v0.13 Progress Report 2/18/25

Hello everyone!

Apologies for the delay in posting; I was very exhausted, and I'll explain why at the end, but for now!

Coding

Has not moved. Our new programmer has six episodes to read and sort. They are finding many areas for improvement! Not a lot of new work has been done due to our other programmer being sick and going through other personal stuff. I don't air their problems, but they are incredibly valid, and we wish him the best.

Animation

Another animation for v0.13 is finished! With just one more, all the animations are done. Our other animator is working on a few scenes for the redo.

Sprites

As you may have seen, Kokman has finished the sprite for Tori! Our cute little tutorial boy. I should clarify that they will not be a character in the traditional sense. They won't have a story or anything like that. They show up, look cute, and tell you how to click on doors. Lewdable? If we find ourselves with some spare time, we will. But as you can imagine, the other seven main love interests take priority.

In addition, Kokman has finished drawing 2 of the 6 Customers!

Misc. Assets

Three more coffee assets have been drawn, so we now have 20 out of the 34 assets needed. Kokman drew a misc asset for Ep 6 and a new background showing Cafe Estros from the counter so we can use it in the coffee game! And last but not least, Torch finished drawing Tay! He looks gorgeous, omg. Next, she will be drawing Kayra, and that is it, unfortunately. Time at the club, impact at the club.

Writing

There is no new writing for the game for the same reasons as last time. I am waiting for us to finish getting the latest content playable so I can see where the holes are.

I've mainly been writing a novella for myself, and I've written about 12k words in the last week. It's been good to flex my creative muscles on another project, which means I'll be refreshed when I return to HL. However, it's also been hard to focus on Hazelnut with everything going on. This leads me to...

Personal Stuff

I'm done discussing game development, so I won't blame you if you want to dip.

The last month has been utterly stressful for me. You might have heard that Donald Trump became the US President. Which, for a bi guy married to a trans guy who is also an immigrant, and as someone who just cares about people, it has been an awful month!

I don't want to go on a diatribe about every horrible thing convict Trump has done because I'd be writing all night. Not to mention Elon and his DOGE. There are plenty of news sources out there that can give you details. I (not sponsored) love Ground News, which shows news stories and how every publication covers them and their biases.

If Trump had his way, Robbie and Vera wouldn't exist, and Maki and Kayra would be deported. To simplify it in our terms.

So I've been mad and scared. It's hard to write the romance I do when I'm afraid ICE is going to deport my husband and the government is taking away gender-affirming care. This is why I've been writing depressing, gory horror stories, not this cute game.

This past month, I've attended protests to make my voice heard and be the change I want to see. I urge everyone else in the US to do the same or call their senators. This presidency and Project 2025 want to make my job, this game, and your playing it illegal. Their whole campaign is about stripping rights away from you. We need to stop this, and the first 100 days are crucial.

I am trying to focus on the game since it is my job and what you all pay for. But we also need to stop this criminal from ruining our lives. You might not think this will affect you, or it will go away on its own. You're wrong. We need to fight for our rights.

In Conclusion

Thank you all so much for your support. It means everything to me.

Stay Rad Out There!