This looks super adorable I love all the characters! And I relate to Sophia a lot already ;_; Seriously it's kind of hard to find a GxG VN so good ;; thank you so much for all your work!! Keep up the great work! Definitely looking forward to this ;A;
Ah thank you for your kind words!! <3 It warms my heart to hear that you relate to Sophia a lot already. She is a character who is very near and dear to the creator of the project and to myself. ;__; It certainly can be difficult to find GxG VNs sometimes, but they’re out there! My personal, recent favorite is Butterfly Soup and I highly recommend it if you haven’t played it!
You’re welcome, but more importantly thank you for being interested! We’ll do our best to provide a great and cute experience!
Hello hello! Is this project still being developed, might I ask?
Hello hello to you too!
This project is indeed still being developed! Collectively the team has been experiencing a lot of personal hardships including the creator who has passed management of the project on to another member of the team (that’s me! The one typing to you right now! :D ) in the meantime while things stabilize for them.
However through this we are taking our time and reorganizing things, updating art assets, and reviewing the scripts and story thus far, making changes where necessary so that we may proceed comfortably.
We hope to have some rad sneak peaks for you all in the coming months! We’re all excited to show you all, however we want to polish things before we do!
Happy #InternationalWomensDay from the Connection Pending Team!
Here at Pixel Pineberry we want to celebrate our diversities and keep making games with wonderful, genuine women. Butch, trans, ace, plus size or petite--we want Connection Pending showcase all these qualities of our ladies and more in a positive light, and remind our players to love women of all different shapes and sizes, ethnicities, and sexualities! We cannot thank everyone enough for the support shown for our girls so far, and we hope we can use that support to continue making positive representation of women in the future.
Hey guys! We’ve been quiet since 2017 rolled around, but there’s no need to worry; during the time we’ve been dormant, our game had gotten some major features developed just in time for Valentine’s! Our demo’s script is about halfway done, and there’s only a few more things left the art team needs to deliver. From here on out the focus will be to start tying things together and fleshing things out as we use this month to finish up our demo!
First off, we have a new “log in” screen which allows you to set a custom name and screen name for yourself. Of course, if you don’t feel like inserting a custom name, Andrea’s default name and user will be kept throughout the game.
The biggest developments we have made throughout January is major improvements for our representation of “Eosos Online”, the MMO that our girls play together within the story. Alongside improvements to our Eosos Sprites and their placements, our programmer has wow’d us away with dynamic cutscenes that really immerse the player and feel like they’re engaging in an MMO!
The battles will be scripted, but you will still be able to have access to dialogue options and have opportunities to engage with the girls vocally.
Our Secondary artist DoodleCraftie is in charge of the Eosos Avatars for each of the girls. Here’s some concepts for Sophia’s lovely pink Avatar!
Aside from being able to see the girls in the Amity Chatroom and Eosos Online, the player will get to peek into the daily lives of the girls offline, and omnipotently see how the girls behave when they’re by themselves. This will allow the player to see the differences between someone’s behavior when online with their friends, and when they’re alone in their room.
Here’s a little look into one of Val’s offline monologues in our Omnipotent VN mode. Backgrounds that move with your mouse, as well as changes in the sprite’s proximity to the player, all help to make the game feel less static.
In the next month we’ll be working hard on fixing bugs, finishing art assets, implementing GUI, and editing script to bring you guys our demo! Everyone on the team is ecstatic about how far the game has come since its early stages, and we can’t wait to share more of our hard work in our next dev update!
Until then, Happy Valentine’s! Stay thirsty, stay gay for cute girls.
- CP Dev Team
Wow, I really can't wait for this game. Rylee has stolen away my heart - though Val is in serious danger of grabbing it right out of her hands. This project has great potential and I wish you all the luck in the world!
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you are feeling excitement for our game and our girls; our team is thankful for the support and it gives us the motivation to work hard and make the best game we can! You’re always welcome to love on them as much as you’d like~
Best, Mod Whit
PS. Rylee has also stolen my heart and suplexed it, like... hardcore. Val might step on me next, but that’s definitely okay.
As our devs continue to work harder, the end of the year slowly gets closer and closer. 2016 hasn’t been the best year for most of us, but we are determined to end this year with a bang of positivity! Each week as our game slowly comes together, our confidence grows! And we’re happy to share some of those updates with you!
Our first great news is that we have a new logo! Our lead artist Whit bought the rights and redid it in order to have a more refined logo that better fit the feel of the game.
