Save the Villainess: An Otome Isekai Roleplaying Game News

[p]Dear Villains and Villainesses,[/p][p]Have the winds of autumn treated you well? We here at Best Laid Plans Productions have been enjoying the autumn chill, getting cozy with our stacks of villainess novels, and layering on things like guillotine-deflecting scarves. While we’re at it, we also have some fun updates to share with you all – including a talk we did for the Game Devs of Color expo![/p][p][/p][h3][/h3][p]First, as a present to welcome the fall, we have some lovely Izel fanart to showcase, commissioned from Rui (@sorin.otsori on Instagram). Won’t you enjoy the beauty of falling leaves with our dizzying Duke of the North?[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Next, let’s talk about what we did this month. First, we got busy programming a beautiful library that will be used in many future scenes! This background was created by Karel Kok, who gave us over 200 art layers to play with for the library. Emily spent about 20 hours animating this background as it can be further subdivided into several individual backgrounds that contain their own secrets.  Here's one part of the library:[/p][p][/p][p]In scene 25, we depict Jane’s entrance into the library. In this scene, you’ll get Jane to explore vital information in the library involving  books as well as other... mysteries. [/p][p][/p][p]We also created the covers of all the books Jane will read and programmed a beautiful map of Carcosa that Jane explores in scene 26. All these artifacts were created by Saleha Chowdhury, who gave us dozens of layers to play with. Keep an eye out for any 'creatures' you might see as you read the books and review the map. They're clues to dangers you may encounter later! [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We also edited the existing scenes 27 and 28, which will take place in the library and which we will program in October. [/p][p][/p][p]Scene 27 challenges you to learn more about the most powerful noble families of Carcosa, the fantasy kingdom where Jane has transmigrated. Can you tell who is friend and who is foe from a library book alone? [/p][p][/p][p]Meanwhile, scene 28 contains an encounter with a vital character who takes Jane by surprise. Here’s a hint: who do you think will be the most likely person to sit quietly in a library, biding their time to take Jane by surprise? [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]This month, we’ve had the immense pleasure of being featured in two Steam festivals. First, we appeared in the Hungry Ghost Festival organized by the South East Asia Game Aesthetic. Second, we appeared in the Game Devs of Color Steam Festival, organized by the Game Devs of Color organization.[/p][p][/p][p]Last year, we also had the pleasure of hosting a talk on Save the Villainess at the Game Devs of Color expo. Our talk is called “Why Save the Villainess? Challenging Injustice through Perspective” and can be viewed on Youtube below: [/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]This talk strikes at the heart of an important question that haunts our story: what makes a woman a villainess? After all, while Save the Villainess is a game that asks you to discover who wants to murder a villainess, it also reflects on how Jane’s identity as an autistic biracial woman makes her hated within the cruel and unjust historical world she is thrown into.[/p][p][/p][p]Is Jane a villainess because of the past actions of the original Jane Neville? Or is Jane a villainess because she does not follow the rules of her cruel, sexist, and classist culture? Finally, how does the injustices that Jane faces reflect the injustices that villainized people in our world face? [/p][p][/p][p]Ultimately, we hope that if you’ve ever been hurt by others for your differences, Jane will be someone you can relate to. In real life, we may not get to decide the story the world tells about us. Yet in Save the Villainess, you'll get the chance to write the story that every villainess has always wanted to tell about themselves.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Finally, we want to end by sharing major news on a game we love by a team we love. Threads of You: Beyond the Bay is an extraordinarily charming and beautiful indie romance visual novel created by Lavendeer Studios. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]This beautiful game allows you to romance one of seven handsome and hilarious men in the beautiful town of Brine Bay with your customizable avatar. If you want to live out a wonderfully sweet, charming story of friendship and romance that has 14 possible endings, please check out their demo on Steam and Itch.io.  You can also join their discord server to chat with other fans.[/p][p][/p][p]You can even see a little cameo of Jane if you try out their demo on Steam and Itch.io![/p][p][/p][p]This month, they’re running an exciting Kickstarter campaign that offers a ton of special items you can only pick up during the campaign. Please support the game and help them achieve their sketch goals. It’s the best way to start off your dream life in Brine Bay! [/p][p][/p][p]Finally, remember you can always find us at the various sites below:[/p][p][/p][p]✦ Our discord server - come chat with us and hear what other players have discovered about our game![/p][p][/p][p]✦ Our mailing list - we send out cute kitten pictures and free cards featuring new banter from our main characters every month. This month, the characters celebrate National Reading Month and will tell you what books they enjoy reading! [/p][p][/p][p]✦ Youtube, Bluesky, and Tumblr - our main social media accounts[/p][p][/p][p]Thanks again for joining us for another lovely month and update, friends. We’ll see you in October with a special Halloween update. Stay safe and warm until then![/p][p][/p][p]With Much Love,[/p][p]Tanya & Emily[/p][p]Best Laid Plans Productions Inc.[/p]

