Hollow Rose Studios

A one-person visual novel studio | stories with heart - be it full, broken, or humorous | WOC-run | Current WIP: An Everday Love   Follow me on Twitter!" Play "An Everyday Love" on Itch.io Support me on KO-FI

[hollowrosestudios]

An Everyday Love is Available TODAY!!!

🎉An Everyday Love is now available on itch for Mac/PC! 

Enjoy a cozy, contemporary otome following a 24-year-old marketing assistant finding her way in the big city. Staring three love love interests and one fantastic best friend, expect . . .

💇🏽‍♀️ Customizable MC -  (2) MC's hair, (3) skin, and (2) body type as well as a variety of choices outside of determining romance

🔞 Optional spice (game page only available to 18+ as a result)

📕 Bonus Stories (2 per character after unlocking best and worst ending for each)

🎶 OST (5 unique tracks as well as some carefree karaoke songs)

📝 Extended Content Pamphlet for $5

And much more! Customize your dates, strengthen your friendships, and pursue romance in this heart-warming story about trusting in others and yourself. ❤️

I'm so glad I finally have the opportunity to share this story with everyone and I sincerely hope you enjoy reading this romance as much as I have writing it. Should you come across any problems or misspellings, feel free to send a notification through the google form HERE.​ Thank you for all your support! 

DOWNLOAD NOW

[hollowrosestudios]

New Devblog: What's Next for Hollow Rose Studios

What's Next For Hollow Rose Studios - An Everyday Love by Hollow Rose Studios

Hi everyone! It's been some time since I last updated. Truthfully, I had written out an entire postmortem on An Everyday Love but the draft

[breathlesswinds]

A second demo for Breathless Winds is now live on itch.io, made for the Amare Games Festival! This ‘preview demo’ features scenes from the main game centering on two out of the four love interests: Gallardia and Lantana.

Breathless Winds is an upcoming LGBT romantic visual novel set in an island-fantasy setting. After recovering from a painful incident, a closeted trans woman finds herself having to choose between returning to sailing with the help of her childhood friend, Gallardia, or signing up to work with Two Elk’s resident healer and her own former bully, Lantana.

https://breathlesswinds.itch.io/breathless-winds-preview-demo

[otomedev]

And we got a surprise incoming:

Josei Jam!

Got an idea that doesn't fit Otome Jam, but you still want to share your game intended for a female audience with others and need that game jam kick? Well, rejoice, then Josei Jam is the Jam for you! Running alongside Otome Jam, we created a sister jam for all the games for a female audience inspired by the Joseimuke genre. Remember, every Otome is a Joseimuke, but not every Joseimuke is an Otome. So be sure to apply the tags correctly when participating and submitting!

Josei Jam 2023

A game jam from 2023-04-30 to 2023-06-30 hosted by Crystal Game Works & Akua. This jam runs parallel with Otome Jam . Welcome to the first e

[jelpiparade]

I thought a lot about whether I would address this publicly as I tend to keep this to myself but I'd like to just say something in regards to why I have turned off anons for now and the foreseeable future.

Please don't call me names or curse me out because I choose to have all of my main characters be FMCs. I have never gone into a yuri space demanding male LIs or in a BL space demanding an FMC and I think it's interesting that as soon as a person to decides to concentrate on black women centered stories it becomes a problem.

The majority of game protagonists are male and I will not be contributing to that statistic.

It's unfair to accept the fact that the vast majority of games have male protagonists and are not customizable and put all the weight of diversity on tiny studios that are making games at a loss.

It is especially unfair while expecting no change from those major studios and purchasing whatever they put out, and on the same token expecting the smaller ones to come up with resources to conform to the wants of their players when said players do not offer any monetary support to those smaller studios.

All games give the player the feeling of, "oh I wish I could have seen this included," but only players of the works of indie developers choose to make their dissatisfaction our problem.

At what point does it no longer matter what the person or people behind the studio wants to make? At what point are we just venues for the desires of others and no longer creators trying to put out the ideas that have been festering in our own hearts?

