itch.io

The story in the visual novel went through big changes since the last post here, but long story short, I got a co-writer, who suggested a genre shift to more of a mystery, and I agreed.  Some parts stayed the same though like the drama. And there's a recently released teaser for the rebranded demo, so check it out if it's your thing.

https://mudmood-studio.itch.io/big-small-world

originally posted on my devlog page on November 17th

So this month, I got down to extensive editing from outside help. It's a whole 'nother beast to tame, I tell you what. Especially adding more stuff that's lacking, just like my intellect. Speaking of editing, here are some editorial peeps joining in on this project:

Tenshideve as developmental editor

White Serenity as proofreader

Give 'em appreciation!

Here's a preview from a scene that was previously locked behind a chance encounter but is now more accessible to the story. Yay! Content!

- Slackey

The latest month for the expanded demo release is December. This is to give myself enough time for editing everything and get art from the background artist. I'll post here if there are any more changes.

If you found all the relatives and still got stuck, this might be a coding error. My bad. I'll get around to fixing it soon.

Edit: I fixed the error, but progress might restart. Sorry for the inconvenience! I hope you still like the game.

???

Changing up the number war idea, I got an idea. Instead of rolling dice, the player chooses the number. Still going from 1-20.
Five Attributes affect the way numbers are received; based on the OCEAN test. 

Openness to Experience

Conscientiousness

Extraversion

Agreeableness

Neuroticism

Ex: A LOW Extraversion won't react well with sudden high numbers. Combinations can mitigate the effect such as appealing to Agreeableness or Openness.

Vice versa applies. 

Suggestions

- player should aim for target accumulated number even though it's not shown on-screen. Getting the right number after a certain number of turns would make the outcome super good. The further away the number is, the worse the date/other activity turn out. Numbers also change over time.

- The conversations are separate from the casual dates (needing number game). Getting good casual dates raise affection and open up new conversations. 

Progress: At first, there's wonder in most everything I see. Not a cloud in the sky, got the sun in my eye. However, as I toiled on with programming, my future seemed like one big past. If the pain goes on, I'm not gonna make it.

 In short, I added a calendar and gave a side character portrait for Mubina, the protagonist. However, the month and year is stuck, so after hours of fruitless work, I gave up (for now). At least I added a neat button and calendar.

After updating my demo, I realized that something is missing, a missing gimmick. Whether it's the aesthetic or a component of the game mechanics, my project is missing that "something." It doesn't help I'm a small-time developer with not much social media presence.

I want to implement a "number game war" mini-game using 1d20 where the 1 is the most defensive number and 20 is the most aggressive. From there, I haven't figured out much other than having deflect or augment abilities. Then, I'll integrate that with random encounters where depending on the protagonist's choice, it can boost or hinder her chances on dates. 

That being said, the only stat-raising there will be is affection. Most of the number-crunching will be behind the scenes. I appreciate input from anyone whose interested.