Tag Archives: writing

Dev Update: Full Steam Ahead into 2024

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Greetings everyone! Development on Serafina’s Saga: Awakened is still going strong. However, prior to digging into the latest progress I would like to remind you that the demo is currently available on both Steam and itch.io. Additionally, to whet your appetite, clips are now debuting every Thursday. The first four clips can be found on Woodsy Studio’s YouTube channel. Be on the lookout for a new clip this week!

A lot has happened since the last development update. Jezu Grandil’s path joins Reuben Jeridar’s as fully complete. Nikolaos Perin’s path is fully scripted as well. That just leaves Valerie’s path as far as writing goes and creator Jenny Gibbons is excited that Malcolm Pierce (co-writer of Crimson Spires) will be contributing to the script!

While big milestones have been crossed in the development of Serafina’s Saga: Awakened, it has been a lot of work to get there. Completing Jezu’s path involved not just a lot of blocking, but blocking action-heavy scenes. He is the General of the Royal Guard, after all. Many of these scenes have full voice acting, not just from Jezu, but fan-favorite Xavier Wolven as well. New music has also been composed for these action scenes.

As for Nikolaos’ path, the post-scripting work is well underway. The script has been converted into data tables and imported into the game. From there, a full scene list has been created and integrated with those data tables. This is the behind the scenes coding action that let’s the game know what to do based on the choices you make.

Speaking of choices, there have been tweaks to the game that allow you to customize your character when you play new character paths. You can change Serafina’s hair color and specify your current relationships with Arken and Belatrix. Serafina has a lot of fun hair color options!

From there it’s blocking, blocking, blocking to make Nikolaos’ scenes come to life. Nikolaos may not be as ready for action as Jezu, but he is quick to be sneaky. And I’m not going to spoil how he deals with these new fire effects… Anyway, as all of the script for Nikolaos’ path has been sent to the voice actors, the voiced lines are being edited into the blocked scenes as they arrive. Jenny is also looking for a new voice actress to give life to the leader of House Perin.

Arken’s voice actor, David Dixon, was recently interviewed by Woodsy Studio. The interview can be found with both text and audio options at the following links. Part 1 discusses David’s various roles at Woodsy Studios over the years, while Part 2 digs into other voice acting work in both video games and various animated series.

It’s all these parts coming together that bring Woodsy Studio’s latest game to you. Until next time, be on the lookout for new clips from Serafina’s Saga: Awakened every Thursday!

DEV UPDATE: DICING & SLICING

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Greetings everyone! In the last few updates we’ve been talking about preparations for the SLICE expo and Woodsy Studio was proud to present there this past Saturday.

Jenny at booth with art prints

Before we get into that adventure though, work has also been continuing on Serafina’s Saga: Awakened!

Creating a game such as Serafina’s Saga: Awakened means dicing the various aspects into scrumptious bits and then figuring out the perfect combination to make a tasty stew, or moreso an exciting, intriguing adventure when you load up the game on your computer or elsewhere next year.

Jezu’s path is currently simmering on the stove as the spices are blended and sprinkled in to enhance just the right moments. I hope you like it spicy because the past couple of weeks have seen not just the drawing of a new Jezu CG, but also work on a new Jezu and Serafina romance CG! If your lucky we may just include a portion of that in the next Dev Update.

Nikolaos’ path has ingredients in various mixing bowls at the moment. This is where the planning and outlining of the path takes place. As parts of the recipe come together more and more pages of Nikolaos’ path are written each week. This will also provide direction for the visual and audio aspects so as to feed your senses in every way.

In other development, a long interview scene involving Kaifu has been blocked out. You might be asking, who is Kaifu? We haven’t revealed much about them just yet, but they are an angsty librarian descended from both the god of sorrow and the god of joy, eternally torn between the two. They are also voiced by a previous writer of Woodsy Studio, Malcolm Pierce!

Additionally, the process to submit Serafina’s Saga: Awakened to various publishers for consideration has begun.

