infinitestarsdev

[infinitestarsdev]

Devlog 2024-04-22

Hey Everyone! It's not Friday, but I felt I couldn't wait any longer before updating all of you!

Yes, I am alive. Thank you for all the concerned messages and well wishes. I've been snowed under with family and work!

We've had my brother visit from Germany, A good friend visited us from China, it was our wedding anniversary, and my birthday on top of a few super busy weeks with work! I also took some leave, and drove nearly 1300KM (That's almost 800 miles) or roughly 15 hours in one day over the weekend to the coast. (The little one took it much better than I was expecting, thanks to the frequent breaks!)

My plan is to use this time to write as much as possible for the work-in-progress episode of Infinite Stars, and I'm currently writing this devlog from the veranda of the home we're staying in with a view of the golf course in front of me, and the ocean behind me. (Expect plenty of pictures on the Patreon Devlife channel on Discord!!)

I haven't been entirely unproductive in my silence, though!

The bones of the next content drop is very much in place. I'm also busy onboarding a new writer to the team, meaning Crowbie and I will have an extra pair of hands to get things done!

We have the new pinup for April, and this time, it's Mayvheen, with a cute SFW​ and NSFW​ image (WARNING: The NSFW work is probably the most revealing pinup we've ever done!)

We're also teasing the new soundtrack. Can you guess whose theme it is?​

As always, thanks for your love and support! I know I say this a lot, but that's because it's absolutely true: I couldn't do all of this without all of you! <3

Stay safe, be blessed and have a super productive week!

#visual novel #scifi #infinitestars #amwriting #art #vn #choicesgame #sciencefiction #space #gamedev

[infinitestarsdev]

Hello!!! I'm playing the demo and so far is so good!!! I have two question please, what is a Mah'Abeu? It says human but the other characters look human too???

A Mah'Abeu is still (mostly) human.

The Mah'Abeu project originally started by identifying gifted children, and training and conditioning them to sharpen certain skills and aspects to be used to further the Protectorate's agenda.

As the project started showing success, the program directors pushed forward, and started making slight genetic modifications to potential candidate embryos while they were in vitro. This, combined with the training and conditioning allowed even greater results.

Players know of the Alieu program (individuals gifted with empathy, the nuances of mediation and conflict resolution) where most Mah'Alieua end up as super diplomats.

Players also know of the Matahr program (individuals gifted with critical thinking, making snap decisions while under pressure and getting stuff done. Part of the Matahr conditioning is to distance yourself from emotional thinking) where Mah'Matahri end up as elite soldiers, fixers or assassins.

Some of the other Mah'Abeu programs like the Muhklanq doctrine were scrapped for ethical and safety issues. From the game, we know of little Milo who was pivotal in shifting public perception of the Mah'Abeu project after the Ganymede incident.

Infered but not mentioned in the game, Mah'Muklanqi is one of many projects that were scrapped. Mindlancers are very effective but have a dangerous tendency to "lose their minds," usually ending with a large deathtoll.

Hope that answers your question! It was fun to answer.

#visual novel #infinitestars #scifi #mindlancer #diplomacy #warfare #choicesgame

[infinitestarsdev]

I'm stupid in love with Andreas, thank you for giving him to us, blessed to be on his presence and him calling mc faiyarga???? I want to imagine a life with him

I'm glad you're liking him. You'll have the option for Andreas to "annoy" you some more while you and the crew go looking for Naaka.

He'll also have an opportunity to show mc he means it when he calls you faiyarga and that it isn't just all charm and for show.

#faiyarga #andreas #infinitestars #charming men

[infinitestarsdev]

Devlog 2024-03-15

Another busy (two) week(s), and another Friday to report on it.

I'll share some of what we've been up to! (Veera's intimate scene is still... on its way. Been banging my head against a wall with some writers block on her ff scene as I don't want it to be 'just another smut scene')

We're adding another new player portrait.

(All of our Captain+ patrons and subscribestars get their own custom drawn portrait added to the game, either of themselves, or of their OC!)

We have several new audio tracks, and I took the liberty to attach one of them to this post! (The track is one of Sonia's new themes.)

We're adding two new Cephilusk twins for your Mah'Abeu to run into while looking for the elusive Naaka. These two are from the Khaelbesh Cephilusk tribe, and I've included a short excerpt from the upcoming content.

