help your HP. <More on that detail later!

​cigarettes

bottled water

beer

first aid kit

bandages

no-baby pill

​Dialog Items can only be used during interactions with NPC's or during certain situations. A dialog option will either appear or the MC with automatically use them. Each one has a limit to how much you can carry and use. Some dialog interactions won't be present without them!

lube

condoms

Mission and Special Items are items you pick up during missions as an objective. 

Special items are  found in secret, given, or found in select areas. These are considered non interactable.

You start WITH ONE STARTER ITEM that you can pick while in the car ride with Moxie. You can now find items in a stick pile during the tour. It's random chance.

New Artwork!

Another part of this major update is a few new changes to the games artwork! The bridge to the player's  cabin is updated! It is no longer a sketch! The player is getting a new design for their cabin. ...Isn't it delightful?(it's trash I know!) A few new NPC sketch buttons for Carrie, Lyle, Mars, Lucian, and Lucy! I hope to have some new buttons that are finished like Moxie's soon. But, it takes a while to do! I've also resized Moxie's tour buttons so she's not a giantess. She's closer to what she needs to look like compared to the other buttons! The original buttons I created by drawing with a mouse. That's why they looked so wonky! They now have a revamp!

There's a few new MC customization options for their face!

New hair! Long flowy and Mullet(because it's the ✨​80s~!✨​)​, tired eyes, and a new nose!

Added or Expanded Locations!

The nurses station, although mostly still basically a sketch, has a back room that you can go into. A side garden at the green house and a secret 'relief' spot for the green house! Now you can jack it in peace during your groundskeeper tour!

Let's get down to the nitty gritty!!

Game Play Additions and Changes!

There are new things to customize your character and change up player experience! Many of them aren't fully implemented, but will be added in with each bug fix update and future updates. These all include:

The requested virginity option. You can now start off, by choice, as a vcard holder. This means that you can lose that vcard to other NPC's, both counselors and monsters alike. This may change up scenes for sexy time. If you tell your RO that you are a vcard holder or not! Only a few Counselors have been added to this, the monsters for the most part have this implemented! Lyle, Barb, Mars, and Kyle have reactions to this(only certain scenes!). Moxie just knows you are since the two of you are besties. The twins and Carrie,  are unfinished for now. 

The ability to choose if you have pubic hair, facial hair, and body hair. Will be implemented for scenes overtime. (facial hair not a selection for visual MC appearance yet! Still working on it!)

*Some requested that it should be an option for vagina havers (both intersex and lone vagina warriors included) to have an option to have their period during the camp week. (OPTIONAL) Not mentioned or implemented currently, but may open up more options for bloodplay. If this is selected, the game play may increase in difficulty. Monsters, not just the monstrous ROs, smell BLOOD. Attacks may increase and if hiding, yes that will be added later!,  it'll be harder to stay hidden. Survival is about to become more of a thing!

PREGNANCY. Yes, I said it. Pregnancy. Depending on the equipment your MC has - vagina, penis, or both. You are now able to become or make other NPCs pregnant. Will you know? Probably not. Only one NPC can tell you if you are. And it will only be said in passing! Practice safe sex~! Or don't. This doesn't change gameplay much, but will affect your ending. Make your game as MESSY as you want! There are items to prevent - or terminate - the pregnant variable. Condoms and the No baby pill(For MC only). If an NPC knocks you up or you knock another one up, you will gain a variable that will keep track of which one you got pregnant /got pregnant. Once the player is pregnant, unless terminated, you can not become pregnant by another. **Birth preventative items can be purchased in next update when the SHOP is implemented!

The ability to change what type of undies you wear! Briefs, Panties, and Boxers.

You can now be injured during the tour! It's random chance! 

Consequences on day 2 for fucking Barb on night one and NOT having a truce with her.

Lucian has a more complete Sleepover scene if you invite him over! This one has a story attached... I lost all of it for some reason. The coding just disappeared for some reason and I had to rewrite ALL of it. EVERY. SINGLE. THING. And I'm STILL writing it!! 😡 FUUUUUCK! You can be kinky with him or just do it vanilla! (interesting scene if you tell him of your virginity during sex~!🩸​​)