The honest truth is that my audience is not everyone. If you feel attacked or excluded by this truth, then I am beyond sorry you feel that way, but not all games can be made for you. The solution? Seek out the games that you DO connect with on a personal level, cling to those people, support them with everything you have, tell them how much their work means to you - because you never know how people are working against them to break them down to make games that you don't personally connect with.

I'll wrap this up to say this: to all the polite anons, thank you for your interest in Afrodesia. Desia will be the last customizable character created by Jellyfish Parade.

Thank you for reading,

//owl.

[atelierursine]

Self-Reflection of a Dev: How to Make a Competent Video Game Product, Pt 4

This post is the wrap-up to the “guidelines” series. Instead of continuing to expand on the topic, I’d compiled a “too long, didn’t read” or a TLDR summarizing the points of the previous three posts.

How to Succeed At Game Development

1)      Temper your expectations. Set clear actionable goals and deadlines.

2)      Ask for updates if your collaborators aren’t responding or delivering in a timely manner. Life will create problems, but it’s not an excuse for any party to go radio silent in this day and age. Communicating sooner than later is the key to getting what you want.

3)      Don’t be afraid to say no, that won’t work. Recognize if something can’t be fixed and when to accept your losses and move on. Grow accustomed to the growth and evolution that the collaboration process brings you.

4)      Don’t hold grudges. It’s not about your ego. It’s about fixating on the problem and neutralizing it at its core.

5)      Always remember and reflect on your experiences and mistakes. Learn from it. Don’t fall into the obvious hole. You’re not a kid anymore. You don’t need to get into trouble to know it’s trouble.

6)      To succeed is to fail, and you should fail soon. The faster you put yourself on the learning curve, the better you’ll be. Don’t put yourself in a position where hundreds of dollars and hours of time are gone, and you have nothing usable.

7)      No man alone is an island. Expect reliability and dependability from your network of peers, but don’t fall apart if that stability is gone.

8)      Recognize that you can’t implement all feedback, or you’ll end up with a rotisserie chicken M&M pizza.

9)      Most importantly, realize what you can and can’t give up. But never compromise on your vision or purpose.

[hollowrosestudios]

Hi all! I've been pretty quiet lately, but only to rest and work on new projects. In the meantime I’d like to thank you all for leaving over 50 reviews on Itch!!!  I'm so grateful people took the time to rate and review their experiences (and so far they have all been positive!! ) I’m looking forward to sharing tidbits of my next projects soon. :) 

[robobarbie]

some dtiys stuff from twitter!

bonus

[vngameden-deactivated20230317]

Our new article: Don't Start Your New Year Without Trying These Games

Check out these five visual novels you should play before 2022 ends!

Don't Start Your New Year Without Trying These Games - VN Game Den

2023 is rapidly approaching and we have five visual novels that are notable games you should play before the year ends!

With:

Our Life: Now & Forever @gb-patch

Our Fantastic Wonderland @just-a-carrot

Someone Stole MY LUNCH! by studioclump

The Spanish Privateer @sinsisters

Inter by @lazytigermade

[jelpiparade]

Release Date Announcement

Belle Automata: Chronicle 1 (Victor & the Nightmare Prince routes) will be releasing Friday, March 3rd, 2023.

There are ways to get it a bit earlier. I wonder how~

[hollowrosestudios]

Happy Holidays everyone! Thank you for all your support this year :)

[robobarbie]

Sorry I’m really late to finding out about the new game but who are the LI in it?

I dont have any formal stuff for promo materials yet since I'm focused on making the actual game atm, but here's a rundown!

TITLE:

Adonia AI

PLOT:

You come to work as a temp employee at a controversial AI startup in Silicon Valley that specializes in making AI of dead people. Over the course of 2 weeks, you build friendships, make enemies, fall in love, and learn what it means to be truly "happy." This story will probably resonate with those who struggle with burnout, loss of passion, corporate sludge, death, and fears about depersonalization in a world of AI.