!! SPOILERS AHEAD !!

A large Cephilusk had bumped into me, almost knocking me to the floor, but they just kept on walking. Andreas turned to her and shouted. "Rude!" The Cephilusk woman stopped and turned towards Andreas, her eye needling in his direction as she rose on her hind tentacles. I suddenly felt an immense sense of dread pressing against my throat. "Did the shrimp spit on my honour?" "No– My apologies, he didn't mean it." "Let the manling speak for himself Mahlabeu." "I meant it. I spit on your honour! No one insults my faiyarga! Now apologise to them." The Cephilusk inched closer towards Andreas– alku'ahf– She– She was going to pounce and snap his neck. "You aren't in Sol anymore. Yumans should know their place when they aren't in Sol." She spat in his direction and leapt into the air– but Andreas was expecting her movement and dodged out of the way, tripping and falling to the floor as he did so. "Come closer little yuman shrimp so I can peel your skin from your face! Let me pull your innards through your mouth and dangle you over my birthing pool for my young to nibble on your entrails." I knew that voice– I knew this woman, but how? "Bold threats from a Kahlbeara as ugly as you."

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

#visual novel #scifi #infinitestars #art #amwriting #vn #sciencefiction #space #choicesgame #gamedev #cephalopod #cephilusk

[infinitestarsdev]

Devlog 2024-03-01

Another week, another Friday, another Devlog!

It's been a hectic week!

More fixes, more expressions, a quick short story, pediatricians and vaccines for the little one, some flu at home (all around), a new debit order system for my day job, plus financial yearend for my company–

Like I said, it's been a hectic week.

I might have some more exciting news to share in the coming week, but negotiations are still ongoing and can still go either way.

Also, don't forget about the custom content workshops happening tomorrow!

Have fun, stay safe, and be kind.

(The new patreon build is just about ready, so keep an eye out for that!)

#visual novel #scifi #infinitestars #sciencefiction #vn #space #choicesgame #gamedev

[infinitestarsdev]

"You are so fa'rahkked! My mother will come for me, and you'll regret the day you laid hands–"

The slap was wet and without warning. It stung against Hughro's tender cheek, turning his surprised anger into entitled rage.

"I'll have your hand for that! I'll have it cut off and fed to–"

Another wet slap, this time on his left cheek.

"Boyh, your mother has no power heah. Youh have no power heah. Your threats and promises carry less value than the breath youh used to make them."

Hughro glared at the freakishly tall and thin blonde man who spoke before shifting his attention to the dark-skinned woman with green eyes, snarling as he opened his mouth.

"I'll–"

The woman moved like lightning, kicking her slender stiletto high-heeled foot upward and against the bottom of Hughro's chin with exact precision, slamming his teeth into each other with a sickening crunch.

"Enough, or I'll pull your tongue from your mouth and elastrate it with a used rubber until it rots off in your mouth."

>Read the whole story over here<

#visual novel #scifi #infinitestars #art #amwriting #vn #sciencefiction #space #choicesgame #gamedev #characterart #flash fiction

[infinitestarsdev]

Check out this amazing Infinite Stars fanart by dani_doushiin on Instagram!

Go give dani a follow to see more great art like this! <3

Having someone draw fanart of your game just fills you with warm fuzzy feelings of joy and appreciation!

#visual novel #scifi #infinitestars #art #vn #sciencefiction #choicesgame #gamedev #fanart

[infinitestarsdev]

how skilled is our Mah'Abeu combat wise? when picking the firearm it indicates we had some combat training.

The Mah'Abeu will have some combat training from their days at the academy.

Mah'Abeu Matahr's would have received more intensive combat training, while Alieu's would have focused on diplomacy.

#visual novel #infinitestars #vn #sciencefiction #fighting

[infinitestarsdev]

Is there a full list of who’s romanceable and who’s not??

The list is always growing. <3

Kiaria, Lebeny, Lochem and Khalil are the first LI's available.

We're working on Tabitha and Veera for the next release, and then we have Matthias, Raymond, Lahnkush and Lahkhadia on the list for the next ones.

Eventually, everyone will be romanceable to a point.

#visual novel #infinitestars #amwriting #vn #choicesgame #romance #lovestory

[infinitestarsdev]

Hey I just “discovered” ur visual novel last weekend, and I think it’s really cool! I love space politics

<3 Thank you for the kind words! We worked really hard on it for a very long time!

