☆ Eike's ☆ Cool ☆ ☆"Web Log"☆

this took me 3 months <3

coming to an emblemcon near you........ next weekend!!!! (May 7-10) I will be posting here & on other socials about it. which one do you think came out the best??

Wowee. It's been a while since I updated this devlog! I'm just writing to let you know that the Steam store page for Acts III and IV of WW1-themed otome VN Because We're Here is now live! Wishlists are appreciated. You can find it here!

I wrote a general state-of-the-union blog post on Steam a little while ago, which also covered how Acts III and IV are being combined into one release - here's the relevant section:

I also want to say that I've decided to combine Acts III and IV into one release - primarily because they felt like very much a two-parter, and I didn't want to risk another long pause between them! But also, Act II was always going to be the longest act, so if people had been expecting something that rivalled or exceeded Act II in length then they may have been disappointed when a solo Act III came out. So 'Act III and Act IV' is going to be a single game, of comparable length to Act II! The story's still four acts - just now told via three releases.

And some cool news is that it's going to be a 2026 release!

(It'll be for sale on Itch too, as per, but the gamepage for that one won't be live until the game's out.)

In other news, Because We're Here Acts I and II are each 40% off for the next few days, as part of the Steam Otome Games Celebration organised by Crystal Game Works.

I hope you're all doing well. I'll be back onto this devlog with much more regularity in the coming months. ^^

In the meantime, did you know BWH has a mailing list? I'm about to send out the very first newsletter, ha. That's a pretty good way to have all major developments appear spontaneously and conveniently in your inbox, if you're worried about missing stuff on social media~

🚀 WHEREVER THE STARS CALL 🚀

Sometimes, a family can be two runaways, a vampire space captain without his ship, a pilot with common sense, a cybernetic cat, and a severed head that might be alive.

Join Laurel and Juniper in their misadventures across the Solar System as they try to find a place for themselves. There's heists, vampires, grave robbing, danger, bounty hunters, and adventure!

OUT NOW!!

You can get it through itchio or at retailers!!

All of my games take place in the same world but different time periods. This doesn't mean that I always knew exactly where everything was on the map, however. :'D

On the left is the very first map I ever drew of Mien, as it was featured in Meryl & August (2013). Years later in 2018 I included the map on the right in my game NB107A. This map on the right is the more formalized version, even though it only shows the southern part of Mien as it relates to Espington to it's south.

I still haven't made a game that features a full Mienese map, but I'm sure it'll happen eventually.

The north of Mien is where Elvine took place and is basically... mountains. Lots and lots of mountains.

With the recent twitter storm brewing, I've tentatively decided to pick this blog back up!

Over the past few years, I've been hard at work on Of Sense and Soul, my Queer Victorian Romance visual novel! (@ofsenseandsoul)

If you're interested in seeing more of it, I'll be experimenting with using this blog as a place to talk about dev things and nerd out a bit over it all!

Feel free to stick around if you'd like 💖

Here's some of what you've missed if you haven't been keeping up with me over on Twitter:

Saint Stanislaus Cemetary, Boswell, PA Photos by: Kristy Lawson

Our Life Beginnings & Always has launched!

Everyone, we’ve finally made it. Our Life is OUT! You can play the entire game for free from start to finish right now. Plus, you can enter to win fun prizes by sharing your custom protagonist with us. Read the details by clicking HERE.

Steam Page (Windows and Linux)

Itch.io Page (Windows, Linux, Mac, and Android)

Design your own character and grow from childhood to adulthood with the lonely boy next door. Create an experience that’s all your own in this near-fully customizable, choice-heavy story.

Reblogs are very appreciated and you can tag posts #ourlife to share your experience! Then, if you want, come chat with us in our Discord community: GB Patch Discord

Our Life: Beginnings & Always is a feel-good simulation, as well as a “feel-better” one, where painful emotions such as sadness, anger, stress, and worry can all be expressed, then met with reassurance, understanding, and support.

It’s a wholesome experience that faces large steppingstones of life, while having a focus on familiar everyday moments. With notable amounts of customization for even tiny details, you can enjoy pleasures as simple as having a preferred type of drink and a neighbor who cares enough to remember what it is.

Features:

3 different periods of life to experience: childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood

Name, appearance, personality, and pronoun (he, she, or they) customization for your character

Change your character’s details however you like as you grow, including transitioning to new pronouns

Shape your personality, feelings, and preferences, then see them reflected in the story as characters remember who you are

1 love interest, Cove Holden, whose personality, interests, and appearance will develop in a custom way over the years based on his experiences with you

Decide for yourself how quickly or slowly the relationship with Cove develops by setting a unique dynamic; from love at first sight to last minute confessions to always being friends and more

A welcoming, sentimental story that can easily be enjoyed over and over using new main character qualities or different connection types with Cove

320,000 words, 15-20 hours of content in total

Story:

Jamie Last (changeable name) has spent the last couple weeks on a summertime high. At eight-years-old, nothing is better than what feels like endless days of school-less adventures, especially when you live walking distance from the beach. While coming home under a scorching sunset one fine evening, Jamie is approached by a stranger. The man is looking for a kid who can do him a favor, and he’s even offering to pay for it. He wants Jamie to please be friends with his only child. The person is Mr. Holden, Jamie’s new neighbor, as well as the father of the odd, and oddly named boy, Cove. Whether Jamie wants to play along or not, Cove isn’t going anywhere. He’s present in Jamie’s life for far longer than they ever would’ve guessed.

And then the long days of vacation finally come to an end. Summer may not be able to last forever, but Jamie can take comfort in knowing it will come back again someday…

▴ ▾ ▴ ▾ ▴ ▾ ▴ ▾ ▴ ▾ ▴ ▾ ▴ ▾ ▴ ▾ ▴ ▾ ▴ ▾ ▴ ▾ ▴ ▾▴ ▾ ▴

“When I get back to the countryside, I’m gonna boast to all my family and friends that I fought under you.”

Nephenee: Relentless Halberdier

Nephenee from Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn was the other part of my latest crochet commission. I’ve also made her younger self, Path of Radiance Nephenee!

The second act of WW1-era otome visual novel Because We’re Here is out now!

Click here to [BUY IT ON ITCH.IO] or click here to [BUY IT ON STEAM]!

(Itch purchases come with Steam keys, and the site is much more small-developer-friendly, so please consider buying it there!)

Because We’re Here ~Act II~ follows Elfriede through the next few months of the First Lassallian War, and a large amount of the story takes place in the trenches this time around. Against the backdrop of an upcoming spring offensive, she meets several new characters (many of whom are from ‘enemy’ nations) and struggles with the emotional fallout of Act I’s events.

I hope you enjoy it. A lot of love and care and dedication and anxiety has gone into Act II! It’s full of twists and turns, and it’s the longest act by far at 220k words~

SORRY FOR THE VERY PERSONAL COMIC!!

This is my half of “Unhealthy”, an essay comic double header with the lovely and talented Sarah Winifred Searle. She and I both wrote about our personal experiences as overweight ladies with eating disorders, and her story is breathtaking! You can buy a physical copy of the book here: https://topatoco.com/collections/abby-howard/products/ah-unhealthy