Last but not least, Woodsy Studio had a great time at SLICE expo! We’d like to thank everyone who stopped by the Woodsy Studio booth to talk about the Studio’s games, check out the video montage of Serafina’s Saga: Awakened gameplay, and who took home new artwork for their walls. For those who could not make it to SLICE, this is the latest print debuted by Woodsy Studio:

The picture doesn’t do the iridescent foil of the print justice, but I know I cannot wait to get it into a frame! If you missed out on this print you can still see some of these characters in action by checking out the Serafina’s Saga: Awakened demo on Steam or itch.io Think of it as an appetizer for your full Serafina’s Saga: Awakened meal next year!

Dev Update: Belatrix Art & New Postcards

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Greetings everyone! It has been a busy couple of weeks at Woodsy Studio as work continues on Serafina’s Saga: Awakened and preparations are made for SLICE expo.

Progress continues on writing pages of Nikolaos Perin’s story path. He is enthusiastic to have his story told, but is he someone who can truly live up to his promises?

Jezu Grandil’s story path is also coming together. With the writing of the path complete and voice acting received, scene blocking is the latest step in the process. The current focus is on interactions between Jezu and his older sister Belatrix Grandil. Belatrix is Commander of the Royal Guard at Castle Krondolee. Someone of Belatrix’ stature deserves an awesome pose and that is what we have to present this week, with assistance from Gene Kelly of Volcano Bean, a friend of Woodsy Studio:

Now that this new Belatrix art has been created, new expressions are being made to fit the pose. This latest Belatrix art is also being imported into Creature to be animated. The style of animated art seen in Serafina’s Saga: Awakened is new to Woodsy Studio’s games. If you haven’t already, I highly encourage you to check out the demo on Steam or itch.io so you can experience for yourself how cool the animated characters look!

The Jezu and Belatrix interactions are not the only scene currently being blocked out on Jezu’s path. Another voiced scene featuring Jezu has also been blocked out featuring an action-packed training sequence! I wonder who wins the most when Jezu and Serafina spar together? Speaking of action, code has been tweaked to fix attack animations for characters further from the camera. There are so many layers that go into creating the desired look and feel you’ll experience when playing through this story. Additionally, sound is just as important and a new song has been composed.

As mentioned above, time has also been spent getting ready for SLICE and I’m excited to show you the brand new postcards you can pick up at the Woodsy Studio’s booth:

The postcards feature a selection of favorite characters from Woodsy Studio’s biggest releases. I know I cannot wait to hold one in my hands! SLICE is just a week and a half away. As a reminder, SLICE will be held on Saturday October 14th from 10 am to 5 pm at The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Ave, St. Louis, MO 63108. We are excited to talk to you in person then!

DEV UPDATE: Character Portraits and More!

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This week, as with many weeks, saw progress on many aspects of Serafina’s Saga: Awakened. There are a lot of moving pieces in bringing a game to you. All aspects influence each other and thus it is never simply a matter of, for instance, completing all the writing and then moving on to the music. Creative inspiration comes from all directions.

I am not actually behind any of these creative decisions myself. You may have seen my name pop up as the author of last week’s blog post. I’m lucky to be privy to some of the behind the scenes work at Woodsy Studio and I’m just excited to be here relaying the latest on Serafina’s Saga: Awakened’s development to you. Seeing all the thought and heart come together amazes me. It’s much more than simply putting a game out there. When I play Woodsy Studio’s games I feel enveloped in the stories. I feel the need for these stories to be out there for everyone and I hope you experience them too. While I await Serafina Saga: Awakened‘s release with you, I highly encourage you to check out (or revisit!) Woodsy Studio’s most recent release, Crimson Spires, on Steam and itch.io, not to mention PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

Back to the topic at hand, I’d like to tell you more about what specifically has happened in the development of Serafina’s Saga: Awakened this week. Writing-wise, more pages have been scripted for Nikolaos Perin’s path. I have not read these yet, but knowing Nikolaos I’m guessing there is a flair for the dramatic. There is probably also some mischievous things in play considering he’s a follower of Lokke…

