Pound Cake Diary : 4

The first draft of Ayaka's route is complete! I am so happy with the rate things are going. This route is definitely less impactful (and shorter) than Midori's route, but that is to be expected. Hopefully with the many edits I'll be doing of the script I can make the story better ^^

I have been getting lots of BGs and now I have a good method of editing them. I just got an app that has a filter that I think works well enough with the style of the game. It's nothing crazy but it will have to do. I was able to get photos of my school when it's completely empty!! (Yes, I am still in school.) I joined a club recently so I am at the school after everyone is gone. I take photos in lots of places. It'll just pop into my mind like "Oh! This would work perfectly for that one setting in Emit Glass." and then I awkwardly take the photo hoping nobody is watching me. 

Here's a peek at what the game looks like right now. (This is one of the first scenes in the game) 

I am happy with the backgrounds I have right now but turns out the photos I took on my phone are not wide enough for the dimensions of the game. I can't change the dimensions though because I already have CGs drawn in 1920x1080 X_X

Either I crop the photos a lot which will make them look super skinny and awkward, or I continue every scene with a colored border on the edges. The blue is temporary (obviously) and I plan on making a cuter design for the border if I end up going with that. I'm not sure what would be best at this point. 

For future VNs I will make sure the BGs are the right size, which will probably mean the game will not be as wide.

ALSO- Merry Christmas everyone! I won't be posting anything on the 25th so I thought I should say this early ^^ Wishing everyone a happy holiday & stay safe <3

Pound Cake Diary : 3

Heyyy, little update! If you haven't noticed, there is now a new page on this site >:)
I finally finished the page for character bios where you can see all the girls you can romance in Emit Glass ^_^ The artwork shown on that page are the character sprites that are used in the game. Hopefully you like the style ^^ (I am not very good at digital art yet, pls forgive me if it's wonky)

I am writing Ayaka's route & am already halfway done with it!! Things are going smoother now that the routes are shorter and less emotionally taxing :-) 
I talked to a few people I know about VNs and have been getting a lot of good advice. I wish there were more resources on YouTube for making them :( There are only a few channels that make good tutorials and most of them are only about technical coding stuff which I don't really need. I prefer to look on Lemma Soft or Reddit when I have coding issues. It would be nice to have videos deconstructing Japanese VNs and how they are made...most of these videos are through a very western lens.

I can't say much about the music for the game, but the ED is completely done. The ED was written and voiced by someone who does not want to be named at this time. It sounds very good and I am really pleased with what they were able to put together. For consistency the OP is going to be done by the same person, which I have high hopes for! ^^ Thanks!!

Status Update : 3

Wooooohoooo! Finally the main heroine's route is complete! This is the longest route of the game, and having it done makes me feel like there is hope that this thing can actually be finished. The route is really sad, at least to me. I cried multiple times writing it, especially near the ending. 

All of the character sprites are done. I plan to finish the script, and then begin on CGs and BGs. I have a list of all the photos I need to take, and I already have an idea of where I can get them all. The CGs are going to take a long time, but I will work hard! 

The reason for all the delays is because of my own unwillingness to work on this project. I am someone who gets deeply invested in a certain topic and can be stuck on it for weeks, unable to focus or find interest in other things. This is mostly a problem because I am a REALLY romantic person. Whenever I like someone I kinda lose interest in my hobbies and fixate on that person. It's pretty bad...
When I need to re-focus on the VN I look through my Key art books or my other VN/2000s anime art books. It works very well!

I also posted for the first time on Twitter/X. I haven't used it before but I needed to get my game out there. I made this artwork for this occasion! It took me like 3 weeks because I kept forgetting to work on it T_T (How do I fix my motivation issues?) I feel like it didn't do much because not many people saw it, but I will continue to spread the word!!

So yeah! I will try to not be so slow...^_^ 
At this rate, I am estimating that the game might release in August or September of 2025. ESTIMATING! Keep in mind that I've been working on just planning and fantasizing about this project for two years. I am willing to take as long as it takes to make this perfect. If I have to release it in winter of 2025 I will! (Which will be painful because the game is summer themed X_X)

Till later! <3

Pound Cake Diary : 2

I'm back! I have taken a lot of time to work on things and smooth out my process. The PC idea was a fail because of some annoying reasons which I won't get into here- long story short, I found an alternative which allows me to work much faster without interruption. Writing is going well and I am over halfway done with the first route.

Obviously at this pace, things are not going to be done any time soon. On the bright side I only have one more sprite to draw, which is almost done. I have not started on any of the CGs or BGs. It's hard to stay focused on writing when I have so many other projects I want to make, but I just keep reminding myself that I want to finish my dream VN first T_T 

I always get so distracted! So that's how things are going. The game works well at this point and so far there haven't been many issues with the coding. I am getting a hang of it ^_^ I will see you again when the first route has a completely finished first draft! 