GAMEPLAY:

A computer sim mixed with some traditional vn elements -- all conversations, very little prose in the robobarbie tradition. Bit of a job simulator (yes you have to work) (CRINGE). There's little bonuses and an entire cross-route secret story you can unlock if you know where to look. The content warnings on this game are going to be incredible, for a variety of reasons.

LOVE INTERESTS:

Felix. 35yo, 6'2" (idk), white. A data scientist who is rather protective of his younger brother and not eager to have his schedule interrupted. He's got a bone to pick with god for waking him up every morning and takes his coffee black.

Jerri. 29, 5'6", viet. A software engineer who seems perpetually exhausted (yet in denial about it). She has some secrets she'd be willing to share with you -- if you can beat her in a game of chance.

Note: this picture is a clip of me fighting against christ the lord to make her not look like an oompa loompa. I demand she have green hair. She WILL have green hair. You can TAKE her GREEN HAIR off my COLD, MAGGOT FILLED-

Sungho. 27, 6'4", korean. The optimistic and energetic marketer with a seemingly endless supply of creatine. You can find him at 6am either pumping iron or complimenting milfs coming out of spin class.

Major. 40, 6'5", black. The executive who will make this company succeed at any cost. There's a rumor that he started Adonia in order to try to talk to someone he loves one last time. Wonder if that worked out.

Note: he recently got hair. I am a bald truther tho til I die.

ANYWAY

That's what it's all about. The 2 routes currently in development are Jerri's and Felix's. After that, it'll be into Major and Sungho (tho they won't take very long after Jerri/Felix are done). It's coming out in 2023 for PC and mobile (mobile will be a couple months after PC) -- release date will be posted when the game is sent to QA testers for their final check, whenever that happens.

Excited for you to meet them next year!

[hollowrosestudios]

i don't know how this flew under my radar until now but this game deserves all the love and praise in the world holyyyyyyy. i was not only reading this instead of studying for my finals but bawling my eyes out at ungodly hours. this was such a raw, emotional, grounded story that you can't help but empathize and squeal along with. i've played ezra's and adrien's routes but i'm really putting off logan's because it'll be the end of the game for me ;-; i'm sorry but i don't wanna play through the unhappy endings, my heart wouldn't be able to take it aaaaaaa!! will be re-reading and re-playing this vn like crazy tho. do you have any future projects that you'll be working on? i can't wait to read more from you!!!!

This is highest praise I could hope for - thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and feelings with me. I put my whole heart into this story and reading your message makes me feel all the more confident that An Everyday Love was a story that needed to be told. The bad endings are pretty harsh, so I don't blame you for wanting to skip them, but they also unlock the "his perspective" bonus stories that you can read afterwards to soothe your soul!

I'm already working on a few small projects and have some ideas outlined. They aren't romances, but they contain similar emotions and themes to An Everyday Love. I'm looking forward to sharing more info soon!

In any case, thank you again for sending me this sweet, sweet, sweet affirmation of my work. I hope to create many more stories that resonate with you. Until then, I hope Logan keeps you entertained, haha! ❤️

[hummingbird-games]

(spoilers for Adrian’s route incoming, etc, etc)

I have been putting off this particular post of ramblings because I truly don’t think I can do justice to putting my thoughts into words for Adrian. Not like the other guys. But at the end of the day these are truly for my entertainment (and God-awful memory) and I just happen to have an audience. So. No pressure. Also I’m trying not to repeat myself. Which is hard. (I love this game. I don’t know how I can make that more obvious?? But I guess I keep trying with these posts and the damn TikToks LOL) 

Adrian is just…such a sweetheart?? And I adored ANY AND EVERY SINGLE TIME we got to tease him???? Beautiful, oh my goodness. 

…Which is why when he wanted to get down and dirty in the GYM but not for workout purposes, I had the gall to be surprised!! 😂😂😂😂😂

But listen!! Anytime he went from sweet, golden retriever energy to serious, intimidating, sexy war god I was experiencing All The Emotions. Which is hilarious because we get HINTS of this throughout the first couple chapters…so I should have seen this coming (also I keep clicking the spice option, like what the heck do you think that means?? @ me) but that didn’t stop me from being dramatic and running back on here to scream into the void (check the tags if you’re interested. I had to make a proper 18+ tag and everything when I was convinced that was gonna happen due to College Craze aha 👍🏽).

