This update also contains some Steam achievement bug fixes, where sometimes the achievements wouldn't register properly.

Now, I'm going to continue my work! Lengthier blog posts coming soon, I promise!

Please tell all your Russian friends about One Night Stand!

It's been a while! I have, once again, been pretty busy the last couple of months. Development on Memories (working title) has had its difficulties, but I feel like I am over the hurdle now which is great!

As with LoveIRL, I felt I'd accidentally bitten off more than I could chew with Memories. I originally planned it to be a 6-9 month project, but it quickly became a 12-18 month one, and I still wanted to add to it! I had to reel it back in somehow, so the last couple of weeks I've been assessing my writing style and the scenes within the game. I've decided to replace the jumbled mess I had with narration, which is a writing style I don't often use, but in Memories, it works really well. I've also cut back on the number of scenes within the game to focus on the core of the story. I thought I'd already done this, twice in fact, but there was still some fat left to trim. I've even removed a few scenes I really loved, but for now, this is best thing to do. It wasn't easy though. I think the hardest part for any developer or artist is to throw away parts of the work they love... *SIGH* it's for the greater good, I need to remember that! There's still a good chance that a couple of the scenes will make their way back anyway, depending on how healthy development is looking 6 months down the line. Hmm, we'll see.

Anyway, all the story is already programmed into the game and ready to rock. I'm just making my edits and cuts from the game's actual script. Perhaps that's a little ham-fisted, but it works for me. The game, so far, is just missing a lot of artwork and UI, so I have my work cut out for me, haha! It means I can't share too much with you all, but I can already see a vast improvement in my artwork already, which is pleasing.

This piece is from the latest scene I've finished. From what I've shown previously, you may notice the art style is a little different. That's because I've changed it to have a more striking, retro aesthetic. The colours used in each scene will reflect the emotions that are attached to them.

These two characters are Millie's Father and her best friend, Katie. At present, I am only focusing on main character sprites and backgrounds. I'm refraining from drawing CGs and animations at the moment, until my full redraft is complete. The reason being time. I don't want this project to explode with me adding a ton of minor details when the whole thing is still being changed.

I mentioned a while back that I wasn't going to add animation to Memories but, you know me, I love animation and I feel it adds so much needed life to visual novels. So, once the game is in alpha, I'm going to reassess adding more animation to the characters. All the sprites are currently static placeholders, but I believe this will be a better way to work so that the game has a solid foundation. Artwork takes the most time, so it's best not to waste it.

Anyway, One Night Stand has had a few developments of its own the last couple of months. Russian language support is soon to be added on Steam and itch.io, and I'll be announcing a release date in the next few weeks! Stay tuned :)

If you follow me on Twitter and Facebook as well, you may have noticed I got One Night Stand running on my iPad. This is something else I have going on in the works, however, I am waiting on some more languages before bringing the game to iPhone and iPad. On that note, if anyone knows a Spanish <-> English translator, please let me know!
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​I think that just about wraps everything up. I have lots of work to be getting on with, so I'll be keeping these blog posts as short and concise as I can! Until next time!

I know, my development blog posts are getting more and more infrequent, but that's because I've been busy! Especially busy writing my next game's story, which isn't easy to share without spoiling the whole thing, but I'll try...

I've told many people that I will be formally announcing my next project soon, but truth be told, I'm still not quite ready to do that. However, this blog contains a brief update on what I've been chaining myself up to my desk for 2 months for. I've been very deep-in-dev (as I like to call it), barely doing much else besides work, unless you count unwinding at night, watching anime (Scum's Wish, Yuri on Ice and Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu) and playing games (Zelda BotW, Puyo Puyo Tetris and MK8D). I've felt the need to catch up ever since GDC... but there's been my 30th birthday, friends visiting, crappy illnesses, doctor visits, and now a holiday to Florida, as well! And after that, I'm back in the UK for a few days to visit friends and attend the Women in Games 2017 awards! I'm in the shortlist for New Development Talent, how crazy is that?!

But also, One Night Stand has had a few interesting developments post-GDC. It's not something I can formally announce yet, but I will say there are plans to add more languages in the not so distant future. This is something that's been requested a lot, and I kinda wish I'd gotten on it sooner, but this kind of thing is tough when you're a one-woman development studio! I keep dreaming about hiring another person at the moment, haha...

Anyway, if you look at the GAMES tab above, you can now see a game called MEMORIES there. This is a working title and by no means the final name of the game, but the page does have a tiny bit of information and a few early screenshots, if you're into that kinda thing.