P.S - Updates might slow down, just because I don't see any reason to write about every small little addition to the game that I make. I just want to keep myself accountable for finishing this thing. :3

Status Update : 2

Wooohooo! Some small progress has been made. I'm like 25% done with the first route. Almost all sprites for the love interests are done. There are a few side characters that still need to be drawn but they won't have as many poses so they will take less time. I think I am going to use edited photos for BGs. I know this is hated by some people, but I've tried drawing them and it just looks terrible. 

Things are going very slowly because right now I am using a laptop that is not mine. I am going to be getting my own PC very soon though so that will give me more time and freedom to work on the VN. I am super excited about this ^_^ 

The most scary thing is starting on the CGs...there are so many. I think CGs will go by faster than sprites though, and they are more creative so it will be a lot funner making them >_<

Status Update : 1

 Hello ^_^ I have taken a break from writing the script because I was getting back into a hobby of mine. I feel so guilty for not working on it, but that feeling that I'm wasting my time with all of these side missions directly contradicts the message of my own story! I will take my own advice and not dwell on it~ 

I am going to work on the art to get myself back into the feeling of working on the VN. The sprites are coming along nicely and I am making secondary outfits. These will be used for out of school scenes! It has been a very slow week for progress, but it must get done! 

Pound Cake Diary : 1

Scripting has been going well! I am so happy with how things are turning out. All the characters are so lovable and funny (To me at least) and the story flows really nicely. I love coming up with what each character would say and writing out their unique mannerisms. I just finished the first draft of the common route and I will hopefully finish editing it by the end of this week!

I also worked on some UI!! I made a text box (Which was way more difficult than it should have been) and designed the choice buttons. I'm also tweaking some stuff on the main menu, but nothing too detailed. I have a lot of sprites done that I work on when I get bored of scripting. I also made a simple gallery for CGs but right now it's just full of cat pictures as place holders lmao.

Soon I am going to make some character profiles and art for this blog! It's gonna be soo cutesy <3 I can't wait. 

Outlining : pt2

 Woohoo! What a long month it's been. I've been writing for the past 2 weeks and it feels like it's been forever. The main heroine's route took the longest to outline, and the others went by quickly. As I write each of the other routes, I realize there's no girl better for our MC than the main heroine. It's hard to try and fit the main theme into every route, especially since every girl has such different conflicts. I struggle to keep them all in character and sometimes they all feel like the same girl T_T The outline is about 75% done, not including editing and rewrites.

One of the heroines had a route so messy that I had to rewrite it 3 times. What's worse, is that her route directly affected all the others- so a lot of stuff from the other routes had to be changed or gotten rid of entirely. This heroine in particular is my least favorite, but I can't exactly cut her now because of how important she is to the development of the other girls.

I started working on some character sprites and they're looking good so far. Of course, they aren't masterpieces, but they are much better than whatever monstrosity I created for my last VN. I'm worried about the BGs and CGs though...and I can't decide if I want to use edited photos or draw the backgrounds. What backgrounds would look good for CGs? If I use photos for the backgrounds, how should I edit them? Will the sprites look out of place against a real life image? These are the thoughts that keep me up at night as I imagine Tatsuki laughing at me for being so foolish- "Ah~ Miki-San, If I was you I would just do this..."

I'll be back once I finish writing and editing the outline!

Outlining : pt1

Finally, I've started outlining the common route. I started by making a list of all the scenes and story beats I wanted to include in each route. Right now I'm working on outlining each route so I can start scripting all the scenes. I decided that I'm going to script straight into Ren'Py- mostly just because it makes me feel more productive and scripting on Google docs is such a bore. I want to make sure the story flows well and doesn't have pacing issues ^_^

Currently I'm planning on having 5 main routes and 2 extra routes. This is not set in stone though and may change! The common route is going well, though it might be a little long. I've been researching a lot about visual novel lengths and such, I feel that a 1-2 hour common route would be appropriate. I'm not worrying much about the length right now though, as much as I'm focusing on making sure I get every scene I want into the story. You know, there are always those scenes that you imagine in your head but once you start writing you just can't find a place for them~ I hope that there aren't many of those scenes I have to get rid of, especially with the true heroine because she's such a fun character to write. 

Hey, Hey!

Welcome to the blog! I'm going to be tracking my progress on the visual novel here. I want to be able to look back and see how far I've come, and update everyone on how things are going. I look forward to the future of this blog!!