Development Blog - June 13th, 2020 (Patreon)

Hello y'all! Here's another little dev blog about the progress of Temptation's Ballad so far:

Instead of being separated into days like in Repeat, Temptation's Ballad will be separated into long chapters, each containing a pivotal story arc. The first few updates will likely be rather short as I work hard to create enough assets, sprites, and backgrounds to fill this new visual novel's library, but after a rough start, development should speed up significantly. 

The first update will be dedicated to introducing our 3 main characters and their unique backgrounds, as well as doing a little world-building on the side. Temptation's Ballad will also contain a massive cast of side characters, including the main characters' parents and important individuals in the city of Axia. This means a lot more sprite-work for me to work on, but I feel like it's worth it ;w;/

Anyway, the following is a compilation of all the sprites I've completed so far. There's about 23 so far. I've still got 3 more characters to work on for this first update ;w;

For Temptation's Ballad, I will also be creating some simple animations for some characters to add to their expressiveness. My main goal for TB is to shift focus from illustrated scenes to reusable sprites so that I can continue writing and publishing updates without waiting weeks for artwork to finish.

As for the backgrounds, gone are the days where I slap some photoshop filters over photo and use it as a background for scenes. I'm currently 3D modeling each of the backgrounds for Temptation's Ballad. The 3D modeling lets me pump out backgrounds quickly while still allowing me to be expressive and creative with how locations are presented. Here are some examples below of the Bonebreaker's Mercenary Guild:

Some of you might have already noticed but there's gonna be a lot more world-building in Temptation's Ballad compared to Repeat. I'm aiming to create a rich, lore-filled world that feels truely lived in and with many moving parts. Here's a little city map of where the story will take place:

Aaaaaand that's all for now. I'm kinda dying a little with how much work there is to do, but I'm really excited to show everyone what I've got planned. As always, thank you all for your continued support! ;;w;;/