Aside from that, we’ve had a lot of new visual developments in our sprite and background department. Our budget is small, but we are determined to make the most of it. We’ve purchased a few bundles of pre-made VN backgrounds courtesy of Minikle. We then had our lead artist Whit edit and paintover the stocks from Minikle to create custom backgrounds for the game that would fit our characters better.
Currently we have 4 completed scenes, 1 for each of our NPCs (shown above are the bedrooms for Minnie, Rylee, Val, and Sophia respectively), with each background having 2 variations for Day and Night.
Speaking of our NPCs, we have completed the sprites for our girls! Currently each girl will have 2 different sprites: one portrait for what we call “Eosos Mode”, and one full body for “Visual Novel Mode”.
Our MC however will have 2 half body sprites for these modes instead. Having 2 separate set of sprites was a lot of extra work for our artists, but we felt they really added to the visuals of the game overall.
All in all, we really believe that the art in the game will be visually stimulating and draw our players in. Next update, we'll hopefully be showing off more of the programming and GUI, as well as some developments on the sound front! This will probably be our last dev update until the new year, so the dev team will catch everyone on the flip side!
Have you heard the buzz? The Queen Bee of gaming is in town and her name is Valora Hachimitsu! She’s as sweet as a honeycomb, but not afraid to be as fierce as a Yellow Jacket if you get on her bad side.
Name: Valora Hachimitsu
Age: 19
Gender: Female (Trans Woman)
Ethnicity: Japanese-Mexican
Location: East Los Angeles, CA
Job: Professional Gamer & Streamer
Habits: Insomnia, always using hands, easily influenced by Sophia, tends to geek out over really cute things
Hobbies: gaming, puns, anime, con going, cosplay, celebrating her heritages
Ambitions: join a pro esports team and get sponsored, being who she wants to be
Frustrations: Derogatory comments, harassment, being referred as dude or similar things, badly designed video games
Valora is one of the romantic interests you can pursue within Connection Pending’s story. Val puts on a confident, cheesy, almost queen bee-esque persona when in game and on stage, which has a tendency to intimidate people and push them away. This front is her shield that she uses as she reaches for her dreams. But who is Val under this sturdy honeycomb of an exterior? A kind, gentle, fluffy, and shy little bumblebee, maybee!
Just like the other girls of the game, you start to learn about Val more intimately. Her life, her past, her dreams, and her struggles are all slowly revealed during the course of her route. You will have the chance to not only observe, but help her through her struggles as a professional gamer, with her insecurities of who she is as a woman, and with who she wants to be or how she thinks others want her to be. You will help her as a friend, or maybe even as a lover.
While playing Connection Pending, you can earn your way towards Val’s route by building up positive Karma points through your interactions with her. This hard worker bee struggles to open up because of her focus on her career, and tends to be rather shy and guarded otherwise. So it will be your goal to brave this hornet’s nest to find her incredibly sweet center and help her find out who she is as an individual.
The cutest little meteor you’ve ever met has just entered your atmosphere! Her name is Min Seo Park, Minnie for short, and she’s ready to make a direct impact!
Name: Min Seo “Minnie” Park
Age: 17
Ethnicity: Korean
Location: Seattle, WA
Habits: Puffs cheeks when angry, Hums when deep in thought
Hobbies: Stargazing, Documentaries, Gardening, studying, Tea-making. Reading manga and sci-fi novels, going to Kumon classes, camping.
Ambitions: Be an astronomer, astrophysicist, or cosmologist
Frustrations: Ignorance, misinformation, judgment/assumptions made about her/ friends
Minnie is the platonic interest that you can pursue within Connection Pending’s story. A hardworking and studious ray of starshine, Minnie is full of all sorts of factoids, quick wit, she is always prepared and can think her way out of almost any situation. As long as she follows the plans she sets out for her and those around her she can do anything with great efficiency. If things go awry however, and has to confront a problem at hand, she doubts herself. When it comes to this, she’ll need you to shake her out of her head.
Just like the other girls of the game, you start to learn about Minnie more as you continue down her route. Her life, her past, her dreams, and her struggles are all slowly revealed during the course of her route. You will have the chance to not only observe, but be her support as she struggles with her parents, the changing relationship between her and her childhood friend, her difficult studies, and most of all who she is as a person.
While playing Connection Pending, you can earn your way towards Minnie’s route by building up positive Karma points through your interactions with her. This hardworking little star may think she knows everything life holds for her, but when her plans go supernova, she’ll need you to be there for her to help guide her and teach her how to believe in her instincts; not just rely on the words of books or others. Help her understand that mistakes and rest are only part of being human.
