Hey there everyone! It's Jacob. Happy December! I've decided that at the start of every month, I'm going to update both the kickstarter and steam pages with how things have been going for Siren's Call: Escape Velocity. There's a lot to report, so let's jump right into it! Music production is officially underway Now that the kickstarter budget has been reallocated, my team has begun making music for all the extra content in Siren's Call: Escape Velocity. Our hope is to replace every single instance of stock music from VisualNovelMaker with new, original tracks. So far, that's around 20 pieces of music ready to be swapped out, most of which are going to be creepy, ambient vibes. Violet's story is definitely a lot more mellow than what Oliver goes through in the base game, and I'm excited to see what the band cooks up with that in mind. Several of the tracks from the original game are also going to be completely remastered per the request of Josh (our main songwritter)! Originally, I was only going to ask for enough music to replace the stock tracks we were using as placeholders, but Josh insisted on creating TONS of new tracks and remasters. This does mean that the digital soundtrack might take a bit longer to get to you guys than the other digital rewards, but it also means that we're getting like...a lot more than what I initially projected. Expect more than a few teasers/demos for these tracks in the coming months. Spanish Translation has begun, with the German translation making steady progress Contracts for the Spanish translation have been signed and production has officially begun! The German translation, likewise, has also been making good progress. By the time we enter the beta-testing phase for this version of the game a year from now, we should have more than enough translated to provide feedback on. If you were part of the beta-tier on the kickstarter, expect the option to play large chunks of the game in three different languages by the time your beta keys get to you in a year! Digital Rewards Progress This is more for the kickstarter backers, but even so, it's good info to know. Judith's Cookbook is nearly done, with Andi's fitness plan being completely written and entering the design phase of production soon. The art book is something we're going to focus on more once these other two are done, as that gives Raeis more time to finish the remaining CGs so that the book will be more robust with its sketches and descriptions. The deadline for us sending everything out is still April 15th, 2024. Of note, due to the kindness of one of our higher backers, every backer for the kickstarter will be receiving SFW versions of Andi and Judith's exclusive dakimakura art on the 25th of December! Violet's daki art will also be sent at this time to the backers that secured it, so check your kickstarter inboxes if you're interested in seeing the art/making it into a pillow! Some resizing may be required if you plan on using an online service to turn this art into pillows, but at the very least, Judith and Andi are on the table for everyone now. Happy Holidays! My adventure in social media marketing Hell and my solution: Given that we have shifted into the bug fixing and asset production period of Siren's Call: Escape Velocity, there's...a lot of waiting that I personally have to do while I playtest the game and search for bugs and typeos. I don't like waiting, so while the music, CGs, translations, and digital rewards are in production, I decided to do some research and see what my options were for marketing the game without a publisher... Bad news...it's all social media marketing. I'm not good a TikTok, being funny, or following trends in general, but for a few weeks in November, I earnestly tried to fit my square-shaped brain into the triangle-shaped hole that is content creation. Surprise surprise, it was miserable. Like, legitimately miserable. I could actively feel my brain beginning to rot the longer I spent on TikTok. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that I COULD spend another year and a half learning how to be a content creation machine...or I could find a more...creative solution. So I'm going to make another game. Introducing: Sunflower Pie Sunflower Pie is going to be a short, twenty minute game set before the events of Siren's Call. While I don't want to give too much away, my intention is to make it a relatively self-contained, digestible horror experience that digs into exactly why Oliver...doesn't live with his parents anymore. Parasites are involved. The script is already done and under-review. I plan on releasing it for 1$ on Steam/Itch.io and making it almost entirely by myself, only using assets I already own (with the exception of Oliver's Mom's sprite, which I'm paying for out of pocket). I want to use this game as way not only to expand Siren's Call: Escape Velocity's reach, but also as a way to creatively use my writing and programing skills. My logic is this: I'm pretty decent at making visual novels, not TikToks. It makes more sense for me to ride the wave of publicity that Steam naturally provides to paid games and use the skills I already have rather than to gamble for a year and a half on social media. There's always more than one way to slice an onion, after all. This could be the best way for me to do things, maybe. Plus, it's been a bit since I finished the script for Escape Velocity. If I don't start writing again, I'm gonna go nuts. Naturally, Siren's Call will always take up the bulk of my attention, so when it comes time for me to do BIG stuff in engine, such as plug in the new music, translations, and new art as they roll in, that is what I'm focusing on no matter what. Also, a twenty minute game isn't gonna take a lot of time to program, maybe a month at most. This is game jam level material I'm talking about. I'm putting my heart and soul into it, don't get me wrong, but this is more or less just something I'm doing to flex my creative juices and (maybe) get more eyes on what's going on with Escape Velocity. Seeing Oliver's parents is also going to be neat. Based on the script I have, I think this is going to be an excellent prelude to the events of the main game. Anyways, that's all for now everyone! So far, things are progressing really smoothly in a post-funding world...much better than I expected. I'm excited to see what music Josh comes up with in the coming months, as well as how the rest of the CGs and the translations end up. Until next time, stay cool. ~Jacob