So, to kick off our Signed and Sealed with a Kiss #SSWKTAKEOVER week. Here is a VERY brief description of one of Prince’s exclusive scenes.
These are the BARE BONES of the scene. We haven’t even begun to explain all the things that could go wrong with breakfast in bed.
But, so many things can go right too.
A tidbit about development is that when writing up concepts Ashe gave each scene a title. These titles are usually terrible puns or just point blank terrible titles. Some of their favourites are, “I ain’t no holler back Jack” “Old Flames, New Ashes” and “I’ve Maddy’d up my Mind.” Yeah, we rolled our eyes at that last one too.
Thankfully they won’t be in the actual game because we are seriously trying to not encourage this bad habit of theirs.
We have moved full production of SSWK to Reine Works so we decided to post an early update just to get people more acquainted with the new (not so new) surroundings. While on the surface this might seem like a big change the team hasn’t changed at all. The writer is the same, the artist is the same, the project lead, the programmer, the chibi artist, and the annoying dumb-dumb that writes these updates are all the same. As you will see in the coming weeks, the changes will ultimately be for the better and we have some really exciting plans ahead of us.
To get everyone comfortable with this change, we will be running a week long set of exclusive sneak peeks and reveals called #SSWKTAKEOVER. This is also to thank you all for your amazing amounts of patience and reward all the good faith you’ve put in us.
For a full explanation of these changes, check out the update HERE.
Back to the actual update…
We have some really nice things to show you this time around (just as we promised). First, some epilogue CGs [as seen above] that we are just totally wild about. One of them has a special variation that you can’t see, but it’s worth the wait~
It’s kind of boring to just tell you that we are writing this or that part, so we’ve decided to include a quick sneak peek at one of the scenes. Sure, we still have [A LOT] of editing to do, but we’re pretty sure this bit will stay!
We will be including script sneak peeks in every one of our updates from now on. The writing is a BIG part of a VN, so you should get a taste of what you’re in for, right?
On another note, a few people were asking if there would be *cough* certain kind of scenes in this VN, and well… let’s just say biting isn’t the only thing MC will be doing to BF. wink wonk
Again, if there is anything specific you want to know, tell us! Also, if you have any burning questions that just can’t wait, be sure to message us on here we will happily answer them!
After careful deliberation, the remaining core members of Anomalis have decided to disband after the completion of ‘An Otaku’s Guide to Santa’s Reindeer’.
The reason for this decision is due to the persistent absence of Anomalis’ Founder and CEO. This has left the group in a state of ambiguous leadership and doesn’t allow current members the power necessary to continue making VNs under Anomalis’ name. In the founder’s absence, we have maintained consistent production of projects due to the three remaining core members stepping up and managing the Anomalis so you shouldn’t experience any changes to the way manage. We have managed to maintain consistent production of projects since their absence due to the three remaining core members stepping in and dedicating themselves to seeing projects completed as promised.
Detailed below is how this decision will affect our projects.
What does this mean for Signed and Sealed with a Kiss?
As of today, Signed and Sealed With a Kiss will be developed entirely by @reineworks , who originally funded the idea. There is a full breakdown of the implications of this change on our Here.
What does this mean for An Otaku’s Guide to Santa’s Reindeer?
In good faith, we will continue the production of AOGTSR and release it as planned under Anomalis. This decision will not affect the production of the game. After its release, Anomalis will officially disband.
What does that mean for your other projects?
This is in regarding ‘For Better or Worse’ and ‘Beauty and the Brothers’ as well as two officially unannounced projects ‘Lovelie Deception’ and ‘Holiday Lovers’. These projects will be canceled and will not be put into full production.
Where possible the assets for these will be placed in Creative Commons as to not waste their potential or the artists’ efforts.
Final Comments
This news might at first seem disheartening and shocking but, as we are finding out, the solutions and ultimate result of this decision have paved a way for multiple possibilities for the current team to work together in another capacity and potentially under another name.
Ultimately, there are a lot more pros than cons to this decision and we hope to prove it once we put all these solutions into motion.
We would just like to start this update by mentioning NaNoRenO. As some of you know, we started AOGTSR as an entry for NanoRenO2017 and that means it’s been a year that this game has been in production. Which is wow, “Where did the time go?”. We doubt we would have had the motivation to start this project and get a demo out in such a short amount of time if it hadn’t been for the NaNoRenO.
This is why we would like to offer a shout out to everyone involved in organising it and also to those currently taking part in NaNoRenO18. The team can’t wait to play all the entries for this year and we’ve already picked out a few we have our eye on. So, to all the devs in the final push for NaNoRenO18
BEST OF LUCK from all of us at Anomalis.
If you have ZERO idea what we are talking about then check out the game jam page on itch here. Also, check the entries once the jam is over~
Alright… Back to business!
General Update
Well… to be honest, there’s nothing particularly exciting to announce. But here we go!
❄ Art – We have yet to find a colorist and so the amount of CGs will probably have to be cut to the BARE minimum of maybe one per route. Unless we can find some more help between now and release this is the unfortunate position we find ourselves.
If you are able to help with art then contact us.
❄ Route Scripts – Slow month for some and a super amazing month for others. As you can see Dancer and Blitzen’s route are back on track. Thankfully, Dancer’s writer is recovering nicely and is working hard on her route. We welcomed a new co-writer which is why Blitzen’s wordcount has increased so much since last month. Well done to them all for their amazing work this month and hopefully, we can keep this momentum going.
