Welcome to the Sunrise City devlog!

Sunrise City is a free visual novel/deck building game with adult content (18+) inspired by manga and comics, currently in development. It's available in English and French here.

There is a whole adventure waiting for you with: 

• Battle: Collect and improve different skills to create your battle deck and beat the top fighters in the Onyx Battle section rankings,
• Romances: Discover, seduce (and more) different girls, each with their own personality and story ,
• Investigations: Solve puzzles and crimes by digging into the dark side of Sunrise City,
• Management: Manage your time, money, skills and make allies to succeed in your years in the Battle Section and get your diploma.

You will meet lots of characters and visit tons of places during your mission to save the city.

Every week we publish a little news and for those who want more or to support the game, you can join us on Patreon.

Let's start!

Progress Update

The team is finally healthy, and we hope you are too! So here we go again for the Weekly News (and last week's too)!

These two weeks were used to work on the investigation system, which will be one of the major features of the game, we'll talk about it right after!

So, it was two weeks mainly allocated to the interface. We have tried a new rendering (only on the investigation system) and if you like it, it will be applied to the new elements from episode 4, then to those already existing during the epilogue of season 0.

Next week we'll resume work on the characters, we'll just give you a hint:

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The investigations

The investigation system is now operational! As your character studies in the Battle Section at Onyx to become an inspector, your skills will be tested during the game to find out what's going on in Sunrise City.

Episode 3 will allow you to familiarize yourself with this system, because that's it, we're getting serious! You're going to have to find Scarlett, and it's all going to start where episode 2 left you: in her apartment.

Although the investigation phases are designed so that everyone can succeed (no game over or punitive constraints), the most motivated of you can try to get the perfect 5-star score! (This will be useful with a classy and bearded inspector later) 😉

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Public posts

For those who would like to know more about the game, the following posts become available for free:

• The contact system 
• Blake's character file 

Have a good reading and a good weekend to all!

Latest release (V0.2.1): patreon.com/posts/28732923 
Discord: https://discord.gg/FntSd5z
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SunnyAndZack

-Sunny & Zack

Progress Update

All the features of the episode are finished! All that was missing was to set up the mystery fighter's AI, it's done!

In parallel, we continued to make progress on the new characters in episode 3.

The integration of the dialogues is fast approaching and will allow us to estimate the duration of the episode more precisely.

The release of episode 3 is therefore planned for November, we will obviously keep you informed 😊

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Inktober

New character batch for Inktober!

(#4 Freeze) Elise - 19 years old - Administration

A first year student in administration section at Onyx, Elise is also a member of the student council. Her life is governed by laws and rules, which she follows to the letter and makes others follow with great determination. This rigour that she imposes herself in order to be one of the best has for objective to graduate from the academy with honours to integrate the administrative core of Sunrise City and make things move in the lower city where she is from. Following Clover, whom she has taken as her mentor, she makes the law prevail in the academy with a little too much zeal and has attracted the wrath of rebel students but especially of some noble students who believe they are above the rules.

(#5 Build) Sidney - 19 years old - Construction

A first year student in construction section at Onyx, Sidney managed to integrate the very elitist architecture specialization even though she comes from the working class district. Daughter of two workers who died during the Horizon Pole incident, she has always loved seeing them work on construction sites and has made it a vocation. Strong and reckless, she is outspoken and brings her good mood to her classroom. Not well considered in her specialization, she is mocked and bullied by other students, fortunately she can count on her friend Holly to support her. Working on construction sites in her spare time to pay for her studies, she is resourceful and does not intend to give up her dreams.

(#6 Husky) North - 25 years old - Sport

Rebellious and antipathic, North is a first-year student in sport section in athletics specialization. He is an unpleasant person who does as he pleases but has real talents in his sport, making him indispensable. More occupied playing or drinking than with the classes he skips regularly, he nevertheless accepts to be put back in place by his partner (student of the same section as him who is in the same class in the school core curriculum). He doesn't like being annoyed and plans to become a renowned athlete to compete against the best in the world. A former gang member after leaving the orphanage, he now prefers to spend his time alone and does not hesitate to rob petty criminals in the lower city to make his money.