#infinitestars

[infinitestarsdev]

Another Friday. Wooo!

I'm a tiny bit sick, but nothing too serious. It's more an annoyance than anything else.

I've been fixing some minor bugs and facial expressions and working on Veera's first intimate scene, which should be in the game next week. I wasn't planning on adding it yet, but inspiration struck, and here we are.

Also, now that I have some more room to breathe, I decided to sacrifice some of my weekend time to host a little workshop on creating your own custom content for Infinite Stars.

If you've ever wanted to dabble in creating your own visual novel, writing fanfiction and seeing it come alive in Infinite Stars as a mod, or just want to flex those creative muscles, you should come join in.

We'll host the workshop on Saturday, the 2nd of March (Not this weekend, but next weekend), and depending on the interest, we'll have two sessions 12 hours apart to give everyone a chance to attend no matter what timezone you are from.

If interested in joining, you should register and also start writing your short story or scene. It doesn't have to be finished, but ideally, you'll have something that we can put into the game on Saturday.

The workshop will be casual and informal, and we will be scripting our scenes together while I give guidance and support to anyone who has questions or runs into any issues.

We'll cover all the basics, like changing backgrounds, having crewmembers appear on the screen, moving them around, changing their outfits and expressions, and anything else you might want to learn to bring your fanfic/mod to life.

We'll keep it simple. Maybe you can't wait any longer to see Raymond and mc smooching, or perhaps you want to write a scene where mc saves the day in Medsec yet again. A leisurely cuddle with your favourite love interest or something silly and fun with Cleo. Write your script, it doesn't have to be perfect, and have it ready for the workshop.

If all goes according to plan, you should have a Holo Reality Module (mod) ready to upload to Itchio by the end of the workshop for others to download and play. Yay!

Register here. It's free.

#visual novel #scifi #infinitestars #art #amwriting #space #vn #sciencefiction #choicesgame #gamedev #fanfic #fanfiction

[infinitestarsdev]

Devlog 2024-02-16

Thank you to everyone who has been playing and rating Infinite Stars! <3

I've spent the week fixing typos bugs and adding some more content. (The start of Tabitha's arc is now in the internal devbuild, with more written but not yet coded content on its way.)

I've also been getting more of the music ready for new/existing content as promised. (If you're on the Discord's patron channel you might have seen a sneak peek of the new tracks)

I know I've been planning to take a day or two off after the launch, but I haven't found the time yet, though my wife and I are officially on leave today for the funeral. (I snuck away for a few minutes while getting ready and dressed to write this post!)

Happy Friday, enjoy your weekend, and thank you for everything! <3

#visual novel #scifi #infinitestars #art #amwriting #space #vn #sciencefiction #choicesgame #gamedev

[infinitestarsdev]

Devlog 2024-02-09 (Episode 4 - Part 1 is out NOW!)

It's Friday! And this is a special Friday because it's a RELEASE Friday!

That's right! Episode 4 - Part 1 is now live!

Update Edit: It's also a sad day for my family. I lost someone dear to me this morning, someone even dearer to my loved ones, and my heart is aching with them for our loss. I wish things weren't the way they are. I wish I could do more to ease their suffering.

Project Details:

167,666 words in total. (That's roughly the same length as the first two Harry Potter novels combined)

825 possible choices.

Patrons can get their version over here (win|mac|lin) or here (android), and everyone else can get the full game on Steam or Itchio!

Episode 4 - Part 1 continues the story after the dramatic conclusion from Episode 3.

It introduces several new characters, several new and redrawn backgrounds, several new portraits, several new music tracks, an overhauled story controller, a new free-roam mechanic, a new star system navigation interface, a lore gallery with unlockable entries, a system for players to load custom-made stories written by other players into the game, a seasonal event (Spooktober Heist), and nearly 40K additional words of content (some being intimate content for Kiaria, Lochem and Khalil).

It also includes two very special player portraits! Thanks to the amazing ladies from Wanderlust Games, you can now play your Mah'Abeu as a younger version of Damon or Ayame from Andromeda Six! (Seriously, if you're hearing about Andromeda Six for the first time– You're about to fall in love. Go check them out and support them if your wallet allows!)

