#tuffmallow

We are getting sickeningly close! Time to ask away and find out more about this romance inclusive visual novel I call The Closet Door. I’m going through the routes and coding everything in- keep me motivated and send me all the questions about the world of Myst, Faun, Levi, Octavius and Arun! And anything else you wanna know about it and Tuff Mallow!

Fanart of Faun from The Closet Door by @tuffmallowinteractive

Faun is such a lovely and feisty MC!

Changes!

Tuff Mallow is under maintenance. 

We are going through change. Change is good! Change is necessary! Change can be for the better and that’s the goal this little studio is aiming for. 

A lot has happened over the course of the last three years. As a person, I’ve learned some great, difficult and much needed lessons. As a developer, I learned a lot about just how involved game development really is. I learned to respect my craft and those in the industry around me- the indie otome community is a beautiful one and I’m glad to be a part of it. 

But that is exactly where change has become necessary. Tuff Mallow has been in need of structure for quite some time. From updates to development schedules, to a cohesive theme, I realized Tuff Mallow needed a makeover. So here we go!

Tuffmallow.com has been built. I intend to make the website available when I release The Closet Door later this month. Yes! You read correctly! I’ve been pacing myself with coding all the assets in and rechecking everything as I go along. But the game should be ready to go into beta shortly. I don’t want to give an exact date, as I have made that mistake hundreds of times now. But I can say that we are very close and I will be updating more often. I might surprise some people!

Social media platforms have been updated- Twitter and Tumblr, as well as Instagram for Tuff Mallow have new designs and will have update/posting schedules posted on their respective sites by Friday, March 3rd. TikTok, Patreon, Ko-fi and Twitch will be redesigned and will have their schedules regulated by Monday, March 13th. 

But what about the actual game design???

Well, that’s the fun part! There’s quite a few games in the lineup! At some point I let all the ideas (and my desire to join a game jam) contribute to Tuff Mallow’s disorganization and the delay in development for The Closet Door. Now, with better practices in place, the Closet Door development has taken front and center, and there will be four related smaller games released this year, including a couple of Amare games as well! 

The information for those games will be available on the Tuff Mallow website when it goes live, so stay tuned! 

A lot has changed. A lot more will change by the end of March. I am excited to show you the new Tuff Mallow Interactive. And this is the month to do it. It’s hard work, and you guys deserve it! You know what they say: In like a marsh and out like a mallow! We’ve got this. Stay Tuff. 

Question for the LIs + Faun: usually we ask what’s the favorite food but I wanna know what’s everyone’s *least* favorite. I’m talking their “don’t even suggest I eat that” food!

First of all, I think the answer can be summed up in a drink rather than a food. Marshmallow root tea is a favorite of Willow's to make. The root has a lot of healing properties on it's own- add forest sprite magic to the mix and the root becomes a wonderherb! Willow makes this tea very strong however, and it can be both too bitter and too sweet, making the flavor a difficult one to get down. And she makes it all the time... (lets just say nobody is jumping up to have a second cup)

Levi is NOT into veggies. Though they are Octavius' favorite go to, Levi could go without the plant based diet. He'd be happy to live solely on fish and shellfish, but ya know- a certain young lady gets under his skin about trying new foods...

You won't find Arun rushing to eat sour foods. He prefers foods that are savory or sweet and that goes double for drinks, which is why he enjoys a goblet of Sunbear honey. But even though Arun can eat the spiciest of foods, sour is a sure way to shut down his palette.

Ocatavius' is a bundle of confusion to explain. I'll just leave it at he's not a cannibal.

Faun is NOT into instant food. Of any kind. She went as far as hiring a chef, even when she didn't have time to sit down to a meal after work and in between flying out for meetings. Why you ask? Because Faun had her fair share of instant noodles, rice, potatoes, mac n cheese, etc etc etc, growing up. And she promised herself never again when she grew up and got to place she never had to.

And the art of facing the consequences of my scope creep

One of the things I think will be the death of me is my own creative mind.

When The Closet Door first started out, it really was only meant to be a 4 chapter free to play mini visual novel. I hoped to submit it to a game jam. When I realized I would probably miss the deadline, I decided to build on the story a little more.