(#7 Enchanted) Selene - 21 years old - Art and entertainment

A first year student in art and entertainment, specializing in prestidigitation, Selene is a much appreciated student among the first years. She has the role of big sister for many and that suits her. Friendly and calm, she loves to make people's eyes shine with her tricks. She performed in small cabarets in the city to earn enough to pay for her studies. It took her a while to collect enough to get into Onyx and she had to do things she would rather not talk about. Wishing to restore the reputation of her family and especially her grandmother who was a famous magician who died during a trick that went wrong, Selene inherited a true gift for illusion. Unfortunately for her, malicious people patiently wait for her success to blackmail her.

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Character file

You voted!

After Blake and Rollo, Marcus will get his character file. What does this former top one in Onyx battle section have in store for us? You'll know next week!

On that note, we wish you all a good weekend!

Latest release (V0.2.1): patreon.com/posts/28732923 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SunnyAndZack 
Discord: https://discord.gg/FntSd5z

-Sunny & Zack

Progress Update

BIG progress this week!

All the dialogues have been made, so the episode is functional. There are still some small adjustments to be made and we can give you its duration.

The rest of the work that was done was about the characters. They too have made good progress and they will all be finished next week if everything goes well (3D sometimes holds nasty surprises for us).

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Inktober

New batch of characters for Inktober!

Let's face it: it's going to be difficult to do all 31 drawings. But we will try to propose as many as possible for the final vote.

(#8-Frail) Vanessa - 19 years old - Medicine

Daughter of a noble family, Vanessa is in her first year of medicine section at Onyx. Affected by a disease that exhausts and slowly kills her, she decided to experiment on herself to find a solution after her parents had tried everything without success. Focusing mainly on her research, which she secretly conducts in her small laboratory in the lower city, she establishes few links with people. However, she remains sociable, although withdrawn, and sometimes takes the time to enjoy the good times with her classmates that give her the courage to fight to find a solution.

(#9-Swing) Kato - 21 years old - Journalism

A first year student in journalism section at Onyx, Kato knows how to find and expose scandals. Hating those who keep little secrets, he likes to expose them to see what happens. He assumes that secrets don't bring anything good and corrupt people, so he might as well expose them and have a little fun while he's at it, or even earn money with them. Charming and naturally pleasant, he knows how to be accepted in groups, except that of noble students, who are ordered to avoid him. Of course, this only sparks his curiosity. If you have a secret, stay away from him....

(#10-Pattern) Magdalene - 19 years old - Art and entertainment

A first year student in art and entertainment section at Onyx, specializing only in the art part, Magdalene is already a renowned artist in Onyx. Her paintings are exhibited in prestigious galleries, to the great despair of the artists she has dethroned. Madgalene has a very clear vision, she divides the world between what is beautiful and loves, and what is ugly and totally ignores. For example, she does not hesitate to make a fuss if she is asked to sit in a chair she considers ugly. Despite this, she is a devoted friend and classmate who does not hesitate to defend others. As a noble student, she competes with other students of her rank and intends to promote Sunrise City on a global scale through her art.

(#11 Snow) Oliver - 21 years old - Scientist

Oliver is a first year student at Onyx in scientific section. Very involved in his section, he is a real workaholic who mainly studies the climate. Calm and thoughtful, other students can count on him when he does not have his nose in his research. Being often out of the academy for his research, he often doesn't see time passing and misses part of the classes. Recently, he has been investigating strange weather phenomena that are happening around Sunrise.

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October wallpaper

Blake is definitely popular! The votes have spoken and she will be the one to be honoured for the wallpaper of the month.

If you haven't seen it yet, don't hesitate to take a look at her character file to learn more about her.

On that note, we wish you all a good weekend!

Latest release (V0.2.1): patreon.com/posts/28732923
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SunnyAndZack
Discord: https://discord.gg/FntSd5z

-Sunny & Zack

Progress Update

The characters of episode 3 are finished and you will soon discover 4 new characters and new poses for the existing ones, as well as Clover in 3D.

We can now announce it without much error, episode 3 brings about 25 minutes of playing time (if you had 100% in episodes 1 and 2). This brings the duration of all the episodes to about 1 hour of play and we are proud to have done all this work. We sincerely hope you will enjoy it!

We will now start working on the different illustrations and sound design, which means that the release of version 3 is not very far away 😉

Thank you to all those who support us for their patience!

