Replaying Scarlet Hollow in anticipation of the next chapter and oh my god, my creative block is fucking *shattered*. Apparently I wanted to make...."Urban Soft Fantasy" characters, a la Life Is Strange, and all the different choices are sending my mind whirling. I somehow had no idea there were possums living in the Cousin's drawer. Which is just one of the many reasons I guess I can't ever play without Talk To Animals again, I cackled when I could just casually bring up "oh yeah, the possum in my dresser said someone's squatting in my house. Maybe a ghost." I also decided my Cousin was from Gravity Falls, and the thought of travelling literally cross-country to end up in another paranormal hotspot, this one specifically tied to their blood, with both supernatural Traits, is *really* funny to me. The universe really said "Yeah, you aren't normal, get to the story already"
Also I will sell my soul to romance Tabitha, yes I know it's not happening. I just think the dynamic between my Cousin and their cousin is really sparking this run, and the themes of old blood and all that only make it sweeter
I'd add my right leg to the sacrifice pool for a Tabitha romance (if only man... But yeah that's not happening)
Hellooooooooo my birds,
First of all, happy new year. I wish you the best. The best of everything: the best pair of socks, the best chair, the best trip, the best precooked meal, the best all-night sleep.
I'm sending this to the queue, so you can read it while I'm recovering from the possible hangover I'll have.
Grab my wing and fly with me.
It's been a year since Kandinhale was published on Itchio! And honestly, I still can't believe it. It was a seven-month project that was created with a lot of love and has been well received, which makes me very happy.
I would like to start by thanking everyone who has played it privately as well as those who have taken the time to leave a review. All support is greatly appreciated in this type of project, and as a small artist on the Internet, it encourages me to keep sharing my art!
I'd also like to thank @starleska for giving me the idea to write this post. I wasn't quite sure what to do for the game's first anniversary and sharing information about the process and the game seemed like a fun way to reveal a little more about it!
1. WHAT IS KANDINHALE
Kandinhale is a short narrative game in which you'll have to escape from the clutches of Kandinhale, the company that owns almost the entire consumable market in this idyllic candy world.
2. WHERE KANDINHALE CAME FROM
I don't think Kandinhale's themes are new ones, and they've been seen more often in fiction, especially lately, given the times we live in. I believe, however, that each person approaches them differently based on their experiences and for me personally, it means having moved from one stage of life to another.
The game is not intended to be horror, but since platforms force you to label everything (as is logical) in order to classify it into a category, I filed it under this genre.
Since I finished college, I have deeply missed all my friends and that student life that seemed eternal at the time. Now everyone is very busy with their respective jobs, and I feel lost and alone! The energy of the people I love is being sucked dry by a poorly managed company that I won't mention in this post, but which has greatly affected their lives. I firmly believe that Kandinhale is that outlet, just like what its antagonists represent: nostalgia disguised as desire, expectation as disobedience and passive resignation with some madness in it.
It also came about during a period of my life when I was working on many projects that didn't fulfill me, and eager to create something of my own, I decided to devote my free time to learning the basics of the RPG Maker engine. (I recommend it to everyone, it's very accessible!) I come from a background in comics and film production, so getting into videogame programming meant starting from scratch, but I discovered that even with basic knowledge and a lot of tutorials in other languages, it is possible to create something narratively compelling (at least for you!).
I don't like to go into detail about my intentions in what I create, as it conditions the opinion of the player/viewer, so I'll just say that my aim was for its cartoonish aesthetic and conventional characters to contrast sharply with the themes it addresses. The absurdity of turning an already artificial product into something more processed, updated, and commercial. I wanted this to be reflected both in the artstyle and the absurdity of the narrative. Kandinhale is a mixture of genres that overshadow each other, contradicting and complementing themselves in equal measure.
It was an experiment that was very well received, for which I am very grateful!
3. SOME UNUSED SPRITES
I have TONS of unused sprites, so I'm going to share the ones I think might be interesting in this post.
4. LEVEL DESIGN
The entire map underwent drastic changes from the outset. To make it intuitive, I had to remove all the unnecessary elements from the protagonist's cell, leaving the player with only the essentials to figure out how to escape without making it boring.
Another thing that caused a lot of problems was the stairs in the central hall. The beta testers weren't able to identify them as stairs, and I had to make more changes than I would have liked. Even now, I'm still thinking about how I could improve them.
The cell corridor also underwent changes.
5. THE MESS WITH THE COVERS
Finding a cover that worked was quite a challenge. There was a moment when I gave up, but everything works out in the end, and the truth is that despite how tortuous the process was, I was happy with the final choice!
6. CORRECTED AND UNUSED ART
Now that I look back, I realize that there could have been many more corrections than I made at the time.
7. OLD ART
Obviously, such designs didn't come out of a 2024 project. The characters have been around since late 2019. The concept has been refined and reused. I'm a little embarrassed to share this, but here are some VERY old sketches.
I think that's all I can share for today. I'm sure there are many things I'm leaving out and I feel like this post is a bit short (or maybe not, i'm a yapper sorry), so I want to remind you that my Ask box is open if you want to ask me any more questions about the project, and I also have a Strawpage for that purpose!
Thank you so much for giving Kandinhale a chance! And thank you so much to everyone who shares it and shares their art from the game. I'm always so happy to see everything you create. I hope to continue sharing new things from the project and sharing new projects with the same enthusiasm in the future. Happy Holidays! Enjoy your vacation and keep creating and sharing what makes you happy! :D
i love hitting characters with the disability beam. we should all be hitting characters with the disability beam. my favorite activity
