Progress on the theatre background for our cozy mystery game about quasi-Elizabethan cats. Still a work in progress, but I'm happy with it for now. #indiedev #indiegame #vndev #visualnovel

I find a lot of the standard advice I've heard about making a game for the first time just does not apply to visual novels. "Start by refining the mechanics." Doesn't really work when the mechanics are "click the option you want your character to say." #indiedev #indiegame #vndev #visualnovel

Playtest/Demo for Cat Lady: Mystery of the Masked Bandit is available for download! We'd love to get your feedback, so if you're interested in playing, send me a DM and I'll give you the password! 🙏 #indiedev #indiegame #vndev #visualnovel

We had to cut the "mouldy potato" item from our game's inventory. We really wanted to find a story reason to keep it, but alas, it was not meant to be. Mouldy potato, we salute you. 🫡 #indiedev #indiegame #vndev #visualnovel

The writer for our game has been cooking. I'm so excited -- seriously, sometimes I just want to spoil the whole game here, but I shall resist. Downside of making a mystery game is that almost everything is a spoiler 🫢 #indiedev #indiegame #visualnovel #vndev

Game development is chaotic. Sometimes we'll have new character art to share every day for a week, and sometimes several weeks will go by where all I've done is make sure the GUI is properly aligned. #indiedev #indiegame

Character Art Progression: Terrence Lakeshear. Charming bard and playwright. 😼🪶 🕹️ Try the extended demo of CAT LADY here: life-nine.itch.io/cat-lady #visualnovel #vndev #indiedev #indiegame

This #Caturday, why not sneak around Catterly Manor and solve a mystery? 🔎 👀Extended demo available for a limited time here: life-nine.itch.io/cat-lady #indiedev #indiegame #vndev #visualnovel #ScreenshotSaturday

Community Playtest Version of Cat Lady is out for a limited time! You can play through the first HALF of the game for free. #indiedev #indiegame #visualnovel #vndev life-nine.itch.io/cat-lady

The Community Playtest version of Cat Lady will be out on Jan 27 (tomorrow, or today, depending on where you are in the world!) We've been working overtime to get it done! 🥵

Some more footage from Cornelius Smith's Occult ritual. Five Days til our Community Playtest: 😻😻😻😻😻 #indiedev #indiegame #visualnovel #vndev

New Start Screen Countdown to next Community Playtest version of the game: 6 days 😻😻😻😻😻😻 #indiedev #indiegame #visualnovel #vndev

Cornelius Smith, master of the Occult, about to perform a séance: #indiedev #indiegame #visualnovel #vndev

We're working on some animation for the title screen today! #vndev #visualnovel #indiedev #indiegame

A few player character models you can pick from. The black cat is very much based on the new kitty we adopted this year, Mako. #vndev #visualnovel #indiedev #indiegame

Updated character expressions for Ambrose Catterly. #visualnovel #vndev #indiedev #indiegame

New character art for Shanker Nolan (name subject to change). #indiedev #indiegame #vndev #visualnovel

Character design progression: MOLLY MOUSER. She developed more of an attitude over time. #vndev #visualnovel #indiegame #indiedev #ThrowbackThursday

The great thing about being an indie dev is, I can look at this and justify it as research. #indiedev #vndev

I've really been enjoying the demos in @studioephua.bsky.social's Choose Wisely Festival this week. So far, Dispatch and @okno-studio.bsky.social's Deep Pixel Melancholy are the ones that stand out to me as doing something interesting with the narrative/branching path format.

New way to get out of a conversation. #ScreenshotSaturday #Caturday #indiedev #indiegame #visualnovel #vndev

Happy #Caturday. This is our newest Christmas tree ornament. Her name is Mako.

Thinking of giving our game a slightly different title/title card design -- what do these evoke for you? Which title makes you more interested? #vndev #visualnovel #indiegame #indiedev

Dev partner sent me some updated backgrounds, and I just love them. So many little details and each cat has a different face, different body language, and a different story. #vndev #visualnovel #indiegame #indiedev

#ChooseWiselyFestival has officially started! Look for Deep Pixel Melancholy among tons of other great games. store.steampowered.com/app/3694190/... #indiedev #gamedev #indiegame #gaming

new background -- heavily composited, still a WIP If you choose to do so, you can fill in for Terrence Lakeshear's missing actress. But where could she be? #vndev #visualnovel #indiegame #indiedev

Be honest. We all know a person AND a cat who acts like Lady Doncaster. #indiegame #indiedev #vndev #visualnovel

For #ScreenshotSaturday and #Caturday combined, I present to you... Max McScruff. The guard at Catterly Manor. Has a penchant for delicious red wines. Could he be capable of murder? #indiegame #indiedev #vndev #visualnovel

Lady Delphine and Opal Purwell. Patrons of the arts, fans of the occult. #vndev #indiegame #indiedev #visualnovel

What's a visual novel trope that makes you want to do this? #vndev #visualnovel #indiegame #indiedev

my stats are a palindrome. Neat!

My dev partner is now writing a scene for Alan Silvercoat (shown below) and I can't wait to see what she comes up with! #vndev #visualnovel #indiegame #indiedev #gamedev

I've been playing through the original Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc over the last few days, and I think both its flaws and its strengths are going to have a heavy impact on the design of Cat Lady going forward. 🧵 with some off the cuff observations #indiedev #indiegame #visualnovel #vndev

devlog #2 -- about improving our character creator #indiegame #indiedev #visualnovel #vndev life-nine.itch.io/cat-lady/dev...

might be a pretty small thing, but man is it satisfying to see our company logo appear when you start the game. #vndev #visualnovel #indiegame #indiedev

four games to get to know my game #vndev #visualnovel #indiegame #indiedev

#Caturday ... this is Larry. We haven't actually put him in the game yet, but he'll be in it soon.

Sometimes there's only one way to find out for sure. #vndev #visualnovel #indiegame #indiedev #ScreenshotSaturday

Molly Mouser expressions. She's your childhood friend, but could she also be a murderer? #indiedev #indiegame #visualnovel #vndev

👀 I'm intrigued.

These are probably my two favourite backgrounds. Every cat has a story. #visualnovel #vndev #indiegame #indiedev

Purebred, Mixed Breed, or Streetborn? Choose your origin. #vndev #visualnovel #indiegame #indiedev #cats

it is a pleasure to live in the same timeline as this wonderful, wonderful man

i don't care what genre it is, or even how good it is. every game that actually gets finished is a little miracle.

The Dove & Tail, not long before the murder... #indiedev #indiegame #visualnovel #vndev #mystery

The programme for Lady Catterly's Fifteenth Annual Symposium. Solve the mystery and find romance, but also don't forget to enjoy the Symposium! #vndev #visualnovel #indiegame #indiedev

There are FIVE romance-able characters in Cat Lady: NUMBER 1: Molly Mouser. The childhood friend. A local hero. #indiedev #indiegame #visualnovel #vndev

A lil' #sneakpeek at our character creator (WIP): You get to choose your origin (purebred, mixed breed or streetborn), which in turn effects the way other characters treat you, your dialogue options, your last name, and your options for appearance/clothing! #indiegame #vndev #visualnovel #indiedev

I see a lot of VN devs making mystery games, dating sims, and RPGs... this makes me think VN is really more a format than a genre in and of itself, in that it can express multiple game mechanics, genres, and kinds of emotional engagement. #vndev #indiegame

an excellent starter pack for anyone wanting to keep tabs on upcoming games! #indiegame #indiedev #gamedev