Um. So, while Adrian was fighting Logan for Most Horny (sorry, I still think Logan can keep his crown and throne 👀) he was also fighting Ezra for Most Disgustingly Romantic (more evidence is needed from both sides for me for the jury to come to a conclusion)! 

Alsooooo, MC internally screaming in all caps had to be the most relatable shit I have ever seen oh my God. I couldn’t even laugh sometimes because I was like she’s like me, fr fr, with all the seriousness in the world!

Speaking of seriousness, there is a line I really enjoy that comes after the big breakup, which after doing this three times, did not get easier?? It got harder??? I sick. And I still have to do the bad ends in the new year?? I hate this. Anyhoo, the line:

“He recognized the sadness. Saw it in me and walked with me.” 

Grief is a funny thing. It’s different for everyone, and it was this year I truly noticed just how different people who have never been touched by grief walk verses those who have. And there’s a fun little cocktail of emotions that comes wrapped in the grief besides the advertised sadness, but it’s like, deeper than that. Some people are really good at hiding that sadness. And for someone else who has gone through a loss, any type of significant loss, and to see that in someone else and to not run away from it, not try and fix it, not try and belittle you for it? It’s a huge ass deal. 

HUGE. 

So obviously I cried. 

And then more events happened (seriously y’all, just play the game, even if it’s one route) and THIS LINE SMACKED ME IN THE FACE TOO:

“When I was with you I felt so happy…so happy that I worried I’d be punished for my happiness.”

Girlfriend, same. Saaaaaaaame. 

Now, in no particular order or in great detail, because I should wrap this up, here are other things I loved. 

More Grace screentime!!! We get a little of her in Ezra’s route and then we see her a lot more in Adrian’s which I loved! 

Karaoke! Super unique mechanic in the game and I need to go back and unlock all the songs. 

Any and all interactions with Amara!! I love our best friend, send tweet. 

Keep reading

[hummingbird-games]

Lol decided to forgo a huge announcement, Langston & Ryan epilogues going up either today or tomorrow.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH CAN’T WAIT

I’ll reblog this post with a link when it’s ready.

[synstoria]

Tumblr you should follow

So… After twitter exodus and while I am still recovering from LifeTM, I thought I could do a little long recommandation list, so here we are.

@gb-patch

@foxdriftstudios

@heartfragment

@galdra-studios

@moiraimyths

@hummingbird-games

@ataleofcrowns

@upod-game

@jelpiparade

@niftyvisuals

@magicbench

@yoshibb

@rosearcanagames

@sinsisters

@windchimesgames

@twincovesgame

@galengames

@traumendesmadchen

@the-remainder

@rieindiegames

@steamberrystudio

@atelierursine

@velvet-cupcake-games

@dateofthedead

@velvetfoxgames

@crescencestudio

@foxglovegames

I surely forgot some, there is so many incredible dev out there but you can start by checking them out if you don’t know them already!

[sinsisters]

Adding on a few!

@arimiadev

@akuakourin

@ravenstargames

@robobarbie

@hollowrosestudios

@catslilypad

@honeybunnyvns

@tuffmallowinteractive

@just-a-carrot

@husbandogoddess

@silverbluegame

@lovebirdgames

@shepherds-of-haven

@twoandahalfstudios

@validategame

[eishelindev]

Replaying voiced lines in Ren'Py history view

I'm probably amongst the most impatient VN readers out there. I often read a line before the voice finishes playing, read the following eight lines and then go "wait a minute, I think I want to hear that line fully". So, I really enjoy being able to re-listen to the voiced line without having to scroll back. So this is something we implemented in Under Maintenance.

Thankfully this is a bit more documented than accessing the voice option in the say screen and adding it as a button is very simple:

And here's how it comes together in the game.