Izzy, Isaac, and Lilith complete as of today! 4 final chapters remaining! Voice acting on the way!
about 2 years ago – Fri, Sep 02, 2022 at 11:30:51 PM

Hey all! Akabaka here with another update!

As of earlier today, all of the non-color mark characters' scenes are completely written!

Isaac is joining Lilith and Izzy in the "Being completely written and ready to be passed on to VAs for dubbing work club".  Here's the scene below!

Note: any content that could be considered a spoiler is blurred out.

For an overview of what the scene progress looks like at this point, here's a handy diagram of roughly where we are at this stage:

Because we're nearing completion of the game, and thanks largely to income from Sucker for Love being used to cover development costs with writing, we are incredibly under our budget.  Seriously.  About half of the money from the original campaign is still unspent!  And in the interest of delivering as quality a final product as possible, this money is being set aside to be spent on full voice acting for each of the main characters.

We didn't hit the reach goal in the original campaign for this, but because of Sucker for Love easing the financial burden on me especially, development costs were dramatically cut, and voice work became possible even without meeting the funding goal.  

Now that we're closing the book on multiple characters in quick succession, the final script is fast approaching, meaning that voice work can be acquired in one go without the need for reshoots from script rewrites.  

On a more personal note, through a freak occurrence, the drive containing the entirety of my development assets for both Sucker for Love and Chromatose experienced a mechanical error and became corrupt, though fortunately all of the data was being externally backed up on a rolling basis, and not a single minute of development time was lost.  Development resumed on an all new computer shortly afterwards.  While the stress of the situation took a few years off of my lifespan, the games themselves were thankfully unharmed.  

The next things to expect would be the completion of the last four levels of the game, followed by VA casting and dubbing!  Because of the larger number of roles (10 in total), it is likely that I will be running an open casting call this time around instead of the usual closed auditions.  

Also, quick reminder that I added credits into the game!  I used the names that you pledged to this Kickstarter with, but if you'd like a different name to be used in the credits, message me and let me know!  If you've already messaged me once, you don't need to do it again.

Thank you for your support!!

-Akabaka

Chromatose Soundtrack complete!! Focusing on Dialogue & Script drafting!
over 2 years ago – Mon, Mar 21, 2022 at 09:25:49 AM

Hey all! Akabaka here with another update!

All of the music for the entire game has been completed!  There's some professional mixing left to do, but as of now, every track planned for the full game has been made!  The OST is over 30 unique tracks, and that's not counting special variant versions!  

Check out a few all-new draft previews below!

I won't spoil the context for these bangers, but just know that all three play towards the end of the game.

Speaking of 'end of the game', we're also focusing on closing out all remaining scenes -- I'm passing along the remaining scene prompts to Azura at the moment, including Isaac's last scene, and the second and final levels for Laslo, Mercy, and Imogen.  On the other hand,  Quentin, Primadonna, Izzy, and Lilith have already had all of their scenes completed!  Check the handy chart below for a quick summary of how progress is looking in terms of writing!

And in terms of art,  I recently upgraded my workstation thanks to  Sucker for Love, and jumped from a small tablet to a full desktop one with a screen, and am noticing a dramatic improvement in quality of assets that I make with it, so expect the art and CGs to only improve from here on out!

In terms of playable demos, I anticipate a final Uncolored demo to ship after Red is complete, featuring Izzy, Isaac, and Lilith's last scenes.  And then after that, making rounds on the remaining color marks, Imogen & Mercy, and Sheer & Laslo.  

Also, quick reminder that I added credits into the game!  I used the names that you pledged to this Kickstarter with, but if you'd like a different name to be used in the credits, message me and let me know!  If you've already messaged me once, you don't need to do it again. 

Thank you for your support!!

-Akabaka

Red Finale: Wrapping up!
over 3 years ago – Wed, Aug 04, 2021 at 03:39:16 AM

Hey all! Akabaka here with another update! 

All of the art, music, and writing for Red has been completed, and all that's left is for me to put it all together and playtest!  Originally, I was worried that Red would be light on content because of the combat-heavy nature of the zone, but a surprising amount of art and scenes emerged from the collective efforts of the team, including an all new type of battle!

Red progress is a little tricky to discuss because the entire premise of the final level is a spoiler, but we sure have a lot show!