[p]Come join Save the Villainess in celebrating Steam's Game Developers of Color Festival, which celebrates the works of dozens of game developers from diverse backgrounds![/p][p][/p][p]
[/p][p]Last year, we also had the pleasure of hosting a talk on Save the Villainess at the Game Devs of Color expo. Our talk is called “Why Save the Villainess? Challenging Injustice through Perspective” and can be viewed on Youtube below: [/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p] This talk strikes at the heart of an important question that haunts every story of a villainess that experiences and fights against a cruel fate. Namely, what makes a woman a villainess? After all, while Save the Villainess is a game that asks you to discover who wants to murder a villainess, it also reflects on how Jane’s identity as an autistic biracial woman makes her a villainess within the cruel and unjust historical society she is thrown into. Is Jane a villainess because of the past actions of the original Jane Neville? Or is Jane a villainess because she does not follow the rules of her cruel, sexist, and classist culture? 
[/p][p]Finally, how do the injustices that Jane faces as a woman outside the bounds of ‘accepted society’ reflect in the cruelties that people outside the bounds of ‘accepted society’ experience today? [/p][p][/p][p]Ultimately, we hope that everyone who has ever experienced cruelty, persecution, and injustice due to being different from those around her can empathize with Jane and other villainesses like her. If you’ve ever been hurt by others for your differences, we hope Jane is someone you can relate to.[/p]

[p]Come join Save the Villainess in celebrating Steam's Hungry Ghost Festival, which features hundreds of amazing horror games![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Huge thanks to the South East Asia Game Aesthetic for running and organizing this for horror game fans![/p]

