itch.io

I was wondering what this issue was, as my laptop's Task Manager would show that the program was running but it never actually booted up. Deleting that folder did just the trick, thank you.

At first I started reading the story and thought, 'Oh, this is a fantasy story just like Chronicles of Narnia, even complete with Christian undertones. I wonder where this will go'. Having just finished it, I can say that it is very much not like the work of C.S. Lewis, and that this stands as its own wonderfully inventive and literary work. The ambiguity as to whether the alternate world is real, imaginary, or some strange mixture of the two is well-executed. I also enjoyed that the exploration of religious tension included its consequences upon the lives of others and the narrator's reflections after deciding to pursue what could only have ever been a needlessly destructive course of action. The depth and subtlety of this jam submission stand out to me, and I look forward to reading more of the author's work.

The entire time I read this project, I was constantly astonished by the quality and sheer creativity to come out of only a month-long development time. The time and effort dedicated to it, as challenging as it sounds like it was, were worth every ounce. I look forward to enjoying your future works.

May I also introduce to you Northern Lights, if you have not already come across it. It has a National Parks premise as well, though it is not the direct and immediate setting at the story's beginning. It may never see completion, unfortunately, as the author has fallen on hard times and is focussing on personal crisis management; however, it is a breath-takingly gorgeous project well worth a read. 

I did not know that I needed or wanted a queer furry adaptation of 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God', but here we are. My heart was already pounding at the interactions on the construction site, so I shudder to think of what is coming next. 

This is incredibly impressive for a one-person jam entry, and the unforeseen post-jam work was definitely worth the extra investment of time and resources. I look forward to reading your future endeavours as well.

All of these are understandable shifts in priorities. Best of luck to you in the new year.

This is a very compelling storyline, and I especially appreciate that the characters are older. The world and characters are rendered with a delicious depth and subtlety of emotion, and the setting/premise allows for a unique exploration of grief, loss, and political intrigue. Very well done, and I look forward to future builds.

I look forward to another excuse to play the whole VN through again. I have enjoyed this more long-form content of yours. Granted that it does require a larger commitment for developing plot and dialogue, as opposed to the quick vignette of a webcomic or a short-form piece, as a reader I think that the payoff is worth it.

Overall, this VN is a polished jewel that I will return to time and time again. The production value was what initially attracted me, but the writing truly did not fail to deliver a powerful follow-through. Self-contained, short, sweet, eminently rereadable, and with all-original audiovisual assets that match the tone and atmosphere to boot—what is not to love?

Specifically, I feel that it perfectly balances subtle dialogue clues which are neither too cryptic nor too obvious. I read through the entire story while in a rather tired state of mind and still had minimal difficulty in following the events & solving the 'Justice Served' ending, but I can tell that the reader will be amply rewarded for any additional amount of concentration invested into their reading session. 

I also appreciate that the representation of queerness in the story is understated yet ubiquitous: it is firmly present, and while it is crucially relevant to the background events of the mystery, it is integrated as merely a fact of life rather than something requiring extended commentary. It is as if the story is saying, 'Some of the characters are queer, what about it?' with a refreshingly casual and nonchalant attitude. 

All in all, this was a great treat, and I look forward to this studio's future works. 

I think he meant six months to the day since the last release, as Chapter 3 was released on 20 April 2025. The file name, lautomne-.4, is the same as what was released on Patreon a few weeks ago as the latest build. Surely even Bjaker, though breaking our hearts at the trouble now brewing in Alder Falls, would not be cruel enough to announce a public update scheduled for six months after Patreon release. 

Personally, I enjoy larger updates that take longer. It can be an exercise in patience sometimes, but as a reader, it feels more satisfying to have one long reading session than shorter but more frequent updates.

I remember when this project first began, though I have not been able to keep up with every update in the interim. I am very excited to see how much has changed since my last read, which was update 10.

This is all outstanding crisis-management advice. I am sure that many in the domestic and global FVN communities would mobilise to contribute to a crowdfunding page, given the circumstances described. This VN has been a great gift for so many—let us now be the ones to reciprocate. 

I know how that goes. May you find the strength you need to begin the visual drafting process anew. 

I look forward to it. I am disgusted that payment processors are so cowardly as to buckle under the pressure set upon them by such a puritanical minority, and that they require much more pushback in order to backpedal their overreach into the private affairs of e-commerce platforms.