Lyle shower sex on night one (if invited to shower with him after shed sex)​

You can die during rough sex now! Yep. Keep an eye on your HP!  If your health is low during rough scenes you might die! There's consequences to your hoeing now! XD And you don't heal completely when you go to bed. You heal one notch when you sleep now. No more.  DON'T WORRY! I've placed a few first aid kits on the map on day two, if injured when you talk to Lucy on day two you she may heal you once,  and one of your starter items can be a first aid kit! Be safe! LUBE is recommended for rough sex and helps prevent injury. This can be useful for if you have a vagina and are going to have your first time roughly! Just a tip! ;)

There are new dialog options, scenarios, and sexy scenes! You can now KISS the monster at your cabin on night one! Nothing like rewarding your stalker with kiss. 💋

PROTECTIVE MONSTER is now a thing. On night one when you need saving at your cabin -if you know you know- only if your LOVE IS HIGH with the slasher or the swamp monster. (Eldritch horror has it's own idea of protection) They will come to your rescue! This unlocks a different wake up scene for day 2! ...With consequences.

NEW NPC(s)! Jackeline! She's a friend and bandmate of Lyle. This goth gal shall show up on day two after she is mentioned in Lyle and Carrie's day two conversation. She doesn't have much dialog for now but she will have MUCH MORE in the future. She will be... Helpful. Also, a serotonin boosting NPC you can find at the greenhouse on day two! Have fun with the little guy!

​

WOW THAT WAS A LOT! Phew! Do you all see why it took me so long? It has been a TRIAL! Let me tell you! Didn't mean to turn this into a safe sex class but here it is!

I hope to have the newest version of the game posted up here on 

MONDAY April 7th

Of which, if you like what I do so far feel free to become a patron or do a one-time purchase of the game! Every little bit helps.  Thank you all for playing and I do hope you're having fun with what I've created so far! Stay tuned, because there is more to come!

Until Next Time, Doves! Take initiative and game on!

- Pillow Princess Games

Play the current/non updated version HERE! 18+ ONLY!

[rema-toro]

Free Time

I'm currently working on the free-time events (which is taking a while so I don't have much to show.)

Atm I have half of the events scripted (6 done, 3 planned, 3 to-do).

[riverflow-studios]

KUWTW Dev Log #4

Guess what, fellas~

I went through a roller coaster a few days ago with the game because I had to reboot my PC, and that ended up deleting the progress as a whole. BUT LUCKILY, I had the first version saved up in my Notion. Which means that... False alarm! My game is still up, I just have to proofread it again and we're all set.

However, this catapulted me into better up the game and add new things.

You know... Fire Emblem Fates and Awakening? How can you change the name and gender of your unit? Corrin and Robin, anyone?

I DID THAT!!

So now you can type any kind of name for your character, regardless of gender!

As for the gender...

It's pretty basic as of right now, but some cute illustrations will be added soon. As well as some characters being redesigned.

Wait- You want me to show the new character designs, right? Hahaha! Good one, but that is going to be a surprise for the players who peek into my itch.io~

As of right now, I have to change the profile settings and add a post or something, it's pretty much a wasteland of emptiness. But feel free to peek in!!

With that being said, I am taking a leave to work more on this~

Ta-ta!!

[luxuriainash]

chat. what do we think about a combination of these ideas

[falaise-game]

Hi and welcome to the grand opening of the Falaise dev logs! 🎉

We are Lorem Possum, a French and American team of two! 

Today is the second anniversary of the development of our game Falaise, and so we decided to start to post weekly about our progress, tips and tricks we learn, and such. 

Falaise is a farming game about identity, what it means to belong, and the value of hope and rebuilding instead of longing for what was lost.

We aim to make something truly different, a game which centers its focus on the role of food provider, and the challenges that brings. Falaise is both a complete rethinking of the genre and a love letter to it; a demonstration that it can be so much more.

See you next week for more info!

– Zola & Mabel

[rainspicestudios]

End of May Update

Wait, what do you mean it’s already June?? Wasn’t it March yesterday? It’s already my birthday in three weeks?? Time blindness aside, enjoy my monthly devlog ✨

The good news is, some more assets are drawn for Enter the Eternity and for The Code of Crystals. I’m still a one-person team, but with how busy May was, progress was still made, and that’s what counts.

Here’s what I want to work on in June:

Two Second dates have been fully coded in, so I want to get the rest of the second dates in and playtested as well.

I want to get assets for at least two third dates done.

I dislike a background that I drawn for the Eternity/Other World, so I want to redraw it.

I also realized that I absolutely hate Henry’s magical boy outfit. I have a new design for him which is almost finished, I just need to render/shade his sprites.