Fast forward a year and a half later as I grind in between busy work schedules, postponing not one, but two commercial games in the wings, one of which, if it were a person, I'm sure it would pack its bags and leave. I'm hyper focused on finishing this game as a top priority- obsessively so. But I'm realising now that all the world building and incomplete assets have to be dealt with. And let me tell ya, it's a learning experience!

(CG snippets!)

I feel like I went crazy with CGs, but to be honest, I dont feel like there are enough. I had to stop though, because with me trying to finish the writing... (The writing would never get completed.) Just coloring in all these CGs, (several by the way have variations or are completely alternate depending on how the chapter branches) has proven to be a project all it's own! I refuse to even go there on expressions for sprites...

Being new to making visual novels, this will probably be the biggest lesson I learned.

Scope creep needs to be tamed!

BUT, does it mean I regret almost 40 CGs? Or the many many mini CGs I drew? Or 18+ sprites? Or outfit changes, overly plotted lore, way more chapters than my once humble four?

FOR THIS ONCE SIDE PROJECT?

Not at all.

If anything, I've learned not to try to squeeze into little deadlines that my big girl plans can't fit.

I'm sooo not a professional when it comes to game making. I'm just human. I write and draw and even plan like one. I'm always hoping this comes through in my work. And that if I just keeping dumping love into my work, that when I share it, that love will come pouring out UwU.

BUT WRITING THOUGH...

Sigh...

Honestly, and don't tell anyone...

I'm beginning to like how the writing is coming along.

I know! Shhhhh! Before somebody hears you!

I've completed Arun's route and edited it enough where I've begun pluggling it in Ren'py, and I feel good about it!

Octavius' route is in the editing phase, and then my boy Levi is all that's left holding us back! 👀💦

Also, all the endings are already written- so no worries there! In the end, I just have to finish all the things- the visual assets are all created, they just need coloring, and the writting just needs polish and editing. I guess I could say we're 80% there?

Just a little further! I can smell the finish line coffee!

I am catching up on all the things!~

This week has been a wake up call to get my act in gear! I hate being behind schedule, so I’m ramping up working on the demo update for TCD. My good friend Scope Creep has been helping by supervising my work the entire time, so it’s definitely been a trip! I’m not gonna lie- the guy’s got some great suggestions! But he’s lazy and leaves the execution to me 100% of the time. DX

Scope Creep gives his stamp of approval.  

I also have been dabbling with a new and more polished logo design for TCD! Right now I’m in Inkscape, a free to use opensource vector program making the initial design into a non-pixelated mess and into a beautiful logo that matches the feel of The Closet Door and it’s overall design theme. 

I feel that the finished product will be an improvement to do justice to Faun and the gang!

Another thing I’ve been working on (in secret!) has been the trailer. I know some of you OG fans remember when there was one! I took it down because I felt like I could improve it... then I never did... 

So I am in the process of remaking it. I am hoping to release it with the demo update- so fingers crossed!

So hard to chose which images to scrap! But going a new route with trailer design means making the hard choices...

And now let’s talk Patreon. (Or let’s not because I am a shy mallow and didn’t even want to tell my friends because I die of blush!)

I’ve made the initial three tiers and the adjacent special Discord channel! It’s an exciting time, and a lot of content I and developmental art and assets will be featured there. I’ll be featuring exclusive polls and concepts as well as early announcements on all my projects. I’ve got some stuff already posted! If you get a chance to stop by out of curiosity or are in the feels to support a Mallow developing games with a current focus on gal protagonists, check me out! Tuff Mallow Patreon

Soft Mallow is for the supporter that is looking for basic updates and perks and learning more about Tuff Mallow projects as well as the Patreon channel Discord

Chewy Mallow is for the supporter who is interested in keeping up with all the dev happenings and early announcements- like MTV news, you hear it first~

Tuff Mallow: for the asset and concept art connoisseur who likes to see all the goodies I am too shy to post elsewhere!

Okay. I have died sharing that! True story. (hides under covers until post goes away)

Anyway. I’m still plugging away at the things! August is only weeks away, so I want to get as much done as possible in July. (Because I’ve got even more goodies planned for August and I cannot wait to show them to you- can you say Sunset Sunrise takes center stage???) So remember I love you guys- and you keep me going. I’m happy to be here and this is getting to be quite an adventure!