As it stands, I have immense respect for most creators operating in such a niche market as ours, but I did not realise the true extent of the expenditures on the back end. The fact that these expenses are shouldered bravely and often in silence, and that development continues despite the knowledge that revenue from patronage subscriptions may never reach the breakeven point during or even after production, is a testament to the iron-clad willpower of independent media and the dedication to expressing an artistic vision. I am glad to be a Patron, water droplet in the bucket as it is, and I thank you for your emotional & financial transparency.

In my own haste, I had not fully considered the extent of other payment processors, so thank you for your reply. Looking over my response with fresh eyes, I am not much proud of it, but I have decided to leave it posted for the sake of discourse rather than delete it.

I am aware that some businesses (large and small) only accept Visa or MasterCard (source), and that some institutions (like my local credit union) seem to only issue Visa, which is why I expressed hesitation. However, if migrating to one or more of those alternate providers is a viable option for you, then that is great, and I encourage you in doing so.

It is said that the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach. As for me and mine, however, a gay FVN that combines thalassophobia with isolation horror is one of the many longer-lasting routes than food, and for that reason I look forward to the development of this project. 

This is an admirable desire, but I am not sure that the long-term implications of such a choice have been weighed. Unless you decide to revert to an entirely cash-based lifestyle, which includes sending checks by mail and having absolutely no ability to make online shopping or other digital transactions, I do not know how far you will be able to get without a debit/credit card. However, I am interested to hear your strategies and developments if you decide to commit to this.

Thank you for this information. Has this policy extended beyond the US for Itch, or is this a domestic issue? I am in America, but I am curious if this turn of events is also, to some extent, transnational. 

That is unfortunate, but far from irreparable. Not even a printed book? The right ones are worth their weight in gold for only a fraction of the cost, or even free of charge if borrowed from a library.

Ah, using the playwright's style in the medium of prose, eh? That does sound like fun. Clarifying question, how extensive is this inability to read without pressing 'Enter' after each line—merely within digital fiction, within broader digital media generally, or further still? I have not heard of this phenomenon before.

Very exciting.

I agree with a previous commentor that the changing sprite and CG colours in the rave scene were an excellent touch and greatly appreciated. I am ignorant as to how much extra effort it required to accomplish, but it was well worth it for the experience that it provides to the reader. 

As a non-speaker of Filipino, I am ambivalent on whether or not translations are incorporated for reader benefit. From a literary analysis perspective, the main character (while generally understanding more of the language than the majority of the readership) still himself does not fully grasp the language, and the lack of translation for the audience—in my opinion—is a first-person-limited narrative technique that successfully immerses the audience in the same culture shock that Owen is also experiencing. 

I have also noticed that recent updates account for this by more often having Owen say 'I didn't catch that' or 'Say that again', whereby the character speaking Tagalog then translates into English without overly disrupting the flow of dialogue. At other times after a similar exchange, the character explains in English the gist of what was being communicated in Tagalog, in a way that conveys to Owen and to us that 'it does not matter what exactly was said, but this is what you need to know about it'. 

Commenting for the algorithm, because this VN is still (according to the number of ratings) apparently under-read compared to the big names out there. I have not read through the latest update, as I prefer to wait for a few to accumulate before re-immersing myself in the narrative, but I am sure that it is great. 

I have the strange hankering to reread this after a year and a half of time away. I might not finish it like I did last time, but it is still worth shaking the dust off of it and giving it another moment in the spotlight every once in a while.

This poignantly captures some of my own memories at Cody's age, though in a different time than the mid-80s. First piercing, first crop-top, the new and electric touch of another... The writing is very evocative in its execution of these and other such small yet important details, and I appreciate that. This VN is certainly in my top 5 favourites, and I love the direction that it is heading in.

I enjoy the nontraditional visual format of the text, switching between character dialogue boxes and full-screen text depending on the context. It brings a freshness to the VN experience, as well as providing a clear delineation between the characters' individual storytelling and the interactions they have between stories.

