tass atelier

first time game developer blog

[tateljee]

⟡ project C: may log

this month went by in A Blink. and was a lot. but I objectively got a lot of progress done

first of all I managed to finish the little pre-demo thing i was making to get some initial feedback from trusted friends, encompassing day 1. it feels like an achievement! and honestly, building this up made me create what i feel is a solid base to move on from. Ive got a little SFX library, quite a lot of sprites, etc. so I think going forward programming will be smoother even though Im far from done with any of it

Ive also already gotten some extremely valuable feedback and there probably will be more. yay!

something that this pre-demo also allowed me to do is actually try out the process of creating a downloadable build that other people can play. it was much easier than I thought, but there's also more to it than I thought, all very manageable tho. for funsies I also made this little app icon for the game with my mouse because i thought it was funny, but im pretty sure it didnt actually show up in the files yet because of some windows image file shenanigans ... we'll deal with that later

I also got around 1/2 of the second background done, so currently it has lineart with flat colors, tho the colors might change. honestly though, with how I rendered the other background and how i do rendering in general these days a lot of it is stuck behind how that will actually turn out lol. itll be a pain in the ass but I feel that i have to match the effort i put in the first. I think ill have to figure out something easier for all the illustrations Im planning though because oofff...

my focus going forward is to probably focus on art assets while chipping away at code. chipping away at code comes with editing the script as I go, day 1 got quite a lot of changes up until I compiled it lol, and i already have some line edits i want to make for that too. at one point Ill also have to probably do another editing round in general bc i (not a native eng speaker even though Im C2 and fluent) got some valuable feedback from a friend (native eng speaker) and i fully believe that i can easily fall into strange wording/sentence structure at times. sometimes I feel it happening, but often im sure i cant tell when i do that lol

anyway! lots of work done but lots to do! as I finished my day 1 pre-demo i took a little break and i'll probably finish another drawing before getting back into coffee shop things. june is also not any Less busy for me this year with holidays and family events colliding so :,) we stay silly but I aspire to finish this game because it would be kind of cool and ive come this far already

[tateljee]

⟡ project C: april log

no doodle this month, it went by too fast and i didnt have much time to draw (or the time i did have was spent on other art)

in the end, I feel Ive made some really good progress this month, as Im getting very close to finishing a pretty playable pre-demo version of day 1! basically all the pieces are there. ideally this pre-demo would basically fall short on art assets being unfinished and maybe some placeholder music, otherwise it should be complete-ish, at least when it comes to things like moment to moment pacing, transitions and stuff

Ive gotten much more familiar and used to working with sfx. its still a new world to me, but I think I can manage...? music is probably the 2nd biggest hurdle bc while I have some musical knowledge from the schooling days it wasnt on composing or anything, so I just kind of know how to read music and thats about it. there are however some very kind and helpful people on itchio, particularly so far I want to shoutout Bell Kalengar for their Essential Game Music Pack, an amazing free resource. currently Im really getting mileage out of some of the piano tracks especially. due to the nature of this vn, I dont think I need too much music, but theres one more track Im still looking for... (well, one that I consciously know I want)

I also got a lot of work done on art, actually

1. an unspecified client sprite. initially they were going to have more of a look, hell I even used a gendered pronoun for them. but when I sat down to draw this sprite I felt like I wanted them to be more undefined and unspecified, so they're really just an elaborate weird "stick figure" with details. they probably do invoke a specific image in your mind though, with accessories and what they say(order). ngl Im pretty sure this sprite appears once in the beginning and then never again lol

2. The Manager is probably the most "character" character aside from the actual leads who appears as a sprite. but as this is mostly a two character show, work has been a lot easier. I dont usually use the symmetry tool to draw characters, but I felt it was fitting for her as an uncannily chipper and proper worker...it made the drawing process go a lot faster lol. she's only missing final embellishments

I also started progress on the special sprites that have been intimidating to start work on bc they are a bit out of my comfort zone, and the kind of art I have to execute well for it to maintain impact. you see, Im not actually a horror artist . I just draw characters for fun most of the time...in that sense this whole project has been good for me in that way

then I made my first sketches for most of the day 1 illustrations (one of them still needs sketching). so far Ive been using these placeholders I made in 5 minutes with a mouse lol (and will continue doing so).

finally, one of my goals this month, was start serious work on my dreaded 2nd background (Em's apartment). it has been thus far as dreadful as I feared... its probably really good for my art skills though. kind of had a tough time getting it right, but I think some of the worst is behind me...?

