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LOOKIT HIMMMM

💕✨️BINARY STAR HERO MERCH NOW AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE ✨️💕

My KOFI SHOP is now open 🌟

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A Simple Twist of Fae!! What about it?

SO! I popped in a few days ago and dropped the news about my first commercial game, A Simple Twist of Fae. And I'm sure many of you were like... "Huh?"

So I would like to talk a little about this gem of my heart!

A Simple Twist of Fae is a small story I started working on as a jam entry for Josei After Dark 2024. I was really excited to join the jam and create something a little spicier than my normal works! In the end, I ended up only being able to submit a demo, with plans to make the full game within a few weeks.

But then the scope creep got me and I really REALLY wanted the game to be as authentic to a manga as I could make it!

I did stick to the original five sprites, but found myself drawing SO MANY PANELS. My heart goes out to manga artists and creators- they are the real heroes!

In the end, A Simple Twist of Fae missed the deadline I set for February 14th in Q1 of this year. But I stuck with it and was able to release it to the full extent of my vision this April. And I couldn't be prouder!

One of the biggest delays was the Impings scene- the whack-a-mole like minigame I was so determined to add... simply because I promised I would. I learned very quickly that I was not equipped to reprogram outdated code that I found on ancient Lemmesoft forums... I was really fortunate for the help of Applesplosion who made the code work, and the minigame possible. I am so grateful!

(they really were some nasty buggers)

This entire process was a labor of love and most definitely worth the pain. From the UI design to the music and sound effects, I definitely think this game has its own unique vibe. I really hope people play A Simple Twist of Fae and have fun and enjoy the silly moments! Kalaira and the gang are a fun bunch and it has been a pleasure sharing their story <3

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It may seem like I've just been quiet. BUT

I just released my first commercial game!

https://tuffmallow.itch.io/a-simple-twist-of-fae

A Simple Twist of Fae started out as a game entry for Josei after after Dark 2024 game jam. But you know me, it quickly became more in my eyes.

And now 50k words, 50 backgrounds, and nearly 100 manga panels big and small later... And here we are with my first commercial game!

Not gonna lie- I'm so very nervous about it! But I hope the love I put into this silly soft game about learning to open your heart and let love reaches the people who will enjoy it.

I'll be getting back to my regular grind now, but before I do-

I just want to say again, thank you for all the Vivs out there- you know who you are. Thank you for keeping me in the dev game. This year is going to be a year of releases, and A Simple Twist of Fae is only the beginning!

💗💗💗💗💗💗

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Anchored Hearts: A Tale of Destiny!

We are delighted to announce that our next game, Anchored Hearts: A Tale of Destiny, will be sailing onto Steam in June 2024! A pirate on the run, La Belladonna must escape imprisonment and prove her innocence in this roguelite adventure-meets-romance novel! Navigate wild waters, fight enemy ships, and decide to whom you’ll give your heart. Through narrative choices, unravel the truth behind your cursed fate!

Find out more here!

Wishlist on Steam today!

Find us on socials.

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Have you ever wanted to play as a cheeky Faerie? Ally with a goose to defeat evil idiots? Potentially steal a love interest in the most Fae-like way possible?

Well, then I recommend this game here, which was a collab with some of my favourite people.

It's got a few hours of gameplay with two LIs and a pretty funny MC so check it out!

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๋࣭⭑ Devlog #40 | 5.1.24 ๋࣭⭑

Happy April (pretend I'm not late on this devlog)!!

April flew by in the blink of an eye. It's been a really busy month for me personally--I'm not sure about you all!

This devlog is going to be structured differently from the past devlogs for two reasons: 1) my concussion is lowkey kicking my ass and 2) I had a release going on almost every week this month because I am a Crazy Person HA!!!!

This month was filled with some kind of release every weekend, which is equal parts exciting and exhausting. Because releases always take a lot out of me, I basically spent every day this month cycling between phases of post-release euphoria, post-release depression, pre-release excitement, recovery burnout, burnout guilt, and just about every emotion in between.

