Moonlight, Storm, and Blackened Sea

Official blog for the in-development JRWI horror choose-your-own-adventure visual novel | Banner ~ @astro2astro | PFP ~ @ralexsol

[msabs]

~Moonlight, Storm, and Blackened Sea~

MSABS is an in-development JRWI horror choose-your-own-adventure visual novel. Taking inspiration from 90s games, you will roam around the Navy stronghold from Riptide #114: Still Not Ferin Well. With a pixel art style, 8-bit music, and haunting writing, you will discover secrets about your beloved Riptide Captains and struggle to survive the night. Every choice matters when peoples' lives are on the line.

This blog is for answering any questions you may have about the game or its development, and posting updates. An update will be posted every 1st of the month (excluding this upcoming August 1st). Included will be backgrounds (either wips or completed ones), screenshots of lines from the script, and a general written walkthrough of our progress.

MSABS is a volunteer-driven project being developed in Ren'Py. If you have experience in pixel art, storyboarding, coding, and/or writing and would like to donate your time to the project, you can join the Discord.

Our beloved team members:

@ralexsol ~ Creative Director, Head Writer, Storyboard Artist, Music Producer, Social Media Manager, and Encourager of the Coding Team

@stiingrei ~ Artist

@nautls11 ~ Artist and Creator of the Creatures

@astro2astro ~ Artist

@spacedustmantis ~ Writer

@tooweirdfortheworld ~ Amateur Pixel Artist

@coreycornelius ~ Artist

@unkandily ~ Writer

@iii-of-ender ~ Writer

@conivolos ~ Writer

@pirate-captain-froggy ~ Programmer

@skittlespizza ~ Programmer

@phoebastria-albatrus ~ Programmer

[msabs]

(artist: @nautls11)

Why hello there! We're coming up on the one year mark of MSABS, but we're not quite there yet! As the next school semester approaches and ArtFight has come to a close, the passing of time is more apparent than usual. Hopefully, you all have made the most of your summers!

For those of you who tuned in to the Sid Meier's Pirates! stream, we're very glad you came! It was a very fun time and Chip JRWI made a lot of money and amassed a huge fleet to kill the Spanish with! Unfortunately, due to the stupidity of one particular creative director, the footage from the stream has been lost and will not be posted onto YouTube as a VOD as was originally planned. Apologies to anyone who missed out because of this.

As for the actual game, let's check in with the art team!

(artist: @astro2astro)

What lies beyond those darkened, steel doors? The hallway's tiled floor is illuminated by eerie, golden light that's harsh on your eyes. Who knows where this scene might lie?

The writing team had a small chunk added to the script as well! Here's a little excerpt:

(writer: @ralexsol)

If you're interested in helping out, join the Destire discord!! We always love new people :) Have a good August!

[msabs]

MSABS STREAM RIGHT NOW!!

GOGOOGOOGOGO

[msabs]

MSABS Q&A Stream on 7/11!

Hello everyone! Have you wanted to ask questions about MSABS but simply haven't gotten around to it? Are you interested in asking Destire about the progress we've made and how we're going about making MSABS? Well, we've got a special announcement to make!

On July 11th, from 6 PM to 8 PM (PST), Destire will be livestreaming on Twitch! What are we doing? Playing a very old game called Sid Meier's Pirates!, roleplaying as our beloved Riptide captain, Chip JRWI! Hang out and watch as we build a crew, raid ships, and blunder our way to glory! Ask questions about MSABS! We'll have quite a few of the team on call, so it should definitely be a fun ride!

We will be streaming on Ralex Sol's Twitch channel, as Ralex Sol is the one who will be actually playing the game. We hope to see you there! Spread the word around, tune in, have fun with us! :)

[msabs]

MSABS Q&A Stream on 7/11!

Hello everyone! Have you wanted to ask questions about MSABS but simply haven't gotten around to it? Are you interested in asking Destire about the progress we've made and how we're going about making MSABS? Well, we've got a special announcement to make!