I am also a fan of the decision for a short-story anthology, almost as if Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark had a framing narrative that connected the individual tales, yet the link between tales was not as tenuous as in Ovid's Metamorphoses. The characterisation, shown through dialogue banter, is also off to a strong start. While extended-narrative gay horror—à la Echo (et al.), Cienie, or Burrows—is satisfying in its own way, I appreciate that this project is more segmented, and will not seem to require frequently reacquainting oneself with the previous updates in order to understand the latest ones.

Overall, this seems like a very solid, tastefully gay piece of horror media, and I am very excited to follow it. Whenever it isn't possible to gather around a real fire this summer, it is comforting to have the option of sidling up to the digital campfire and hearing the stories of 18 Mile Hike.

This is a very unique project, and I look forward to seeing how it develops. I did not expect to see such a blending of Greek and Chinese names for the characters, but perhaps it will make more sense later.

I am glad to see people take breaks from social media and other online presences, rather than try to power through it in an unhealthy way. Take care of yourself.

Good day, everyone. While I do not have the capacity to participate in this jam, even as part of a group, I do have an idea to offer that could get someone started if they are interested in fantasy, Platonic philosophy, ancient Mediterranean history/cosmology, historical fiction, and/or the idea of the Great Conversation. 

(EDIT: I thought perhaps I would connect the dots for anyone who may ask why the hell they should care about this. You cannot taste 'beauty' or 'love'. You may taste something which is beautiful or lovely, but it is not 'beauty' or 'love' which you are tasting; and so it is with the other senses as well. What, then, is absolute beauty or love, unmuddled by the sense-perceptions which only hint at these things?  This is the inquiry which drew the ancient philosophers to their craft. How does anyone know what beauty and love are?—surely we must know something about them, if we can call something 'beautiful' or 'lovely'. What then is this pure 'beauty', this pure 'love' of which we speak? These are the same questions that we pursue today, as this game jam attests).

Plato wrote a few dialogues about the nature of love, from different angles and in different contexts. What is most fascinating about Plato is that he not only wrote the foundation of European philosophy, but that he wrote in a narrative style, with unique characters that interact amongst each other. The translation you use may largely determine how organic and lively the interactions appear to be, but it is much more readable and enjoyable than what you might imagine when you think of the word 'philosophy'. (If possible, avoid the translator Benjamin Jowett, unless you enjoy the florid—and, at times, abstruse—literary style of Victorian English). 

The most relevant dialogues which were actually written by Plato are the Symposium and Phaedrus, and another one that has been attributed to Plato but most likely came from a later author is called Alcibiades. Alcibiades is a very short read, Phaedrus is a bit longer, and the Symposium is the longest of the three; but with the right type of mindset, any of them could provide a bounty of material for inspiration, adaptation, remixing, or reusing. Possible project ideas could be some of the characters from the dialogues having a follow-up discussion; the rugged exploits of a disciple of Plato, who travels across the ancient Mediterranean proclaiming the doctrine of universal brotherhood; the life and times of a medieval scribe who is copying the dialogue into a new manuscript; an explorer who discovers an ancient scroll containing the dialogue in the sands of the desert or washed up on the seashore; a Renaissance scholar translating the text for their wealthy & politically-powerful patron (such as Marsilio Ficino translating for the Medici family); an occultist attempting to invoke the divine mania of love mentioned in Agrippa's Third Book of Occult Philosophy (a text heavily influenced by the Platonic corpus)... the list goes on. 

As I say, this is a free idea for consideration. I suppose I can be a resource for further information if anyone wants to know more and save time on their research. Whether or not anyone uses any of these premises, I look forward to the jam submissions in the days ahead.

Unsure of how I have not seen this before, but I am excited to give it a shot.

Even working at a snail's pace while going through such an ordeal as full-time schooling is impressive. 

Very exciting.

You may have more of an idea than I, as I am about to read through Build 6 after having not read anything more recent than Build 3 when it first released around November 2023. I started a fresh playthrough last night, with only vague memories of unrelated plot-points to guide my way. However, I have faith in your powers of observation and inference to discover the truth for yourself.

Yes, the phrase 'giving Uncle Sam his fair share' is a colloquial way of someone saying that they paid their federal taxes. Why the name is Sam specifically, I do not know, but I'm sure the answer is on the internet somewhere.

Your mileage may vary, but I would say that 'good' is an understatement.

How did I just notice that one of the tracks of background music is a piano cover of Gus the Theatre Cat from CATS lmfao