A small in-house piece done of our cute Korean star-lover, Minnie! Drawn and colored by our colorist, @fengfuru with test lighting/edits done by our lead artist, @jwhitnee!
Happy Friday, everyone! We hope to post more (fan) art next week!
She’s as sweet, fluffy and warm as a freshly baked cake, calming like a soft piano medley and she rules the convention floor! Her name is Sophia Étoile Leblanc! Or “Sophia” for short!
Name: Sophia Étoile Leblanc
Age: 18
Ethnicity: French/German/Irish
Location: New York
Job: Clerk at Etoile Boutique
Habits: Biting fingernails out of anxiety, painting fingernails to avoid biting fingernails out of anxiety, playing the air piano, humming
Hobbies: Sewing, Baking, Classical Music, Art, Collecting, Programming, Watching Anime
Ambitions: Finding what her true passion is in life
Frustrations: People hurting her friends even remotely, being unsure with her life, uncalled for situations
Sophia is one of the romantic interests that you can pursue within Connection Pending’s story. Sophia’s kind and bubbly attitude draws many a person to her. Caring and always selfless, Sophia always puts her friends before herself. Sophia is someone who’d be your best friend for life and will be there for you through thick and thin.
Just like the other girls of the game, you start to learn about Sophia more intimately. Her life, her past, her dreams, and her struggles are all slowly revealed during the course of her route. You will have the chance to not only observe, but help her through her struggles of overcoming her anxiety with not knowing what to do for her future, her insecurities of her body image, and teach her to care of herself as well as others. You will help her grow as a person, as a friend, and maybe even as a lover.
While playing Connection Pending, you can earn your way towards Sophia’s route by building up positive Karma points through your interactions with her. Even with her kind and happy exterior, Sophia still has insecurities and you as the player will need to help Sophia overcome. Sophia doesn't always admit something is wrong and is unlikely to ask for help because she’s more worried about others, so it will be your goal to teach her to look within and see the incredibly sweet and amazing woman that she is within.
As we (with the exception of Amy, our non-American beauty) stuffed ourselves with turkeys for Thanksgiving, we somehow managed to get good progress done on CP during the second half of November despite the upcoming holiday season putting stress on our time and wallets.
Our writers are knee deep in script, our programmer is (probably) sweating over all the new features we’ve been adding, and Money Maiden / Manager Morgana (MMMM) has been running around frantically calculating budgets, searching for sponsors, and doing magical paperwork/ legal mojo the rest of us are too afraid to touch. Gale’s college finals have brought them some tears, Whit’s growing workload has her laughing nervously, and Penni has been scavenging through demo reels and portfolios for the perfect voice actresses for our cast--all while her apartment suffers from lack of internet.
And thankfully, we carry on steadily.
For our last update we showed you what our GUI Gal Camy put together for our startup screen. Now its animated with twinkling stars, flying comets, and soft gentle clouds that move slowly across the screen. Paired with soothing ambient music, its now a relaxing night scene that eases the player into the CP experience.
Not only that, but our colorist Gale has begun creating landscape backgrounds for the desktop screen, in accordance to the seasons. The paintings have such great atmosphere and we’re excited to see the final versions of the other backgrounds that will likely happen post demo.
You can see how the desktop will look within the game in our temporary GUI and super basic icons. (The Amity logo shown below is also thrown together purely for placement purposes, and will not be in the final version)
In our character art department, Whit has been working on our Eosos Mode sprites with their subsequent expressions. Each sprite has their eyes, brows, mouths, emotes, and effects completely separate for infinite combinations, allowing our girls to make a wide array of expressions!
These sprites will be used for our Eosos Mode within the game, which takes place separate from the Amity Chat and will showcase the girls interacting within their favorite MMORPG.
At the end of this week we’ll be posting some more introduction posts to let you get to know our cast more! We’ll also be revealing some new additions to CP’s cast and crew soon, so please follow us and stay tuned for our next developments!
Coming up to bat is the Queen of Athletics herself, Madison Rylee Delacruz! Though... just call her “Rylee” unless you want a one way ticket to Suplex Town.
Name: Madison “Rylee” Delacruz
Age: 19
Ethnicity: African-Caucasian-Latino Mix
Location: Greensburg, PA
Job: Server at Jule’s Pizzaria
Habits: Overworking herself, dribbling fingers/pens, chewing gum
Hobbies: Watching baseball, hiking, rock climbing, camping, gaming
Ambitions: Become Pro Softball player
Frustrations: Inadequate teammates, pressure of gender norms.
