Kiss Me Not [BxB - Romance/Fantasy/KN]

[audrenes]

UPDATE 8/8/16

END OF YAOI JAM

- Update Art
- -> Part of an extra art. Main focus had spoilers so I had to crop it >__>
- BGs
- -> Did the sketches for the last two BGs
- -> Started painting the classroom BG
- Coding
- -> Decided to change the font for the text because I didn’t like how there was a gap in front of the apostrophe.
- Extras
- -> Screenshots! Because I felt bad of how I missed doing an update last week.
- -> After doing some math, I figured out how much progress I did. It’s about 29.5%?
- End of Jam Reflection
- -> As you can tell, I couldn’t finish on time for YaoiJam’s deadline, but I’m still committed to finishing this!!! I think did a lot for one person these past two months.
- -> I wish I could’ve at least released a demo, but I never planned for it to have one, so I didn’t know where the cut off point should’ve been.
- -> At this point, I’m hoping the release date to either be before I graduate in late May/early June 2017 or before I start college in Fall 2017.
- -> I also want to finish all art assets before the year ends, but I have school @____@
- -> Speaking of school, progress/updates may slow down because I’m packed this year with academic stuff.
- - -> On top of having 5 APs, I also have extracurricular activities and college applications & art portfolios to pull together.
- - -> I also have to prep for some stuff before it even starts…
- Streams
- -> Streams will become more irregular because of the upcoming school year.
- -> Stream announcements will still be on my twitter.
- Commissions
- -> I am still open for them.
- Updates
- -> Twitter
- -> Tumblr
- YaoiJam is officially over, and everyone who participated worked super hard! Check out the submitted games.
- -> Support the vn devs by giving them feedback and/or some dollars!

Once again, I’m sorry that I haven’t been as active and for any future inactivity ;____; Trust me, I’d rather work on this, but I have to get into college y’all.

Thanks for the support and I hope I can be still somewhat productive in the fall!

[audrenes]

UPDATE 2/19/17

- This project isn’t dead, I swear.
- -> Update Art
- -> Haha remember the WIP from the last update? Finally finished it for the kmx Valentine’s Day illustration!
- -> Technically not a spoiler since it doesn’t take place within the game.
- -> I also changed the logo on the update posts to fit the newer one.
- -> A speedpaint video of it is available!
- AJ, what happened?
- -> School. I have 6 AP classes y’all and I won’t get back into the groove until around mid-May.
- What have you been doing besides school work?
- -> I’ve been contacting Chris (the musician I’m hiring) about the OST. We’re still discussing the music so I have to provide him an outline of the plot so he can have a better idea of what he can produce.
- How’s that working out for you?
- -> Actually, I was in the middle of making the outline when I realized that some of the dialogue and narration was awkward and/or could use more world building junk.
- Are you re-writing it like SR???
- -> Nah. Just editing and adding info. I’m currently trying to figure out how I can make Nelson’s role bigger so his impact can be more meaningful.
- About the world building junk!! I made a map of the continent!

- -> There it is. Click here for close ups. And here for a detailed version of Occiden.
- -> As you can probably tell, Kiss Me Not and Sunrise Revolution take place in the same universe! Chronologically, KMX occurs about four years before SR, a year after Eosos fell.
- -> Now that I have a better idea of the geography and general sociopolitical information of each monarchy I feel like I can make the backgrounds of the characters less vague, which makes me happy.
- Cool! Will be there cameos?
- -> Heck yeah! I love interconnectivity!!!!
- -> It’s kind of stressful sometimes, though.
- Ok what else did you do?
- -> I updated the character profiles to include the world building junk!
- -> I also started another illustration for the game.
- Are you planning to do anything else?
- -> Maybe add in a few more bgs and sprites. I really want to include the rest of Marius and Selene’s family in the game, even for one scene. Also other characters because spoilers.
- When are you going to update regularly again?
- -> Around mid-May, because that’s when AP testing is done and I can r e s t.
- Where else can I find you?
- -> I update more regularly on my vn dev blog.
- -> I also update on my art blog but it includes non vn-related posts some times.
- -> I’m also on twitter but it also includes non vn-related junk. When I do tweet about vn-related posts though I go o f f. (It’s mainly world building or character building.)
- -> I started a youtube channel where I upload speedpaint videos.
- -> And I’m open for commissions so I can pay Chris for his work.

As always, thank you for the support and I look forward to updating regularly again!

[audrenes]