Sadly, this devlog will be a little short: I spent the month of may moving across the city I live in and I might have a new job that I absolutely need sooo 🙏 let’s hope that I get it. I clearly did not finish two “parts” for The Code of Crystals and may be too ambitious for Enter The Eternity. I will get them done, but I will have to slow down their development due to everything happening outside of the internet.

I still want to release Enter the Eternity around the end of 2025.

Thank you for your support and let's make some good progress in June 🥂✨ Have a great day, everyone!

Enter the Eternity is a dating simulator in which Michi (name customizable) signs up to study at the Matsubara Institute for a semester and lives in a shared house. The problem is: every single one of your roommates is a magical girl (or boy, or person)!

How will you survive abroad with magical girls? Will you be able to adapt to this new life and make friends? Better yet, will you end up dating one of them?

[itch.io]

[itsu-saragi]

Devlog #13 - MILF (Man I Love Floorplans).

Please forgive me for that title. Anyway, good timezone! I apologize for the late post once again. My internet was out last week so I had to spend a few days catching up.

April Progress

The realization that we've already gone through 1/3 of the year is terrifying. But that just means I need to quit overthinking and continue working, working, working. So, onto the progress report.

A portion of April was spent playing with Fenik's Easy RenPy GUI. It was mostly just fiddling with layout and incorporating accessibility options, and unfortunately I don't have any nice screenshots to show for it. But I feel a lot more comfortable using it, so that's a win :)

Some progress has been made on side character design. Still no visuals though.

The last few weeks were spent on setting design. In an attempt to create a believable backdrop, I got carried away and ended up designing the entire building floorplan for where most of the story takes place. Looking up standard dimensions and layouts for amenities was probably overkill, but I can't deny I had a lot of fun falling into the rabbit hole. Did you know staircases need to be between 30 and 50 degrees from the horizontal, but the widely accepted standard is 37°?

After finishing the floorplan (that I now feel too awkward to share lmao), I did a quick concept sketch of the backdrop. There's a lot of room for change, but it feels nice to finally have a visual!

*Preliminary sketch of my VN's setting. Please note that this is only a draft and not indicative of the final product.

May Goals

Lots to do for May!

First things first- more art. I want to flesh out the sprites, bgs, and UI. I think the completed setting design will prove to be useful, so I hope to finally make some significant progress.

Second - start writing the damn script. I have a habit of overthinking and overplanning, and last night I was reminded that overthinking leads to less doing. So I really need to suck it up and just start writing :') Improvements can only be made after there's something tangible to edit!

And lastly - continue the unfinished stuff from April. Side character designs, programming designs... There's so much to do...

Thank you for reading! I'll do my best to post the next devlog in a more timely manner. Have a good timezone, wherever you are :)

[gravitycircuit]

To commemorate Gravity Circuit's One Year Anniversary, our composer Dominic Ninmark has whipped up a banging Eurobeat remix -- free for all to enjoy! 🎶

Thumbnail artwork provided by @jmanvelez ! 🎨

Give it a listen on YouTube!🎧 Remember, you can also listen to the whole game's OST on YouTube here! If you want to support Dominic's work, you can buy the OST from his bandcamp page here!

[dreamtydraw]

It's official the work on apple bag's update will begin in a few days. Before writing about the future update I want to take the occasion to host a Q&A about the game. Please send questions regarding the characters or the game itself for a little Q&A session before I officially keep all new information private.

After some time and 3 other games + 1 in work that will release soon, I am officially back on working on apple bag. I know it's been a while now and the update might come one years after the release of the original demo so I want to thank everyone who played the demo and been very nice and supportive regarding the game. I am thankful that the demo was nicely received and I hope that once the first update release you guys will enjoy the new content.

What do you need to expect on the updated demo ?

-CG

-Original soundtract

-Multiple days of event for the 3 routes

-Updated artwork and Gui art

-Possible voice acting

-More sketchy behavior from your favorite customers.

That all I can share as for now regarding the update. Again I thank everyone who ever made fanart, left nice comments and in general helped me into not abandoning this game by sharing their interest in the story. Thank you a lot and I wish you the best. I also take the occasion to say that if you have played the game and enjoyed it, I encourage you to leave a review on itch.io to help the rating of the games this would be very helpful.

If you haven't played the game yet and is interested to give it a try before the update, here is the link :

I'll also use this update to recommend other games for you to give a try if you're searching for new games to try.

[manonamora-if]

June Check-In

I am finally home! gots lots of feelings about it, but it can be TLDR'd into a happy 5min scream of glee and relief.

