#theclosetdoor

[worksomewonder]

Fanart of Faun from The Closet Door by @tuffmallowinteractive

Faun is such a lovely and feisty MC!

More TCD fanart coming up!

[tuffmallowinteractive]

Where have I been? I've been...

... Because...

I know I've been quiet. But I'm still here. Still working on The Closet Door. Still pouring my heart into everything I make.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by this little corner of the world. And I hope to see you again soon. 💗

~AlwaysJmB

[tuffmallowinteractive]

GETTING BETTER WITH AGE

Tuff Times 5/12/25

The cool thing about creative endeavors is the more your create, and work hard at, the more you learn. And the more you learn, the more you improve.

The Closet Door has undergone a lot of changes over the years. I changed and the game changed accordingly. I grew and the game, story and characters grew with me.

Like I said, we improved. But when do you get to a point where you realize this is enough?

Recently when I released A Simple Twist of Fae, I looked back at my work for The Closet Door. I thought, maybe I should update this game to reflect the visual appeal of A SImple Twist of Fae.

After all, the latter was my newest project- surely it represents the most up to date and better version of my skills, right?

Wrong.

The art for A Simple Twist is its own thing. It's uniquely its own style, story, characters and vibe. But it's different. Not better.

I was able to make it because I improved so much with The Closet Door.

(constantly working on the backgrounds!)

My games so far have been fashioned to look like books come to life:

- Lake of Reflection is an old handwritten memoire- a journal

- The Closet Door is a storybook

- A Simple Twist of Fae is a manga style comic

It's no surprise to those who've played my available works that I have fun playing on the theme of the visual novel genre.

And I like what I've made so far! All of these stories carry themes of self exploration and self redemption. Of learning to see the many ways love takes form in our lives. Themes of truly smiling from the heart and the journey to that point.

I want to complete this game. It's become a word that must be spoken, a song that must be sung, a love that must be given - it must be shared. My heart wills it so.

And as I look at the art for this game, I see how I've improved over the years. How I've learned, how I've grown. I see the distinction of a story book design and how it looks good being itself. How the style breathes its own life and exudes its own vibe.

I really do feel like TCD holds its own. And that is such a good feeling!

I'm working my butt off guys. I have no idea how quickly I can get this thing done, but know I'm working at breakneck speed and trying to build something worthy of the feelings I have for it.

I'll be updating progress here quite often and maybe on Bluesky as well, so stay tuned!

[tuffmallowinteractive]

Coming Back with Fresh Eyes

Decided it was time for an overhaul. Again. But fully this time. The Closet Door is a project that I picked apart and picked at for years. So when I finally pulled out my game ready to complete it once and for all, I noticed the big strewn about mess I've made of it. Of the script, the art and even the music.

(Remember these?)

I think I wanted to do so much with TCD, but at the same time, there was also too much I wanted to do, as well as not having the skill set to know my limits and push the right ones to move forward.

(things were pretty vague for a while)

Lake of Reflection and Simple Twist of Fae taught me a lot. And so did the testers that helped me shape my growth as a dev. I'm definitely more efficient than I was previously. And having learned, I want to apply those skills.

I'm going to forever own imperfection. There is beauty in being imperfect. In being unique. But there is necessity in striving for the best version of self. I promise to do that here. I want to update my game one last time before release. To make sure that The Closet Door is its best version of self.

Let it be said, I have always shown up. And I always will. But this is my time to show out, and I intend to with TCD!

(some folks are born to be a diva)

Today I went over the script. It was a MESS. Same goes for the organization of the completed minis CGs. 😩

But Imma get it together. Update in a few days. Let's move on this. It's time.

~AlwaysJmB

[tuffmallowinteractive]

WE ARE SO BACK.

Mannn it's been a long time going. I have been so excited as I look at this game with fresh eyes. There's a lot of exciting things I can do with it before release, and I look forward to showing off all the shiny new changes and features!

So much to talk about- so little time. So stay tuned!

[tuffmallowinteractive]

Tuff Mallow Update 4/18/24

Let's talk about all the things.

I've always been a "tell you like it is" person to a fault. I have never had a problem being direct, even if it has been awkward sometimes communicating.

So if I haven't had anything to say, you can be sure something serious is up.