We've been working extremely hard to bring this release to you, and while we've added a ton of new things, we would have loved to add more. Sadly, we had to draw a line in the sand and release what was available.

Some of the things that we could add before the deadline that were requested by our beta testers:

MC is more knowledgeable about the Cephilusk.

Added a location hint during free-roam sequences.

Made Kiaria more Kiaria when dealing with current events.

Your Mah'Abue now crafts the notice being sent to the crew.

Several more personality options (with more on their way)

Most free-roam scenes now have the crew members touching on or hinting at the current situation.

Fixed some logic bugs with Sonia's scene.

Adjusted Andreas' scene with an additional choice if he becomes too much.

Added some additional logic and checks to the response you can give when the crew/your LI asks about how you are coping. (Might still expand on this.)

Your Mah'Abue now has more control over how they handle Nikau.

Added Lindi's music track.

An additional intimate scene for Khalil

Some of the things that we couldn't add before the deadline that will be added very soon. (over the next week or three):

Implementing some more of the Beta Tester feedback requests.

The start of Tabitha's character arc.

A free-roam scene for Lebeny, along with an additional intimate scene.

Adding a semi-intimate, more risque scene with Matthias.

Adding additional character expressions to some of the free-roam content.

Additional music tracks where there is only silence.

Missing Lore Descriptions, replacing the WiP notice with actual content.

The new trailer for Episode 4.

Some of the things that we couldn't add before the deadline that will be added down the line. (more than a month from now)

Additional backgrounds and characters.

Continuing Episode 4, including the much-anticipated Matthias Elevator scene.

Additional Lore items to unlock.

More free-roam content, more character content (Reyna and more), more intimate scenes.

Character relationship arcs (and intimate scenes) for Raymond, Matthias, Veera and Tabitha as a prioity.

Character relationship arcs (and intimate scenes) for Cephilusk, Andreas and TBD a little further down the road.

As always, despite the hours and hours and heaps of financial resources poured into the project, Infinite Stars is still entirely free! If you like what we are doing and can afford to show your support, please consider joining one of our paid Patreon tiers!

Infinite Stars wouldn't be nearly as cool as it is without the support of our amazing Patrons who believe in us!

If you can't afford to support us, that's cool. We still love you, and having you enjoy our game fills our hearts with joy! If you like the game, share it with your friends or give us a positive review to help with the visibility algorithms.

Have a peaceful weekend, enjoy the release, and go hug one of your loved ones!

#visual novel #scifi #infinitestars #art #amwriting #space #vn #sciencefiction #choicesgame #gamedev #a6 #andromeda 6

[infinitestarsdev]

Devlog 2024-02-02

It's Friday! That means it's almost weekend! It ALSO means that the wait for the next Infinite Stars release is almost over.

God willing, we'll have the release ready before Valentine's day!

The Beta tester feedback has started rolling in, and the results are fantastic. Everyone seems to love the upcoming content, and the majority of the issues are small and easy to fix. I have about two pages of beta tester requests that I'm trying to implement, mostly stuff like the option to react like this when that happens etc.

That said, if you are one of the remaining Beta Testers who hasn't yet played through the content and given feedback, time is running out! For those of you that have given your feedback, thank you so much! We're humbled by all the kind words and constructive feedback!

I don't have too much more to share without spoilers, but I can say that we're working day (and sometimes night) to get everything done! I'll leave you with this screenshot from Episode 4 while I get back to the tester feedback…

#visual novel #infinitestars #scifi #art #amwriting #gamedev #space #sciencefiction #choicesgame #vn

[infinitestarsdev]

Hay, Hoy, It's Friday! That means devlog time!

This week has been much of the same– we're working super hard on the next content release!

All the planned main story line content for this batch has been coded. Most of the expressions have been done. I'm still working on the lore items for the game, which is coming together nicely! We're planning on having a total of 20 unlockable lore entries on release, with many more to come.

Talking about the lore items, here is a preview of what they'll look like once unlocked.

Just look at that gorgeous artwork by Grace! <3

Tae is working on two surprise player portraits for all of you.

Stoffies is busy finishing up the last of the old backgrounds.

Crowbie is still on a well deserved break for the next 2-3 months.

Trix was invaluable in helping with the story controller for the system navigation screen!

