hello, 2025!

normally this is where i would draw a little chart for where all my projects are at... i'm not going to do that this year! instead, i added a section on my website with all that info. i want to redo the formatting to add an image and a cute little progress bar, but i just threw this one together for now...

anyway, biannual update time! i'll give you the important points up front:

• i managed to hit the december release date for lonely wolf treat chapter 8 part 2! (what a mouthful...) unfortunately i couldn't finish the whole thing, but the early release build is up (yay!) and the public release is coming january 12th (YAY!!!!)

• i mentioned wanting to get a syrup 2 build out, but i couldn't manage to do it. treat took priority, and i'm glad i delayed... i will get back to it when i can (maybe this spring? not sure yet)

• SAS is still on hiatus. my main blocker is just that i haven't felt like writing the new session yet (even though i like my idea for it!! wtf!!!) but once inspiration hits i'm sure it'll get done pretty quickly.

• another piece of candy volume 2 has also fallen way behind. i haven't been able to finish drawing the cover for it... but i'm still updating weekly on the site (with the help of many guest artists lately!) and i'm not giving up on printing it at some point this year!

i fell behind A LOT on the things i had planned to do last year, but it was because i had a ton of huge life things going on in the background (my big japan trip and my dad's sudden passing, among other things). the important thing is that i'm happy and doing pretty well, other than just being stressed at the moment with how much work i'm trying to get done. after this month i think i'll get to relax more, so i'm looking forward to that!

i took a big nap today so now i can just settle in and write this post... and probably sleep after that. ramping up to do the last push on treat stuff while juggling other things... anyway, that's not my problem tonight!!! tonight i recap how 2024 went!!!!!!

my 2024 review: hectic, but good

january 2024 i was coming off the heels of the first LWT chapter 8 update... i designed trick's new look and did a lot of tiles and sprites for part 2 (agaricus!). i also released starry flowers: tempered desire (18+)!!! on one hand i can't believe it's been a year since then, on the other i'm shocked it's already been a year. i had planned to finish it in november 2023 i think...? and didn't expect to get back to it so soon, but sometimes inspiration strikes and there's nothing you can really do about it.

in february, i got back to LWT, but pivoted to working on the alternate ending to chapter 6. i set up more of agaricus, too! for valentines day we launched the maiden and overlord plush campaigns which were a huge success, and i started coding a fun bonus gallery for sex advice succubus. i also started making session 3, but couldn't get myself to write it. i think i was putting too much pressure on myself to finish all the things in a limited time (knowing my big japan trip was coming up in may) but i expect to have some time this year where i knock out the update. i miss working on SAS after all :)

in MARCH... i got into web dev!!!!!! i spent a lot of time learning HTML/CSS to put my website together... i think the catalyst for me doing that was the first time cohost staff mentioned the site's tenuous future. i knew if it went down, i wouldn't have a good place to post news/updates anymore, so i needed my own space for it. my site has been... omg... well it's hard to say it's my favorite thing i've worked on this year considering all the treat content i released, but i've really consistently had a great time with it and i'm happy i got into neocities! it's at least my new favorite hobby hehe.

in april i finished the next WIP build for trick comes home! it had the first half of both chapter 8 part 2 AND the aforementioned alternate ending... it was really exciting to get to make that stuff, and i wish i could've done more on the alternate end storylines for the current update, but i'll get back to it soon enough. also in april was ludum dare!!! i made Butler! Summon the Imps! with my friends, and had a great time doing it.

on may 14th i left for my vacation to japan, but before that i made a LWT character sorter since i realized i could host it on my website! i love things like character sorters, so i'm happy i could make an official one for my own series (though it's borrowing someone else's code, i don't know javascript lol)

i was traveling around tokyo and osaka with my partner until july 1st, and it was a really great experience. i got to hang out with npckc and meet a lot of other game developers at various events! i was happy with how much i was able to read and communicate compared to my first trip there (in like 2015), and i really miss being in japan. it was stressful, but wonderful, and i'll cherish the memories i made there! i won't get another chance to go for a while, but i look forward to visiting again someday.