Most recently I moved. And it was necessary. I was in a previous living situation that made game dev nearly impossible. I'd kept trying though, even as the world was crashing around me, while trying to keep up a front that everything was good. My dev friends were like "JmB, things are not okay."

It was a hard pill to swallow. So I doubled my efforts, took on more work and finally moved and wow have things been moving fast since then!

I went to GDC 2024!!

Having peace of mind in my own home was already awesome, but then the opportunity to go to GDC arose and I couldn't turn it down! I traveled to San Francisco and attended the week long event for people of the gaming industry, via a scholarship initiative by Black Voices in Gaming! I learned so much and made so many connections with talented phenomenal game industry professionals. But most importantly, I came to understand that this little Mallow has a place in the gaming industry. That the way I am is valid. That I don't need to be perfect, and that other game professionals want to see other creatives succeed and are also actively working towards that goal. It was inspiring and humbling and I never felt more a part of a community. It just reminds me to try harder to build up the creatives around me because if we all come up together, we come up strong!

Well Now We Are Back in Action!

I am back home. Finally stabilizing a workable schedule. And finally able to finish the things I promised! I owe people content!

- The Closet Door main release

- Background art to clients

- Chibi art to a supporter

- Some art for upcoming jam releases (shhhh)

There's so much going on this month!

I want so desperately to promise that TCD will be out next month- I mean all I have to do is finish coding the game in!

But for now...

I'm just taking it one step at a time.

You'll definitely know when I release this game (as well as announce the other projects I've been fortunate to be a part of, as well as the solo projects I've been working on behind the scenes. Because I am SO READY!!

As soon as I can officially make a beta version of The Closet Door (late April or Early May), things will move pretty fast! So at that time I hope you will still be with me on this journey, as it's been hell for us all getting here. I'll most likely announce it on all media channels.

Professionals Do... Their Best

I'm thankful. Always thankful. I would never have made it this far without the kindness people have shown me.

I am not perfect.

Professionals are not perfect. And I refuse to attempt perfection anymore, as I've learned just how toxic that can be to anyone's physical and mental health.

Best believe at any point that I am striving to do the best I can. I will always give the best of what I've got to my work and to others if I can help in any way.

And I will continue to strive towards being genuine and expressing those beliefs in everything I do and make.

I probably won't post another very personal dev post like this again. But it needed to be said.

For those of you who don't know me, I'm AlwaysJmB.

And I am doing my best. 💗

Until next time~

[tuffmallowinteractive]

Ask About The Closet Door

We are getting sickeningly close! Time to ask away and find out more about this romance inclusive visual novel I call The Closet Door. I’m going through the routes and coding everything in- keep me motivated and send me all the questions about the world of Myst, Faun, Levi, Octavius and Arun! And anything else you wanna know about it and Tuff Mallow!

[tuffmallowinteractive]

Tuff Mallow Update 3/8/23

Hello! As I approach the release for The Closet Door, I sometimes have a hard time trying to figure out what to discuss. I believe aside from updated trailer(s), I have shown off all the visual assets I can without getting too spoilery, and showing code snippets always seems boring to me. 

Faun the 25yr old prodigy and a respected woman in the corporate world!

I have done a few cool things, such as add animations to The Closet Door that previously did not exist, so I’m excited about that! I also am at the last few chapters of coding and editing the code- I should be clear on the exact wordcount then. Before I began adding the script to code, I was at 270k+ words and was very proud of the script. (I write everything in Google docs, but edit as I export chapter by chapter to the Renpy game script files)

I’ve had to make some sprite corrections and some script corrections to accommodate fluidity in storytelling. That’s a big deal to me, so these are little corrections I’m making. I’m also tallying up choices/branches in order to flag a point system that is fair across routes. Some chapters split off at the start, so I want to make sure everything is fair in the end- or as even as I can make the routes without having to rewrite anything major. I did find out the silly way that there are a total of 15 possible endings. Somehow I forgot to add the bad endings in the tally before. Sorry about that! As soon as I’m sure of all changes, I’ll update the game page. 

As for other news, I do intend to finish Lake of Reflection for the Amare Game Festival 2023. It was a project close to my heart and I would like to finish it and share it and the talented voices that brought it to life with the world. 

It’s been a little late on getting Instagram posts going- but no worries! Sweet treats will be there before you know it- so stay tuned! 

~AlwaysJmb