Hello! <3

I don't usually write regular 'ol blogs unless they are Halftime Reports - okay, you got me: I don't usually write blogs. But given how long it's been since we released a build, I felt it was important to not only break this rule of mine, but to permanently break it. Read on...

Build 0.5!

Firstly! Build 0.5 is set to release MARCH 14th!! That's right, you read that right, Woooooo,!!!!!!! we did it boyzzzzzzzz, set your alarm clockz (& get re-reading if you've forgotten everything about this VN lol). 

This was announced on Bluesky, but in case you missed it I'm putting y'all on notice here as well. 

We're doing the final touches on things and testing all paths, as a *lot* of behind-the-scenes work went into this latest build. Info about that will come in the official release blog on release day.

Blogging!

There are a couple things I wanted to cover in this particular blog post. The first has to do with blogging itself! 

I'm naturally a writer first, artist second. It's easy for me to crank out a blog on a topic and it'll satiate my taste buds more than the hyper-editing (and re-editing) I do on a story like Aaron's. You can thank my real-life line of work for that...

As I put more and more work into this VN, I'd like to provide something to those who maybe read VNs but want to know more about what the process was or why certain decisions are made in writing, arting, musicking, and so forth. For example, how do *we* create our sprites? How do we make sure our builds are ready for release? How do we set realistic expectations? There are a few VN developers who do this already, but everyone's process is a little different - and while there are some hurdles you have to jump over if you seriously ever want to take on this kind of a project, we can make those hurdles *a little bit lower* if we share how we're doing what we're doing a bit better to make VNs like Aaron & The Void a reality.

I'll be writing blogs like this in the future, between builds, to keep the conversation alive. I chose not to have a public Discord, nor do I think the audience is big enough for one, so, heck: if you've had a burning question you've wanted to ask about a character or the novel itself, maybe that'll get turned into a blog someday too. 

Character Sheet

The second and more exciting one is the Character Sheet page, which will be accessible for the first time in Build 0.5! If you've been reading since the beginning, you've noticed this option is on the Main Menu but always greyed out. I think it's been there since build 0.2. That's two years of me blue-ballsing you, and that'sssss no good!

To build some hype for this new feature, I'd like to share what it'll look like and how you can use it!

The Character Sheet is something you access at any time (except the first 100 or so lines of the novel). To access the Character Sheet, right-click the screen or click Menu at the bottom of the window, and then click "Character Sheet" on the side-menu.

When the page loads, you will see a list of character names on the left side, and a bunch of descriptive text about the character - such as their name, age, species, and job title - on the right side. This includes a paragraph or two about the character. To the right is a full-body image of the character - that's right, you finally get to see what's BELOW the shins. I hear that's a thing for some of y'all :3

Click any name in the list to switch between character pages. As you meet more characters, the character list will grow. When you learn more about a specific character, you unlock more details and descriptives about them. Sometimes you'll meet an important character but never catch their name, so if you see "???" in your character sheet, that's what's happened!

The character's description will change as you read further and learn more; this is so you can capture key components of the character's personality or where you're at with them in the story. Depending on the route (character) you've chosen, the details you'll see will be different. You never know what you're missing unless you read other character routes!

I encourage everyone to start a new save - your first "cervine gift", as it were, is waiting... ;3

For old saves, the Character Sheet may not be functional - especially if you saved after choosing a route. I'm so sorry for this limitation, but going forward you will be working with the cream of the crop!

In the future, this character sheet screen may be used to keep a list of important notes (story beats) that - again, if it's been a long time since you read the novel - may help serve as a refresher. The code is there in Build 0.5, but we're not ready to implement this.

Seven more days...

You've waited over a year and a half... what's seven more days?

Nah, but for real - I'm sorry! Everyone goes through their 'writer's block' and I hit one hard last summer. Sometimes it takes a little bit more than a nudge to get me back on track, as this is still a one-man effort. (I gotta find a composer...)

We're back on track and living our best life. Let's find out together if Aaron'll be living his, yeah?

Cheers!

-Eyematerror