Garden Variety: Dandelion Set - Update #2

(see week 1's update post here)

We're on week 2 of our internal game jam and we're still going strong! Each of our teams has a big update list for you, so please enjoy~

Upwards, Rain!

Hello! Progress on Upwards, Rain! The Post Office of Farewells has been exciting this week and I can't wait to get into it, so let's… not!

Last week had the huge milestone of the writing being completed as well as some foundational elements being laid so this week was all about the continuation of building up visual assets and mashing things together. Here's a handful of sprites. These Rain and Mila sprites are complete, while Mizore is still a work in progress!

Backgrounds have been getting some progress done as well! This is about as far into the story that we can show you without getting into spoilers so this'll likely be the last time you see a new background before release. There's lots of fun details for you to look over in this one, though!

Okay, now onto the major updates: we've made big strides on the technical side of development, and we have little clips we want to share with you! Keep in mind both of these are still early in development so please mind the very obvious rough edges for now.

First: Scene scripting has begun! The first scene is now entirely in-game direction wise. Last week, we showed you a mockup of what we want the game to look like, but I was uncertain about how well it sold the comic book panel style of sprite direction. That's why I'm super excited to share a little peek into how it's turning out from an animation perspective. papaya continues to amaze with their ability to get the absolute most out of everything we hand them and going through the scene in-game for the first time filled me with so much confidence for the project.

But that's not all! Second: The programming foundation for our mini-game is now in-engine and the minigame-specific UI elements are largely fully implemented as well! I wrote all the dialogue for these segments and even I thought it was really fun to just move stamps around trying to find the various interactions. theo did an amazing job getting the stamp system fully working, and they did it in under a day!

We're now at the stage of development where we have all the pieces to start putting the game together in earnest so I'm super thrilled with our progress this past week. I hope you enjoyed checking in on our little bird game, see you next update day!

Yuri Paddle: An Anime Convention Murder Mystery!

Hey everyone! This is Faerieko, Yuri Paddle’s artist. Second week has been crazy, but we’ve made a lot of progress since last time and let me run you through it all!

Starting with the writing front, Syon has been chipping away at more of the writing and each update has me excited to look over it. I’m going to echo Lopson a bit from last week, and agree that the story is fun and is very engaging. Syon is a little TOO good at depicting real life situations and feelings sometimes. It’s a good thing there’s some good humor to this too, huh?

On the programming side, Lopson really buckled down and got through a lot of their initial programming goals! We shared a screenshot of the inventory system on Ratsukare’s progress update stream, and now we can say the overall gameplay has been implemented! To me, it feels amazing seeing the fully functional backend work altogether, but at the same time I’m appreciating the work it’s taken to have it feel seamless. They’ve also already started scripting some of the first few scenes which will be the next big thing to tackle…

Lastly with myself on the art side: Character sprites and little artistic flourishes are starting to be added in! Seeing it all being paired with the UI, and writing as it’s getting scripted is such a beautiful thing to see honestly and I feel it’s going to really hit me like a truck once all of our games are released to the world. I’m still being cautious of our time and the other art things I still have to pump out like icons for the inventory, but! I’ll do my best to keep at it and support everyone too where I can.

We already shared a bit more than we initially planned from the announcement to now, but hey? We’re all proud of what we’ve done so far and I’d like to think we’ve still done a pretty good job at not giving away too much for the game to still be enjoyed blindly!

On Wings Bringing Sleep

  Ah, the joy of writing a script in Google Docs.

Lexiiii here again with our team’s update after a second week! Progress feels slow at times, but then I look at the amazing work we’ve accomplished, and I think… Damn, this is a lot of fun! Is there a chance we’ll have to really crunch this week? Oh absolutely. In fact, I already know I won’t be sleeping tonight because I have… so much programming ahead of me…

So:  Act 1 is not just edited, but fully mapped out with sprite placements, expressions, music, and sound effects all decided and cued up. To use a weird metaphor (but one I like), we’ve got all the pieces, and we’ve got the instructions… We just need to build the lego set. Or the ikea bookshelf. Take your pick.

Act 2, as you could probably see from the first bit of our update, is almost done being scripted and edited - RoseCrowned is literally writing the final scenes of Act 2 as I write this update. So as far as writing goes, we’re a bit behind schedule, but not dramatically so. And the script is looking great, so a bit of delay is a fair trade in my opinion.

Dakuma, meanwhile, has completed the artwork for our protagonist Morgaine and her love interest Ilse! Behold, expression sheets!

I personally love Ilse’s angry face, and Morgaine’s blush reminds me that oh yes, I am very gay indeed.

Anyway, that’s what we have as far as updates are concerned for now, but since this is shorter than last week’s… Here’s a snippet from Act 2 for y’all: 

Ilse: I know that look. What are you trying not to think about?

Morgaine: What's right in front of me.

Something heavier than understanding enters her eyes. As she presses our bodies closer, her hand cautiously brushes my neck.

This isn't the night, or the girl, for caution.

I want to drink her, open her up, try and know the taste of her secrets. I want every one of the Folk in the world to have no illusion of what we are.

If she sees all this in me, and isn't afraid… I push a strand of hair back, and at just that soft brush of fingertip against the shell of her ear, she makes a little gasp of a sound and leans upwards.

When our lips first meet, it feels like its own test, having to guarantee some invisible veil won't fall between us and stop human and Folk from longing this openly. We pull back from the sheer shock of it, I think. Then she gasps again, her breath hot against my lips.

Dahlia… didn't make fun of how we would kiss, but she always wanted me softer. I tried to take control too quickly, went right from introduction to needing as much of her as I could bear. So I try to hold back, to be… what did Ilse call me, that gave me a little thrill? A gentlewoman.

She gives way against me, though, no more pretense of keeping any space between us. I lick the last of the plum's juice from her lips, and kiss her how I've been famished to.

Witch You Want

Last week I showed a bit of the rough working potion minigame and since then I've finished the artwork for it and polished it up!

 Looks a lot more cozy now, doesn't it? Here's a process gif of how our little potion-making nook came to be.

 And guess what - we also have a look at the witch Mirabelle, drawn by Dani!