hellebore.

as it turns out, the new character pixel art style is still sized really well for the old maps! i was a bit worried that the sprites would be too big and i would have to redo all of the maps that i’ve created thus far, but they still fit pretty well! some maps will be altered or redone, of course. i feel like many of them need a fresh take. but a lot of work can be reused! how nice!

it’s 2021, and the hellebore game project has awoken from it’s long slumber.

first order of official business: redesigning the character sets. i was never fully satisfied with the original style. now i’m older and wiser, and it’s time for a rework. experimenting is fun! some styles definitely fit my vision better than others. i even threw the stardew valley style in the mix for fun, even though it’s something i personally would like to stray away from in this project. 

hellebore now has a new icon! will it change in the future? possibly. but for now, this is the game’s icon.

i’m currently working on implementing custom menus in the game. the graphics here are just placeholder graphics, and i plan to improve them greatly in the near future. i only wanted to get the coding, so to speak, down and out of the way. no custom scripts here, this is all event commands. a really complicated set of event commands.

“of course we’re not too old to go trick or treating! don’t worry about it!”

sleep well, miss hellebore. sleep well.

here’s a sneak peek at one of the scenes on floor 8.

i am f i n a l l y on summer break! i have been for almost a week now. over the course of the past week, i have been working on a lot of tilesets that needed to be made. it’s just been tilesets, tilesets, tilesets nonstop. all week. the above is one of my favorite ones, and it will be used during a scene on the seventh floor.

i don’t want to give too much away, but i’m utilizing my break to the fullest extent that i can, and i’m making a lot of progress! expect another update within the next few days or so.

thank you for your question!! c:

2. do you prefer working alone or with a team?

i would have to say that i prefer working alone. i tend to be a bit of a control freak when in teams, and my vision of the game up to this point has changed so wildly that it would probably annoy any other theoretical person working on it with me, so i’m not sure how great i would be in a team. with that being said, i think working in a team of people i get along with would be a fun experience, and i’d love to collaborate one day!

4. what other devs do you look up to?

ooh, there are so many!! i was following @mannytsusgames for a long time, and i really loved imaginary friends! i also really admire @noise-rpg, @ynclmdream, @lettyboxe, @land-sea-entropy, and @pyromantic-arts to name a few. those are just a few though, i could go on and on!

6. what do you find easiest?

nothing is easy. OTL this is my first game, and it’s my first time messing with, well, everything! i haven’t done much art before this, i haven’t written a whole lot, and i’ve definitely never messed with music and sound. it’s been an interesting and fun experience though! i can’t really say one thing is easy than another, but the thing that gives me the least trouble… i’d have to say making pixel art and tilesets.

7. what do you find hardest?

thank you very much for asking! c:

3. what are your biggest inspirations?

ooh, i have a lot of answers to this question. some big inspirations in particular for this game are professor layton, puella magi madoka magica, and (the obligatory rpg maker dev inspiration) yume nikki. puzzle games are my favorite games, and i love the darkness and beautiful atmospheres of madoka and yume nikki. i also have an “aesthetic” blog that is completely unrelated to the game, but i use it when i need some visual inspiration for my art. i have so many inspirations though. it would be impossible to list them all.

5. what encouraged you to get into game dev?

in general, i love being creative and making something out of nothing. game development was also something i’ve always been interested in, but for a very long time, it seemed very out of reach. i’ve always had a general idea of what game i wanted to make though. my favorite kinds of games are the ones with great stories with unexpected twists, and stories where your actions influence how the rest of the game plays out. that’s part of the reason i love rpg maker games. a lot of them have multiple endings depending on what route you take. i love telltale games and life is strange for the same reason.

in high school, i took a super basic game developing course. i aced that class, and it was a lot of fun, but the program that the school let me use while in the class stopped working when the class was over, and actually buying it was expensive. shortly after, i decided to take the plunge and buy rpg maker xp, and the rest was history!

i also wanted to make a game with lesbians.

9. do you have any kind of playlist or music you listen to while working?

i do! the music that i listen to while i’m working is very important to me. i actually have a few different playlists depending on what i’m doing and what mood i’m going for. here are a few, for example.

making pixel art

writing hellebore

great news! the writing for hellebore is now 100% complete!

it’s been a while since i have been able to update. college has been keeping me a little busier than i’d like. however, with the break coming up, i’ll be able to devote much more time to developing the game! the next release of the game will include several bug fixes, map improvements, a new icon, and additional levels. 

happy valentine’s day! how about some news to celebrate the day?

the final release date for the game is currently set to be november 15, 2016! but that seems like a long way away, doesn’t it? that’s why there will be two more demos released before the game is finished, each one building onto the last. the (tentative) release dates and versions are as follows:

march 15, 2016 - version 0.01

june 15, 2016 - version 0.02

november 15, 2016 -  version 1.00

i do! my personal tumblr is @oncethesleepcomes. i also run @shoujoai.