UPDATE 7/1/17

- AJ, it’s been five months.
- -> Yes, but I’ve graduated from high school and spent a few weeks recovering from how burnt out I was by the end of it. I am back now, though!!!
- -> This update will cover what I’ve done since February.
- Update Art
- Is also a new CG!
- Art
- -> I started a few pieces for KMX, but they’re just extras, so I’m not prioritizing on finishing them.
- -> I also realized that Selene and Antonio would have different hairstyles while in their guard uniforms, so I sketched them out.
- -> Started editing in the expressions. I just love Antonio so much?
- -> These two sprites may or may not appear concurrently in game…
- -> I ended up being really satisfied for how Selene looks in her guard uniform.
- -> Antonio has a new outfit! It was technically supposed to be this one instead, but I felt that the former suited him more.
- -> I ended up showing some previews, and one with an updated GUI.
- - -> The CG with the updated GUI will not be present for the game anymore.
- - -> The scene will still happen, but in a different location and context.
- -> I did make a new background, but it’s a minor spoiler so I’m choosing not to preview it.
- -> Because of new content I decided to add, I have to make a few more BGs and sprites.
- Story
- -> Cast list with surnames now available!
- -> Massive changes have been made for the second half of the story.
- -> I added new dialogue, most of which are major spoilers, so I can’t discuss them that much.
- -> They were included because I thought I could do more towards both Marius and Antonio’s development as a pair and as individuals.
- -> I also changed a vital piece in Antonio’s back story. Vaguely speaking, I decided that I could do more if I changed it and that ended up happening.
- -> With the changes I’ve made, I feel like their characters are more solid and there has been visible development in their identity. I’m very proud of them.
- -> There are also a couple lines of dialogue I want to add in toward the end, but other than that I’m pretty much done editing the story. I just have to make sure the code functions properly.
- Other
- -> After I’m done editing in the new content, I’ll be updating the outline.
- -> I plan to touch base with the musician I hired once I’m done.
- -> Also!!! It’s been a little over a year since I started this project! I really wanted it to be short term but I ended up adding more and more to it. Even though I’ve extended the scope of it, I feel like I’m headed toward a result that I’ll be proud in, especially since this is my first time making a visual novel and game.
- -> Actually, while I’m at it, I originally created this game for last year’s YaoiJam. It’s up again for July and August, so my goal is to finish the new art assets by the end of it.
- -> Although, I may end up not doing that since I have to move to the college I’m attending near the end of August… But I’m going to remain hopeful!
- Contact
- -> Twitter
- -> Tumblr
- -> Instagram
- Check out the blog for YaoiJam!

Thanks for your support!

[audrenes]

UPDATE 3/4 + 4/29/18

- AJ. IT'S BEEN NINE MONTHS.
- -> I KNOW, RIGHT?? Time sure does, fly doesn't it?
- -> UPDATE: I stepped away from this for a while and it has been a month since I've made this draft...
- IS THIS STILL EVEN ALIVE??
- -> YES.
- WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE THIS TIME?? SCHOOL AGAIN??
- -> Yeah, college is something, isn't it?
- BUT YOU'RE CLOSER TO FINISHING, RIGHT?
- -> ..............No......
- -> I was making edits to the first draft before I realized two things: 1) I basically slapped information together 2) I was still trying to play it off as "haha this is gonna be a short game" when it rocketed to around 75k words. SO, I figured: Alright. This isn't gonna be a short game anymore and I really wanna do it justice. Let me just start over, rework the characters and plot a little, and give it what it deserves.
- So you're rewriting it?
- -> More or less, yeah. I started it on February 23rd, and I'm currently 42777 words into it. So almost halfway through.
- -> UPDATE: I'm looking back on it and realized that I need to do way more planning and I might have to restart............ ugh....
- "ALMOST" halfway through???
- -> Yeah, it might be around 80k all together in the end.
- -> UPDATE: UGH.
- Great to know that you're probably going to graduate again before finishing this.
- -> Hahahaha. Please don't joke about that.
- -> Actually! I wanted to try something different with this. I do want to finish the script in its entirety first, but I'm considering releasing the game in parts. Kind of like an episodic game, but since I'm not as skilled in branching options and coding yet, it's still going to be kinetic. But I did want to bring some element of suspense between the "arcs".
- ->Also, I want validation. You don't think I don't want to release this game already after almost two years of development? I want my children to be loved and appreciated by people other than me, lol.
- -> UPDATE: MARIUS AND ANTONIO ARE GONNA GET THE LOVE STORY THAT THEY DESERVE AND IT MAY OR MAY NOT BE MY SENIOR THESIS SO I'M REALLY PUSHING FOR A 2020 RELEASE HERE Y'ALL.
- -> And it might have alternating POVs.
- But do you have anything to show us that's not just extra art?
- -> Unfortunately, no. I do have to update the character cards, though.
- -> UPDATE: There are new illustrations!!!!!! That I'll be posting on my vn dev tumblr!!
- -> And I post more updates on my art instagram (@https_aj) anyway. This is just for a full round up.

If you're still interested in this, thank you so much for your continued support even though I'm really slow with development. I'm a one-person team and this spun into a bigger story than I expected it to be. I've grown super attached to my characters and I want to give them a story that they deserve. I also have to focus on my school stuff which is admittedly easier than high school work but it doesn't change how busy I can be. I've managed to slip KMX into two of my finals this semester, and since I'm majoring a year earlier than expected, I might be able to do it for the following two years as well.

I was planning to work on KMX's script over the summer, but I have online classes to take, so it may be somewhat affected? My goal is to finish the script by the end of the summer at worst and by the beginning of July at best. From then, I'll be finishing/fixing the sprites to code in all of their expression changes. And then I'd have to finish/fix the backgrounds, make new small art pieces, and then make the cgs and then code those in. I also have to contact with Chris about the music, something I've been putting off until I felt really okay with the script. I'm hoping that he'll still want to work with me despite the massive delay, but I'll be okay if he doesn't because wow, I am so behind.

Again, thank you for your patience and support!

twitter & instagram: @https_aj // vn dev tumblr: ajmakesvns