#magicbench

[magicbench]

✦Booh ! Magic Bench update jumpscare !✦

Did I surprise you ? I bet I did, haha ! I mean, who would blame you...I didn't give any news here since years (and only just a few here and there on the blue butterfly app). My bad. Life happened in more ways than one and I was very distracted for a long time because of a good amount of personal matters ^^" But I'm all good now and once again ready to work and focus on all the on hold projects ~

✦First, some news about Colors of Fate. Unfortunately, negative life experiences didn't happen only for me, and our writer, Cirro, had and still has her good amount of things to deal with to this day. Without going too much into details, it's really difficult for her to juggle between events in her personal life and the project. We're discussing how to handle all of it, I might have to take care of the writing as well. I still can't tell you a lot on the matter for now, but once all is done discussing and stable, I'll make sure to tell you what's happening here.

✦Then for Fuji:RE ! The first step was to copy/paste the base routes (except for Haru that I'm rewriting entirely) from the OG to the new game. Technically nothing hard, no code nor learning new things. Only copy/paste. I was very optimistic on finishing this task quickly, but I didn't took into account my mentally and physical health decline after a wave of said unfortunate events. It took me waaaay more time than needed just for Ikki's route. But now that the gears are working correctly again, I'm making good progress each day and I'm done with the base writing for Ikki and Toshio, will soon start Yuta's. As for Haru I'll take care of it last since it will be rewriting from scratch and taking longer than just copy/paste. My goal is to be done with everyone base route this Autumn, so I can go on drawing and adding all the new art -hopefully- before the end of this year. Aaaand after that, adding more details like a CG gallery, some extras, nice additional little things and the digital artbook before the release. I might lower my scope on the "point and click" aspect of it too, because once again I overestimated my capacities and skills. I know, I know...that's the running gag with me, but I'm slowly learning to understand what I'm capable of and what I'm not, I promise x)

I think that's all for now. I still have a billion projects I want to make (a Fuji fandisk with the characters as adults, the childhood arc and the one project with Ikki's sister as the MC in her mid-20's. And more !), but let's do thing one time at a time. For now I'll start by answering all the asks I didn't see until now (I'm sorry it took so long for me to notice it) and start working on Yuta's route O/ So until then, take care ♡ P.S : you can find me on the blue butterfly app with the handle @mbvn

[atelier-aria]

Colors of Fate by Karamelow

[DEMO] Melia and Enris are spending their days quietely in their little village, until...

The demo for Magicbench’s [Colors of Fate] is now available! I’m the sprite and cg artist on the project and it’s been such a great experience already (and of course...drawing the handsome and lovely characters)~! I hope you all take as much delight in the demo as we had in making it! ^o^/

[magicbench]

~ Fuji:RE update ~

Hello hello everyone !

Woah it's been a while that I haven't wrote anything there, since I generally use tumblr rather than twitter for longer posts. So, yup…today is one of those days where I need to share a wall of text xD

As some of you surely already know, I attempted to dev Fujiwara:REmake with RPGmaker because of the aspect of walking around and the system of shop/items which was really appealing to me. This was two of the main reasons I switched from Ren'Py to RPGmaker and it was very fun and fullfilling at first as I learned a good amount of new things, but…unfortunately, the more I worked on it, the more I started to struggle and get frustrated with things that my current skills can't cover.

I thought of going on hiatus for the time I'd learn a bunch of advanced features to make the game visually more enjoyable, but I realized it would take an awfully long time to do so until I can present something decent and in sync with what I have in mind. I'm sure most of you don't want to wait who knows more time for this project to be released. So it's a bit reluctantly and disappointed that I decided to go back to Ren'Py, as I'm more familiar with it and that it would also means I'll work faster. I'm really sincerely sorry for all of you who were excited to play a RPGmaker version of Fujiwara (you'll still be able to interact with your surrounding though !), but I really need to go back on a more visual novel type of game for the sake of the project. I hope you'll understand and continue looking forward for Fuji:RE when it's finally completed !

