Hi there, fellows!! I hope you are alright! Either way, I am! Welcome to a new edition of the Chim issues! First of all, I’d like to thank all those who replied to the previous edition! It helps me pretend I’m not crazy and talking alone all the time hahaha…ha……..
Well, so what’s new in the chimdev-verse? Not much, because I’ve been busy with my master’s and also my job lol, especially since I’m going to teach a new subject starting January
(look at this photograph of a good meal i’m using to teach 12th-graders about metadata… king of analogy i know)
If noodles have one fan, it’s me, if they don’t, it means I’m dead!!!!!
More seriously, I’ve had the honour of beta-reading four scripts for upcoming visual novels! All the projects haven’t been publicly announced, or even when they have, my involvement in them hasn’t, and I consider it’s not up to me to reveal anything about those, but just know others are preparing you BANGERS, and play the games to experience a variety of different emotions.
But what about news about my games? Well, let’s see!
Happy was the main topic of the previous issue, so… where have we been?
Well, overall, Happy is in an active fleshing out stage, so it’s a bit boring work to share, but I will still exemplify one of the reflections I’ve had with an example: the routes structure.
We’ll ignore Akira’s route, since he serves as a “secret route”, so he functions quite differently! So let’s focus on Bob and Charles. Well, Helio, our main character, dearly nicknamed Happy by his parents and Akira, has beef with Bob and Charles, the two of them being bullies to him.
For Bob, let’s drop the backstory: he’s known Happy since kindergarten, and he once stole his meal. Happy told his parents, who were like: “Oh! Then it means this kid mustn’t have parents who take good care of him! So it means we have to cook two meals per day, one for our son and one for this poor child!” So Bob orders Helio to give him his meal every single day… so yes, he’s a stereotypical bully, but I hope in a context that makes him ridicule enough to be endearing loool… if you want an excerpt from the script about him (trigger warning: violence on an animal)…
Is it unhinged? Yes, but expect Happy! to be loool!
Regarding Charles, it’s actually a different dynamic, but he also bullies poor Helio. Helio and him actually make out on a regular basis, but Charles is a gay in the closet, who pretends not to be, and who mocks Happy for being gay. So yeah, are we falling into “homophobes are secret gays” trope………………………… well, you gotta trust me guys, I’ll fix it by putting even more homophobes in the script 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
But yeah, from this, I guess you can draw general themes Happy will tackle, basically: what makes these teenagers (except my babygirl Akira) SO BAD?? And how will Helio act upon this? Will he seek revenge… or instead try to make amends and, who knows, fall in love with his bullies on the way?? So much mystery!!
And overall, the structure of the game will be as follows: you have three chapters of common route, then two chapters of “specific route”, leading a total playthrough to five chapters!
However, here is the twist: Charles and Bob both have two different routes: a “happy” one and and an “angry” one; the “happy” route consists in reconciling with the chosen LI, and the “angry” route consists in ruining his life LOOOOL
“But what about Akira?” said the voice in the background (i am alone in the room)
Well, Akira has three routes, although two are shorter, and one is meatier. He has three variations: “happy”, “angry” and “true.” I won’t tell you how to unlock the variations since I think it’s the kind of things players would like to figure out for themselves, but honestly, it’s obvious looool
And that’s overall it for what I can say of Happy! I hope it is interesting to you!
“WHAT” you all screamed in awe
But yes, I’d like to revamp the demo for The Stories of the Boys I Loved, and by revamping, I mean:
For redesigns, nothing much to say, but that I think the characters can look better; and although the demo doesn’t feature their daily outfits, I couldn’t help but think they could have been improved! If you’re curious, here are the old concept arts I did back in 2022 for Renjiro and Hana:
And here are those I did this time:
And well, I think the characters look better!! Admittedly, I haven’t changed much to Hana as you see her in the demo beyond closing her jacket and changing her bangs – and similarly for Renjiro, I just added an orange pin on his jacket because he’s the class president looool; but you can see the daily outfits have drastically changed for two reasons:
So yeah, honestly, I’m curious about your opinions, but sincerely, if you find the previous daily outfits better… I’m sorry, you’re wrong, go buy some good taste!