On July 11th, from 6 PM to 8 PM (PST), Destire will be livestreaming on Twitch! What are we doing? Playing a very old game called Sid Meier's Pirates!, roleplaying as our beloved Riptide captain, Chip JRWI! Hang out and watch as we build a crew, raid ships, and blunder our way to glory! Ask questions about MSABS! We'll have quite a few of the team on call, so it should definitely be a fun ride!

We will be streaming on Ralex Sol's Twitch channel, as Ralex Sol is the one who will be actually playing the game. We hope to see you there! Spread the word around, tune in, have fun with us! :)

[msabs]

MSABS Q&A Stream on 7/11!

Hello everyone! Have you wanted to ask questions about MSABS but simply haven't gotten around to it? Are you interested in asking Destire about the progress we've made and how we're going about making MSABS? Well, we've got a special announcement to make!

On July 11th, from 6 PM to 8 PM (PST), Destire will be livestreaming on Twitch! What are we doing? Playing a very old game called Sid Meier's Pirates!, roleplaying as our beloved Riptide captain, Chip JRWI! Hang out and watch as we build a crew, raid ships, and blunder our way to glory! Ask questions about MSABS! We'll have quite a few of the team on call, so it should definitely be a fun ride!

We will be streaming on Ralex Sol's Twitch channel, as Ralex Sol is the one who will be actually playing the game. We hope to see you there! Spread the word around, tune in, have fun with us! :)

[msabs]

(artist: @nautls11)

Hello, everybody! Hopefully, the heat (or cold!) of summer hasn't been getting too tough for you all to bear, and that you all enjoyed Pride Month thoroughly!

It's been pretty quiet in Destire, but there has been a bit of work done! As artists prepared for artfight and Pride was in full swing, those matters took priority. Perhaps over July some more work shall be accomplished, before the Fall school semester nears.

In art, we have a new background! What could this possibly be?

(artist: @astro2astro)

On the writing side, one of our new members, @dakota-crow, did a ton of transcription work, so we will be able to work faster now! We no longer have to jump around the #114 video trying to find a specific scene.

That's it for now! May all of you have a fun and fabulous July! Make sure to volunteer at the Destire discord if you would like to see this game come to fruition!

[msabs]

(artist: @nautls11)

Happy Pride Month everyone! It's rather perfect timing that just before Pride Month, Riptide has been announced to be returning in September, allegedly. Everyone is rightfully excited about the news! It is with cheer that this update also brings a bit more of a substantial update than usual!

From the art department, some more thumbnails have been developed! What rooms do they depict, and why are they black and white? You'll just have to wait on those answers until the demo is released!

(artist: @astro2astro)

Just a couple days ago, a few more pages were written for the script, with definitely more to come now that summertime has fully set in! Here are some snippets!

(writer: @ralexsol)

@pirate-captain-froggy has been hard at work continuing to implement the script into the game! Currently, there's about sixteen and a half minutes of playtime, including all deviating paths and choices. There's a lot more to go for the demo, so expect the demo's full runtime to be probably around a couple hours long! Here's a screenshot from the game.

That's it for the update! Lots of progress is being made, and hopefully this June, there will be even more of it! Our goal is to release the demo before Riptide returns, but we cannot guarantee that we will accomplish that much in only a few months, especially with our track record. Our team is quite small and busy, unfortunately.

If you would like to help us speed up the process, please join the Destire discord and help us out! We're always looking for artists, writers, coders, and now audio designers too! If you want to help create some simple menu GUI, help find sound effects to enhance the gameplay, or write some chunks of the script, those are jobs that especially need work put in!

Have a wonderful Pride Month, everyone! 💜

[msabs]

(artist: @nautls11)

Hello everyone! At this point, you should all expect late updates, considering how often the monthly update post is forgotten about until after the fact. Lives are rather hectic right now as the end of the school semester rapidly approaches, along with summer break and the potential for a burst of productivity in Destire.