next month goals:

finish all sprite sketches? (have two more characters who need sprites)

continue work on the BG

do a final day 1 illustration sketch

no promises but a playable version of day 1 complete...? hmm... (I do have some non-vn plans I want to do next month too)

start thinking about the rest

[tateljee]

⟡ project C: march log

i'm not commenting on march.

this month's doodle (which still isn't a guaranteed thing but Im having fun with it for now) is spring-like Em. the actual story takes place sometime in november or december, so her chara design has a turtleneck. also a little spring-themed drink. maybe it's got cinnamon and honey in it

when I take stock of everything Ive worked on for the VN this month, it ends up being quite a bit. I finished (probably?) some of my first sprites, aka I did my final detailing on some of them. I cant exactly call it rendering nor shading, its more like highlight-adjacent embellishments. I am a bit on the fence about it though. I think it looks fine on Em, but Veil...hrmmrmrm. I did get positive feedback on it from friends and Im getting more used to it so it shall stay regardless probably. Im avoiding full 100% shading and rendering like my main background because I want the sprite coloring to remain simple and I also want to hope itll help them blend in a little less with the background. (it would also take an eternity) so it'll probably remain as this. (little sneak peek)

Im still missing expressions and Veil has some special sprites that need to be drawn from scratch, but with the base sprites being complete it's a huge step and makes programming easier (maybe thats weird to say, but it does)

I did more work on the sfx end, mainly searching for more resources, trying some out, the works. I also tested music for the first time, but this is with placeholders and I should experiment more since it's still very basic. but it is progressing! Im reaching a point where day 1 is starting to look and sound like an actual real game(visual novel) ...?

last log I mentioned some script revisions, and Ive tried to at least do the first of those. so hopefully the introduction of Kei as a former missing worker is more smooth now, but Ill have to read that more and maybe get some feedback on that. still, I like it better than what was before. seems like my current script edits are happening in the "code" itself, which kind of irks me, but it's more tedious to copy paste stuff between interfaces at this point in time

the final thing I would mention here is that I reworked my quick menu! the first custom quick menu I made was very elaborate and kind of fancy, which is cool and all but it was too much. so now we've got more minimalistic icon designs. still debating on their placement in the text box, but this seems to be the best spot maybe. (also I made a very minor detail change to the text box, but that isnt really relevant cause i never posted the og version anywhere anyway)

here's a little video of it, also featuring the current fun clicky sound effect I have for it. tbh I quite like this click so I think Ill keep it? we'll see

next up (?):

continued work on special sprites for Veil

continue work on my other background illustration (Em's apartment)

start work on other character sprites I need (should be about 3-4 side characters with much much less complexity/variations than the mcs)

more sound effect and music stuff

taking stock of what's left to do for a semi-playable beta version of day 1 (* this will not be a public demo yet)

[tateljee]

⟡ project C: february log

its almost-spring, the weather seems to be getting warmer here after a cold few months, which is really strange because Ive been in winter mode for so long...

here's a little seasonal doodle of Veil (she's my marketing department)

february being the shortest month of the year has really shown itself, because it's already over. life was also busy-stressful-etc for me too. in a way i guess that never ends

the most major thing Im currently thinking about is making some edits in the script. one of these edits would be on a smaller scale and it wouldn't change the setup and structure of scenes and such, just some dialogue editing. this would be late in the story so I can't say much about it, and it's a bit hard to explain anyway

the other is that I have been thinking about the establishing of one of the main storylines in day 1. one of the main mysteries/framings of this story is Em hearing and wondering about a past worker who had gone missing. as this happened before Em began to work there, Em never knew this person herself and only heard about it. this is established in day 1 as a little monologue about how another colleague told Em about this, but I feel its a bit sloppy/boring exposition, especially for something that's such an important framing for the story to get going

so Ive been pondering on how to better establish this, but I also don't want to change the structure of day 1 too much. I dont have a conclusion on how to fix this yet, but I am considering my options

so I guess script doesnt entirely count as complete anymore lol

(snippets of artwork in progress are low quality screenshots made with the snipping tool on purpose btw)

I did try out sound effects, so now the priority is more about finding the right sound effects to use in what places. I should also try out music with some random files just to get used to how music controls work in Renpy

something else I want to do is make more progress on the second background I have in the works. I figure after that is complete the rest of environmental art will come along with the illustrations, since this isn't a particularly expansive game, it mainly takes place in the coffee shop or at Em's place

I also did work on a full body sprite, so that should be most of the entire poses for the main leads done (sort of. its complicated) (edit: she's Almost done, need to fix some issues that I only noticed after flat colours as one does). I am learning alot about drawing VN sprites and honestly. yeah i get why this is easier with a whole team 💀 maybe part of that is on me and my need to control the characters' presentation to a pretty large degree too

theres so much to do actually... this will probably take me another year, probably two tbh. should redirect more [redacted] thoughts energy to this project

