I thought that if these devlogs just included the development updates, they would be quite short and boring, so I've also included some personal creative ramblings. I'll start off with the dev part!

Actual Development Update

• I've done the big revisions on Liam's route and passed it on to my editor! FYI - each route will be about 80,000-100,000 words long and will contain 100+ unique illustrations.
• Illustrations are still well underway. We're up to 60+ for Liam's route alone, now! Most of the route is storyboarded as well. 
• Although I did put in quite a bit of time solidifying a style prior to development so that this wouldn't happen, I decided to change how I do some of the character rendering, particularly the hair. Since I do want to make good progress on Liam's route, I will focus on the new content, but I will work on and off redoing some of the prominent Act 1 illustrations and the promo art in the new style.  I've updated a few of the artworks that I already did for Act 2. You can see a sample below.

The Anti-Coming of Age Story

Why do we have so many teenagers saving the world? 

Okay, I'm joking. Media where teenagers save the world is usually aimed at young people. It's coming of age. It's empowerment for the audience; young people want to see MCs like themselves. I loved younger protagonists when  I was in school. 

But what would actually happen if we entrusted the fate of the world to a child? Where the heck are all the adults? Why would they allow this to happen? 

These are ideas that I explored in Actala. Sei becomes the Hero when he's 15 years old, thrust into the position by adults who either want a solution or a scapegoat for their problems. He's woefully unequipped for his newfound duties, with zero combat or leadership experience. His inexperience is interpreted as incompetence, and it has deadly consequences. 

Eight years onward, and the experience changes Sei for life. He hasn't grown to be the confident, all-powerful Hero. Every day he struggles with the guilt and trauma of his ordeal. He hides this under a cool, taciturn facade, but it doesn't change the fact that he's a fundamentally broken person. And as the game starts, we begin to see the consequences that this has on his psyche and his actions. 

"Coming of age" stories are common, and rightfully so! They're universal tales that anyone can relate to and enjoy. But I think that the opposite, the "anti" coming of age story, is also valuable. Not everyone has a good childhood. In Actala, none of the characters grow from childhood to adulthood. Instead, each one is deeply scarred by the events of their youth. As adults, they need to overcome those traumas.

They don't need to grow; they need to heal.

That's all for today! See you next month. If you want to hear from me more often, I'm quite active on Twitter @chattercap.

Oh, and before I leave, I wanted to ask: is anyone interested in Android/Mac/Linux builds?