[p]Dear Villains and Villainesses,[/p][p]Have you enjoyed your summer, even as the last few days slip away? This is Tanya and Emily, the two devs behind Save the Villainess, and we’re missing our fun in the sun already. Still, we got a lot done this August and we’re eager to share our progress with you. We also want to share  a glimpse of a new map of House, a celebration of Edmund’s birthday, and the release of a free prequel novel![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]First, we wanted to share this map of House’s eccentric layout that was created by the amazing Saleha Chowdhury, who created almost all of our item art, animal/creature art, and many backgrounds.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Saleha designed this map using dozens of different layers. We programmed her layers within the Ren’py game engine to create a clickable and ever-changing map. This map will change depending on the choices you make within Save the Villainess. There might even be a map-based mini-game depending on how you choose to build your story. Have fun experimenting with your choice of destination. You never know what secrets you’ll uncover by taking the wrong path on the road…[/p][p][/p][p]This month, for scene 24, we programmed both the first map mini-game and a skippable map tutorial that offers some sassy dialogue from Voice that is based on the choices you make. We also programmed scenes 22 and 23. Scene 22 offers some interesting character development and challenges for Jane. Meanwhile, Scene 23 features Jane meeting a fan-favorite character who loves to give cryptic hints about the plot![/p][p][/p][p]We also significantly revised scenes 25 and 26 for coding next month. These long and detailed scenes tell you more about Carcosa, the fantasy kingdom that this story takes place in. Carcosa is a beautiful and bizarre land full of royals and nobles who justify their immense privilege due to the powerful magic they wield. Are these royals and nobles Jane’s allies, her enemies, or something else entirely? You’ll find out more as you explore these pivotal scenes, read important documents, and make deductions that could save Jane’s life… or doom her forever. [/p][p][/p][p]To learn more about the people and magic of Carcosa even before the game arrives, you can also read our free prequel novel – ‘The Villainess Wants Her Prince to Live!’ We’ll discuss more about the novel below![/p][p][/p][p]This August 20th, we celebrated Crown Prince Edmund Alpin's birthday! [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Edmund's birthday fan-art was commissioned from LuckL![/p][p][/p][p]As was deduced by clever fans on our discord sever, we chose this date to reflect both the Leo star sign as well as the tarot card of the reversed Knight of Cups... though there might be other interesting aspects to August 20th if you look further. [/p][p][/p][p]Together, the Leo star sign and reversed Knight of Cups tarot card reflect Edmund's warmth, optimism, passion, potential to be a leader... but also the clash between idealism and pragmatism that he goes through as he prepares himself to rule the land of Carcosa. [/p][p][/p][p]Will Edmund be the fair and just ruler that he wishes to be by the end of his story? [/p][p][/p][p]Decide for yourself when you play his route. After all, it's your story too... isn't it?[/p][p][/p][p]On a more light-hearted note, we also created this video to show how Edmund and friends "celebrate" his birthday. Maybe one day, he might even get a good present...[/p][p][/p][p]Finally, as a gift for the end of our summer, we wanted to share the complete version of Save the Villainess’ official prequel novel, “The Villainess Wants Her Prince to Live!”[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Cover art by Kmochi; Cover design by Best Laid Plans Productions, Inc.[/p][p][/p][p]This prequel novel follows Lady Regina Sheridan, a noblewoman in Carcosa who can see into the future. Unfortunately, the future says that she will be executed as a villainess unless she can keep her new fiancé, Prince Artem Alpin, alive.[/p][p][/p][p]The future also tells her someone is hunting Artem… and that he has the survival instincts of a goldfish.[/p][p][/p][p]Please universe, The Villainess Wants Her Prince to Live![/p][p][/p][p]You can read our prequel novel online at Royal Road. You can also download the pdf and the epub version at this Google Drive link.[/p][p][/p][p]Note: You do not need to play the game to understand the prequel novel or read the prequel  novel to understand the game. However, the mysteries and events of the novel do affect the game, which takes place decades later in the same fantasy kingdom of Carcosa. So if you read the novel, you’ll learn more information ahead of time about the great families of Carcosa, including the Sheridans, Alpins, Nevilles, Burens, and Kuzeys. [/p][p][/p][p]Warnings: Please note that this story contains non-graphic depictions of violence, murder, assassination attempts, death threats, and an adorable Alpin prince who has the survivability of a goldfish. Mix in all of the above with one determined villainess lost in a world with terrifying politics and even more terrible families, many orphans, and even more ducks. Stir all of these ingredients vigorously to generate a romantic dark comedy murder mystery action adventure story where changing the future requires cleverness and the ability to frolic. Happy reading![/p][p][/p][p]In any case, thank you for ending your summer with us. We truly appreciate your support and would love to have you keep in touch with us through the links below. Have a great end to your summer and a wonderful start to the autumn that lies ahead! [/p][p][/p][p]Finally, please remember you can always catch us at the various sites below: [/p]

• [p] Our discord server - come chat with us and hear what other players have discovered about our game!
  [/p]
• [p] Our mailing list - we send free cards featuring new banter from our main characters every month. This June, everyone will discuss what kind of flower represents their love in this season of Pride.
  [/p]
• [p] Youtube, Bluesky, and Tumblr - our main social media accounts
  [/p]