Because the game's development is in such an early stage, I'm not going to share too much of the story, but, like One Night Stand, Memories will be a shorter form visual novel, made in Ren'Py, where the story unravels by looking at items around a room. However, that's where the similarities with ONS end. Memories is highly inspired by my own life, with the main character, Millie, being a troubled "tomboy" (and I hate that term, but you know exactly what I mean). However, despite being a lot like me, she is into different hobbies, more masculine and clear about herself and her gender than I was at her age. She loves sports, programming, soldering, tinkering, electronics and all the geeky things that come with it. In present day, she's 23 years old and at a turning point in her life. 

I think Memories will be the most autobiographical game I ever make, even if it's not actually autobiographical. Some events in the story are inspired by real things that have happened to me, but others are purely Millie's own. It's certainly a story I've wanted to tell for a long time though, as it shares some very personal moments which are close to my heart. It's especially apt for where I'm at in my life right now too... I can see myself, in future, describing it as "the game I had to make".

So far, I'm really excited about Memories, but there is a lot of work ahead... Mainly artwork. It's going to be a very art-heavy game, with numerous characters at different ages, all with a ton of expressions and different outfits, plus many different scenes and locations. I'm also storyboarding the whole game (I know, I'm crazy) so I can get evoke some real deep emotions in the player through cinematic-like shots. The animator in me will never die.

Speaking of animation, that's something I'll be cutting back on for Memories. Unlike ONS, Memories won't be rotoscoped and will feature simpler animations. Just how simple depends on time and budget, of course, and whether or not I run a crowd-funding campaign later down the line... Hmm. Anyway, the story is all written and programmed in, with game mechanics and all, though it could use testing, re-working, improving etc... you know how it is. The UI has been worked on too, but really needs a ton more time spent on it. Promotional assets haven't even crossed my mind yet either, which is unusual for me, often thinking of these kind of things first.

My artwork lag could be easily blamed on the trouble I've had for months with my Wacom Cintiq; ever since I updated my Mac to Sierra, all the lines I'd draw would be jagged and it was really, really frustrating! I figured it was best to focus on story and programming until they released a new driver (which they did a couple of weeks ago now), otherwise I was really fighting against my computer trying to draw anything half-decent.

Not only technical issues, but I learnt (as I'm an artist first, game developer second) that I spend way too much time on artwork early on. I designed Millie's bedroom, perfecting every little detail, without really understanding what needs to be there yet and why. I think I spent nearly a week on what became a sub-par background... what a waste of time! This is why I tweeted a few weeks ago "Developer graphics saved my game", because who knows just how much more time I would've wasted? Never-mind the lack of planning and game's direction too.

So, I threw together some crappy assets which will serve as placeholders for the game's structure. This meant that I was able to carry on with the narration design without getting bogged down on how the game should look. It sounds silly, and pretty obvious, but when the narration is based on the exploration of a bedroom, it's difficult to write the story first... That's what I thought anyway, I did it that way around with ONS, but Memories isn't the same. It's bigger, more complicated and the story unfolds from the particular objects you discover. By using developer graphics, though, I've been able to simply crack on with the foundation of the game, which is now a hell of a lot more sturdy. So, artistic game developers, take note! It's okay to use placeholders and ugly images until you have time to replace them – heck, I encourage it! (Heh... I sound like I've never even used placeholders before, but when you're a solo developer who's specialised in art, it's very hard to remember the benefits and reasons for using them.)

Anyway, tomorrow I am packing for my holiday. I sometimes feel guilty as, being an indie developer, I feel I take vacations quite often compared to others, but screw that, down time is important. I say this a lot, but I still see developers getting ill, stressed, burnt-out or feeling pressured to work constantly. Despite popular belief, it's not cool to do this. I've been deep-in-dev for weeks, and I'm slowly feeling burn-out creep in. That's never good, but it is good to recognise the warning signs and take a break. Otherwise, productivity, passion and perspective deteriorates.

If this is you, and a holiday isn't available right now, then perhaps take an afternoon off, away from the computer, in nature, or with a coffee. Or maybe play some other games for research, or even just for fun. You do you. Too many games industry folk seem to believe that you should work your ass off to achieve your goals, but I don't buy that at all. Sure, you should work hard, avoid slacking-off etc, but never, ever feel guilty for taking a well deserved break, or not taking your laptop with you. Those are my 2-cents anyway... I feel I should end every blog post with a rant like this, haha!

Anyway, take care of yourself folks! Until next time!