THEN!! I got into an accident about a week ago and have been throwing hands with the resulting concussion since. So it's basically been a crazy month in the Crescence world.

That being said, let's run through the month in chronological order, and every weekend release :crazy eyes & hysterical laughter:

Kayn's Beta Route Out Now!

Kayn's Beta Route has been Finished!

In Extremely Exciting news, Kayn's beta route was finished during the first weekend of this month! I had put off publicly announcing it because I didn't want to clash with the demo release. But it was released quietly to patrons and beta-testers. Feedback so far has been very kind, and if you'd like to get access to Kayn's beta route, you can play it with the Hydra ($10) tier on my Patreon ^^

I will publicly announce the route sometime later. But for now, for those who bother reading my devlogs, here is a treat!

Enhanced Demo Release

Bro we fucking did it

Second weekend of April, we released the ENHANCED DEMO OFFICIALLY!!!! It was so exciting (and nerve-wracking) to be able to finally get this out to the public. Reception has been so nice, and it's been rewarding to see people finally be able to play the enhanced demo and see what I've been working so very hard on these past couple of months. I'm really glad you all liked it and appreciated all the details that I've painstakingly polished <3

I mentioned it before but I was really nervous for the release---I had no idea how it would go. But as always, I could not be more appreciative of the support you all give to little old me. Thank you, and I hope you all like the taste of what is to come in the Alaris world!

If you haven't gotten a chance to play the demo yet, please check it out here!

ALSO..... if five people want to rate the demo and haven't rated it yet...... it would make me very happy....... we are so close to 300 ratings.....

Velox Formida

Yes, I did help make a game in 36 hours.

Adding to the madness, I got sucked into this game jam by beloved and crazy @shewassaying. You have to make a game in 36 hours. It was a crazy whirlwind of an experience, but with people I always love being with. We finished a beautiful fantasy game if anyone would like to check it out!

Are you tired yet? I sure am.

A Faerie's Tale

We aren't done yet gamers

Finally, to round out the marathon, I created the GUI for this beautiful little game that was submitted to Amare Fest (which you should check out, since a lot of other cool games were submitted!). I had the opportunity to work with some extremely talented devs (@steamberrystudio, @jeneara, @windchimesgames, @tuffmallowinteractive, and feniks of OL fame), some of which are like titans in the VN community to me ;_;

The game is an enchanting, short little story (and FREE!) about a Fae. Something I know many of us are suckers for nyeheh. Please feel free to check it out here

That's it... Kinda.

And that's about it for this month! As you can see..... it was very much a back-to-back month. Because of that, I'm trying to use right now as a break (everyone thank my concussion for forcing me to take a break, yippee!).

Some other things that I want to highlight this month:

We released an official trailer for Alaris. She's stunning, and if you haven't seen it yet...... well, what are you waiting for....

intertwine is part of a Palestinian Relief Bundle. For only $8, you can get access to over 300 cracked games and support an important cause. If you haven't donated yet, please consider doing so. We are close to almost half a million dollars raised! Bundle ends in 4 days, so please consider buying if you haven't already

Alaris is part of a small little collaboration/cross-promotion of other magical and mystery otome. If you like sexy games by cracked devs, please check them out at the bottom of my itchio page. Some of the other games include Obscura, Lost in Limbo, The Good People, Save the Villainess, Snow White Ashes, and more! I would link them here, but I'm starting to get a headache teehee.

Anyways, that rounds out this month and a bunch of exciting news! I know it can be overwhelming to look at. Per usual, I never expect anyone to play every single game I am involved with. But if any of them catch your eye, I encourage you to check them out since many of the people I work with are very talented and you never know what new devs/games you'll get introduced to as a result!

See you all next month! <3

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Amare Fortnightly Bulletin 15/04/24 - 30/04/24

Hi everyone!

