Checking In - The Fall 2026 Development Update!
“Another Friday Night:” - Art by Yanina Nesterova (@nstrwa)
Hello, my darling friends! It’s been quite some time, hasn’t it? Like, four literal years since the last proper blog post here? Whoops! That’s my bad. Didn’t realize how long it had actually been. Time flies when life’s whooping your ass.
But seriously, I do apologize for the long stretches of silence and inconsistent communication. I’m really bad at that. Trying to get better. Without getting too deep into the nitty-gritty (I’ll save the *lessons* for the game itself), the past few years haven’t been too kind to your dear old friend, and I’ve been in a very comedic, yet extremely depressing neverending state of getting my shit together since then. There’s been lots of life changes, upheavals, beginnings, endings, celebrations, tragedies, the whole shebang! Not cool! But what can you do?
At the same time, there’s been a lot of great things happening in the background, and a whole lot to be grateful for. It’s really thanks to the support of my amazing friends and family who have had my back throughout this period, and without them, well… frankly, I wouldn’t be here writing this. So much love to you all - you know who you are. (i hope)
One of the many mini-boss fights in the game.
Exploring the mall level.
On that note, onto what you’re actually here for - an honest to god update on the game! Fucking finally, right? Despite all the weirdness in my personal life, the game itself has been progressing remarkably well. Slowly, sure, but hey - progress is progress. At least that’s what I tell myself to get to sleep at night. (Kidding! I don’t sleep at all. I literally pulled an all-nighter getting this very post out here. Kill me.)
More specifically, the game has evolved and grown a lot over these past few years. It’s an extremely intimate, detailed game that goes against a lot of traditional RPG conventions and takes a lot of big swings, especially once you get further into it. (Translation: It’s a weird ass game that needs its sweet time to develop. Pulling an “EarthBound”, as some say. Also, parts of it kinda sucked for awhile. Also, I was MASSIVELY burnt out for quite some time. That was no fun. Both me and the game are better now though. So I got that going for me. Hooray.)
Creating this has been something that’s brought me immeasurable joy even during the darkest periods of my life (even when it was often BECAUSE of it), and I truly can’t wait for you all to experience it when I’m finally finished. It’ll be worth the wait, trust.
A chat in the mall.
How the Item Screen UI is coming along. Still got some changes to make, but it’s coming!
Okay, sure, Jan. Everything is great. Drug dealer says drugs are good actually and you should keep buying them. Got it. So when can we buy these dru- I mean, finally play the game? Just what exactly is taking so damn long? And why won’t you ever answer your phone???
For starters, it’s because I don’t want to. People are scary and I like being alone. Hence the silence. Whoops! Secondly, at the time of this writing, I’m the only one working on this game. My collaborators - all of whom I love very dearly and are incredible people who have done incredible work, have been finished for quite some time now and/or are waiting for final tasks for the upcoming final stage of development. And with all the weirdness going on in my life alongside (currently) unmedicated god-I-hate-it turbo ADHD, it means that there’s only so much that I can get done on a daily basis with my current setup. And my God, there is still so much to do. Make no mistake - despite this being a fairly scaled-down, intimate RPG… it’s still a bloody RPG. And that’s alongside the non-game development tasks that take up a good portion of your day. There’s a reason why most developers don’t make one for their first big boy game. Because it’s insane. Unfortunately, I am also insane.
Don’t get me wrong - I still absolutely adore working on this game, and like I said, I love how it’s turning out. But having to deal with everything by yourself? It gets rather lonely.
But hey! That’s showbiz.
Exploring downtown.
Oh? Who could this be…?
Rest assured, I’m still here, grinding away at this thing every day, brick by brick, piece by piece. It’s in a really great spot and I love playing through it already. I have an intended release date in mind, but I can already feel the sniper from my PR team aiming at me, so I’ll leave it at that for now. But it is indeed coming. I hope you can be patient and bear with me a little while longer :)
More importantly - I’m currently in the process of searching for a new publisher and/or finishing funds setup! To put it simply, I have also been impacted by the four-year long reign of terror within the game industry (turns out me and Kojima DO have some stuff in common…), so if there’s anybody with a boat load of cash you’re dying to set ablaze as part of that, hit me up. I’ll provide the gasoline for free.