Golly... It's been 2 months since my last post! That sucks!

It kinda makes sense when I think about how busy I've been in that time. To start with, One Night Stand got nominated for Excellence in Narrative at IGF 2017! I couldn't believe it! I thought maybe I'd get an honourable mention for art or nuovo, but narrative? And an actual nomination?! Well, when I thought about it some more, I supposed it does sum up the whole package of One Night Stand better, but yeah, it came as a shock to say the least!

I then I spent the next few weeks prepping for GDC... Mainly coming up with cool concepts for freebies and designing them. I was well prepared, but German post messed up my delivery which meant Awesome Merchandise had to reprint and rush the order out again, which they did a superb job of doing (so please use these guys if you need a variety of merchandise in future)! I also got some stickers printed out and put them on blank condoms, and funnily enough, these were the cheapest (and most effective) freebies on the booth!
Understandably though, some people didn't want to take the condoms. Sex is quite a delicate topic for some, and game developers/ artists should remain sensitive to that. This is something I've learnt more and more about over the last few months since One Night Stand's release, and something I didn't really consider whilst making the game... Anyway, I still have a bunch of stickers, badges and condoms left, so if you'd really, really like some, let me know!

The first two days at GDC were spent, mainly feeling jet-lagged, going from session to session. I like to learn, but on the whole, I felt like a lot of the content repeated itself one way or another, and I didn't feel as though I took away as much as I did two years ago. To be fair, I missed a lot of talks I really wanted to go to on Wednesday and Thursday (since I was on the booth) and no doubt there would be some great take aways from that. Oh well, I'll catch up on them on the Vault!

My favourite session was probably "The Aesthetics of Cute" by Jenny Jiao Hsia. It was beautifully presented and full of inspiration. I certainly want to make a cute game in the future as there is so much power and engagement with cuteness! It also makes me feel really happy playing such games, but I know I naturally tend to gravitate towards creating more serious and realistic tones, with the odd bit of humour here and there. One day, I'll make a cute game though, I promise!

I went to a WebGL talk and was wowed by the potential of 3D games in web browsers. There was also a "Radio Play" story design talk, and both of these really inspired me, making me want to get back straight back into development! I also met a few people I'd love to game jam with, so hopefully, I'll have made a couple of experimental game jams before the year is out. I say this, but I'm always short on time haha!

Now, the booth itself was something I was pretty worried about; I'd never shown my game in person like that, so I didn't know how I'd fare up. Turns out, quite well! I guess when it's your own product, and you know it inside-out, it's really easy to answer questions. Perhaps not for three days straight, however! My voice box nearly croaked, and my throat's recovering even now! My mind also started drawing blanks at the end of day three, and I got pretty ill, but otherwise it was a great success!

When industry professionals asked me to pitch the concept to them, that was pretty difficult too, but I got through it okay. Even though I was thrown in at the deep end demoing for the first time at GDC, I felt at ease since One Night Stand's already out and selling well. I suppose the worst questions I received were "Are you a student?" and "How are you going to make money with this?" The assumption that you don't know what you're doing because you're a solo (female?) indie developer is pretty high, sadly. (Less of this, please)

Anyway, negatives out of the way, the booth was great, though I really needed a queue or something as I had to keep turning people away. "Please come back in 10 minutes", "Try again tomorrow" etc. and I felt really guilty but there wasn't much I could do! A few times, there would be a large audience gathering around just watching someone else play. It was nice to see not only the player being entertained, but a whole group of people. The range of emotions people expressed too was incredible... Some people felt really down because they "took the photo" and got kicked out, where as others would feel warmed or laugh out loud at silly moments in the dialogue. Everyone who played told me just how much they enjoyed it, and wanted to tell others about it. I got wished the best of luck for the awards show, which, sadly, I didn't win, but just being nominated, being part of the IGF pavilion and going to GDC for free was more than I could wish for. It was a truly rewarding experience.

Watching the IGF and GDC awards in person, in the VIP section, was pretty damn awesome though! Nina Freeman did a fantastic job hosting and winner's speeches were truly heartfelt. I was pretty star-struck seeing so many famous developers there too. Yeah, it was a fun night. You can recap on Twitch and see One Night Stand on the big screen, followed by its appearance in a Hey Ash sketch!