Issue #15 of the news bulletin is out now,

Sorry it's a little later than usual but with Amare Fest wrapping up, it's been a little chaotic. This was a bit of a light week in terms of amare news but there are some cool new DLCs and game updates to look at so have a look through the issue to see what's going on in the amare game sphere for the last two weeks.

See you next issue!

~Amare News Team

Itch Link for Issue Download - https://amaregames.itch.io/amare-new-bulletin-2024/devlog/723831/issue-15-released-apr-15-apr-30

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I personally love this game so much and Hummingbird Games are always such an emotional joy- show this some love guys!!

THE KNIGHT DANCE IS LIVE!!!

CURRENT FEATURES

2 endings

~10 mins gameplay

All the storybook feels!!!

Partial voice acting

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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

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Just a quick snippet of me opening up Ren'Py and working on TCD!

Tell me, did you notice the other projects in that list? 👀⁉️

Don't forget Tuff Mallow is on TikTok. I'll upload more if I know you guys wanna see what I'm up to! Link below 👇

Tuff on TikTok

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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~

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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

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‘Do not ask your children to strive’ by William Martin

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5 days left

We only have 5 days left on our Dual Chroma Kickstarter! This is your last chance to get any custom art and be part of the game!

KS: bit.ly/dckickstart

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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

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Our Kickstarter is coming up in September!!

If we can get to 300 followers, I’ll post a peek at the script for one of Sahi’s spicy scenes!

🎭Customizable protag

❤️‍🔥Optional NSFW

✅ 9 endings

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ASK AND TIKTOK RECEIVE

Time to load up asks again, cuz I'm about to be having a ball putting some of them on TikTok! Philip Kraaijenhof is a valuable friend, and the VA casted for Octavius in The Closet Door. He convinced RohxVa and Hugo Sierra, also friends who have long held the voice casting for Levi and Arun to put together a TikTok post for me using one of the funnier Tumblr asks you guys have given me! And so it has begun, we decided to make some more silly voiced TikToks- some on our own, and some using interaction from my awesome Tuff followers!

Record Scratch.

"EXCUSE ME?!?" you say. "The VAs?! TCD is voiced?!"

And you'd be more than right to wonder how this could be- I've never discussed it previously, and I definitely didn't talk about actually having anyone casted!

So lets take a quick trip down memory lane. We'll take the TARDIS, because omg that's a long road to travel on foot! Back when I started this passion project, TCD, I had plans for another project- and I definitely knew I wanted to voice it. Voicing games weren't very popular in the indie otome industry, and I really didn't know a lot about how to go about it. I ran into Philip, Rohx and Hugo during my time hanging out in voice acting servers, learning about the industry- and we just clicked. Not only that, they were just so talented! I had no intention of voicing TCD back then, but for the sake of practice and fun, Rohx convinced us to voice out the demo, with me voicing Faun, and we had a ball. Since then, we've done it many more times, and it's definitely helped me put areas of the script in perspective- it feels like I'm animating- and giving the characters life.

The Closet Door came from humble beginnings, and honestly, these guys have been there supporting me the entire way. And I mean what better way to give back to that than to really let them give voice to the characters we've been voicing all along?

"BUT WHAT IF SOMETHING GOES... WRONG?"

~ Octavius

Here's the deal. Voicing a game is no easy task. And at the time of this message, the full game is not really optimized for full voice acting. So I will still release The Closet Door as an unvoiced project... For now.

But I don't plan to leave it that way. I'll be working behind the scenes to eventually release a version of the full game of TCD as a partially voiced experience. In the meanwhile, every minisode/DLC will be fully voiced. Which means I have quite a few characters to cast! More on that soon!

ANYWAY

I wanted to share some of those little known snippets of backstory to TCD's origins. And give you an idea of where we'll be headed with this wild and fun ride we're on! For now, please send in those asks and please follow TuffMallow out on TikTok. And get to know the voices of characters for a game that has become a passion project for all of us!

~AlwaysJmB