Hi all. I figured out I can make devlogs instead of spamming my bsky - I might post them every two weeks or so to document the progress.

So! After spending over a year abroad, I figured out this might be a good moment to make my own game. While I am currently back home, casually looking for a "real" job, I devote most of my time to this solo visual novel. It's highly inspired by games like Blooming Panic and basically anything that robobarbie was involved in lmao. Even that chat is made using their template. Thank you thank you thank you.

Enchantex went from this... (after a day of programming)

to this:

Still a lot to do and change and polish and fix, but it's nice to see it morphing into something nice looking.

FIRST WEEK PROGRESS

 Separate channels and DMs
 Add channel notifications (icons)
 Move notifications AFTER channel name
 Figure out how to remove the name for the system user
 Format system messages!!!
 Fix icons spacing
 Change fonts
 Clear already written text
 Add NVL bg (movie)
 NVL mode - edit video (blur/darker)
 Subtle overlay-tint changing in time
 Make custom emoticons
 Parallax for full art
 Basic textbox in non-chat mode
 Figure out how to change name colors in ADV mode
 Add outlines in names ADV mode
 Add sound after login
 Add channel pings (sound)
 Camera movement during scenes
 Highlight active channel window!!!
 Let the player pick an icon by clicking on a picture during login
 NTH: store password in a sticky note
 NTH: AO4 window

SECONDS WEEK PROGRESS

 Add everyone's pfp 
 Grimmy is making 3 different nicks based on the player's name
 Game title, logo, itch page
 Draw one photo for a chat interaction
 Draw first interaction with Grimmy (VN mode)
 Add online statuses (that was a big one for me)
 Notepad-- (sticky note with user input)
 Basic outline for Grimmy's route

There were more, but I haven't written all the little things.

Since I am not a programmer, I wanted to tackle major programming tasks first. I needed to make sure what narrative tools I have at my disposal, so I could focus more on art and story. Funnily enough, I started to enjoy the programming part so much that I keep coming up with new (and often useless) features. Still, those are the things that will make this game more fun and interactive, so it's not a bad thing.

Currently, the game has ~10k words (2 days of common route and a bit of the 3rd day of Grimmy's route). I'd like to shift my focus to writing now. Thanks for reading and see you next time!