Now that I'm home, it's back to development on my next project. Many people have been asking about LoveIRL and I promise that I haven't given up on it, but it is a huge project and I didn't really realise until a year into development just how much of a challenge it is on my own. I hope to get some funding and have a small team by the time I begin working on it again, but right now, I'm not ready for that. One Night Stand taught me that an idea needs to be much smaller and less ambitious when you're a solo developer, if you want to complete it sometime soon that is, so I decided to create something else until then... an idea which I've had since last Summer, and is very appropriate for me right now at this point in my life. Please keep following me on here, Twitter and Facebook to stay updated - I plan on announcing more information soon! Until then, here's a little sketch (left).
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Anyway, I think that about wraps this blog post up. The next time you see me at GDC, I'll either be showing my next game or giving a talk. I enjoy teaching others and have a lot of ideas I'd love to share, but talking in front of a huge audience is a big fear of mine – one I hope to overcome in the coming years though, or make a game about!

This will be a different blog post than my usual stuff, but I've had a lot on my mind since finishing Final Fantasy XV. It's a very inspiring game overall, but the ending really hit me particulary hard. It's just been that kind of year. 2016 has been tough for a lot of people, and, for me, there was personal stuff going on as well. FFXV closed that for me, but I'll go into that a little later... Warning, lots of spoilers for FFXV, Undertale, Rose of Versailles, Rogue One and Stardew Valley in here.

It's been a year for emotional media. I started off playing Undertale in January, which is both delightful and shocking. I loved the characters, particular Sans and Napstablook (my kindred spirit), and regretted downing the first boss so much that I reset the game to try and do it over. Flowey knew what I did and pointing it out, saying I regretted my actions! Whoa! Things only get deeper from there.

The soundtrack kept me bouncing for many months afterwards, I absolutely adore it! On bad days, Enemy Approaching would lift my spirits and make me feel like I could keep going, but every week, I'd fall in love with a new track and have to play it on loop. Such powerful stuff.

Soon after, I bought Stardew Valley and began crying at the opening scene... where Grandpa dies. I don't even know this Grandpa, but I'm sobbing at the optimistic future he's left for us. "Oh my God, it's just a cute pixel art game. Why am I crying?" I thought. Turns out, Stardew Valley is packed with humanity and love, one of the reasons it's my game of the year.

Around this time though, I'd gotten ill and taken nearly 2 months off work. Stardew Valley kept me going through those tough times, but Pokémon Go literally helped me get back on my feet. Being stuck inside for so long during the early Summer months made me feel lousy. My illness meant I couldn't really walk, but Pokémon Go helped me get back out there and into my life. It wasn't a quick process, in fact I still struggle some days, but there's no doubt Pokémon Go came into my life when I needed it most. I still haven't caught them all – there aren't that many good Pokémon where I live – but it doesn't really matter to me. Catching Pokémon, walking eggs... It eases the stress and anxiety my illness had created.

During my recovery, I watched a lot of anime, particulary Rose of Versailles. Being a huge Revolutionary Girl Utena fan, it had been on my list for some time, but oh my God, I was not prepared for that ending! The show is over 30 years old so I'll openly talk about the ending, but please skip on if you don't want to read spoilers! 

I heard it was a sad show, I mean, it's about the French Revolution, and we've all seen Les Miserables before, right? Well, after André's eye is wounded, he has the choice to stay and heal, or go and find Oscar. Of course, Oscar is everything to him, so he leaves... resulting in being blinded in his left eye. This is a character we've seen since he was a young boy. Seeing him lose his sight was heartbreaking, but it only gets worse... As he strained his right eye for so long, he slowly begins to lose his sight altogether. He keeps it to himself the whole time however, not wanting to burden anyone, but also from the fear that he'll no longer be able to stay by Oscar's side.

I'd usually hate a scene like this, but the episode is so well done, warning us of André's fears and doubts throughout, that you see where he is coming from. On another note, it's great to see a conversation like this being made in the late 1970's. I love masculine female characters!

After André is completely blinded, he's soon shot. This anime doesn't pull its punches! André and Oscar get together the night before, after Oscar finally realises she's in love with him, but it's suddenly all over. His death happens so fast, very truthful to how it would have been I suppose, but it's an emotional kick to say the least.

I paced Rose of Versailles very slowly when I watched it... It's just too heavy to binge. Sometimes, I'd feel really depressed after watching it too. I hear you, why watch something like that? Well, it's just an amazing, well-made show. It's heavy and deep, and because of that, it feels like it matters. Oscar and André are, dare I say, the best anime couple I've come across. André's love for Oscar is just so beautiful. But, you should be in a good place if you plan on watching it... It's great but depressing.

Which leads me to Final Fantasy XV. Another thing which got me down by the time I finished it. Again, though, I do not discourage you checking it out, in fact I urge you to! Warning, big spoilers for the game ahead.