I still need to redesign Daisuke and Oliver, though, who are the LIs. Honestly, their haircuts are still fire, but let’s be honest, their daily outfits are horrendous (Oliver was the best out of the four, but Daisuke definitely is the worst offender, but that’s for the future loool).
And overall, I’d like to recode stuff to have Hana be on the side all the time when she’s the narrator, and Renjiro otherwise, but also use all the coding tricks I know now (like, think of the scene where Daisuke steals Oliver’s sponge because they want to get Hana and Renjiro to get more cleaning stuff… wouldn’t it be cool with the sprites moving around…)
And finally, one of the complaints I’ve received about the demo was from players being frustrated they couldn’t play more as a gay guy in a BL game… Well, The Stories of the Boys I Loved is a hybrid between otome and boys’ love, and Hana will still be the main protagonist, since the whole concept is to either date the guys or play matchmaker, but I think making it clearer on the game page once it’s updated and having more scenes from Renjiro’s perspective (especially since you could miss those in the demo, since they were hidden behind specific choices) could help, I hope!
Aaah, my otome jam release!! When can you expect the extended demo? If I manage to organise my time, for Valentine’s Day. If not during February, certainly not before mid-April/early May, since March is going to be busy with NaNoRenO lol.
Regarding this game, I still need to write a few scenes, but I did write the final scene of the extended demo, the moment that dooms Patras, and… it turned so dramatic, unhinged and romantic, I’m very happy with it!
(yes, obligatory Romeo and Juliet reference, West Side Story did it, so it means I can do it too!!).
So the extended demo isn’t very chaotic yet, it’s mostly the “romance” part of the game, so don’t expect anything too extreme, but it is bound to happen!
Also, we VN devs had a Secret Santa held by Crescence! My Santa was Floramisu, who did a wonderful illustration of Comaetho that I wanted to share:
And I just adore it!! Like, PATRAS IN FLAMES IN THE BACKGROUND WAS JUST SO GOOD I SCREAMED, and Comaetho looks so beautiful and yet so unhinged, it’s just perfect!
But well, I hope you look forward to the extended demo!
So, the last game I released is God Bless You, and what can I say: thank you for the reception! I sincerely haven’t been more stressed to release a game since I released High School Lolita back in 2023, but I’m glad those who played enjoyed it! Since I was quite worried I handled the subject matter in an insensitive way, but that visibly wasn’t the case, and I still know how to write, phew!!!
Also, my good friend Butter asked me to describe how I picture Romaine, who’s the protagonist of the game, and drew a drawing of her that moved me so much it became my phone wallpaper!
IS THIS NOT BEAUTIFUL???? GORGEOUS???? ROMAINE IN JULIETTE’S FLOWING HAIR AAAHHHH
I mentioned this game in the first Chim Issue, it was a yaoi jam project that I ended up not releasing, and good thing, because the game isn’t ready loool
As a reminder, that was the summary:
Zephyr managed to escape from the neonazi pedocriminal group he was raised in years ago, finally getting the freedom he never suspected he was longing for. However, his tormentors left a mark on him: victim of ritual abuse and programming, Zephyr has suffered from dissociative identity disorder and trauma he can’t even explore without fearing fatal consequences.
This is the only secret he keeps from the love of his life, Giovanni, an empathetic and joyful elementary school teacher. And Zephyr starts feeling guilty of falsely pretending to offer Giovanni the happy and healthy life he thinks he will never be able to experience because of his trauma. But can Zephyr’s love for Giovanni be the key he needs to leave his cocoon of pain and fly to a happier life?
Wooohoooooo, great vibes!!!!