This isn't a mockup, this is the actual, in-game system navigation screen that we'll be using more and more for future content. If you were a Captain or Admiral patron during the planning phase, you'll notice a play on your name somewhere on the screen! <3

I'm writing and coding like a madman, and I'm slowly shifting gears to focus on the launch preparations.

We've got 6 new tracks in the making, and I received the first track's draft earlier today. It's looking promising.

If you want to be considered as a Beta Tester for the upcoming content release, please apply over here! We have limited spots available, so don't wait too long!

In other news, some of you might recall our Spooktober 2023 Visual Novel Jam entry, and as it turns out we finished in the top 2% (4th place!) The jam entry was coded as a HRM (one of the player made mods that Tabitha can run as a simulation) and we'll integrate it into the full game as a triggerable seasonal event during October/Halloween.

As you can see, it's been a busy week, made possible by all of our amazing fans and patrons! We love you all to bits!

Have a fantastic weekend, stay safe and I can't wait to share the new content with all of you!

#visual novel #scifi #infinitestars #art #amwriting #vn #gamedev #beta testing

[infinitestarsdev]

Devlog 2023-09-22

It's another Friday! And it's a long weekend in South Africa.

The past two weeks haven't been kind to me. We were without water for a few days, and we were back to being without power for 9+ hours per day, but that seems to be over now. We're back to having water, and the daily power cuts are down to the regular 2-4 hours per day, which I can deal with.

My day job has also been particularly busy, not that I'm complaining, as it pays the bills. We're working on some large deals, and I've been asked to be part of a prestigious upcoming event. I've also been meeting with some fascinating business individuals, which always leaves me energised and motivated! My only complaint is time. To quote Bilbo Baggins, "I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread."

But the rest of our amazing team has been incredible with picking up the slack!

Crowbie has been expanding on my drafts and working on the content for Episode 4, Tae has done what feels like a gazillion new characters recently (The six aliens we've teased, four new side characters for the crew, the Spooktober outfits, and so much more!)

Stoffies has had some health issues from too much drawing, and he has to take it a bit slower, with some scheduled downtime happening from December. We snatched HiroDan, our other background artist, from a still unannounced project to step in and help out in the meantime.

Backgrounds always seem to be the bottleneck when it comes to new content, but we're still set on launching the next public release of Infinite Stars in November. At worst, we'll have to use some placeholder art, as I don't want to delay the release much longer.

I'm regretting the whole Spooktober thing.

I'm anxiously watching the deadline approach as I wasn't bargaining on the extra distractions. Even without the extended power cuts and increased day job workload, we were on a thin margin of available time. I've always wanted to participate, so we'll see it through!

Doesn't Reyna look enchanting in her Halloween Heist costume? A lot of you voted for Reyna to be dressed as a witch, and I can't wait to share the other costumes!

I still have a lot of day job tasks to get through, and I'm also hoping to get some more Infinite Stars work done, so I'm going to politely bow out and get back to work.

#visual novel #infinitestars #scifi #art #amwriting #interactive fiction #otome #indiedev #star trek #infinite stars #spooktober #halloween #harry potter

[infinitestarsdev]

​Subterfuge, Sabotage and Silly-or-Sexy Costumes! It's the 23rd annual Tabitha crew Halloween heist!

The crew is yet again competing for bragging rights as the winners of the annual Halloween Heist. Both Veera and Reyna want to recruit you for their team.

The prize? Other than the bragging rights? Kiaria's "secret" datapad that "no one knows about."

What's on it? Why does Kiaria hide it? What scandalous secrets does this "private indulgence" datapad hold? Your team must liberate it from Kiaria's annoyed yet watchful eyes to find out.

Use your charm and smarts to get to the datapad first and deceive and misdirect the other team to hold on to it. Whoever has the datapad at midnight is the winner. Oh, and don't get caught– Raymond doesn't approve of the crew shenanigans, and Kiaria doesn't take kindly to mischief.

This is our entry for the Spooktober Visual Novel Jam, and we'll be creating the short standalone game (and HRM) with your help!

We'll be posting several polls, questionnaires and other ways for patrons and followers to get involved in shaping the short game. And to get us started, we need you to help us decided which outfits Tae will be drawing for the crew! 

#visual novel #scifi #infinitestars #art #amwriting #otome #interactive fiction #indiedev #star trek #spooktober