itch.io

Thank you thank you, and you're right! I just looked them up, what the hell so expensive haha. But that's sick! I love RPG Maker XP, I remember playing with that back in high school, I still think it has the most aesthetically pleasing default assets out of the series.

That's true, thanks again :)

Aw thanks for the support! I'm pretty new to Itch as well haha, I'm still in the process of replacing all the character and landscape drawings along with bug-testing again for all the game logic to work, but I'm assuming you'd get an email notifying you once I fully upload it. I'll definitely make a community post like this one saying that the new build is available as well.

THIS WAS ADORABLE HAHA, love it, finished the demo. Cute dialogue, made me laugh. I love the looser style of watercolor drawing and ink work, especially love the interior of the skelebones house it's so comfy. Best of luck for everything!

Thanks Groovy~ no responses yet but oh well, more time to keep developing SH.

Thanks haha, yea it's crazy hard. Not much to do except to keep trucking along.

Oh wow, thanks so much! That's so sweet to hear you watch is with your son, I'm so honoured haha. I'm glad you enjoy me talking about all these other games as well.

Yep for sure! That's a great topic actually, I think I'll make the next Dev Diary about how I got RPG Maker to look like the way it does.

I used Parallax Mapping and a plugin/script called "TDDP BindPicturesToMap" to combine transparent PNG files together of my drawings. I used this tutorial mostly as reference to get the scripting and technical side working, but this person Photoshops existing RPG Maker tilesets to get the look she wants.

https://mishac.itch.io/shivering-hearts/devlog/150191/demo-update-2

Thanks for the comment :)

Aww thanks again, your website looks cool! Really appreciate it :)

Aw wow, thanks so much meebob, honestly. Really appreciate it :)

Wow thank you so much Armorman! I'm glad you enjoyed, really appreciate it :)

Ahaha no worries, always good to hear from you :)

LOL, I'm watching John Mulaney properly now because you mentioned, that's such a perfect quote. Oh man, I want to reply to each one of your points cos it's really interesting, but I don't wanna seem like I'm word vomiting haha. And you're the person on Youtube! I actually didn't make the connection, but thanks for commenting on both.

I get you though, the whole notion of living in the moment just feels like a catch-all blanket phrase/slogan that gets parroted a lot til it loses meaning, and doesn't fully address the root of a lot of issues.

Ahaha there are some kernels of truth, though to be honest I've read some self-help blogs/books and this might sound mean but sometimes they start to feel a little... cult-ish? Hmm, that might sound too strong. There's a lot of white noise to filter out, and when certain blogs end with "Please buy my book" or "Donate to this Paypal for the church of the 3rd order" it raises so many red flags in my head and I nope out. Personally I find therapy much more helpful because it is a one on one engagement, but I know it's not for everyone because it asks for a lot of vulnerability.

Aha was extremely angsty as a teen as well. I'd like to think I've moved passed it, but I think you still carry that angst with you into adulthood. But I think there is some... value(?) in having that period of angst. It's a period of life where you become a lot more in tune with deeper levels of emotions, both highs and lows.

I can nitpick the MCU forever lol, as a whole I just felt really unengaged. But your coworkers reaction is hilarious.

I love it when people talk dramatically! That just shows that you care about the subject matter haha. But that's such a touching experience with you and your grandpa, wow. So moved.

Ahhh Star Trek TGO, I really wanna watch as well, especially after being real disappointed by the reboot movies and thinking I'm doing myself an extreme injustice by having my frame of reference of the series just being these 2 average movies. I've heard great things about Spice and Wolf as well! Jim Jarmusch HAHA, that sounds real interesting actually. I've only seen Ghost Dog but I have a feeling it's quite different from his usual oeuvre. There was a lot of downtime and exploring the mundanity of the protagonist's life in that movie as well though.

Anyways, I should get back to recording more Youtube footage. Have fun cooking~ Haha I get that, most days I cook basic pasta as well.

Hahaha aww no worries Puma! I'm so glad you found it interesting, hope my voice wasn't too loud.

Yus! I really love that as well, having a mixture of both a self-contained story but set against a larger backdrop that can allow for me to take the setting and push it to grander scales if I get the opportunity to do so. My favourite stories have protagonists who are wanderers because it allows for episodic storytelling, which I think has a lot of advantages over stories which advertise themselves as "the most important story ever told and every episode is building up to something incredibly meaningful, just keep watching and you'll see the pay-off" sort of stories, like the Game of Thrones TV show or the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which usually just sets up incredibly high expectations from the audiences (don't get me wrong, if you like that sort of thing then more power to you).