FFXV has its faults, I won't deny. When Regis dies (Noctis' father), Noctis barely seems bothered by it. It's a problem of having an open world... why mourn my father's death when I can choose to go camping with my buddies instead? Camping, though, is tremendous fun... How many games treat night and day like they actually matter? Where resting and eating are actually important? FFXV does. At the campsite, besides cooking a delicious meal with Ignis, you can check out Prompto's photographs of the day, which is a fantastic little feature, adding so much heart and humanity to the characters.

As you play more of the story, though, things slowly get dark in FFXV. Literally too; the days get shorter, and Noctis carries the burden of knowing he must sacrifice himself to restore the world. It's pretty tough burden for a guy of 20 years old to carry, but luckily he doesn't have to do it alone. The brotherhood of Noctis, Gladiolus, Ignis and Prompto is what makes this game worthwhile. I urge you to do the side-quests and spend as much time as you can with these guys before progressing further with the story. You'll get more from it if you do.

I know, there could be way more dialogue when they're cruising around Eos, and yeah, at first glance I thought they looked like a J-Pop boy band too... but they're so much more than this. There's a particular heart-warming scene with Noctis and Prompto sat on the motel roof. Prompto opens up about his doubts of being part of the team to Noctis. You can play is cold, or cute, so I chose cute of course! It was lovely to see this option there, because I worry a lot of men feel they can't show compassion to one another without getting "That's not manly!" or "That's gay!" shouted at them. Why does being nice to one another have to be deemed negative? As I'd initially judged FFXV to be a poor game with tropey characters and terrible female character designs, this motel scene surprised me. It reminded me of what I loved about older Final Fantasy games, that is, to push the boundaries. I only got more impressed as the game went on.

When I first loaded up FFXV, I loved Gladio, mainly for his looks (I won't deny), but then Ignis became a quick favourite as I appreciate a guy who looks after others. Some folks call him the mother of the group, which I find pretty derogatory as men can be great carers (and look fabulous as they do it) too.

Another plus, because Ignis is usually so serious, it's even funnier when he gets caught in photos like this:

I love it!

However, things don't stay so happy and silly for long. When Lunafreya dies later on, I barely cared – We didn't get to know her that much, so what, right? But then we find out that IGNIS GOT BLINDED!! Oh my God, it's like André all over again! It didn't help that I went to the Dialog Museum the weekend before to experience what it's like to be blind (note: scary and difficult AF) and came out feeling so grateful that I have eyes that work. It made Ignis' disability even more distressing, but regardless, it was a heartbreaking moment on its own... Lunafreya died, sure, but Ignis – the awesome guy who's always got our back – just got blinded! I was so sad after this, for days... I couldn't stop thinking about it. Who'd have thought FFXV would tackle something like this and make you care so damn much? Gladio later tells Noct to get out of his funk and "give a shit about someone worse off" as Ignis has also suffered loss but just got on with it. Cool dude or what?

I remembered my grandparents. How they were once young and happy. How they are now finally together. I never used to believe in things like that, but I do now. Not because of this image, or the game, or even the year, but for the belief that he's no longer alone. He's with Nana now. My grief had given it one last go; I cried so much staring at the both of them together.

Many people have interpretted this ending scene in different ways, but for me, it will always be Noctis and Lunafreya finally finding each other in the after-life and resting happily together forever-more. That's what I believe. What's even more touching, is how the Final Fantasy XV logo changes afterwards too. I felt depressed and couldn't focus on anything else for the rest of the evening, and since then, I've been unable to touch FFXV to finish those side-quests. I will one day soon, but, for now, I'm still cherishing the ending and what it meant to me. It helped me say goodbye to the year, and to my Grandfather.

If 2016 hadn't been sad enough, I watched Rogue One last night and started playing To the Moon, which I caught super cheap in the Steam Winter sale. Why do I do it to myself, I wonder. I don't know, I just enjoy powerful stories. I guess some of the best are also the saddest. Rogue One wouldn't have meant as much if all the rebels got away safely... It had to end like that for their story to have impact. I'm glad it ended as it did... apart from the uncanny valley Princess Leia and upbeat ending credits music, both of which might as well have said "Fuck you, we're the real story here" (...and I think Rogue One was actually one of the best!)

I'm nearly 3 hours into To the Moon and I'm not really sure what to expect, but it's been really gripping so far. Perhaps I'll finish it later tonight, to say one last hurrah to the sad year that has been 2016.