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If you're referring to the alternate ending where you get MC's monologue followed by the unknown character, then I can only say that that could have happened.

But if you mean the main storyline, then yeah that's the canonical ending. In an ideal world, there's another path where things didn't end that way. But this ain't it, just like irl where unwanted things simply happen. That's the conclusion of MC's arc ^^

Yeah now that I have tested the waters, I can understand a bit about the line between making a character obnoxious and making the readers just flat out bored. I'm definitely gonna trim down that part. Anddd the confusing color-coded text at the beginning was a mistake, I was too tired to check em lol.

As for my remarks about the similarity between BYD... (SPOILER) if you remember at the end of the game there's a dev message along the line of "tell the people you care about that you love them, you never know what will happen", that's exactly what I originally wanted to put at the ending screen too (but couldn't bcs of the time). Presentation wise, my project might feel like things happened so fast, mainly because I couldn't put more days. Definitely wanted to make it to be more of a slowburn, but well what's done is done. I guess it's not that bad?

I really want to add more days and see if y'all still think things end abruptly. Maybe I'll get the update ready sometime by the end of the month.

Heya! The best answer I can give you is a maybe.

I initially planned for it and have the sprite ready (albeit no CG). But most of the feedback I received said the story is already good as is. So, if there's gonna be NSFW stuff, I don't want it to cause a tonal dissonance and compromise the quality of the story.

That being said, I still want to write one and pass it on to beta readers. If it's approved, then I'll include it in the next (and final) update.

Hopefully, that answers your curiosity ^^

If anybody ever asks for a VN recommendation, I will mention BYD in a heartbeat.

I feel like a broken record saying how much I adore your work. This is art. The story, the visuals, the music, everything. You can tell that this project is not only made by talented individuals but also crafted with love and passion.

And the fact that the team managed to produce it in just one month!? Y'all set a new bar for FVN. Truly a hydrogen bomb moment.

Sorry to disappoint you with the ending. I can understand why you think that way. Admittedly, that's the weakest part of the entire story, which is a big mistake, especially since I intended to use it as a setup for the third character and the next story. But hey it's a great lesson for me and I'll do my best to do better next time! ^^

Truth be told, I had a problem delivering what I wanted to tell through the story in a clear, straightforward way. I felt like there were so many things I wanted to say to the readers, including all the minor things in my mind, it made the delivery kinda blurry. I should have put a stronger emphasis on the main message, that every little thing matter and you should make the most of every opportunity.

Also, I didn't realize the "altering the flashback" part was strange at all, but now I see it's a wild thing to happen after you pointed it out lol.

Thanks to all the feedback, I think I've found a way to fix my mistakes. Hopefully, I can make a new build and release it as soon as the voting period ends ^^

Heya thanks for your thorough review and kind words!

I always think that a good visual novel should be able to deliver not only good writing but also... an immersive experience to support the whole package. I didn't really have a goal entering the jam except to learn how to do some cool stuff, like talking sprites, animated backgrounds, basically other aspects that can make the game feel more alive. I'm also a big fan of symbolism, so of course I also wanted to learn how to do subtle storytelling without words.

Diving in as a new solo dev made me realize how big the scope and resources needed to make a VN are, things that I did not expect at all. I had to juggle between learning Renpy, making art for the BGs and sprite (gotta made sure my wolf stood out from the other wolves!), audio editing, and putting everything together in the code.

Sacrifices had to be made. I'm aware my writing is still very rough (because I barely even write anything lol), so I decided to put my best into everything else. I thought to myself, if my story is too bland or cliche, I should offer something else to make a good impression. You might notice the difference in the quality of the writing, some parts are well-developed (too much, even) while some feel rushed. But at the end of the day, I feel proud of the stargazing scene. And knowing that my work is well received makes the struggle worth it!

Now that I'm no longer bound by a tight time constraint, I'll do my best to fix the story based on all the feedback I've received ^^

Also... Music is my main source of inspiration for this project. I wrote the overall theme of the story based on my interpretation of lyrics from a couple of songs, specifically Constellations ("everything you thought you knew, will fall apart but you'll be all right") and Cold is the Night ("we carry our lives around in our memories"). So, I designed the overall presentation to recreate the atmosphere that I felt when I listen to those songs.

I thought it'd be nice to share the playlist so some readers can experience better what I really wanted to tell through the story, so there goes the playlist! This idea is actually inspired by Santa Lucia's dev (Stormsinger Studios), though in their case the playlist serves more as a device to dig deeper into the personality of the 6 main characters.

It's definitely interesting to know what inspires other writers to make their stories. Looking forward to listening to your list!

I'm familiar with coding but I'm a complete stranger to Renpy. Honestly, my main goal in entering the jam is to force myself to learn how to make some cool stuff work in Renpy, like wagging tail animation or beaming lights. So, I started to get a bit serious to learn in mid-May. Turns out I had too much fun trying things and the writing suffered as a result.

That being said, I'm glad the story still came up okay-ish (?). Writing is not my strongest suit as I barely even write anything lol. I intended to make the MC as smug as possible with the coffee part. I guess it kinda worked but, as you said (and what I saw from the stream), that part was too long and bored people out. I also didn't calculate the cultural differences, things that are normal here around me are probably bizarre concepts for the other part of the world. There are also parts I wanted to explore more but couldn't because of the deadline.

It's great to hear lots of criticisms from different points of view and I'm thankful for that! I can now better understand what I should do to improve things. I consider myself lucky because all the visual tricks I've done pulled the weight this time. I'll do my best to not repeat the same mistake in my future project!

Thank you for playing! I may have something else in store, but we'll see about it ^^

Thank you for playing the game! It's great to hear that you enjoyed it.

I just noticed recently there's indeed a bug around the part you mentioned. I will have the bug fixed with an update after the voting timer ends.

^^

Thank you for your kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed it! I originally started developing this game with the sole intention of learning Ren'py coding and the logistics of making a VN. It's glad to hear that my work is well received.

I apologize for the bugs as I ran short on time to make it into the jam and couldn't do a thorough checking. I will have them fixed with an update after the voting time ends.