#msabs

Do you absolutely love Riptide #114: Still Not Ferin Well? Do you wish someone would make a 90s-style choose-your-own-adventure horror visual novel about E114?

Most importantly, do you have:

A) Expertise in pixel art

B) Experience coding in Ren'Py

C) Skill at writing

D) Lots of free time

If yes to any of those, would you like to MAKE PREVIOUSLY STATED VIDEO GAME WITH ME?

I have been conceptualizing a JRWI video game called Moonlight, Storm, and Blackened Sea for a few months now. Unfortunately, with no motivation to make it beyond thinking "it would be a cool finished product," I have not made much progress. But if I have people working with me, my brain will kick into action because people will be depending on me!

I am a writer first and foremost. While I could theoretically make the entire game myself (as I have experience in writing, art, coding, and music), I would never actually finish the game for previously stated reasons. If I had an artist, coder(s), and perhaps even story consultants (although probably not necessary), MSABS might actually become a reality.

The MSABS project would make no profits, and it would be entirely created from volunteer work. I am a broke ass bitch. But if you don't care and simply want to create something amazing with me, then please, DM me!

So far, I have 2 branches plotted storywise out of - oh, I'm not sure, maybe 25? 30? I have drawn 9 sketches out of around 30 main backgrounds (excluding bg variations). I've recreated 6/9 music tracks from the official Riptide soundtracks into 8bit tunes. If people actually sign onto the project, I'll be moving forward as Creative Director, Head Writer, Storyboard Artist, and Music Producer. Still leaves a LOT of room on the project, especially on the coding side.

Hello everyone! Have you wanted to ask questions about MSABS but simply haven't gotten around to it? Are you interested in asking Destire about the progress we've made and how we're going about making MSABS? Well, we've got a special announcement to make!

On July 11th, from 6 PM to 8 PM (PST), Destire will be livestreaming on Twitch! What are we doing? Playing a very old game called Sid Meier's Pirates!, roleplaying as our beloved Riptide captain, Chip JRWI! Hang out and watch as we build a crew, raid ships, and blunder our way to glory! Ask questions about MSABS! We'll have quite a few of the team on call, so it should definitely be a fun ride!

(artist: @nautls11)

Hello, everybody! Hopefully, the heat (or cold!) of summer hasn't been getting too tough for you all to bear, and that you all enjoyed Pride Month thoroughly!

It's been pretty quiet in Destire, but there has been a bit of work done! As artists prepared for artfight and Pride was in full swing, those matters took priority. Perhaps over July some more work shall be accomplished, before the Fall school semester nears.

In art, we have a new background! What could this possibly be?

(artist: @astro2astro)

On the writing side, one of our new members, @dakota-crow, did a ton of transcription work, so we will be able to work faster now! We no longer have to jump around the #114 video trying to find a specific scene.

(artist: @nautls11)

Happy Pride Month everyone! It's rather perfect timing that just before Pride Month, Riptide has been announced to be returning in September, allegedly. Everyone is rightfully excited about the news! It is with cheer that this update also brings a bit more of a substantial update than usual!

From the art department, some more thumbnails have been developed! What rooms do they depict, and why are they black and white? You'll just have to wait on those answers until the demo is released!

(artist: @astro2astro)

Just a couple days ago, a few more pages were written for the script, with definitely more to come now that summertime has fully set in! Here are some snippets!

(writer: @ralexsol)

@pirate-captain-froggy has been hard at work continuing to implement the script into the game! Currently, there's about sixteen and a half minutes of playtime, including all deviating paths and choices. There's a lot more to go for the demo, so expect the demo's full runtime to be probably around a couple hours long! Here's a screenshot from the game.

That's it for the update! Lots of progress is being made, and hopefully this June, there will be even more of it! Our goal is to release the demo before Riptide returns, but we cannot guarantee that we will accomplish that much in only a few months, especially with our track record. Our team is quite small and busy, unfortunately.

If you would like to help us speed up the process, please join the Destire discord and help us out! We're always looking for artists, writers, coders, and now audio designers too! If you want to help create some simple menu GUI, help find sound effects to enhance the gameplay, or write some chunks of the script, those are jobs that especially need work put in!

(artist: @nautls11)

Hello everyone! At this point, you should all expect late updates, considering how often the monthly update post is forgotten about until after the fact. Lives are rather hectic right now as the end of the school semester rapidly approaches, along with summer break and the potential for a burst of productivity in Destire.

The art team has developed some thumbnails for a new section of the stronghold! Below, we have a colorized version of one of them.

(artist: @astro2astro)

The writing team has been planning out the aforementioned new section, which unfortunately is less show-able. It is in the works, though!

@pirate-captain-froggy has been tinkering with the game and has made even larger strides than during last month. Here's a screenshot! It really is beginning to come together.

We appreciate everyone who is still keeping up with us, even though our progress has been slow and updates are often late. In the times we do find the time and energy to contribute to the project, it's fun to discuss with the rest of our teams how we can make this game even better. If you'd like to join in and help us create a game for the JRWI community, please join the Destire discord! We'd love to have you!!

(artist: @nautls11)

Since I have the memory of a goldfish, the update post is once again late. Apologies, everyone - and happy holidays. Winter break is almost here, accompanied by the cold and joy of Christmas. Wishing everyone a happy holidays and undramatic visits with family!

Very soon, many of the MSABS team will have time to once again work on the game. The last few weeks of school must pass first, though. We shall see how much is completed over the next December! As for November, it remained mostly quiet, but we did have a new writer join the team, so we weren't entirely stagnant.

From the art team, we have another character design!

(artist: @nautls11)

And from our new writer, we have these excerpts!

(writer: @conivolos)

(artist: @nautls11)

The first month of 2025 has come and gone, and MSABS has been officially under development now for six months. What an incredible milestone - half a year has passed, and yet the people involved in this project are still as passionate as ever. Despite our setbacks and busy schedules, the MSABS team has tinkered away on this game bit by bit, and hopefully, a demo will be available at some point this year.

The MSABS dev team has also decided upon a real, official name: we are DESTIRE. It is a combination of desire and destiny; both important themes in JRWI: Riptide and two major driving forces behind our determination to finish MSABS.

As for our actual game development progress, let's first check out the art department. Some ideas for the "loading" screens have been drafted, a fun way to transition between character POVs.

(artist: @nautls11)

In the writing department, further exploration of one of the many doorways on the 1st floor of the stronghold has been written. Here's a few snippets:

(writer: @ralexsol)

As has become our unfortunate reality, many of Destire have already returned to school and are facing insane schedules that hardly allow time to contribute to MSABS. Our passion is still there, though; this game is on our minds often. If you or anyone you know has free time and experience in pixel art, writing, and/or coding in ren'py, please join the Destire Discord! The more volunteers we have, the faster this project will move along.