The “Perin” in Nikolaos Perin indicates he could be a significant member of House Perin, despite his current role as a Royal Scout in King Kallias’ army. The Duma House Leader of Perin will play a role in the story and I’m excited to bring you her portrait as the first of two new pieces of art this week:

Work also continues on Jezu Grandil’s path. As mentioned last week, scripting is complete. Turning the script into game scenes involves a process Jenny calls blocking, and some of Jezu’s scenes were blocked in this week. I’ll talk more about blocking in a future post, but suffice to say it probably isn’t what our favorite faithful general thinks of as “blocking.” It’s a combination of coding and decision-making that results in something akin to “blocking” for a stage performance.

Also as mentioned last week, scripts have gone out for additional scene dialogue. The voice talent is hard at work recording and returning their lines. Some of this additional dialogue is back already and new voice acting for Kallias has been edited into the game. I haven’t heard these lines myself, but knowing Kallias I can only imagine they are pure gold.

Music can be just as important as voice acting in generating the right feel for a story at any given point. Part of that can come from the key used with a significant difference to the feel of a piece of music just from adapting it from a major key to a minor key. This week saw the creation of a minor version of the Krondolee theme for dynamic music changes via FMOD.

Now I’m excited to share another new piece of art with you. This is the character art for the Duma House Leader of Pajari!

Finally, as we look to SLICE coming up on October 14th, progress has been made on the shiny art prints that we hope to have available that day. I’m very excited about these and hope to share more with you soon. Oh, and if you haven’t you can still check out the Serafina’s Saga: Awakened demo on Steam and itch.io!

Dev Update for Serafina’s Saga: Awakened

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Greetings everyone! It has been some time since I posted an update. But I’m happy to say that development for Serafina’s Saga: Awakened is still progressing strongly.

If you have been following me over the past few years, you know that I’ve hit a few creative hiccups. Finishing Crimson Spires and publishing with East Asia Soft was a gratifying achievement that I remain quite happy about. But as often happens after riding a big high, a rough downward slope followed after.

Malcolm Pierce left his role as partner of Woodsy Studio, leaving me (Jenny) as the sole writer and developer. Although this is how I originally began Woodsy Studio, returning to solo development after years of partnership has been a difficult journey. I was also in the midst of some heart-wrenching life changes that took a toll on my creativity.

Altogether, I had a year or more of very low creative output. I started and stopped projects that never got finished. But eventually, I decided to go back to my origins: the first visual novel I ever made. And since then, I have been completely remaking Serafina’s Saga. I’m writing all new scripts, drawing new art, building 3D environments, remixing old music, and composing fresh tunes. And I’m having a blast doing it. I’m also now working with an awesome voice cast to bring the characters to life, as well as some other creative colleagues (including Malcolm Pierce) who are helping me with some elements of the game.

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the trailer for a sneak peak at how it’s all coming together:

Thanks to all of you new and old followers who have played my previous games and encourage me to keep creating. I appreciate your patience as I work on this new journey for you, and I hope you will love it when it’s complete!

I cannot provide a solid release date as of yet, but my aim is to release in early 2024. So stay tuned!

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Time to Start Over

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It’s probably cliche at this point to say: we live in difficult times. Even so, it is true. For the past seven months (all of this year so far), I have struggled with creative inspiration. There are so many possible explanations for why I feel blocked. It’s all too easy to make a list of the prime suspects:

  • Existential depression from global pandemic
  • Year-long isolation from normal social structures
  • Loss of ambition due to reaching certain career goals (actually a good thing… ?)
  • Large emotional upheaval from experiencing huge romantic relationship changes in the last year
  • Loss of creative partnership
  • Post-vaccination restlessness to get away from my computer and related work

… I could probably keep going. But you get the point.

As this seven-month-long creative stagnation has dragged on, I have often crafted a mental list like the one above and tried to pick a single culprit. Once I do, I try to forge a plan to overcome that specific struggle, whether within my ongoing work or outside of it. But none of those plans have worked. Some of them are beyond my control. Others have no simple solution. In any case, fixing one would not fix the others.