The art team has developed some thumbnails for a new section of the stronghold! Below, we have a colorized version of one of them.

(artist: @astro2astro)

The writing team has been planning out the aforementioned new section, which unfortunately is less show-able. It is in the works, though!

@pirate-captain-froggy has been tinkering with the game and has made even larger strides than during last month. Here's a screenshot! It really is beginning to come together.

We appreciate everyone who is still keeping up with us, even though our progress has been slow and updates are often late. In the times we do find the time and energy to contribute to the project, it's fun to discuss with the rest of our teams how we can make this game even better. If you'd like to join in and help us create a game for the JRWI community, please join the Destire discord! We'd love to have you!!

Have a good May, everyone! Good luck with finals!

[msabs]

(artist: @nautls11)

And we're back! Apologies for the late update. There is good news to be shared with all of you, though. Progress has been made on the game, and we're drawing even closer to the end of the spring semester of school. Soon enough, more of Destire will be able to dedicate more time to the project, hopefully.

The art department has worked on some more sketches for the basement floor! Here we have a screen that you will see at some point no matter how you play the game... take from that what you will.

(artist: @nautls11)

While there hasn't been any new writing for the script of the game this month, there has been some discussion about gameplay elements and perhaps the addition of more content to the demo. That's all that can be said without getting into spoiler territory, though.

As for the coding team, the introduction section of the demo has been coded! The phenomenal @pirate-captain-froggy has done some critical work as one of our few coders.

If you wish to join the war effort that is chipping away at this video game, join the Destire Discord! We would love to have any fresh faces that can write, draw, and/or code. The job so far has been slow-going, but you could help us change that! No matter if you join us or not, though, have a wonderful April. We'll be back in May with more news!

[msabs]

(artist: @nautls11)

Hello everyone! Once again another month has passed us by. Valentine's Day is past, and as we approach spring, the school semester is fully kicking in. Unfortunately, Destire did not make much progress this month. Multiple members have fallen ill in this cruel season. Hopefully, recoveries will be swift.

This month, we will refrain from sharing any art or writing, simply because most of the content that has been created that hasn't already been shared has been kept under wraps for a reason. If we showed too much, where would the fun in playing the game be, after all? Also, the person writing this post is one of those tragically ill, and would like to go to sleep sooner rather than later. :)

If you would like to volunteer to help MSABS' progress, please join the Destire Discord! We would love some help from coders, writers, and artists who have more free time and are not ill like the rest of us.

Have a good night/day, everyone. Stay healthy and take care of yourselves!

[msabs]

(artist: @nautls11)

The first month of 2025 has come and gone, and MSABS has been officially under development now for six months. What an incredible milestone - half a year has passed, and yet the people involved in this project are still as passionate as ever. Despite our setbacks and busy schedules, the MSABS team has tinkered away on this game bit by bit, and hopefully, a demo will be available at some point this year.

The MSABS dev team has also decided upon a real, official name: we are DESTIRE. It is a combination of desire and destiny; both important themes in JRWI: Riptide and two major driving forces behind our determination to finish MSABS.

As for our actual game development progress, let's first check out the art department. Some ideas for the "loading" screens have been drafted, a fun way to transition between character POVs.

(artist: @nautls11)

In the writing department, further exploration of one of the many doorways on the 1st floor of the stronghold has been written. Here's a few snippets:

(writer: @ralexsol)

As has become our unfortunate reality, many of Destire have already returned to school and are facing insane schedules that hardly allow time to contribute to MSABS. Our passion is still there, though; this game is on our minds often. If you or anyone you know has free time and experience in pixel art, writing, and/or coding in ren'py, please join the Destire Discord! The more volunteers we have, the faster this project will move along.

May the spring semester bring joy to you all, despite the recent troubles the world is now facing and will continue to face for the next few years. In dark times, it is community that enables us to survive in spite of oppression. Be loud, be brave, and most importantly, be kind.

