Sepia Tears News

Short update this time, since last week was both a holiday weekend and the local anime con. I made it through Day 3 of the script, and I'm happy with the progress so far. I found that I still mostly like the pacing of the story, but some of the small talk amongst the cast was awkward, so I'm just having everyone banter a bit more.

For those wondering, there's more art/music work going on in the background, but I'm waiting til we have something concrete to show before announcing anything. That's all for now!

- @scarlet_string

Apologies for the late update — last weekend was a holiday here and I got caught up with going outside.

As of now, the UI is fully functional, which means my next task is to go through the old script and edit. I know a couple people commented that the old UI for the music room looked better. I'll see if I can figure out how to give the new buttons a more hand-drawn look, rather than a boxy CSS look. UI feedback is always helpful so please keep the comments coming!

For reference, the old vs new save/load screen:





I liked how the old one was a modal screen (with the game still visible in the background), so I might try to do the same again.

The new achievements will surely be an improvement. I realized it makes more sense to just create one per chapter, and the SDCGs are perfect for that.





(Yes, that extra pixel in the corners bothers me too, now that I'm seeing it against a dark background)

Story-wise, I'm leaving most of the original scenes in place, but there are a few areas that would be fun to expand. The overall banter amongst the cast could be improved. I'm still really happy with the ending — don't think there will be any changes to Day 7.

Once this is done, I'll brainstorm an epilogue chapter or two!

- @scarlet_string

Last week was somewhat quiet — spent some time learning Ren'Py things that I probably should have known the first time around.

Ren'py's new built-in UI is a lot cleaner than the old one. I've started rebuilding the menu screens to fit the new UI. As an example, here's the old music room...



And here's the new one!



I fixed some obvious problems, like how the original music room spoiled the names of songs you hadn't unlocked yet. But, I'm still not much of a designer, so it will take some trial and error.

- @scarlet_string

​Hey everyone! After getting some other dev work out of the way, I finally have the time to focus on this Sepia Tears expansion​ promised last year. The update will be released as a DLC, and the plan is to include trading cards and whatnot. If all goes well, I'll post weekly updates here for fans to follow the game's development. Always feel free to suggest changes!

To start, I've been re-reading Sepia Tears for the first time in years, and I'm keeping a notepad of things to change. I know one issue is that the pacing is slow, especially when you're small talking with characters other than Myra because they don't advance the plot. I'd like to rewrite a lot of the banter just to make it more interesting. I don't think I should "speed up" the pacing too much for fear of rushing to the end without developing the characters — I just need more interesting interactions within the cast.

I'm keeping an eye out for places to add new scenes. If I don't find enough, I'll probably replace Myra's Diary with extra epilogue stories. I'll have to brainstorm the kind of gimmicky date ideas that Myra would suggest. Just be warned, we might not have time to draw summer outfits, so these epilogues might only be set a couple months in the future...

That's all for now! (Excuse me while I spend a few weeks getting used to Steam's devlog format).

- @scarlet_string

Hey! It's been a while.

It's been over 3 years since Sepia Tears first came out on Android and desktop, and over a year since it first hit Steam. In that time, the game has reached over 200,000 downloads across all platforms. That's a lot more than I ever expected from my humble freeware project! ːtorielː

A few people have requested a paid DLC, sequel, or some other expansion for Sepia Tears. Within the next year, I'll be able to expand Scarlet String Studios into a full-time pursuit — and that means plenty of time to deliver on those expectations.

For those who want to support Sepia Tears in some way, do any of these ideas catch your interest?

• Digital copy of OST* - $5
  
• Short (1-2hrs) DLC side story (potentially featuring Rin's not-quite-crush as he tries to worm his way into the group and ask her out) - $5
  
• Partial remake with some new assets (e.g. improved background art, UI, trading cards) and new story chapters, like the above idea or a Lillian route - $10
  

* OST is unfortunately only available in mp3 320kbps as I don't have access to the source files
** Lillian route is a real possibility, but I'd have to brainstorm some ideas
*** Steam only allows Trading Cards for free games if the paid DLC costs $10 or more

If you'd rather vote anonymously, here's a strawpoll: https://strawpoll.com/3wx3aefa

None of these ideas/prices are set in stone, but I'd like to get an idea of what people are looking for before planning ahead. Looking forward to this! ːmomocatː