One of the most confusing aspects of my blockage was that I normally obtain therapeutic healing through my creative process. How could I evolve from these life trials without my art? Had I changed so much that I no longer needed that creative outlet?

It was only through a long period of time, extensive talks with my former creative partner (Malcolm), and discussion with colleagues that I started to hone in on a singular problem I could fix.

  • The story I was writing no longer resonated with me.

Amidst life and world upheaval, this last problem hid more secretly, tripping all my attempts to wrestle the other demons. It was easier to blame my stagnation on the bigger issues in my life rather than the relationship with my creation itself. I DO process my feelings through story and creative expression. But the story I was trying to tell no longer expressed my feelings, even though I conceived it less than a year ago.

To give you a little more background, the story was called Incognis. It was a sci-fi romantic drama about a woman who found rare love and happiness within a polyamorous quad, only to throw it away for the sake of selfish ambition. The inspiration for this idea came from tumultuous emotions at a very specific time in my life.

Incognis Screenshot
  • I was nesting romantically with a quad during the pandemic
  • I wrestled with polar extremes of happiness and misery
  • I blamed myself for the misery–but would later realize it arose from toxic emotions from one of my partners
  • I was at the peak of self-focused ambition, having just lost my creative partner while trying to finish the studio’s biggest release yet

All of these intense emotions led to the conception of Incognis, and with good reason. During that specific period, the story of Incognis was a fitting expression of my emotional turmoil. But at the beginning of this year–around the same time I actually started working on Incognis–those personal emotions shifted. Life experiences and loved ones helped me overcome those struggles, rather than my art.

In retrospect, it becomes easy to see such patterns. But for seven months, I operated under the belief that I still needed to make Incognis. I blamed my creative blockage on that first list, rather than the nature of my creation itself. When you have been your own boss of your own studio for eight years, you learn to push yourself past periods of self-doubt and temporary blockage. But in this case, I pushed myself too far, and everything else suffered as a result.

At long last, I have decided to scrap my previous plans for Incognis. I will take some extra time to recharge and let some new ideas simmer. Most likely, I will still use a few scraps from Incognis in the form of assets and environment designs. But the story and characters will get a complete overhaul, leading to something new and truer to my current state of self.

As always, I hope you will enjoy the result, though it might take longer to create. What use is art if it doesn’t come from the truth within ourselves?

Making Games at the End of the World

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Malcolm Pierce is one half of Woodsy Studio; cross-posted from redbirdmenace.com

The Bus Station

At three ‘o clock in the morning, the St. Louis Gateway Transportation Center is a hostile environment, but it isn’t the passengers at fault. This is a bus station, after all. Some of the people there are sprawled out across a few seats. Others are a day or two behind on a much-needed shower. But there is nothing glamorous about bus travel, especially trips stretching across multiple days and several layovers. Anyone forced to put up with those circumstances deserves a certain level of leeway.

The St. Louis Gateway Transportation Center is oppressive because it is a strange little building nestled away behind the home of the St. Louis Blues. Most directions to the SLGTC force drivers to arrive at the wrong part of the facility. The heat (more on the heat in a moment) is turned on. Everyone is sweating, even people who just arrived. And there are no water fountains.

A television above the waiting area blares an infomercial for a product called Astaxanthin. Astaxanthin is a chemical compound found (in extremely tiny amounts) in salmon and greater, but not terribly meaningful amounts, in krill and shrimp, giving the flesh of these sea creatures a pink-ish hue. It is also produced synthetically and injected into fish-based pet food, to give the cheaper meal a more healthy color. It is not approved for human consumption, but it can legally be fed to other salmon (which is messed up) to improve the pink tint of the inner meat.

The infomercial playing in the waiting room of the St. Louis Gateway Transportation Center claims that Astaxanthin will reverse aging. It will remove and prevent wrinkles. It will restore eye function. All for the perfectly reasonable price of sixty dollars a bottle .