Obviously, because of the move, things were pretty busy IRL, especially during the last days/weeks. I'm not completely done with it, but it won't be as frantic (mainly waiting to hear back on things). Hopefully by the middle of the summer, all the boxes will be checked!

Let's get into this:

Recap of May

The Plan for June

Update on 2025's progress

TLDR: NEW WEBSITE YALL! and a plan for June.

What I've been up to in May?

Not much in terms of releases. Actually nothing at all. Didn't even managed to push some bug fixes for Harcourt. But!

MY WEBSITE IS UP TO DATE, YALL!

A fresh new version (v3*!), going in a completely different direction from the previous iteration. At the same time, it's very much a continuation of what I imagined the website would be. *3 is actually my fav number. I think it was meant to be that the best version of this website would be on version 3....

Anyway... LOOK AT THIS BEAUTY!!!

I'm so so freaking happy with how it turned out. Reorganising the sections and giving everything a lot more personality is making be excited about this place. And it's allowing me to grow it however and wherever I want (branching out to different medium?).

AND LOOK AT THE BUTTONS <333333 Returning to the old web vibes is just everything I needed, ngl.

So yeah, go through my little computer/website. There are tons of pages with different interfaces (there will be more soon!).

Fair warning: it is absolutely not mobile friendly. Anything smaller than 1200x768 will give some some weird results. Also use Firefox to view it.

I still have a huge To-Do list of things and polish to do (incl. mobile), but at least all the info from v2 has been moved to v3, and what was missing (games/assets/etc...) has been added (if not a full page, it is mentioned somewhere).

Neo-Interactives and other Events

May is REALLY BAD IF (Tumblr) month, between the end of the previous and next cycle of competitions, where people are tasked to make the absolute worst IF game possible. Normally it's just the month of may, but... I announced it late everywhere, and I didn't manage to put my entry in time, so... it's extended until the end of June!

I forgot at the end to officially announce the 2025 Showcase. Gotta put myself a reminder to do that.

Also announced in May (though it only just started), The Summer of Translations (Tumblr)! Because I honestly needed accountability buddies to ensure I actually upload a new translation every week (which will happen every Sunday!).

Keep an eye on @ifcomp for announcements, too. I'm still handling Social Media this year, and we're slowly getting ready to open the new edition of the Comp.

And finally, Neo-Twiny Jam is coming back, again a fundraiser (we got a few donors already!). We're hopping to break all the records again, so consider participating for a good cause (or share, that helps tons) !! Check @neointeractives and @neo-twiny-jam for announcements and entries :) And I'll be restarting @manonamora-if-reviews with my comments on the entries!

Translations Project

Nothing is out before June, but I manage to create a little bit of a buffer for myself (a couple of games buffer) in case things get busy IRL for a few weeks and whatnot. Which makes me pretty happy! Now... having received pages long of pointing out mistakes from MelS... But he said I'm getting better!

And... that's all folks :P The website took most of my very little free time this month.

~

The PLANtm for June

Al-right-y, let's make a list!

Harcourt: pushing the fixes ASAP (and pray there won't be any new bugs) and nag MelS for the missing Codex pages.

Summer of Translations: upload 5 translated works (incl. new releases) <- one less to do because Collision is done!

Website: chip away at the To-Do list (I'm making moar buttons)

RBIF: fix the bug and upload the entry

NTJ: try to at least make one entry (potentially with Anti-Romance and Nouvim, two birds one stone) - I have 3 ideas already, just need to make them happen.

Reviews: Neo-Twiny here we come!

Not so much of a plan, more of what to expect this month, which... won't be much. Because the thing is: I'm moving at the end of the month. So between packing, selling, cancelling stuff here, and unpacking, opening, and probably buying things there, my IRL To-Do is arm-length at this point. It's both super stressful and a huge relief. I picked such a good time to come back, lol.

~

Updates on 2025's progress

Is... void. lol. Which means I'm sticking to the plan!

I haven't submitted to any event so far (outside of Showcases for stuff already out! and the Translation project, but those don't count)

No new events organised either! (aside from the Translation one, but that's for keeping me accountable, so it doesn't count either)

I've done some fixes for a previously released game (Harcourt, it's just not pushed yet - I got sent a couple of more typos to fix)

The website is up-to-date!

Depending on how things go in June, I might have a more concrete plan for the rest of the year in my mid-year check-in. As in: picking a WIP and finish it in those next 6 months.