Rylee is one of the romantic interests you can pursue within Connection Pending’s story. She may appear rough on the outside, but in actuality she is a caring and empathetic individual who works endlessly to achieve her goals. One of the best people to have on your team, and one of the scariest to have against you; Rylee will keep a close eye on her friends and isn’t afraid to confront anyone who brings trouble.
Just like the other girls of the game, you start to learn about Rylee more intimately. Her life, her past, her dreams, and her struggles are all slowly revealed during the course of her route. You will have the chance to not only observe, but help her through her struggles with her family, gender norms, and reaching her dreams of joining the big leagues. You will help her grow as a person, as a friend, and maybe even as a lover.
While playing Connection Pending, you can earn your way towards Rylee’s route by building up positive Karma points through your interactions with her. Even with her tough tomboy exterior, Rylee still has insecurities you as the player will need to help Rylee overcome. Rylee is stubborn and will unlikely admit her flaws, so it will be your goal to break through her barriers and reach the tender woman Rylee is deep inside.
So if anyone has been following closely, they would have noticed that we didn’t make the YuriJam 2016 Oct. 31 deadline. As much as we would have wanted to mark our game as a successful YuriJam applicant, we realized the issues we had were very real and knew that in order to put out a good product, some more time was needed.
For the past few weeks, we’ve completely reapproached some aspects of the game and couldn’t be happier with the progress we’ve made since! Three new team members have been added to our group: Jessie Gallo, our new writer who will be plotting, planning, and problem solving our story; Jennifer Shi, who will be our colorist and assistant character artist; and William Tan, our new programmer and connection to Rocktastic Games, who’s partnering together with us for CP.
Thanks to William and Rocktastic, we’ve completely scrapped our Ren’py build in favor of Unity, which has been much easier for the type of game we wanted to make, and it has also opened many new doors for us in the programming department. Our interface has been revamped, with a mock desktop and automated chat sequence; apologies in advance for the pixelated gif ._. (Note: All icons and backgrounds are placeholders and will not be used in the demo or final product).
William will be working hard with Camy in order to create a beautiful, interactive interface. Camy is currently working on our GUI, and already has made a beautiful night sky wallpaper for our opening screen (as seen above) with our final logo from WinterMochie.
With our new colorist on board, Jennifer (Or as we refer to her as: Gale/Galember) will be taking the linework from Whitney and adding in flats and shades. Gale will then be sending those PSDs off back to Whitney for final lighting and color adjustments for a uniform look.
Finally, the girls will also be getting their own set of custom chat stickers! Just as you would find on the Facebook Messenger or LINE, our girls will be able to really express themselves with these cute emotes!
Next week we’ll hopefully be able to update the dev blog again with some insight into our game’s new art and features! We’re moving forward fairly quickly, and we can’t wait to share more of our progress with everyone!
It’s been a full week since YuriJam began, and we’re happy with the progress that we’ve made! There has been a lot of trouble shooting in a few of our departments, but overall we are making strong developments across the board.
Our magical video girl Amy has whipped up a tiny little PV using our promo art, which you can view below!
Amy will also be taking a lot of the work from our character artist, Whitney, and mess around with them. We’re excited to see what she’ll be working on in the upcoming weeks.
While we’re also on that note, our musician Khoven has made a small sample track for the game! The ambient music is incredibly soothing and fitting for the emotional aspect we are trying to tap into for Connection Pending. You can take a peek **HERE**
Our first major accomplishment was finally aligning our chats correctly! Our lovely programmer Morgana has been tackling this issue since our preproduction phase, when she was initially figuring out what kind of features we wanted our game to implement.
Everything was a general mess, though the basic structure was there. A week into development spent and now our structure is not perfect, but a whole lot better. We are still fixing some issues with font placement and the like, but with a lot of the major issues solved we’ll be able to move forward smoothly!
In our art department, we have some developments from our logo designer, Winter, who’s come up with a rough draft for our game’s logo!
We’ve also got some more character art from Whitney, including our new profile pictures that will be used for our girls within the game.
As well as some full body character art of our wonderful ladies. Once they’re lined and colored, Amy will be partially animating them!
Our team is working hard as we start knocking out stuff for week 2! We have a solid foundation as we get ready for our halfway mark in our race to produce this demo by the end of the month!