[msabs]

(artist: @nautls11)

This time, the update post is late because it was impossible to put it up sooner! In any case, it's here now, and we have some news for all of you. But first: Happy New Years'! 2025 is finally here, which is absolutely insane, and hopefully isn't causing all of you existential dread.

Since school has ended, there has been more activity amongst our team. Let's start with the art department, shall we?

We have a few new finished backgrounds, two of which are displayed below! I'd watch my step if I were you, heading into the darkness of the Navy stronghold.

(artist: @astro2astro)

On the writing side, the textbox sections that were written by different writers over the past semester have now been edited and are ready for the final game. Hopefully, over the next couple weeks before the spring semester begins, there will be a lot more new writing for the textbox completed!

Here's some text from the edited section:

(writer: @iii-of-ender, editor: @ralexsol)

The coding team has also started working on the demo! It's looking great so far, but until we have a bit more to show, we'll hold off on sharing any screenshots. Soon, though!

The stressful holidays of winter have now come to a close. In the weeks before studying resume, we hope to see even more progress made for MSABS. And of course, you'll continue to see updates from us even as school picks back up again. Remember, if you have experience in writing, drawing, or coding, you can always volunteer and join the Discord! We'd love to have new hands on deck!

Wishing you all the best for 2025! 💜

[msabs]

How long will the final game be?

At this point so early on in development, I don't think any estimate would be accurate, but I'll give one anyway. Maybe somewhere between 4-8 hours of gameplay? While one route might take a lot less time than that, the amount of routes in the game will allow for a lot of replayability.

[msabs]

(artist: @nautls11)

Since I have the memory of a goldfish, the update post is once again late. Apologies, everyone - and happy holidays. Winter break is almost here, accompanied by the cold and joy of Christmas. Wishing everyone a happy holidays and undramatic visits with family!

Very soon, many of the MSABS team will have time to once again work on the game. The last few weeks of school must pass first, though. We shall see how much is completed over the next December! As for November, it remained mostly quiet, but we did have a new writer join the team, so we weren't entirely stagnant.

From the art team, we have another character design!

(artist: @nautls11)

And from our new writer, we have these excerpts!

(writer: @conivolos)

We hope the new year will bring a lot more news on our end to you all! We want this game to be made just as much as you. Merry Christmas, everyone!

[msabs]

(artist: @nautls11)

Halloween is past - hopefully, everyone had a wonderful spooky holiday! This past October went basically the same as September, with very slow progress due to the busy schedules of the MSABS team. That does not mean there is no new developments to share, though!

Here's some art the team has been cooking up! :)

(artist: @astro2astro)

One of the new backgrounds! A spooky glimpse towards the 3rd level of the Navy Stronghold... What awaits at the top?

(artist: @nautls11)

One of our artists, Nautilus, has been developing the character designs/palettes. Here's our dear Chibo!

As for the writing department, there has been no new writing since last month, and we don't want to pull too many lines from the beginning of the script... Hopefully, next month's update will include some more writing bits.

We are all trudging through school, but winter break is approaching soon. We plan to get a lot more work done in the upcoming three months, so stay tuned for more news! Have a good November everyone!

[msabs]

(artist: @nautls11)

Hello everyone! Apologies for the late update; the time really is flying by this autumn. School has kicked into full gear, and everyone is very busy all the time.

Unfortunately, we have not made much progress since the last update. Almost all our team members have been swamped with schoolwork, with little time to dedicate to this volunteer project. Hopefully, once this fall semester is over, we will make some more progress during winter break.

That doesn't mean we won't be sharing anything in this post. Quite the contrary! Here is some storyboard art that was created last month:

(artist: @nautls11)

And here is a few recent lines from the script!

(writer: @iii-of-ender)

(writer: @ralexsol)

While the progress on MSABS has been inching along as of late, we all still want to complete this game. Life is unfortunately just getting in the way. Stay tuned, and hopefully next month, there will be a bigger update!