Hello everyone! Duhop here, glad to be back with another monthly devlog :D

This month, I want to talk about something that I have always thought is special, unique, and important about Alex's Journey to the Grave; censorship, or the purposeful lack thereof.

From the very beginning, I have set out to create a dark, emotional, and visceral experience. I've deliberately shown and exemplified the darkest of the main characters' darkest moments, in unusually graphic detail.

I want it to feel like the story is realitythat the pain and discomfort is inescapablein the very same way it feels for the characters. I don't want it to feel like there is some mysterious author, or social/corporate politics, or any other third party curating/watering down their reality. I don't want the darkest, most critically intense moments to be simply alluded to, then copped out of with a timely fade to black. I don't want the absolute most critical thoughts and experiences of the characters to be censored in any conceivable way.

Why? Because I think it's important. Important that someone shows them.

I think it's important for people to see and experience these things that so many are so scared to portray, address, or talk about directly. I think it's important for those who can relate to feel wholly seen for once; to understand that they truly aren't alone in their reality, and to realize that it really is possible to overcome the darkest depths imaginable.

I also think it's important for those who can't relate to see exactly what has been so consistently hidden from them; to learn exactly what it's like to have these experiences that society has swept under the rug so deliberately, and to gain empathy for struggles they might not have the perspective to understand otherwise.

I want parents to understand the struggles of their children, teachers the struggles of their students, and professionals the perspective of their patients. I want sons, daughters, and pupils to feel comfortable opening up about their issues, knowing that they will be taken seriously; that they won't be at risk of having their freedom stripped away from them, or being forced to endure inhumane "treatment" at the hands of someone who doesn't even have a clue what they're going through.

Unfortunately for me and my wants, there are people in this world that are sensitive to such graphic depictions. People that preferand are indeed better offavoiding them. Since the game does have a content warning, I never really planned to do much more than that to address the issue, but it's weighed on my mind for just as long as my resolution to avoid censorship in the first place.

After my perspective on the game changed more recently (see last months devlog), that weight grew even heavier. To the point it was almost suffocating.

However, much to my surprise, a certain feline appears to have taken things into her own paws recently... and honestly, I'm pretty satisfied with her new solution to directly ask the player to make a choice about censorship. It's a new direction that I believe will help the game become a lot more inclusive, without necessarily sacrificing one of the main things that makes it so unique and important to me.

And so, that's where we enter our development update for the month. Basically, we've been working on accommodating a meddling cat's unexpected early appearance.

Here's an early visual mockup I made of what she's been getting up to, to help with testing all the new dialogue:

[img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdvwtkg8pSGE9L31KasnuaT6fc1YPlu96YCcwwCmLSbFx50fVs1lC7MKg_tne1Ub3bbofJ3bAw9Tm54TiNbDGOzaao10pP6mCc92qwSQV0WhhslvE_pCrvh4MEy65lDFpotpIXsvQ?key=hew8BZKWYR5t3C6E5cS-KA"][/img]

I've been hesitant to share early mockup/reference assets like this before, but I suppose a devlog is the perfect place to do so. Especially after we've proven so many times just how polished our final art will get >:D

Something I struggled with myself was visualizing how to make a cat sufficiently expressive, but thankfully, our character artist Paintedtrash is more than knowledgeable and skilled enough to solve that for the both of us. She didn't even bat an eye at my dilemma.

Here's some of her early progress sketching out some different facial features for us to construct expressions with:

[img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfxC5wvIuR8VAMGvCxGvUsyTY3bQfASzoMhXxlAj5p52hpiQq6GS0lhd2cFDw1WABBcRsW6VDb2lM3JtCVE-qPbia32A-UYZ3uwENSSW9pzm5yD3wwKxSYCCP-ZwhhxSbwDOkft?key=hew8BZKWYR5t3C6E5cS-KA"][/img]

I've been very pleasantly surprised at how awesome these sketches have been looking so far. I suppose the unique physiology is why feline expressions were so hard for me to imagine originally, but it's also their strong-suit. They can be even more expressive than humans, with all the extra options you have with their ears, pupils, and tails. I'm really excited to finally bring her to life, in her fully polished glory. Hopefully by next month's devlog, I'll have an expressive meddling cat to show you all! And again, thank you so much for taking the time to check in with us and read through this month's update :D

-Duhop