itch.io

Hi great to have you on board Zace! 
So far most people show their progress in the Bara Jam discord (https://discord.gg/8YwfEty) but there are also a few threads in the WIP section of the Lemma Soft Forums. If you're looking for feedback/support or just want to see what the others are doing feel free to check it out!

I think if you feel like you should focus on visual art first then that's probably what you should do. Switching between different disciplines works for me but everyone is different and it's even harder to be motivated when you don't really want to do something.
Problems like these are tricky because it's mostly psychological. But something I've been practicing is to not feel bad when I have days where I'm not very productive or creative. That was actually one of the ideas behind //TODO: today and one of the messages I want to bring across, that sometimes just doing a little is at least better than doing nothing even if it doesn't bear big results. And sometimes it's just important to rest and take time off (although it's difficult to feel like this is actually for the sake of productivity :'D) 
Of course that doesn't change quality or improvement but I think even there it's helpful to try to accept that there are days where you are better or worse than usual.

I haven't completely solved this problem either so there's not really much else I can add, but I think ultimately everyone has to find an answer for themselves anyway (although taking a look at other people can still be a valid way to get there). I hope this wasn't completely off the mark for your situation!
And fair enough with the criticism :'D If you still feel like sharing it and don't want to post a wall of text you can contact me at felix@boyslaughplus.moe

Hey, writer of BL+ here. I thought I'd reply with my own account since I'll be mostly speaking from my own experience.

I might be kind of in the same boat as you in terms of 2D art. I enjoy it but only draw occasionally since I quickly get demotivated again. That's probably partly because I want to improve and have high standards but they aren't really realistic considering how little I draw.
I think having high standards and being ambitious is theoretically a good thing but in my experience it can also make you feel pressured to improve quicker than you actually can. But of course it's difficult stay patient when you're not improving as quickly as you want to.

Something else I realized is that great technical skill or being good in all aspects of art isn't necessarily necessary for good art. Take ONE for example: his art-style and linework maybe aren't the most elaborate but when it comes down to it, the atmosphere and composition usually still pull you in. Of course that only works because he's making comics where there are more aspects to it than just the art but I think it's worth thinking about what aspects you are good at and if you can somehow make that the foundation of your art.

If you want to make comics or visual novels it might also help you to look into paneling, cinematography, or narrative techniques and how you can use them in combination with your art skills.
For example, if I were to make a visual novel on my own I would probably use a fairly minimalistic art-style where I can make use of my knowledge of graphic design and composition and try to carry the rest with story, writing, or sound.
I don't know how interested you are in things other than visual art but at least for me it usually helped to learn about other disciplines when I felt demotivated in one.

Anyway, I probably know too little about your situation to really give good advice but maybe some of it was still helpful...

Also I'm glad you like the pacing! I sometimes feel like parts of it are still a bit slow but it's good to hear otherwise ^^

Thank you for being so understanding! We really appreciate it <3

Thank you! I'm happy that you don't mind waiting a bit longer.  We'll try to make the game as good as we can! 
And thanks for the good luck <3

Thank you for the kind words! It's great to hear that you ended up liking the game despite going in with low expectations!

And I'm happy that Teal is relatable. Protagonists are usually more outgoing so in the beginning it was a bit of a struggle to balance this out with how we wanted Teal to be, but I'm glad that we stuck with Teal's character like it is now.

We try to be transparent with the development and I'm really grateful for how understanding everyone has been so far.
And thanks for the good luck, we appreciate it <3

Thank you (both for the kind words and for being so understanding)! We're really happy you enjoyed our game <3 
When we started the project we didn't expect such a positive response but comments like yours have become one of the main reasons why we want to make sure that the full game is as good as we can make it. So even if it will still take a bit longer we hope you'll enjoy the second half as well!

And thanks for the suggestion! We talked about it and decided to implement this option. Most of the functionality is already there so we will probably release an update soon that includes this feature!

Thank you so much! We're really happy that you like our game so much and we definitely appreciate the cheer <3

And thanks for your concern! Pausing development would probably be the sensible thing to do but at the same time I think we'd have a hard time fully focusing on our thesis project, knowing that //TODO: today still needs to be finished. If production starts and we're still not finished with TODO we might consider pausing it but as long as we're still planning the new project it's actually a nice change of pace to work on something else every now and then.

Also it's always great to hear that the options we put in the game are appreciated! Making the game inclusive has been important to us from the very beginning so we're really happy whenever we see a comment like this <3

This is such a great game!
I mean I already have a soft spot for (gay) baseball stories but even beyond that, all of it felt so heartfelt and genuine! The way the story is told, the characters, the art, everything fit together really well and I enjoyed every second of it! 
Thank you for making this!

Also I saw some talk about translations in the other comments, if you need someone to translate it into German, I'd love to help out!

Thanks! The DAW I use is Reaper. I've also worked with Renoise but mainly use it for quick demos these days.  
As for synths, lately I've mostly used FabFilter Twin 2 because it has a fairly simple interface but still let's you create really complex patches. FabFilter One can also be a good starting point. It's a bit limited but if you add some effects plug-ins you can get pretty far with that one, too.
For the drums I mainly use Redux as a sampler and either use the instruments it comes with or some of the one-shot samples I gathered over the years. 
But in the end it's mostly about finding something you like working with. There are tons of free plug-ins that do pretty much everything you need.

Thank you! I've tried not to get too bogged down in technical details but I'm glad these posts are useful! 
There is already a lot of information out there but if there's something you'd like to know, feel free to ask. I'd be glad to help!

We will probably change it up with posts about art or music eventually, so not everything will be about the development side of things but we'll try to find something interesting to show every week!

The yaoi jam game is quite different from //TODO: today but we hope people enjoy it. And feedback is always appreciated :D