Thank you again all for your support and your patience, you are the bests, always ✦✿

[magicbench]

I never know what to write for the title, but...

Cirro reached a big milestone in CoF's writing and I had fun adding the resources together in Ren'Py for the update ~ We are slowly but surely getting there and if you have some time to spare, please don't hesitate to go read the update on the ✦KS page✦ In the meanwhile, here a few screnshots (3 from the Teen Phase and 1 from the Adult Phase) that we wanted to share with you ! ✿Thank you again all for your patience and support✿

[magicbench]

~*A small update !*~

[copy/paste from KS’s update]

Hello everyone !

How are you doing these days ? Spooky season is past behind us and soon will be the holidays for those who are celebrating.

In the meanwhile, I have some update and a message from Cirro the writer for you :

"Hello everyone! This is an update by Cirro, the writer for Colors of Fate.  Unfortunately the last roughly 2 months have been pretty rough for me, as I contracted Corona in October and dealt with horrible exhaustion as a lasting after-effect, even after I had already recovered from Corona itself. This led to me falling asleep on the couch after work routinely, to the point that anything outside of the most essential tasks, nevermind engaging in fun hobbies like watching shows or playing video games, fell to the wayside. Unfortunately, this included the writing for CoF. I simply did not have the energy to do anything. My life consisted of work, getting home, eating dinner, falling asleep while watching TV on the couch and then going to bed. The weekends were spent on recovery, chores and what little socialising with family and friends I could manage to do.

On top of all of this, my work situation has gotten worse to the point that while all of this was keeping me exhausted and sick, I was (and still am) actively looking for a new full time job. Negative stress like the one I am currently facing daily at work is not something that helped improve my already pretty bad health (due to Corona) overall, and I spent a long time just trying to figure out what my next course of action should be.  The good news is that I am no longer suffering from my Corona after-effects. It took way over a month to recover from them, but I am no longer held back by exhaustion.  And while I have not found a new full time job yet, I have the support of my family and have prepared everything for new job applications, etc.   Since I have a better outlook overall right now, and my health is continuing to improve, I have started writing scenes for CoF again. The goal is still to finish both Teen Phase paths (Maid and Princess) this year. I have hope that I can reach this goal, even if it may only happen at the end of December."

Take care, Cirro ! It's glad to hear you're doing better✿

As for tasks on my side, I'm done writing the french version of the compendium. I'm rewieving it and translating it this week and hopefully I'll be able to take care of all the drawings starting next week. If all goes well, I'll be able to add Cirro's work in the script early January and to finally release the compendium in both french and english toward mid or end of February 2023 ~

And I think that's all for now ! Take care and see you all next time, you got this !✦

Hello tout le monde !

Comment vous allez ces derniers temps ? La saison d'Halloween est derrière nous et ce sera bientôt les Noël pour ceux qui célèbrent.

En attendant, j'ai une mise à jour et un message de Cirro l'écrivaine pour vous :

"Bonjour tout le monde ! Ceci est une mise à jour de Cirro, l'auteure de Colors of Fate. Malheureusement, les deux derniers mois environ ont été assez difficiles pour moi, car j'ai contracté Corona en octobre et j'ai fait face à un horrible épuisement qui a duré, même après avoir déjà récupéré de Corona lui-même. Cela m'a amené à m'endormir régulièrement sur le canapé après le travail, au point que tout ce qui n'était pas des tâches les plus essentielles, sans parler de s'adonner à des passe-temps amusants comme regarder des émissions ou jouer à des jeux vidéo,  a été mis de côté. Malheureusement, cela incluait l'écriture pour CoF. Je n'avais tout simplement pas l'énergie de faire quoi que ce soit. Ma vie consistait à travailler, rentrer à la maison, dîner, m'endormir en regardant la télévision sur le canapé, puis me coucher. Les week-ends ont été consacrés à la récupération, aux tâches ménagères et au peu de socialisation que je parvenais à faire avec ma famille et mes amis.