More seriously, it is a bittersweet game, and expect an emotional journey. But I’ve figured things out about this game, and I now feel confident enough to start making art for it!! So I did the sprites for Zephyr (blond) and Giovanni (twink)
No promise this is definitive looool, but honestly, Giovanni turned out fine, but ZEPHYR LOOKS GOOD DANG
and yes of course they have shirtless versions, we’re in one of my games
But overall, yes, you guys can guess one of the big scenes of this game is Giovanni finding out Zephyr has DID, and I found the way to characterise his traumatic past in a non-sensationalist way, while having good pacing and making it emotional rather than dramatic and I’m very happy!
Honestly, I think out of all the projects I’m working on, this game is the one with the most sensitive topic, so handling it with care takes time, and I hope you guys can understand. The topic really matters a lot to me, and I know most people who will play the game will get introduced to it through the game, so I want to make sure to avoid any sort of stigmatisation.
But speaking of things I really care about…
Waterlily on the Froth
GUYS
I DID IT
I DREW CHRIS AND GAËTANA’S SPRITES!!! I did post this screenshot on my Bluesky account (yeah, I left twitter because it was too fascist and braindead):
But truth is Chris has a winter outfit variation…
And both have underwear variants too:
And I’m very happy with how they look and, in particular, I’m very happy with Chris’ anatomy, it looks much more realistic for a 17/18-year old than the body type he had in his concept art:
Honestly, the characters will have more outfits (maybe Gaëtana can have a coat variation, but I know for sure her and Chris will have more outfits, but spoilers heehee).
I also did other stuff for it, but I’ll keep it for a future devlog specifically about WOTF if you don’t mind. But yes, after a break, work has resumed on it, and I’m excited to bring it to you!
And well… for a last snippet about my NaNoRenO project?
NaNoRenO projects are rather important to me, as it is a big event for VN devs, and I’ve participated three times so far:
So, yeah, either big games at my scale (shall I remind that Rendez-Doug has TWO DIFFERENT ROUTES DEPENDING ON THE PROTAG YOU PICK) or things that are very emotional to me loool
Well, for next year, I already have my idea, started working on the outline and started making concept art for it. The working name is: “A Tower of One’s Own”, but honestly, for actual titles, I’m leaning towards The Dragon Princess and Amaia and the Dragon. If you guys have any favourite between the two, I’m very curious about your opinions!!
I just posted a concept art on Bluesky of three characters: Amaia, the Princess, her fiancé, Azaiah, and her childhood friend, Caleb.
But fun fact, this was the first concept art I drew of them (yes, I literally SAVED CALEB)
Now, don’t get your hopes up: this is a kinetic novel, and this is NOT a romance game!! I have to insist on this: THIS IS NOT A ROMANCE GAME!!!!!!!!!!
Frankly, if you’ve read so far, I think you deserve to know the plot:
Amaia, Princess of Steinna, is engaged to Prince Azaiah of Skàland. However, she abhors this violent and self-centred man, already having in him all the seeds to grow into a tyrant. So, on the night before her wedding day, in the secrecy of a sacred temple, Amaia whispers a wish to herself: she wants to escape from this wedding, at all costs. At this exact moment, a dragon appears, destroys the temple and kidnaps her to trap her in a tower. Who will save the princess?
So, obviously, I presented Amaia, who’s an important character, but naturally, the second most important character of this game is… the dragon, Happho:
This is the first concept art of her (yes my dragon has pronouns), and I won’t pretend she isn’t a positive character loool, I think it’s quite obvious she’s just answering to Amaia’s prayer! But now, for the rest of the plot, well, I’m mostly outlining it, but I wouldn’t have spoiled it anyway looool
I intend to release a short game before the end of 2024; hopefully on Christmas, but we’ll see if I manage to loool.
So yes, it’s a sequel to one of my games, and I’m sure, the sequel all of you guys have been waiting for…
It’s a Kawaii-chan Christmas Special… I invented the word “konnichuwu” for it.
You’re welcome.
So, expect to find updated familiar faces…
but of course I couldn’t improve over perfection…
And meet new friends!!
That was a long Chim Issue, thanks for those who read everything!! I hope it was interesting and that you’re looking forward to everything mentioned here! I’ll wish you very jolly holidays if you celebrate! See you next year!!
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