At three thirty, the infomercial mercifully ends, only to be replaced with (presumably) the late-night edition of the local news. I hear the stories you expect from the local news in 2017. A suspect has died in an officer-involved shooting during a drug bust. Hundreds of headstones in a Jewish cemetery were defaced. Donald Trump tweeted again. The high temperature today, on February 22, will be in the mid 70s in St. Louis.

I wonder what the hell I’m doing in this bus stop, waiting to go to a conference about making video games.

The bus outside honks twice and I line up inside the stuffy terminal to board. The first thing I hear when I’m inside is a passenger telling someone he just met how he lost his finger on the job and was then fired for it.

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Echoes of the Fey: The Fox’s Trail Out NOW On Steam

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The day is here, friends! You can now get Echoes of the Fey: The Fox’s Trail on everyone’s favorite PC gaming platform, the launcher we all know and love, Steam.

We’ve got achievements! We’ve got trading cards! At some point in the near future, we’ll have a demo and soundtrack DLC! Go check it out!

Echoes of the Fey – The Prophet’s Arm (Part 4) Final

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This is part 4 of a multi-part short story detailing one of Sofya Rykov’s cases prior to The Fox’s Trail. Part 1 can be found here and part 2 is here.

The second Sofya stepped into the pub, every eye in the room was on her. There were a dozen Leshin seated throughout the surprisingly spacious tavern and every one was curious why a Human would dare to join them.

Normally, Sofya felt rather comfortable around Leshin. Spending so much time with Heremon over the last few months helped with that. But she’d rarely visited their side of the border, and mostly interacted with them as minority in post-occupation Vodotsk. This was different. Now, she was the only Human in the room.

“Do you see any soldiers around?” Sofya asked quietly.

“No one dressed as such,” Heremon replied.

“Good. I don’t see Braden here and I need a drink.” Sofya headed for the bar but Heremon grabbed her arm.

“We need to be careful. There could be an ambush.”

“They tied up their horses out front. Not a very good ambush, if you ask me.”

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Echoes of the Fey – The Prophet’s Arm (Part 3)

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This is part 3 of a multi-part short story detailing one of Sofya Rykov’s cases prior to The Fox’s Trail. Part 1 can be found here and part 2 is here.

Echoes of the Fey: The Fox’s Trail is out now and available at woodsy-studio.itch.io!

“This is one of the worst ideas you’ve ever had,” Heremon muttered as he knelt down below a window near the service entrance to the Melinkov keep. “I can’t believe that you convinced me to go along with it.”

“Come on,” Sofya replied. She was crouched beside him, her hand on the windowsill. “I saw the looks you were giving that woman. You are more excited about this than I am.”

“She was quite rude, but that doesn’t justify theft.”

“The AFC stole the Arm from the ir-Dyeun. The Empire stole it from the AFC. And then the Melinkovs stole it form the Empire. We’re well beyond justified at this point.”

Heremon frowned. “I don’t think that’s how it works.” Ever since Sofya had suggested breaking into Melinkremlin to take the arm, Heremon had voiced his concerns. But she knew the truth. Heremon was beside her for a reason. He wanted to take the Arm from the Melinkovs as much as she did.

The plan to retrieve the Prophet’s Arm was relatively simple. Because the Melinkremlin keep was built after the Fey reactors, the entire structure was dependent on Fey-powered electric lights. There were no fireplaces, no torches, and surprisingly few windows. At night, the only thing that could illuminate the corridors were the neon lights that lined the walls.

Very few would-be burglars would be able to take advantage of this particular design feature. Disabling Fey power to the building would require destroying or disabling multiple transformers across Volgrad, some of which were as heavily guarded as the keep itself. Sofya, however, had an advantage.

“Any luck?” Heremon asked.

“There’s a pipe in the wall a few feet from here,” Sofya replied. She pulled her hand down from the windowsill and began to creep towards where she felt the Fey energy pulsing through the wall. All magic—even magic pulled from a rift to power gaudy lights in a human castle—left a signature that Sofya could sense if she concentrated. And sensing it wasn’t the only thing she could do.

“And you’re sure this is going to work?” Heremon asked. “Do you know what happens to most humans when they break a Fey energy pipe?”

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