News and updates for visual novels by Casting Dreams.
I made a promise to myself that I would practice mindfulness when it came with designing with accessibility in mind. I admit being human means I can’t account for every little thing. I really strive to ensure that my games are at least blind-friendly. My brother uses the self-voicing feature and if a button isn’t read to him, the reader it skip text, or it’s just a hassle I modify it to fit his needs. There are a lot of challenges, but I enjoy working through them instead of just saying ‘oh wells’. So, if you find something that is a challenge or needs to be adapted, please don’t hesitate to say it. Aether Skies got an additional 300 lines of code for a dyslexia alternative font because someone brought it to my attention. That said. I can only promise to do my best, and there may be things I can’t fix. Besides, I wouldn’t create games if I didn’t like a challenge.
Today I noticed that it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything excited or new. In November, a loved one passed away, and it’s been hard keeping a brave face.
I’ve been finding though that one of my favorite musicians and the featured on in Aether Skies is still composing. Music always keeps me going. So I hope to have more to share soon.
Yep! The new demo was released a few days ago. It features mainly a lot of visual changes and a few new functions. The game itself has gotten to the point of 45,000 for an outline version of the game (for Eir’s side alone), and all the character sprites are done. I am having a challenge with the second chapter as one route ended up to a mini game that wasn’t friendly to those with vision impairments. So it’s a fun challenge for me to rethink. :) Thanks for the question.
Hello! Just popping in to share a quick update for Aether Skies. A whole lot of project development happened over the holiday season.
1) We’ve reached 40,000 words and 100 choices and counting. 2) The art for the new sprites is finishing up nicely and the new CG should be done soon. 3)
I removed the link for the demo, until the new one is posted. 4) Post have been updated with new characters go check them out of itch.io or lemmasoft! :D
5) Have an awesome day! (Okay not an update, but still wishing you a great day.) The new characters above of Vleorea and the Exalt both are seen in Chapter 2 and three respectively.
The changes post is always the hardest to write. It’s because we
don’t like change, we want to see the things that we expect, but sometimes that’s
not life. My job had some changes and while I thought I was going to part time,
they ended up laying me off because of lack of work unexpectedly. I’ve been
struggling financially to support myself and unfortunately to support Aether
Skies. Before my lay off there were two sprites that needed to be completed
before I could release the first two chapters, because of this lay off I am
unable to get those sprites. I was able to secure another artist, which means
there won’t be a delay in the release and the sprites are changing.
The plan for Aether Skies is to have a finalized demo available
sometime before Christmas. The demo will as always be free to download with a
donation option for those who would like to support the project. The donation option
will be available on the project until the funding for the additional sprites
have been met. Following the demo release will be the release of the first two
chapters of the game for purchase from Eir’s side. Chapter One has additional
scenes not seen in the demo and will be bundled with Chapter Two as it concludes
the cliff hanger. Future chapter release dates will depend on funding, yet we’ll
tackle that when we get there.
As always if you want to support my studio please consider
making purchases of my already released games or donate for the demo of Aether
Skies. I wish you all the best and hope that you have a great Holiday season.
Good morning! :) How is everyone doing? The game is progressing in all fields. The artist taking over the CG has completed nearly all of the new ones for Chapter 1, as you can see in the new preview here.
Also news for coding I’ve also found my happy medium for the choices menu! Still the original functions of being able to press keys 1-9 to make a choice, and Eir’s expression changing when you hover over an option. The new feature includes animations on the bars when they first appear and Eir’s sprite is now forward on the screen. It looks pretty sharp in game.
A patch/update will be out for the game sometime around the end of this month. This will be the final version of the demo that will remain free to download. Progressing through the whole story has gone pretty smoothly for the writing as well as implementing it in the coding. I’m not going to make further changes to the GUI or overall feel to the game now. That said our sprites for the second chapter should be here before the end of December meanings chapter 2 will be here before the new year.
I’ll be honest with you. When making a VN art is the biggest resource that takes the most time. Artist get tired, people burn out, and sometimes even leave before the end. Sadly, the later is what I’ve experienced more often than not. The group of artist, though few, are really talented and I love working with them. I just bring this to you to ask for your understanding.
That said, I’ve received a lot of emails asking about voice acting for this game. I’ve done voice acting in games before, not released here, and while I enjoy the experience of working with VA’s at this time it’s a soft no for this project. I’m on the fence, but it’s not a hard no just yet. If you’re interested in being a part of this project I’ll let everyone know my decision by the end of the month.
Still looking for a image hosting site to update the main page, though haven’t found a competitive service quit yet. As for the game itself the I’ve welcomed bana as the new cg artist. She’s a wonderful artist and has already done a few sketches for the CG’s in chapter 1.
My goal is to have the game released by the end of the year. The new sprites in the second half of chapter two are scheduled to be started sometime in September and the CG art is in progress now. Crossing my fingers for no more medical bumps on my part. I’ll keep you posted when I get the chance. The game isn’t dead, it’s just boring on the updates right now. :P