Instead, what I love more are episodic stories like Kino's Journey (season 1), or Mushishi, or Doctor Who (before the 11th Doctor Matt Smith and the show-runners fell into the same trap of "This is the most important story ever being told and you have to see the pay-off!" syndrome which turned me off the show significantly). Those sort of shows allowed for quieter storytelling, and allowed you breathing room to soak in the setting and the characters. By breaking up each story into chapters, it allowed each episode to explore themes and moral dilemmas in a very self-contained way, and it really gave a sense of adventure (I heard One Piece also does this really well, but I don't know if I'll ever get the time to read/watch something that monstrously huge). These sort of shows also usually didn't end with some culminating conclusion, because that ran against the purpose of the show. So they always end open-endedly, and like you said, it's almost better that you can just imagine the rest of their adventures.

HAHA but wow, I'm so so glad that you're finding it engaging! Yea I really loved writing dialogue between Skye and Rin, and seeing how they can play off each other.

I totes agree you with the food thing. I think the majority of my life, I've only considered food as something that I put into my mouth to nourish me. But it's only the past few years where I really started appreciating food, and just appreciating things in general. You're right, it's very easy to forget the simple joys of life. Maybe because we are bombarded by thousands of images from both traditional media and social media that it becomes so overwhelming. I'm very guilty of this as well, especially when making Shivering Hearts. Most of my life in the past 12 months has just been me in my room in front of a screen, either my phone or my computer, and that was before all these lockdown measures. And it was hard for me to not feel guilty if I wasn't spending time working on SH. It's very easy for us as a digital society to place huge significance on what we see on the screen, and we should spend more time just enjoying the simple pleasures of, enjoying food, basking in the sun, and doing something creative for the sake of enjoying it.

Wow I'm starting to sound like some hack fraud self-help book LOL. But thanks again for the comment :)

Ahaha I'm definitely keen on making another video, it's more just deciding on a topic to write about, but I should just decide on something and go for it.

Wow, what, this looks so awesome. Def downloading and will give it a look!

THAT'S INCREDIBLE HAHA, thanks so much Groovy!

Nice job on the pixel art though! Hahaha I won, eh? I'm just so very flattered for the first piece of fan-art for Shivering Hearts haha ty! The flames def makes it way more hype haha. I personally find pixel art a little difficult because of how precise you have to be with each pixel, but I really really like your attempt, and how you captured a lot of aspects about the character, even her mole haha.

But I'm super happy that you enjoyed it and that you took the time to even write a review. Yeah, I def wanted to make the parents quite hateable/punchable so I'm glad I got that reaction from you haha. And I'm real happy that the story was easy to follow :)

Oh yea, interesting you note the lack of music in the demo. I didn't realize that I made the cut-off point for the demo be before when most of the music comes in later in the story. I might tweak the demo a bit to include more music.

So awesome man, thanks for putting in the time. I def have to spend time playing your games haha.

Much love <3

Aw thank you Teacurry. Yep, I'm feeling much better now. Just found it hard to focus for long stretches, like on Friday I barely left my chair from 11am to 9pm working on this hahaha (not that it's a good thing to neglect health for work).

Thank you again :)

Yayy, thanks Naja. Sorry, been meaning to reply. It really does mean a lot hearing that, especially since it's been quite hard to work up the courage to show people what I've been making. Best wishes~

I honestly do appreciate all of the feedback given. I've been working on this for the past... 9 months? During that time I didn't show many people. I think out of fear more than anything. But finally being able to show people and being given constructive feedback has been like, extremely helpful. More helpful than I could have imagined. So thanks again :)

Thank you! I had a very strange weekend, but thank you, hope you did too :)

It's super awesome man, definitely be proud of it :)

Wow, thank you so much Athanasius. I'm honestly really touched by all of that, thanks for the compliments. And no pressure about buying it, just hoping to release the demo soon so you and everyone can have a taste :)

Oh whaaat, really?? I didn't even know that, thanks for telling me. And thanks so so much, that's real sweet of you :)

Congrats on your Android release!