En plus de tout cela, ma situation de travail s'est aggravée au point que, même si tout cela m'épuisait et me rendait malade, je cherchais (et je suis toujours) activement à la recherche d'un nouvel emploi à temps plein. Le stress négatif comme celui auquel je suis actuellement confrontée quotidiennement au travail n'a dans l'ensemble pas contribué à améliorer ma santé déjà assez mauvaise (due à Corona) dans, et j'ai passé beaucoup de temps à essayer de comprendre quelle devrait être ma prochaine ligne de conduite. La bonne nouvelle est que je ne souffre plus de mes séquelles Corona. Il m'a fallu plus d'un mois pour m'en remettre, mais je ne suis plus ralentit par l'épuisement. Et même si je n'ai pas encore trouvé de nouveau travail à temps plein, j'ai le soutien de ma famille et j'ai tout préparé pour de nouvelles demandes d'emploi, etc. Comme j'ai une meilleure perspective générale en ce moment et que ma santé continue de s'améliorer, j'ai recommencé à écrire des scènes pour CoF. L'objectif est toujours de terminer les deux parcours Teen (Maid et Princesse) cette année. J'ai bon espoir de pouvoir atteindre cet objectif, même si cela n'arrivera qu'à la fin du mois de Décembre."

Prends soin de toi Cirro ! Je suis contente de savoir que tu vas mieux, courage✿

Quant aux tâches dont je m'occupe de mon côté, j'ai fini d'écrire la version française du compendium. Je le relis et le traduis en anglais cette semaine et j'espère pouvoir m'occuper de tous les dessins à partir de la semaine prochaine. Si tout se passe bien, je pourrai ajouter le travail de Cirro dans le script début Janvier et enfin finir et sortir le compendium en français et en anglais vers mi ou fin Février 2023 ~

Et je pense que c'est tout pour le moment ! Prenez soin de vous et à la prochaine ! ✦

[magicbench]

~*A lovely present*~

I always forget to post things on tumblr and I’m now late, but...Please, take a moment to appreciate how my community is the sweetest and made me this precious gift for my birthday yesterday! Thank you again so much everyone, you trully are the best and most adorable beans!❤✦

[magicbench]

~*Colors of Fate’s KS is Live!*~

Yes ! You read correctly ! 🌸 “Colors of Fate’s” Kickstarter is finally live and we already raised over 1K$/€ ! Thank you so so much to everyone who already backed it, as it means a lot for me and all the team members and even 1€ is helping us greatly ! ❤ My heart was beating so fast when I clicked the “launch project” button yesterday, and I’m only starting to relax now xD

For those who don’t know about “Colors of Fate”, it’s a visual novel set in a fantasy world where you follow Melia, a carefree and stubborn little girl, through life and years until she become a strng and independent young woman after being tragically got separated from everyone she loved during her childhood.

The team did an amazing work on the demo that you can play >>here<< And if ever you are curious about the >>Kickstarter’s campaign<<, please don’t hesitate to stop by, share and spread the word !

As always, I’m not good at great speech, but don’t forget...you guys really are the best !  ★ PS: Luna and Aiden are part of the stretch goals and already seems to have some fans ~ Hopefully their routes will come to life (> w <)/

Oui ! Vous avez bien lu ! 🌸 Le Kickstarter de “Colors of Fate” est enfin en ligne et nous avons déjà récolté plus de 1K$/€ ! Merci beaucoup à toutes celles et ceux qui l'ont déjà soutenu, ça compte beaucoup pour moi et tous les membres de l'équipe, puisque même 1€ nous aide énormément ! ❤ Mon cœur battait vraiment vite quand j'ai cliqué sur le bouton "lancer le projet" hier, et je commence seulement à me détendre maintenant xD

Pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas "Colors of Fate", c'est un visual novel se déroulant dans un monde fantastique où vous suivez Melia, une petite fille insouciante et têtue, tout au long de sa vie et des années jusqu'à ce qu'elle devienne une jeune femme forte et indépendante après avoir été tragiquement séparée de tous ceux qu'elle aimait pendant son enfance.

