angelademille

Early Access Release 0.1505 - New Sprite Art and Incremental Story Updates

Whee, hello cheesecakes! It's time for our second update of the month~

The new sprite art I've been showing off is now fully implemented in the game and looking good! Nozomi's sprite now has some much needed visual variety and looks like she's talking to other people besides Kyou, and of course we have Risa joining the cast proper. Her sprite turned out amazing and I'll definitely have to think about how I could make more use of it.

Coding Nozomi's new pose into the game took some...

Art Update - Risa Sprite Art

I didn't expect it to come in this early, but the sketches for my second sprite art commission came in so I wanted to show it off and talk about the character a tad.

So yeah, this is Risa. Formerly Kasumi, but I made the decision to change it because having her name share a first letter with the game's protagonist was gonna get confusing in code. She features prominently on Hiroko's route as her friend and tennis playing partner, and has a typically easy-going personality with a big mis...

Penlight - Flowchart Game Guide

ATTENTION: This page is no longer updated. The latest guides are now attached to the Penlight release articles themselves

Howdy, folks! 

People here and there have been asking about getting some kind of guide to the routes available in the game, and after a few aborted attempts I've finally been able to put together a flowchart~ 

It's a bit messy-looking, but hopefully it does a good enough job of illustrating the story progression and key moments ...

Public Release 0.1503.1 - Sleeper Agent Path, CGs and More!

Hey, gang! This month's public release includes a ton of bits and bobs added to the game since last time, with the highlights being new CGs (all three girls have one now) and one all-new path, via the villainous side of things where Kyou adopts a more pragmatic form of villainy. I have mixed feelings about it, but see what you think~

There's also been a ton of revisions to the existing script as I try to make sure the older written story paths read more coherently amongst the newer stuf...

Art Update - New Nozomi Sprite Art

What's this? A shortcake post? Who even knew that this tier existed?

Anyway, I thought I'd show you folks what Penlight's art budget is going on this month, and what's going to appear in the next early access release. Nozomi's been neglected a little bit over the last couple months as I turned the focus on her friends and ended up giving them pretty much equal standing in the story. Also, I really liked the three-quarter view that the other girls are drawn in and the flexibility it allo...

Early Access Release 0.1504 - (Very) Partial Nozomi Reversal Path

Hey, cheesecake gang! I'm back again with the latest update of Penlight that's absolutely gonna...

Er, mildly disappoint you? I dunno, things haven't gone much to plan this dev period. First there was the additional update I did for last time that I felt was essential. That took about half a week out of the time I'd have used for this update. Then I suffered a few personal setbacks that took me out of development for about another week, and then good old writer's block took care of the ...

Early Access Release 0.1503.1 - Sleeper Agent Path v2 And Sprite Upgrade

It took all night and I feel like Sayori probably does right now, but the updated version of last Saturday's early access release is here ^.^ 

So what's changed? Well, like I mentioned, I had a go at improving the writing of the new sleeper agent path to address what I think was a pretty poor effort in the final scenes. Those scenes have undergone some little changes and most of the final text of the epilogue was rewritten. Also, I added a second ending~ There's more I'd like to im...

Early Access Release 0.1503 - Sayori CG and Sleeper Agent Path

Hello again, cheesecakes!

So, for this month's second early access release I've been working hard on getting one of the more requested paths I teased into the game; the one in the villainous route where Kyou attempts a pragmatic path of villainy. Instead of making wholesale changes to his victims, he instead chooses to subtly influence them as a means of achieving his goals so his targets won't suspect a thing... at least, not until it's too late!

Not going to lie, I've struggled ...

New Public Release 0.1501 - The Best Friends Update!

New public release day is upon us again. Yaaaay \o/

Been really excited about showing this one off to folks as it's another BIG expansion, increasing the game's total written content by about a third from last month and pushing Penlight's word count above 100,000 for the first time. It's even bigger than the villainous update I was crowing about the other month, and that was pretty big!

And in contrast to the villainous update, this one's a lot more wholesome, with both of Nozomi'...

Early Access Release 0.1502 - New CG and Story Revisions

Hi, cheesecakes!

So last time I mentioned that the next update would be more sedate as I recovered from the stress of crafting two 15,000+ word stories in the same month. Although I haven't been able to keep myself from working on this thing every day, I've spent most of my time here tweaking and editing the existing script instead of making all-new stuff, which is way more taxing on my brainparts.

