Happy almost Halloween, gamers!  Borealis here!

Before you all go off carving pumpkins and eating candy, here's today's Venus: Improbable Dream devlog!  In this episode, I bring you up to the present moment, and also introduce you to two very special contributors!  Enjoy!

__

2020

Despite 2020 being an incredibly problematic year globally, it did bring about a huge shift in the development of Venus: Improbable Dream in a very positive way.  As Spring began to give way to Summer, I’d finally completed the writing for the game in its entirety, and could move onto the coding!  I chose to work with Ren’Py to create the game, as several of my favourite visual novels used this program.  Teaching myself as I went, I began the coding process, which would take roughly 5 months to complete.  A lot of edits and rewriting of the story took place during this time too, fine-tuning the narrative and slim-lining some of the scenes.  It felt like a long haul, but as of writing this devlog, I’m happy to say that every route and ending of the game is now complete!  It feels amazing to be able to put that huge endeavour behind me, and focus on what is left to do to make the game ready for you lovely people – the artwork.

The one area of creativity that I’m not skilled in is visual artwork, so in March of this year, I hired a digital artist, Solaf Husain, to help me create the character sprites for the game, as well as the unique CGs that will accompany important and emotive moments in the story.  She’s been working hard with me to bring each character to life, taking my descriptions and guidance to heart while designing their appearances.  As of writing this devlog, all character sprites are completed, as well as several CGs, some of which you may have spotted on the Venus: Improbable Dream official Twitter in my sneak peek posts!  Due to the inevitably long process of creating and fine-tuning art, we currently have 8 CGs left to create.  This is the only thing I need to complete the game, so once they’re finished and place in-game, then Venus: Improbable Dream will be able to make its way to you!  Our current estimate for this is early 2021, possibly February/March, but that’s not to say that things can’t proceed a little faster than expected, if things go well.

If you’d like to check out Solaf’s work, here’s her Reddit page!

https://www.reddit.com/user/solafhusain

As well as this, I have another very important person to introduce you to!  While my coding skills were enough to complete the gameplay elements of Venus: Improbable Dream, I wasn’t fully able to achieve the standard I’d aimed for regarding the custom GUI that you see during gameplay.  This is where Yui comes in!  Yui is my great friend, musician and anime reviewer, who also has a knack for coding in a much bigger way than I do, and when he offered to lend his skills to the project, I was incredibly happy.  Yui is responsible for the game’s text box, interface and menus, as well as the lovely animated title screen that you see upon starting the game, and the charming little treble clef animation that appears whenever someone is speaking in-game.  While those types of things are easy to take for granted, months of hard work went into them, so I’m very grateful to Yui for his valuable input, without which, Venus: Improbable Dream wouldn’t be the same!

If you want to check out Yui’s informative and comprehensive anime reviews, here’s his Twitter!

https://twitter.com/YuiReviews

 --

And with that, we’re all caught up to the present moment!  I hope you’ve enjoyed these devlogs, but don’t worry – there’s more to come!  Next week will feature a special entry by one of the lovely people I mentioned above who have contributed to the project, so stay tuned!

Enjoy your Halloween and stay cool!

Borealis