If you’d like, you’re also welcome to contribute to my Kofi in the meantime. Everything goes to supporting me, developing this game and finally getting it out the door. Of course, it’s not necessary, but any support is welcome and very much appreciated if you like what you see so far :)
I don’t even wanna begin to think about how much dialogue this game has. But it’s a lot. Like, a LOT. Hope you like reading, playboy.
Fighting some shit.
Beyond that, uh… I think that’s it for now? I dunno. It’s been four years since the last blog post and so much has happened. But it also feels like no time has passed at all. There are things that have happened years ago that I’m still trying to process, especially since those very things relate to what I’ve been developing in the game and the whole theme of “It’s okay not to be okay”. Like, how do you make a game about keeping up hope in the darkest of times when you yourself don’t have any left to spare? It’s a weird situation. One that took me awhile to process and solve. But I’m mostly there. Still weird though. Everything about this game has been weird. But again, that’s showbiz. At least the postmortem is gonna be one for the books.
What else about me, your dear friend, specifically? I am a human being after all. Well… I’m still a filmmaker/writer/artist at heart. Working on my personal website to showcase that stuff (the password is ‘kiki’.). I still do freelance video/photo work. Been getting deeper into my photography. Working on some stuff on the film/screenwriting side of things. Still watching a lot of movies. Like, a lot. I cook a bunch too. Oh! I also got to see the season finale of my favorite show, Saturday Night Live, IN-PERSON a few months ago because of this game (it may or may not be an influence in a few ways hint hint wink wink). Some other stuff too has been going on too. Too much to list. Here’s a photo album for funsies.
Also, I made a full ass, interactive art installation based on this game back in November of last year. Did I mention that? I totally meant to mention that sooner. Like, last year. How have I gotten this far without mentioning that? It was part of an exhibition called “Free Play” showcasing some pretty cool Ohio-based game developers. It was dope as hell. Wish y’all could’ve seen it. It’s over now though. Oh well. Maybe I’ll make another blog post or video talking about its creation. Might as well, right? There’s a reason I participated in the exhibition pre-launch. I’ve already got some videos in the works talking about some behind-the-scenes elements and design process. Keep an eye on the socials (especially my newly created TikTok) for when those come out. But I digress. Much love to the Cleveland Institute of Art and the whole staff that brought this to life. Fingers crossed I can bring it to other cities pre and post-launch too. Maybe at like a PAX or some shit. We shall see. ;)
Also, I have another cat now. Her name is Daisy. She is very cute. She also likes to piss outside her litterbox and onto my very expensive figurines. Not so cute. She’s alright though. Here’s some pictures of her and the (old and still somehow alive?) Kiki.
Yeah, that’s my actual monitor, by the way. I’m aware of how fucked up it is. It’s more fucked up in person. It’s very annoying to use while developing a game like this. I have no real reason to bring that up other than fact that I wanna bitch about it. But again, I digress.
Anyway, that’s it for now. Like, actually. There’s still so much I have to say and would love to share, but fuck me, dude, this is already long enough bro. I really been yapping this entire time. How do you summarize four years in a single blog post? I meant to post this months ago for fuck’s sake. Is anybody even still reading this? Oh well. Guess I’ll tell you about the other bullshit later. Keep following the socials for more info in the meantime. Got some fun stuff planned for those channels, so stay tuned.
As always, thanks for the continued support, patience, and encouragement - it truly means a lot. Love you all. Wishlist my game. Tell your friends. Give me compliments. Drink some water. Be excellent to each other. And tell your mother I said hello.
I need to sleep.
<3
-Davionne
—
Davionne’s latest recommendations:
noFi’s Hot Girl Hyperpop DJ Set
Watching “Coyote vs. Acme” in a theater with the homies (it’s in my top 10 of the year so far)
Liam Triforce’s Shantae retrospective
Telling your friends you love them