Hiyo! Thanks GroovyMaster :) Yea thought it'd be nice to make something new for it. Aw thanks heaps! Haha

Wow. Thank you so much Naja B. I dunno why this is making me tear up. Thank you <3

Thank you so much for the reply Teacurry. Will post an update when I've made decent progress on the drawing. I'm happy to hear that you always wanted to see more hand-painted games, that's been my same thought for many years. Hehe yea he's such a cutie :)

Also if anyone sees this and has already paid $10 for the game and would like to be refunded the difference, let me know and I can try organise a partial refund.

Hi GroovyMaster,

Thanks for the question! I'm sorry that the price-tag gave you that impression. I honestly have been struggling with putting any kind of price on the experience, and have grappled with the issue for months whether it should be free, whether it's too much. But thank you for your response. And interesting, I'll try to describe the experience more as well.

I have lowered the price to $7.50 USD and will try to make a quick free trial/demo version of the game so that people can dip their toes in without committing to a price.

As crazy as this may sound, I really am not in it for the money. I just sincerely want to put these feelings + this type of gameplay out there and see if it resonates with anyone.

Haha seriously thanks though, I'm definitely real beginner as well.

Kind regards,

Mischa

https://mishac.itch.io/shivering-hearts

Shivering Hearts is a role-playing game illustrated through detailed hand-drawn watercolour paintings and built on branching dialogue choices and multiple endings. 

Explore a unique fantasy setting with your childhood friend, Rin, and uncover what ills are plaguing the village of Shivering Hearts.

Hope I can post my links:

shiveringhearts.com

instagram.com/shivering.hearts/

twitter.com/slayerawoken

On a separate note, thank you so much to Leafo, all the staff at Itch and the Itch community as a whole. When I posted the demo for my first game, Ili, back in 2018, I was extremely moved by the warmth and support by the Itch community. After feeling like I didn't have the technical expertise to follow through on the scope of my previous project, I felt pretty bummed and withdrew a lot socially. But after 9 months of work, I'm happy to present Shivering Hearts. It's truly been a journey, and is only the beginning.

Thanks again.

From Mischa.

Thanks leafo, I just cleaned it up now :)

Heyooo everyone, nice to see ya again!

My name's Misha and I've been working on this game called Ili for the past 19 months, it began as my architectural thesis project at the University of Auckland and since then the game has become much more narrative driven.

Ili is an immortal being haunted by regret. Your aim is to guide Ili through her past and meet the ghosts from her past. While Ili is the game’s protagonist, you control most of her actions and act more like her spiritual guide. You are to help her say or do things that she would be too afraid to do by herself. The problems put in front of both you and Ili can be solved in different ways through talking. Do you intend to change the past? Or is it better to make peace with the past and to move on?

Check out the trailer and the link to the Kickstarter below, I'm very proud of what I've made and would love to share with everyone :P

Link to Kickstarter!

https://www.kickstarter.com/pr...

Link to Demo!

https://mishac.itch.io/ili-dem...

Hand-drawn style. Pencil, pen, watercolour. The game will use analogue drawing techniques to render this these painted worlds. Through these 2D methods, the game will experiment with how games can represent their worlds.

4th wall breaking narrative. Through the entire game, Ili will talk to you through the 4th wall, and you will guide her actions as you travel beyond time and space.

Narrative-focus. Despite being a powerful immortal being, Ili is a pacifist and deals with her problems through talking and negotiation. Like Fallout 1 and 2, through the power of speech instead of violence, you can approach each situation through different ways.

Multiple endings. Ili will have multiple endings in the style of Silent Hill 2 and visual novels, where the way you play and the things you say will change how the story of Ili will end.

The City of Pala

Infinite Point Perspective

First greetings

Falling through space

Misha C - That's me! I'm the lead developer, artist, programmer, writer, and PR manager. I graduated from the University of Auckland with Masters degree in architecture. My goal is to be an indie game developer  :P

Seoroh - A friend and fellow artist who can possibly be commissioned to design a few worlds and characters! Check their tumblr for more of their work!

http://seoroh.tumblr.com/

"Solaris" by Seoroh

Hey guys, thanks heaps for pointing that out and leafo for changing it :D

Didn't realise something like that would cause such problems.

Thanks for the compliments! My first time making something like this so would love any feedback :)

https://mischa2.itch.io/cosmopoiesis

Cosmopoiesis is a short, experimental game concerned with the architectural design process, and uses architectural hand-drawings and GameMaker: Studio to speculate on new means of digital spatial representation and design in both architecture and video-games.