[p]With Much Love, [/p][p]Tanya & Emily [/p][p]Best Laid Plans Productions, Inc.[/p]

[p]Dear Villains and Villainesses,[/p][p]Have you been staying cool in the face of the scorching summer sun? This is Tanya and Emily, the duo behind Save the Villainess, and we’ve been keeping our fans on full blast in our faces. While doing so, we accomplished a lot of fun goals and are ready to share them with you, along with a revealing interview with our character artists at Somate Studio![/p][p][/p][p]Let's begin with a first glimpse of Ashe Firalis, a character in one of the beautiful portraits that will show up in our game. Her animated portrait will show up in House during the storyline and will play a critical role by the end of the tale. Thank you to OmegaScales for commissioning this portrait through Kickstarter and supporting our game! [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]This portrait was created by Somate Studio, who created all of our beautiful character designs and sprites. Later in this update, you can read an interview we did with the Project Manager of Somate Studio where she walks us through her design decisions regarding our game. She’ll even share some fun tips for beginner artists! [/p][p][/p][p]This month, we completed a large slate of programming! First, we programmed the closing sequences for chapter 2 and the opening sequences for chapter 3. Each chapter sequence takes about 5 to 10 hours to complete and tells a different “story” using symbology taken from tarot. Tarot plays a key role in our game because it became an increasingly popular form of divination in the late Victorian and early Edwardian time periods that inspired our game. [/p][p][/p][p]Chapter 1’s tarot symbology is the Wheel, while Chapter’s 2 tarot symbology is the Tower. Can you guess what Chapter 3’s tarot symbology is, based on the preview below?[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]To go with our art, our chapter also includes a thematically fitting quote about inner struggle and acceptance by Carl Jung. Carl Jung was an influential psychologist who wrote about the importance of coming to terms with one’s lifelong struggle to understand and accept oneself. Since this is one of the cornerstones of our game, we’ve included many of his quotes in it! [/p][p][/p][p]Additionally, we programmed scene 21, an animation-heavy scene that can be broken down into 4 interwoven sequences which build upon each other to tell a haunting story that you must analyze for clues regarding the original Jane Neville. After all, how can you avoid the tragic fate of the original villainess if you do not understand what happened to her in the first place? [/p][p][/p][p]We also revised and edited our existing writing for scenes 22, 23, and 24 to prepare them for programming next month. These scenes all contain important clues to the mystery that build upon past scenes. One of these scenes also includes an optional tutorial for a new gameplay mechanic we wrote about last month. This tutorial contains all new banter by fan-favorite character, Voice. Voice may even have some interesting things to say if you keep saying taht you don’t understand their instructions…[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Let’s conclude with an interview we conducted with the Project Manager of Somate Studio. Somate Studio is the art team we partnered with to create all the character designs from Save the Villainess. They have also worked on the character art and design for games such as Peachleaf Valley and Volantes. We are thrilled to share more about their work with you – with additional love to the wonderful people on our game’s discord server who supplied these questions! [/p][p][/p][p]Question 1: What's your favorite character or outfit in this game?[/p][p]Somate Studio: There are many things I enjoyed about working on this project. But the first thing that impressed me was the main character, because she's a villain type. At that time, this trope was super popular, and I thought it was really cool to create such a character. I really like Jane's facial proportions; I'm drawn to unique facial proportions, like Anya Taylor-Joy's. While not entirely based on her, as we still closely followed the story's description, she was part of the inspiration for Jane's face.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Question 2: Who was the hardest Love Interest or Character for your team to draw/create and why?