❄ Music – We will continue our previews of the OST this month so keep a look out for those on our tumblr. Thank you to those who commented on the first preview track. The composer, Avium, really found it helpful and loves hearing some outside opinions.
❄ Voice Acting – It’s been a long time since we mentioned this subject so we thought we’d throw a little light to where we are at. Our Voice director has been having computer troubles (isn’t everyone T-T). We had hoped to get out some voice previews by now but that is again going to have to be put off a little longer. We apologise for the delay in that regard.
However, we have recently posted about a project that both Maddy, the voice director, wrote and one of our lovely reindeer VAs has performed in. So be sure to check it out if you want to hear the VA in action.
Happy New Year, which seems weird to say considering it’s February but this is our first SSWK update of the new year so it only seemed fitting to start off this way.
Before the new year, we got our new updated demo out ahead of time and are really excited to tell you that this year has been very productive so far.
We haven’t got much exciting news to tell you more than things are getting done. Art is being drawn. The script is being written. Chibis are being chibbified. We wish we had something more exciting to write about and if you have any suggestions for what you want to know about the progress then let us know.
For this reason, monthly updates aren’t really that useful. So, expect the next update April 10th and hopefully, by then we might have something more interesting to tell you besides the normal “stuff is getting done” updates.
IIRC it is to do with blood vessels the smell is stronger where blood vessels are closer to the skin cause they warm the perfume and help it to diffuse into the air. Quick web check and yeah the neck and wrist are pulse points and that makes the perfume last longer. Also try behind your ear. That is my preferred place for perfume because jewellery shouldn’t touch perfume since it discolours it.
Oooh, that’s more complicated than I expected. I thought it was just, like, putting it on the neck makes it more noticeable of a smell for anybody near you. Huh that’s kinda interesting actually! Thanks!
Writing|| Random events have been coming along this month with two more random events completely drafted. Ashe has been working like a madwoman on both SSWK and AOGTSR.
Art|| Discussion into adding some new chibbi CGs into the next demo update has been in discussion and Aly has been working on several new chibbi CG sketches.
Programming|| We’ve been working on an updated version of the demo to include examples of the stat building feature. Jackie has some really fun things planned.
In other news|| We’ve had questions about whether SSWK will receive a Spanish translation. Thanks to our in-house meme master, Polo, this is definitely on the cards. The second batch of love letters have gone on queue. They were some really heartwarming messages in there. Thank you for all of them.
Thank you for being patient with us and Happy Holidays~
NOTE: Expect next update February 10th 2018. See you in the new year everyone~
Zino is working on a new set of sprites. Can you guess who for? They are small and always seem to be standing on boxes… at least that is what we will be saying when we cheat with their heights in game. If we didn’t you might not be able to see them through the GUI.
What do you think of these little guys? And what would be some totally holly elf names for them?
Comet’s route outline is complete and ready to go into the writing stage. Dasher’s and Vixen’s route are in the writing stage. Cupid and Donder route outlines are still underway.
A reminder that we have a special opportunity for fans to submit spoken lines for any of the reindeer and MC. So far, we’ve received a lot around the subject of antlers… 0-0
… Ya’ll really want to know more ‘bout that, huh? Lol. Well, we will just have to wait and see what information about that particular subject makes its way in game.
Open Positions on AOGTSR
Background Artist – This is our top priority. If you are willing to join as our BG artist you will NOT be required to redraw or style match any of the current BGs. We would like for you to focus on creating the new BGs. This can be discussed further with whoever feels like helping us out.
Programmer –
We’ve decided to look for another programmer to join the team to help keep progress moving on both AOGTSR & SSWK.
We currently use Ren’Py and would want anyone who applies to have experience with this program, especially with programming in voice files.
Writers – We still have routes available that need writers. We also understand that this is a big commitment and so it is possible to become a co-writer where you will share the writing responsibility with one of our core writers. GXB & GXG routes available
Routes still Available for Lead Writers: Rudolph, Blitzen, Prancer & Dancer. Possibly Donder.
Routes Available for Co-writers: Rudolph, Blitzen, Prancer, Dancer, Donder, Vixen, Comet & Cupid.
We will also be looking for a Script Editor and Audio/Voice Editors in the near future. Perhaps even a Composer for some festive music but that’s just our Christmas wish…
In other news, Ashe just got a brand new desk.
It’s a beautiful desk. It has its mother’s legs~
Please send in your congratulations!
Expect updates for ‘An Otaku’s Guide to Santa’s Reindeer’ on the 25th of each month. In the meantime play the AOGTSR Demo.
So, we could have done an AMA Reindeer style but, honestly, all you have to do is send us a message on Tumblr and chances are we’d do that anyway. If you really want an reindeer to reply then just put @ and then the reindeer’s name.
ANYWAY…
…instead of that, we’ve decided to do something a little more involved for our AOGTSR promo event. This is your chance to be a part of the process and submit lines for each of our characters to feature in ‘An Otaku’s Guide to Santa’s Reindeer’.
All you have to do is fill in the survey with as many or as few lines as you want. You can do this as many times as you wish and are not limited to one submission.
Depending on the turn out we can’t promise ALL submitted lines will make it into the final game. If your line is chosen we will be presenting in-game screenshots of it on our tumblr.
Mégane à trois 