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Inktober

Here is a new batch of characters for Inktober, it will be the penultimate because we prefer to focus fully on the release of version 0.3.0.

There will be 2 more new characters next week and then we will vote in a mini tournament, we will tell you more next week.

(#12 Dragon) Drake - 25 years old - Economics

Drake is a first year student in economics section at Onyx. He comes from a noble family in Sunrise, but he quickly emancipated himself from it thanks to his talents to enterprise and earn money in order to build his own fortune and be autonomous. Many consider him a haughty noble's son, which he is in part, but few people know that he wants to overthrow the power that noble families have over the city, which he considers to be an all-powerful group of old men who have no idea what the inhabitants need. He is not a dreamer, he does not hesitate to break those who stand in his way and although he wants to work for all the inhabitants, he behaves with the inhabitants of the lower city like no other scum in order to keep the approval of the nobles. The end justifies the means according to him.

(#13 Ash) Bali - 22 years old - Emergency

Bali is a first year student in emergency section at Onyx. A real dynamo, she is already well known for many rescues in the city in the small fire station where she works. It was one of them that won her a scholarship by saving several teachers from a fire. Orphan of the Horizon Pole, rescuing is a real vocation for her since she lost her parents in the incident. Strong headed and a fighter, she gets into a lot of trouble with the hierarchy while at the same time being devoted and protective with her classmates.

 (#14 Overgrown) Lewis - 24 years old - Administration

A first year student in administration section at Onyx, Lewis is such a nice guy despite his colossal stature. Gentle and honest, he pursues the dream of becoming one of Sunrise City's archivists, passionate about the city and its history since he was a child. Mocked by his comrades in the administration section for whom a monster like him has more of a place in battle or sport section, he has nevertheless found real comrades in his class from the school core curriculum. Accepted for who he is, he deeply loves his classmates, however strange they may be. A little cowardly by nature, he hates conflict and does not know how to fight despite his stature which frightens many people.

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Articles

New character file this week: Marcus had won the vote, discover more about him! (Patrons only)

For non-patrons, you can now discover Rollo's file which becomes accessible to everyone 😊

Good reading!

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Latest release (V0.2.1): patreon.com/posts/28732923
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SunnyAndZack
Discord: https://discord.gg/FntSd5z

-Sunny & Zack

Progress Update

A lot of work this week even if the progress above doesn't show it at all. We intend to rework this small indicator to make it more accurate 😊

Contrary to what was planned, we did not start with the illustrations and instead managed and completed a number of interface or 2D/3D touch-ups.

As far as music is concerned, this is the point that poses the most problems for us. We don't yet have the means to pay a musician so we do what we can, we will rework the music for the episodes the day we can collaborate with someone.

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Inktober

This is the last batch of characters for Inktober. We will soon be able to start the mini-tournament we were telling you about.

The characters are divided into two groups, Male and Female, where the participants will compete in direct elimination and you will vote until there is only one left on each side. These two winners will be added to the game once the prologue is finished!

The tournament starts next week, so you have time to discover the last two characters and see the others again to find your favorites (Batch 1, Batch 2, Batch 3, Batch 4).

(#15 Legend) Oren - 22 years old - Law

Oren is studying in law section at Onyx. He is the highest ranked first year student in all sections. Extremely gifted at getting those who deserve it convicted, he is the only student from the lower city who has managed to enter the law section. He has attracted the hatred of noble students who find themselves in competition with him despite his social background, which causes a lot of teeth grinding. Originally wishing to defend the people in a very unequal justice system, he gradually began to despise people and their weaknesses, failing to find opponents of his size in the academy or in the courts.

(#16 Wild) Madison - 20 years old - History

Madison is in her first year of history section at Onyx, specializing in exploration. A true seasoned athlete, her classes take her around the world and to incredible destinations. Although this makes her popular at the academy, she does it mainly to have lots of stories to tell her mother who can't leave the family estate because of an illness. Cultivated and far too curious for her own good, she loves challenges and the unknown. She can't stay in place and loves to discover new things.

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Wallpaper

Blake won the vote, patrons can now get her Halloween wallpaper.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Latest release (V0.2.1): patreon.com/posts/28732923
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SunnyAndZack
Discord: https://discord.gg/FntSd5z

-Sunny & Zack

Progress Update

The work on the illustrations has started, everything is going well and we look forward to impressing you!

