Going back through my backlog and posting my old Aelfric art... may as well get this blog caught up with the extras art but I draw Aelfric and Conrad so often if I posted everything it would become an AtW blog!
Little blurb below if people are interested in the thought process behind their design initially
I sketched this out back when I had a Patreon, but basically I had a bunch of different designs for the [nonbinary elf character named Nim].
Short hair, dark elf Nim was a very real possibility and if I hadn't posted about Nim's designs on my Instagram, that's the design I would've gone with. Everyone liked the Nim we know and love with their doe eyes, so I went with that one. Plus, can you imagine two butches fighting over the apothecary in one game? (Well I mean I wouldn't be opposed to that) The real contenders were the upper right and lower left designs because I thought they looked interesting. When I tried to do something more stereotypically Elven it was just Legolas... although i guess the dark elves were a bit Dragon Age-inspired.
In this instance I did design first--personality second. Which is why the designs are SO drastically different. They very much all come with unique personalities, too, but for whatever reason if I'm not vibing with the design, I can't really bring myself to write the character.
Anyways, that's all. I've been working on ACS so much the characters have been appearing in my dreams. (Nim and Rufus showed up at the mall)
Hello, all! I promised another devlog so here it is. June's been a pretty productive month.
So my progress with rewriting has been basically to go through the entire script, beginning to end, to make the plot, and romantic development more seamless. ACS is split up into 14 chapters in total not including the prologue and epilogue.
For reference, the demo goes up to chapter 4:
Prologue - Michael POV
Ch1 - Klafka
Ch2 - Rufus
Ch3 - Nim
Ch4 - Consultation
It's technically one third of the game but the demo chapters are actually quite short compared to the full game. One of the chapters is 15,000 words which is the length of the entire extended demo haha (although that's definitely an outlier). I'm having a ton of fun writing the script which is how I felt when I wrote the demo, so that's a good sign! Definitely an improvement from feeling like I was slaving away at it for hours only to scrap everything I'd written that day.
During the course of the full game you will meet a LOT more NPCs and my goal is for all the NPCs to have a bust up sprite like Deidre so I've started designing them ahead of time.
I've also started to sketch out the bgs I know I'll need for certain. Below are the sketches for the riverbrook and dark forest.
The nice thing about vns is if I can't write I can just draw all the assets but at this rate all of the art might be done before the writing aha oopsies. It's been a moment since I've drawn backgrounds but it's nice to know I've still got it.
Well, that's it for this devlog I'd say. I'm in the middle of a fast-paced summer class and haven't had as much time as before but I'm still on track with my invisible schedule. Until next time!
I know it's been a long time, but I wanted to create a proper devlog for some work I've done lately for ACS. 4 YEARS. WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN 4 YEARS? I think it's difficult to be honest about my thoughts and feelings about my own projects without defaulting to a more professional voice. So, speaking honestly here.
What happened in 4 years? I made some games with my friend Walt (Love Me Love Me Not, Mindread, which you guys should play)... made the Gladston Valley demo and planned out a number of other stories I have in the back burner. I moved, got afflicted with mysterious health conditions, graduated with a bachelors, enjoyed life, pivoted careers and now I'm back in school AGAIN hoping to enter the medical field while working a day job or two. I read a lot of books. Purchased a new computer for the first time in 6 years (l live in squalor) which is massively going to help with this whole dev thing. The amount of writing I've done has also massively increased, and going back to the ACS script has been more fruitful than it's ever been.
So you're writing the script again? For those curious, the game's script currently sits at 60,000 words which is, in fact, my estimated word count for the complete game. The total is likely going to be closer to 70,000+ as I'm going back through to smooth out uneven story beats and to ensure the quality of the game is as entertaining as the demo. Had I released the game 4 years ago, I think the romance and story would be extremely half-baked and unsatisfying for the sake of me wanting it to be over with. I've arrived at a point with the story where I'm satisfied enough to start drafting CGs, UI and finishing its remaining sprites which hey! If you like devlogs there will be more to come.
Cool! What's the timeline? Happy you asked, I think the full script will be completed in about 2 months or so (mostly due to rewriting and formatting). As for the full game, I'm not too sure. It depends on how long the art takes and if life decides to get in the way. Which feels bizarre to say after so long. I would preferably like to release it before 2027. A Cottage Story just might be real guys.
Hum, hum, hum... Only thing is, I'm not sure that the full game will be free. It would be nice to make some money from it and publish it on steam to help develop future games. I made the game as a short side project over the summer to destress from college. I was 20 years old, and never really considered myself a writer outside of visual novels. I never imagined that it would be as popular as it is. I've really spent an unfathomably long time on this game, and it's sitting on what is likely hundreds of hours of discarded drafts. I want to release a cleaned-up web version here on itch.io in the near future, too. The game of course won't be very expensive. I appreciate all of the support and love people have given it over the years, and want to give it a proper, polished release.
When will I see my blorbos again? RIGHT NOW!!
Sorry, I'll get around to drawing Klafka.
Thanks if you read this whole thing. I appreciate the love and support as always.
Hello!! I just finished A Cottage Story, and I loved it a lot!! All 3 of the characters have my heart!! I hope you can continue it soon, sending you love and encouragement rn <333
Have a nice day, and I would just like to say, I love love love the story and I think the characters are amazing and the art is beautiful!!
(P.S, will we ever get to meet the pixie children?)
Thanks for the sweet message! It makes me so happy to hear people are still reading and discovering ACS and that it can be a spot of joy for them haha.
(I didn't plan on it but after reading comments and suggestions I do end up changing some aspects of the final game sometimes... so only time will tell ;) )
The full body sprites for Aelfric the Wondrous! I used Fire Emblem Heroes and Echoes sprites for reference when drawing these, I wonder if it shows? Heights are, again, inaccurate. For those curious:
Edmund (5'3), Wini (5'4") Aelfric (5'9") Conrad (6'1")
The full body sprites for the Love Me Love Me Not boys! I was lazy and didn’t detail the shoes because they’ll never be seen in-game also the heights for the characters are inaccurate Micah should be shorter!!
OK this blog is finally caught up with all the games WHEW I'm posting all of the official art and references for prosperity. At the moment I'm still posting old art, sketches, and extras material with some current updates sprinkled in. Maybe sneak peeks of things that I've been working on just for fun?
I also redid the blog so it's easier to navigate and all posts are tagged with their respective games. So if you're interested in A Cottage Story posts they will be tagged as such etcetera.
Thanks if you read this far. Right now I'm just trying to organize all my social media and to get back into it now that life has settled down for me haha.
Love Me Love Me Not is a slice of life/office dating sim following Addison (changeable gender/pronouns) who's hiding a big secret...will she be able to find love in spite of it? The demo of this game was written by Walt and and illustrated by me for Nanoreno 2024. Play it HERE!
Features
Choose Addie's gender/pronouns
2 main romantic love interests
1 secret love interest...?
10k+ word demo
If you want a quick, fun, flirty game please give it a try and if you like it, reviews are appreciated to boost visibility <3
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