The upcoming Red END should be about as long as the blue update, perhaps slightly shorter since it involves far less wandering around.  Will be keeping my ear to the ground about how ya'll fare against the combat, since this is an easy place for players to get skill-locked out of finishing the game, and I'd like for these fights to ultimately be surmountable with practice and time. 

Speaking of, it comes with a brand new combat track, masterfully crafted by our very own Yuzu! It goes hard.  There isn't a good way to embed music files on Kickstarter updates, so instead, here is a picture of the song.

Hell yeah.  That's the stuff.

The next build will include all this and: 

• Red Level 2

• Red hangout 2 

• Red finale

• A short post-credits scene with some more big reveals

Also, quick reminder that I added credits into the game!  I used the names that you pledged to this Kickstarter with, but if you'd like a different name to be used in the credits, message me and let me know!

That's all for now.  Stay tuned, the next update will be the release of the Red End! 

-Akabaka

MAJOR UPDATE: Blue Story Complete, Now available in closed beta for Windows!
over 3 years ago – Sat, May 08, 2021 at 11:26:21 AM

 Important polls and info below!

Hey all!  I have some good news!

Blue End: Now Available!

Excited to say that the blue arc is now 100% complete and available to play for those with closed beta access.  It's time to escape the Sinking Schoolgrounds! The final blue demo is available from the Demos button on the main menu.  It includes: 

• Level Two  

• The second hangout

• The Grand Finale level

• A short post-credits scene with some big reveals 

And it all clocks in at a whopping 2 hour experience as a proper send-off to our adorkable Blue Mark, Quentin.

Normally, I'd show more of the visuals from the build, but it's all very spoiler-heavy this time around so I'm saving the surprises for the game! 

The files have been added to the same Beta Access folder as last time, message me here, on discord, on twitter, or at my email [email protected] if you have trouble finding that folder again and you have purchased beta access!

The Windows build is completed, with the Mac on the way (MacOS requires a 3-step approval process and +$100/yr so it takes a little bit longer). Linux is behind that, waiting on a Linux cross-build compatible laptop at the moment.  In the meantime, if you have closed beta access, please let me know what type of computer you have so I can get a good idea of how many of you can't play the Windows version using the poll here. 

Also, I added credits into the game!  I used the names that you pledged to this Kickstarter with, but if you'd like a different name to be used in the credits, message me and let me know!

Coming up next, is the Red End, where we return to the Rage Cage for our final bout!  Red will be coming speedily, and as always, we'll keep y'all posted with regular updates on progress. Check out the discord for yuzukimasu's WIPs, because there's 4 all-new battle tracks on the way!

That's all for now, please enjoy Blue End!  As always, be vigilant with bug reports so I can iron them out while we're still in beta, and take care of yourself.

-Akabaka

Grand finales to both Red and Blue arcs coming!!
over 3 years ago – Thu, Mar 04, 2021 at 10:17:28 PM

Hey all! Akabaka here!

I'm back to relative normalcy after multiple losses in the family mentioned in the last update, and am finishing Blue and Red arcs now.  

Much of the content, being 'end-game' content for each character, is VERY spoiler-ish, so I can't show as many images of progress as I usually do without giving away endings or major plot points, but I am about 100% done with the art for Quentin's (Blue) Level 2, her hangout, and am mostly done with the art for her finale level.  Her level 2 is also ready for internal playtesting!  Red is a little behind that, with the art being about halfway done, and her levels are about to be implemented.  

Blue levels take a little much longer to make than any other zone (excluding yellow), since by design it is an exploration-based zone, so I have to prepare and code rooms to be navigated, compared with red that is just straight-forward combat in a couple rooms.  All the same, you should expect the next update to be announcing the release of the complete playable Red and Blue arcs with the builds uploaded to the beta access drive!  

Also, the expected deadline for the game is only a month or two away, and it's pretty clear that the game will not be done by then, largely due to *gestures generally towards 2020*  extenuating circumstances and general unforeseeable catastrophe.  Most of the team lost their jobs and were unemployed for most of the year, and I was personally struck by serious misfortune, especially towards the end.  So the timeline has been shifted, and will most likely need a year to make up for the year that was lost.   Expect frequent updates to twitter/discord and bimonthly updates to Kickstarter  as we continue to make strides  towards completion, and in the meantime, enjoy the progress builds that we'll be rolling out.  

Anyways, here's Quentin in a wetsuit.

Hell yeah.  

Alright, until next time

-Akabaka