After the illustrations, we will have some sound and some finishes left and everything will be fine. We estimate the release of version 0.3.0 by the end of the month.

We're almost there so make sure you've finished episodes 1 and 2 at 100% to be ready to find out what's going on behind the door where you stopped! If you need help unlocking everything or want to share your advice, don't hesitate to join us on Discord. 😉

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Character Tournament

Although we couldn't finish Inktober, we still created 16 characters and it's now up to you to participate by voting for your favorite characters!

Over the next 7 weeks, you will be able to vote to support your favorite character so that they can be integrated into the game after the prologue.

In the end, a girl and a boy will be added to the game and you decide!

All the information and the vote takes place here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/31405417 

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Latest release (V0.2.1): patreon.com/posts/28732923 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SunnyAndZack 
Discord: https://discord.gg/FntSd5z

-Sunny & Zack

Progress Update

Well, we had already talked about it, but the progress system will be improved because although it indicates 65%, the version is actually 90% complete 😊

The illustrations are in progress and everything should be finished next week. We will then start the touch-ups (a good part of it has already started) and debugging.

The sound part is also progressing, solutions have been found and we hope you will enjoy it.

In conclusion, things look very good for the release at the end of next week 😉

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Character Tournament - Round 2

Round 1 has ended and the results are clear.

The Girls' Group round was between two noble students and it was the bold explorer who took the lead over the sneaky lawyer.

In the Boys' group, even if he has his head in the clouds, Trent crushed his opponent (86% of the votes), the legendary first year could not do anything.

We'll find them again for the semi-finals, but until then, round 2 started this week!

For the votes it's here:

=> Girl group vote: http://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?p=5dcc2762e4b068952e50f531

=> Boy group vote: http://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?p=5dcc27f7e4b068952e50f535

And for the full stories and illustrations, it's here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/31538690

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Latest release (V0.2.1): patreon.com/posts/28732923 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SunnyAndZack 
Discord: https://discord.gg/FntSd5z

-Sunny & Zack

Version 0.3.0 is here and with it, episode 3! It's time to walk through that door and find out what's behind it.

Important - Saves are compatible: To transfer your progress, copy the "Save" and "Options" files from the "SunriseCity_Data" folder of the previous version to the "SunriseCity_Data" folder of the new version.

Version 0.3.0 Public link: here 

Version 0.3.0 Patrons link: here

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Notes

Episode 3 adds ~20min of game time, bringing the total game time to ~1h if you have completed the other episodes completely.

Investigation and contact systems are being introduced. You will be able to test your reasoning and deepen your connections with other characters.

As a reminder, you can vote to choose which 2 characters will be integrated into the game among those created during Inktober by following this link.

We wish you a great return to Sunrise City! We look forward to your feedback in the comments or on Discord!

-Sunny & Zack

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/ ! \ SPOILER

Changelog - v0.3.0

• Added episode 3.
• Implementation of the investigation system.
• Implementation of the main character's phone menu.
• Implementation of the Contacts menu.
• Adding contact files for: Miles, Holly, Marcus, Ellen, June, Blake, Rebecca, Clover, Lana and Rollo.
• Implementation of the contact story tracking system.
• Implementation of the Phone Customization menu.
• [Patrons] Added monthly wallpapers in the Customization menu.
• Added pop-up system.
• Added 2 new locations: Scarlett Apartment and Warehouse #7.
• Added animations in the backgrounds.
• Added 4 characters: Scorpia, Rebecca and 2 Minions.
• Clover 3D switch.
• Added 49 poses.
• Added a fight and a new enemy.
• Added 3 new skills including one to be won in a dialogue: Punch, Kick and Tackle.
• The existing "Punch" skill becomes "[Character Name]'s Punch".
• Added a cutscene and 6 illustrations.
• Added 5 musics.
• Added sound in the interface.
• Harmonization of all the sound elements of the game.
• Improved interface for phone dialogues.
• Added dialog lines in episode 2.
• Corrections in the dialogues of episodes 1 and 2.
• Added a welcome and thank you messages.
• Update of the gallery.
• Fixed the full-screen choice bug.
• Modification of the battle system to integrate 3D characters.