... But if I'm taking a relaxed approach with no clear target why did I wait a day ...

Early Access Release 0.1501 - Hiroko Consent Route and Art Upgrade!

Hi, cheesecakes! It's another special day ^.^

Now, I have to say I wasn't initially planning on giving Hiroko her focus route right after doing Sayori's, but after trying out a few other ideas I realized I just really wanted to do it. And seeing Hiroko's sprite upgrade come in really solidified that decision for me. I mean, look at her! She's perfect! Don't you want to immediately write a story about her?

... Unfortunately I was pretty overambitious with this update. I needed thre...

New Public Release 0.1304 - More Story Additions and First CG!

Hey everyone! It's time for another public release ^^

So, this month is where the art upgrades teased last time begin in earnest, with more developed spritework and the first CG! There is still an option to revert to the old sprite art, though, if you find the clashing styles too distracting.

On the writing front there are two new story additions to the existing routes, one each for the consenting and villainous routes. Not as substantial as last month, but definitely worth checki...

Early Access Release 0.1401 - Sayori Consent Route!

What up, cheesecakes?

With an extra week between releases I decided to take on a full route for this update, and have written a complete path for Sayori! Not only that, I also splurged on upgrading her sprite, making her probably the most expressive sprite in the game now! 

I am, as ever, interested in what people think about this route. Having Nozomi's friends star in their own focused stories wasn't in my original thinking when I started writing Penlight, but I've been inte...

Early Access Release 0.1304 - New Sayori Sprite & Robot Path

Hi, cheesecakes! This latest early access release turned out to be a bit more substantial than I thought it would be, which is good for you lot I guess? Yay!

Penlight's art upgrades continue apace as Nozomi's made-over sprite gets some new outfits to make sure she no longer looks weird when you're being told she's dressed in anything besides a school uniform. Not only that, but say hello to Sayori's redesign! Most important to me here was making her look match her characterization of be...

New Public Release 0.1302.2 - The Villainous Update

Hey, everyone! 

I'm excited about this month's release because it's my most productive yet. This update adds an entire new route through the story with one consequential choice and is comparable to the existing two routes in length. 

Not only that, but I even threw in a preview of Nozomi's new-look sprite as well! Just start a new game and select to use the new sprites from the start to see it, although she'll look out of place in some scenes due to not having all her ou...

Early Access Release 0.1303 - First CG!

Hello, cheesecakes! It's that time already, huh? ^.^

While this first update of the month falls a little short on new writing compared to last month's villainy-focused word-feast (the heatwaves here are really kicking my ass), the art upgrades continue as the first CG I commissioned has arrived and has been coded into the game! It depicts the earliest hypno scene encountered and will hopefully be the first CG of many~

The new writing focuses on an alternate path on the consensual ...

Early Access Bonus Round (New Sprite Test) - 1.1302.1

So, when I mentioned yesterday that I hoped we'd start seeing commissioned art appearing? That time has already come!

A couple weeks ago I put word out that I was looking for an artist to revamp the 10-year-old DLSite sprites I've been using, with a view to then getting some CGs done. An initial version of Nozomi's sprite was submitted today and I've gone ahead and put her in the game to see how she looks. And hey, I thought you'd be interested as well ^^

If you get the new releas...

Early Access Release 0.1302 - Do The Robot!

Hello, cheesecakes!

This fortnight I've been working hard to add another path to the villainous route and, rightly or wrongly, I attempted to write a robotization path which ended up being a lot more of a challenge than I thought it'd be. As a result I've had to rush parts of it, the whole second half in particular, in order to meet my self-imposed deadline and get a playable path written in time for this release. So, if you notice a drop in quality that's probably the reason ^^; Still,...

New Public Release 0.1215

Hello, everyone! It's new public release day \o/

This month's release adds some (admittedly generic) background music for the first time and adds a little more content to both main routes. I've also attempted to make Kyou's thoughts and actions more believable and consistent throughout, and added a little extra backstory to hopefully provide some context and explanation for why he ever thought his stupid penlight stunt had a chance of working in the first place.

Anyway, I hope you...