[tateljee]

⟡ project C introduction

project C is a relatively short visual novel with psychological horror themes about a coffee shop barista who has an encounter with a mysterious customer...

project C is my current visual novel project and my first try at one. "project C" is a placeholder codename name until I decide on a title (I do call it "coffee shop [vn]" amongst friends and brain too)

☕ a short story focusing mainly on two characters

☕ this visual novel leans towards psychological horror through atmosphere and themes

☕ this visual novel is less about a monster that may or may not eat you and more about how horrific this modern everyday life can be. there are also some queer themes as that informs the characters

I started concepting this project around mid-2024 and wrote two drafts and began "development" in 2025. I put development in quotes because it feels weird to call it that so officially when this is something that Im purely doing on my own time outside of work and other things, whenever I have both time and energy. Im trying to lock in more though! this is something I really want to make

in this visual novel we follow Em ("M", left in the art) and five assorted days from a period of time. so the game is split into five "days", which are chronologically spread out over a few months in-universe but do follow each other. not only does she meet the mysterious customer called Veil (right in the art), but she also seems to know something about some off-putting rumors about a previous worker who had disappeared...

the story is based on the prompt of what if the alluring mysterious visitor was a beautiful masc* lesbian... and also that "monster that may or may not eat you" part. that last bit turned out a bit different than even I thought though 🦀 by the way, there is no romance in this game lol. there's some ~bits~ but they are mostly just one-sided and not exactly love lol *fyi, I do not call her a butch lesbian because I feel that I dont feel that I have a good enough understanding of butch-femme dynamics as of right now lol, and also Im referring to presentation so I realize its more accurate to stick to this probably (is this where I should mention that Im a lesbian too) tangent aside...

right now Im focused on creating a sort of beta version of day 1. this isnt a public demo (though I guess i should consider that later down the line), but I figured it was more productive to try and do this rather than copy all the script into code and then have the "whole" thing to start adding code things into. this would help me hone my skills with Renpy better as its my first time programming a visual novel (or much of anything). by focusing on completing a day 1, which is shorter and contained, I can practice sprite-work (in the code itself, how it appears between/with dialogue, not the graphics themselves), pacing, adding music, transitions, etc in a more manageable chunk

that's the gist of project C for now :-) aiming to make monthly updates of whatever Ive done and worked on in that month. might be much less interesting than I expect but thats how the process is i guess

[tateljee]

⟡ blog introduction post

this post serves as an introduction to what this blog is, a game[visual novel] dev blog thing that Im trying out. TLDR: little bit about me and the goal of doing monthly updates to the project Im currently working on (which will have its own introduction post!)

more details and rambles below ↓

this is the first post of this game[visual novel]? dev? blog? thing that Im trying. this blog exists because I realized I do not really have an "online presence" like That at this point, but i would really like to publish this visual novel and i need some sort of presence and name for that. so I came up with this blog and the name "Tass atelier" (or "Tass ateljee" for untranslated, or Tateljee)

there is an about page on this blog where you can learn a little bit more about who is behind this blog (hi). for creator purposes you can call me L or Tass. TLDR: I write and draw. and am trying to make a visual novel now. Ive also linked my art blog (sorry if you use a phone exclusively)

going to be documenting progress updates of the little visual novel I am working on right now. this is the first game-thing Ive ever coded lol, so Im learning a lot and its slow etc. I practically have 0 programming experience, however I have taken some programming courses during my time at university. however 2, most of them were specialized for research (focused on data and statistics), also mostly I learned to use R lol (thats MY silly programming language). I did learn a small bit of python as well but didn't stick around to using it. tbh, Ive always had a hard time wrapping my head around programmingy things, so its not something I specialize in At All In The Slightest (I scraped together enough spaghetti code to get uni done, basically). Ren'py is thankfully very user friendly though!

my current project is something I am fully creating on my own time and on my own schedule. ideally I would like to use the visual novel medium more than just this once, actually the project Im working on currently is technically a "test starter project" to see if I can make a full VN project at all, Im generally really interested in working with the medium more so I would like to make more than one in my lifetime for sure. for now Im aiming to finish the one though

currently Im aiming to do monthly progress updates and hope that that will help me remember to do something for my current project every month

feel free to ignore the very first reblogged post on this blog (shiny wakaba), as it was mainly reblogged so I could see a post on the theme...Im attached to her now so she stays

[godblessdoppo]

I needed motivation from a shiny wakaba