Hi! I've never made a devlog before, but I figured I'd try it out to see if it would help me stay on focus throughout this project. I'm planning on working on this for the Yaoi Game Jam 2021, so for now it'll be mostly concept art, research, and solidifying the base of the idea rather than actually putting things together. 

Here are the current character sketches I made when I woke up about a month ago and, in a frenzy, immediately had to sketch them all out and write down their names before I forgot. 

I'm basically exclusively an artist. I have no idea how I'm going to make this because my knowledge in coding is minimum, and restricted to java. I'm probably going to try to teach myself how to use Ren'Py, even though it's in a different language than what I'm comfortable with. Hopefully it won't be too difficult...

Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what direction this project is headed in, but I'm looking forward to working on it! And if you made it this far, thanks for reading :)

First tasks: 

- Figure out who these characters are on a deeper level🤔

- Solidify the concept for the world/setting

- Research Ren'Py and its documentation.....

Our project now has a second member 🎉 who has also provided the game with a working title! The plan also seems to be a switch from looking at Ren'Py to looking at Godot instead.

A little bit of progress has been made. I've determined more attributes for at least two of the datable characters, plus have gotten a more solid idea on the setting and the player character's role in the world. 

In terms of scope, we have determined that it might be best to stick to fleshing out two characters - the player and one of the love interests (we may try to add on a second love interest if we have time, although that's unlikely lol). Sound design and music have also been put on the table for things to consider 🤔

Next tasks:

- create a better (and more coherent) written proposal for the structure of the story, the main character, and the chosen romanceable npc that we wish to focus on

- make some concept art for the MC? or maybe even determine if we want the MC to have an appearance at all?

- compile a list of music/sfx we may want to include. not necessarily specific pieces of music, per say, but more like "we need a track for when xyz is happening" or for certain locations

Life things have been getting in the way of development, at least on my end, but things are still slowly getting done! We've gotten some organization done on the back end. Some more polished art assets are in the making, and a framework for the system has been made :) Writing is the thing I'm planning on focusing on for the next task, as I'll be unable to work on art for a short period of time. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a good chunk of it done!

I've gotten a fairly good grasp on how I want the characters to be, and a slightly less good grasp on how I'd like their routes to play out, but I guess we'll figure it out when we get there lol. Some other world building things have been solidified, though, which is good. 

Next tasks:

- write out a general outline for the story; in addition, make a more fleshed out draft of the intro  sequence

- finish the neutral sprite for the second romanceable character + start thinking about and/or putting together info cards for the romanceable characters?

In the end, this project didn't make it in time for the game jam. Entirely my fault because I chose a bad time to begin work on the project (moved twice irl, started a new job, etc) but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop working on it! Right now, I've narrowed down the project to focus on three characters - Kenji, Sadaharu, and Mitsuki. An intro has been more or less written out, though it'll need to be edited in the future. Work on each of their dialogues and events has also begun! And hopefully in the near future, I can also show character intro cards :)