[/p][p]Somate Studio: The most challenging character to create, in my opinion, was Edmund. We wanted to convey a clean, profound face—a sharp yet friendly and unpredictable look that most important royal characters embody. We paid a lot of attention to his facial expressions, neat hairstyle, and standing posture. His clothes were also intentionally made to look more modern, rather than close to military uniforms or tailcoats \[editor: from the Victorian period], because I wanted to portray him as a rational future monarch who wouldn't be conservative with old ways. That's what I think, but I'm not sure if that's been conveyed. Overall, though, we're satisfied with the result.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Question 3: Who was the easiest Love Interest or Character for your team to draw/create and why?[/p][p]Somate Studio: The easiest character to create was Izel. He's always been our forte: a cool, handsome, very Northern-type character.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Question 4: Who are your favorite villainesses?[/p][p]Somate Studio: I like the femme fatale character archetype, so my favorite villainess recently is Makima from the Chainsaw Man series. [/p][p][/p][p]Question 5: Are there any art details you are especially proud of in Save the Villainess that you want to point to?[/p][p]Somate Studio: What I'm most proud of, I think, is that we paid a lot of attention to making the characters' clothing as authentic as possible when compared to the Edwardian era which served as inspiration. Of course, this is still a story with fantasy elements, so it still needs costume details to reflect that. And naturally, balancing the aesthetic of the era with the old-fashioned atmosphere was also a consideration. I'm also proud that all the costumes look like they could actually be sewn into real clothes.[/p][p][/p][p]Question 6: Do you have any tips for beginners who are starting to learn how to draw art?[/p][p]Somate Studio: I think most advice emphasizes that people should start with the basics, and I completely agree with that. Even if you're a professional, honing your fundamentals is something that always needs to happen, because habits can easily lead to basic mistakes. However, this is easy when you're already familiar with it and know where you're going wrong and what you need to do to fix it. But for a beginner, it's clearly not easy at all.[/p][p]When you don't know where to start, studying art from masters is a good beginning. When you learn this way, your brain constantly asks, "How did they do that?" When you find the answer, you'll feel satisfied and confident to move forward. And even if you haven't found the answer, you'll still be looking for it. It's during these times that your interests and abilities will become clearer, and the path forward will emerge. At that point, deciding who to learn from, what to learn, and which tools to use will ultimately determine the kind of artist you want to become. And importantly, maintain stable mental health! This profession often struggles with psychological issues. I consider it part of... occupational hazard, lol.[/p][p][/p][p]Question 7: What kind of software or tablet do you use to draw?[/p][p]Somate Studio: We usually use Clip Studio Paint. I'm not used to drawing directly on a screen, so I still use screenless tablets, like before.[/p][p][/p][p]Thank you again to Somate Studio for working on Save the Villainess and for the wonderful interview. We look forward to sharing new character designs from them in the future as our game continues to develop![/p][p][/p][p] Finally, we wanted to finish with a recommendation for a new game by our friends at DEADline Studios.  They recently published PIG: The Game, a short and deliciously dark horror horror game where you must pay or perish. In this game, you'll challenge the mysterious Alleyman to a deadly dice game. Will you win more time with your roles... or lose what little time you have? [/p][p][/p][p]You can play PIG: The Game for free on Itch.io. If you enjoy this dark little treat, please consider checking out their other horror games, including Fool's Paradise. If you love beautiful, bone-chilling horror games, all their works are fantastic! [/p][p][/p][p]Finally, please remember you can always catch us at the various sites below: [/p]

• [p] Our discord server - come chat with us and hear what other players have discovered about our game!
  [/p]
• [p] Our mailing list - we send free cards featuring new banter from our main characters every month. This June, everyone will discuss what kind of flower represents their love in this season of Pride.
  [/p]
• [p] Youtube, Bluesky, and Tumblr - our main social media accounts
  [/p]

[p]Thanks again for joining us for another lovely month and update, friends. We’ll see you in June with more fun updates on our game!

With Much Love,
Tanya & Emily [/p][p]Best Laid Plans Productions, Inc.[/p]