Villainous Route Quickfix

Hello! Turns out there was a massive bug in yesterday's mega update that broke the non-consensual path ending ;_;

If you downloaded the new release yesterday, please download it again from the updated links; It should be fixed now. Basically what happened is a line got gobbled up in code that meant the non-consent path crossed over to the villainous path and then crashed because none of the variables were set.

Sorry about that ^^;

2019-07-07 09:09:38 +0000 UTC View Post

Early Access Release 0.1301 - Villainous Route Debut!

Really excited about this one, folks. This is a BIG update, with over 13,000 words added; More than all my previous post-Patreon updates combined, and bringing the total word count of this game over 50,000!

As some of you miiiiight have heard, I've been spending the last couple of weeks writing a brand new route for the game. This route is completely playable from start to finish and is of a comparable length to the other routes. It's linear at the moment, but I'm hoping to add several ...

Early Access Release 0.1215

Surprise, cheesecakes! It's your birthday!

Yes it is, don't argue with me. Have a happy birthday and enjoy this present of a bonus early access release of Penlight with nearly two thousand (count them) more words than last weeks'. I made it especially for you, birthday person!

... Okay well, I wasn't happy about last week's release, as I didn't have time to write in enough changes to accommodate the "Nozomi participated in a stage show last year and Kyou was there to see it" plot ...

Early Access Release 0.1214

It's that time again, cheesecakes!

So, up until now I've mostly been adding first drafty new content to flesh out the story, giving the user some more choices to explore and generally just upping the word count. This fortnight I was thinking about how to make the overall story more consistent and generally make more sense within its own rules. 

Mostly what bothered me was how the thoughts and actions of Kyou don't always line up, and in particular his belief that what he does...

New Public Release 0.1212.1

Hello, everyone!

Sooo, it turns out that the previous public release had a big nasty crash bug in it and nobody told me. Or nobody played it T-T As a result, I'm bringing the new public release forward a few days so you can enjoy this new (hopefully) crash-free version! 

Download

PC (Windows/Linux)  

2019-06-04 21:10:39 +0000 UTC View Post

Early Access Release 0.1213

Hello again, cheesecakes! Over this past fortnight I've been looking at adding a soundtrack to the game, as well as the usual mini story additions. This time I've given the non-consensual route (where Kyou chooses to sneakily zap Nozomi with the penlight from the beginning) some attention.

I think so far the word count has been upped by about 5,000 words since the original release, but I hope to flesh the whole game out a *lot* more by the time I'm done writing. Anyway, thanks for your ...

Early Access Release 0.1212.1 (Some bug fixes)

Sooo, I was going over the game tonight and found a couple of big issues, including a crash bug. Oops!

This unplanned new release mostly just fixes those issues, although there's a couple of other minor tweaks in there as well.

Download

PC (Windows/Linux)  

2019-05-23 23:28:07 +0000 UTC View Post

Early Access Release 0.1212

Hello, cheesecakes! In this, my second early access release, I experiment with using a cheap new font with a little drop shadow on to make the text pop a bit better over the default Ren'Py style. I really like it! The narration text has also been changed to blue a-la Phoenix Wright, to help distinguish it from when the characters are speaking. 

Oh, also, this release is potentially very buggy. I overhauled how all the images are generated in the game and although I gave it a decent...

New Public Release 0.1211

It's the second Saturday of May, so it's time for the first updated release of Penlight for everybody who cares ^.^ 

This month's release is a minor upgrade over the original, fixing a couple of minor issues as well as adding a little more to what I call the consensual route (where Kyou decides not to zap Nozomi with the penlight in the first choice). This is the release my cheesecake backers got a week ago.

Please note that this release is not compatible with saves made in t...

Early Access Release 0.1211

Wheee, my first early access release for cheesecake patrons is here! With two main routes written out and playable from start to end, my short term goals are to flesh out both of them by implementing writing out some of the choices that are currently being teased at in the game. 

This week's release adds a little more to what I call the consensual route (where Kyou decides not to zap Nozomi with the penlight in the first choice), as I feel it needs the most attention at this point....

Hello, Patreon!

So I launched my page today, in a move that totally has nothing to do with getting ahead of Patreon's scary new rule changes~ 

This, my first visual novel, has been some time in the making. Penlight has existed in various forms and states of completion for at least five years now, but it's only since the last five or six months that I've been able to work up the nerve to commit to something I could show a wider audience. I'm still pretty anxious about it (it's in my nature), but I'...