once i got back, i worked on a lot of new features for syrup 2! i was supposed to be finishing the rest of treat, but i only felt like doing syrup 2 things... i also partnered with turtle pals tapes to make a physical edition of BAD END THEATER (including its soundtrack!) i love CDs, so i'm glad i got to make it. putting the booklet together was fun.

this is the part where i can finally reveal some news i've been sitting on for the past 6 months or so... a certain game studio approached me because they were looking for a creative director. i won't say who it is just yet, but we'll be announcing our first release this month. it's the big reason i've been EXTRA BUSY, because behind the scenes i've been working on projects i wasn't allowed to talk about yet... i was in meetings with them during july/august since i pitched an old game idea to them and they loved it! it's the kind of opportunity i couldn't turn down, even though i knew it would delay my personal projects... but considering i used to think i'd be a solo dev forever, it's been really uplifting to get to work with a team again. i'm really happy!!!!! SO busy, but really happy!!!!!!!!!!!

anyway, september! that's when moxdonald's happened!!! and then cohost announced it was shutting down!!!!! what a fuckin whirlwind!!!!!!!!! when i wasn't working on secret projects i was setting up a new ask page for my site... which i still haven't gotten to open yet, and i haven't completed carrying over the archive, but... once the treat update is public i'll finally get to!

by november i got back into working on treat stuff so i could be sure i'd be able to release the update before the end of the year. and that's basically it... just blasting on two projects at once, which will continue until january.... eek! but i love what i'm making, and i'm pretty sure i'll be able to balance things a little better next year. it'll be nice to get to release a lot of good stuff more often anyway!

oh the last thing i wanted to say about 2024 was... i managed to keep updating another piece of candy all year! part of this was thanks to all the fans who submitted guest comics for me to post! i'm worried about being able to keep up with it again during 2025, but i'll do my best! thanks to everyone who comments, it makes me excited to post an update every week <3

finally, 2025 plans

here we are! 2025!! the reason i'm not making my usually project chart is because i truly do not know what my schedule is going to look like. there are a few things i DO know though, so here they are:

we are announcing a new visual novel in mid january. that's just a couple weeks from now! i say "we" because this is one of the games i've been making with that studio i mentioned. i will post here when the steam page is up. the planned release date for this one is the end of the month!

there's another game coming POSSIBLY in august, but we've had to move it around a lot to try to hit a good release timing... it's a really big one, so there's a possibility it could get delayed, too. can't say too much about it yet, but i'm excited for when we can finally announce it, because this is the pitch that got me the job haha

i will be continuing to work on treat and syrup 2 in my spare time, so you can expect updates on those every now and then (as usual). SAS too, since i miss working on it. i will probably get to do the print run of APoC volume 2 finally, but i have no idea when. i'll keep you guys posted on all of that stuff...!

the last thing i have to say is... my patreon is going to continue to be a lot less active than before because of this cool creative director work i'm doing. i'm still working on games as much as before, but the secret projects have to remain a secret since... announcing them is up to the studio, not me. BUT... they're basically going to all be big budget nomnomnami games. which is why i decided to go in this direction... since it hopefully means i will have more cool stuff to put out into the world, and i won't have to do it all on my own! it feels great!!!

anyway, i wanted to let you guys know it's 1000% okay if the lack of updates/transparency makes you want to unsubscribe--i wanna stress that i'm doing really well now and i don't want anyone to feel like they're wasting their money! i'll be continuing to post news/updates/art on my website, so i think it'll be a lot easier to follow along for free than it was when i was totally off social media lol.

i think that's all i wanted to say tonight... oops this post is so long! but i'm really REALLY looking forward to making lots of things this year, and i hope you guys enjoy all of them!

thanks for reading, and happy new year to all!!! <3