L'équipe a fait un travail incroyable sur la démo que vous pouvez tester >>ici<< Et si jamais vous êtes curieux à propos de la campagne >>Kickstarter<<, n'hésitez pas à y jeter un oeil, partager et faire passer le mot !

Comme d’habitude, je ne suis pas douée pour les grands discours, mais n'oubliez pas que... vous êtes vraiment les meilleurs ! ★

PS : Luna et Aiden font partie des stretch goal et semblent déjà avoir quelques fans ~ Espérons qu’on arrivera à atteindre leurs routes (> w <)/

[magicbench]

~*New Extended demo is here!*~

[copy/paste from the KS’s update]

The new extended demo is here, yes! The team is happy to finally introduce you to new faces, namely Luna and Aiden, as well as other new side characters. I’ll admit...I’m a bit weak to the cute child Luna, but Aiden (in his 20’s during this new demo) and Melia’s bickering was a delight to read as well, haha! Thank you again to everyone on the team for their hard work✦❤ Cirro for the writing, Aria for the sprites, Fuura Xen and Kat for the backgrounds, Orpheo Fenn and Trufata for the music, LeeSaturn for the code, Akatea for the proofreading and the lovely playtesters who helped point out sneaky bugs!

On a side note, I apologize as it seems that you won’t be able to load your previous saves because of a miscalculation from my part.

In short I built the previous demo with a version of Ren’Py (the software we are using to code the game) not compatible with the one I used for this new extended demo's built. It will be a bit annoying for you to reach again the part you stopped at previously, but beside that it shouldn’t spoil too much your experience playing.

I hope you’ll still enjoy your experience despite this little inconvenience and I can’t wait to know about what everyone think of Melia’s adventures so far ~

The link to the demo will shortly be sent to your e-mails/KS's messages, so stay tunned for it✦

P.S : Don't hesitate to report any bug you might find beside the skip button that is still acting up ^^"

P.S2 : There is still no french version for the extended demo, as it would be easier for me to translate it and make it proofread once the whole game is done. Thank you for your patience, please bear with me x)

La nouvelle démo est là, oui !

L'équipe est heureuse de vous présenter enfin de nouveaux visages, à savoir Luna et Aiden, ainsi que d'autres nouveaux personnages secondaires.

Je l'admets... je suis faible face à la version enfant de Luna, mais Aiden (dans la vingtaine pendant cette nouvelle démo) se querellant avec Melia était aussi un plaisir à lire, haha !

Merci encore à tous les membres de l'équipe pour leur travail acharné✦❤

Cirro pour l'écriture, Aria pour les sprites, Fuura Xen et Kat pour les décors, Orpheo Fenn et Trufata pour la musique, LeeSaturn pour le code, Akatea pour la relecture et les adorables testeurs qui ont aidé à signaler les bugs sournois !

En passant, je m'excuse car il semble que vous ne pourrez pas charger vos sauvegardes précédentes à cause d'une erreur de calcul de ma part.

Pour faire court j'ai monté la démo précédente avec une version de Ren'Py (le logiciel que nous utilisons pour coder le jeu) non compatible avec celle que j'ai utilisée pour cette nouvelle démo. Ce sera un peu ennuyeux pour vous de retrouver la partie où vous vous êtes arrêté précédemment, mais à côté de cela, cela ne devrait pas trop gâcher votre expérience de jeu.

J'espère que vous apprécierez toujours votre expérience malgré ce petit désagrément et j'ai hâte de savoir ce que tout le monde pense des aventures de Melia jusqu'à présent ~

Le lien vers la démo sera bientôt envoyé dans vos e-mails/messages de KS, alors restez à l'écoute✦

P.S : N'hésitez pas à signaler tout bug que vous pourriez trouver à part le bouton "skip" qui ne fonctionne toujours pas comme il faut ^^"

P.S2 : Il n'y a toujours pas de version française pour cette démo, car il me sera plus facile de la traduire et de la faire relire une fois le jeu terminé. Merci pour votre patience!