HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Thank you so much for taking the time to check out this devlog and my game, Catalyst: Blind Faith. I hope your New Year is even better than this one!

As we move ahead, I'd like to recap on the insane amount of progress that's been made since I started development back in March 2022. This has been a labor of love through and through— I have (no exaggeration) put hundreds of hours into this game's development so far, and have no intention of stopping now! In addition to the demo's development, I have been working insanely hard on getting the full game off the ground. Part of that is finalizing accessibility options, writing, and more!

A huge update will be launching for Catalyst: Blind Faith on Saturday, January 7th, 2023, and there will be more on that at the end of the devlog!

Due to just how much there is to cover, I'm going to break down this yearly recap into sections. We'll touch on Art, Music, Sound Effects, Programming, Writing, Health, Community, and lastly What's Next. There's some large images in here, so it's shorter than it looks. Promise. ;^)

ART

Consistent and immersive art direction is one of the most important things to me in game design, especially with a visual novel. When designing the placeholder art, I wanted to provoke the same feelings and mood that the final art will. My art has come a long way since I first started drawing a couple years back. While professional sprite and background artists will be providing the bulk of the art for the game, I am very pleased to be providing the UI, menu screens, and a few backgrounds as well!

Our logo has gone through a makeover since the game's inception (left is old, right is new). Looking forward to getting character art of our protagonist on here, too!

These isometric maps are dynamic, and actually can change depending on what locations you have visited in the game!

I could easily make an entire devlog on the sheer variety of unusual character designs, backgrounds, objects, concept art sheets, and every other reference I have cultivated for the pros to work with for the final game! It's been a lot of fun. You'll recognize some of these from the demo already!

I hope this recap is a fun peek into all of the hard work and care that's gone into the art, but this is a very small snippet of what's to come. The first commission for character art begins in January and I am VERY excited to get those full character sprites in the demo!!

MUSIC

Possibly the most time consuming endeavor in this game's development has been finding the right placeholder music. I have listened to hundreds of tracks to find ones that not only convey just the right vibe— but tracks which also match my vision for instruments that are associated with each character. We have piano for our protagonist, for example, and you may notice throughout the demo that the predominant, atmospheric, orchestral music heavily features the piano. This association is something I truly cannot wait to provide with the composer for the game for each major character, along with recurring motifs, and some very special themes that combine them!

Out of the twenty-eight placeholder music tracks featured in the demo, I want to mention my absolute favorite: Add-Ons by Devtrap, which is our featured main menu music. The melancholy, thoughtful piano that begins the piece is punctuated by an abrasive snare, which then swells into a distorted, pained, and deeply emotional orchestra. It's exactly this kind of moving, beautiful piece that parallels our protagonist's internal and external battles— and maybe the introspection that the player can find through their playthrough, too!

If you would like to listen to Add-Ons outside of the game, you can find it here on Youtube. Devtrap's itch.io page can also be found here. We also have a long list of credits in the menu of Catalyst: Blind Faith, with more links there as well!

SOUND EFFECTS

The dry and crusty sound of old pages flipping. Creaking wood under reluctant footsteps. The roar of an avalanche.

Sound design is pivotal in video games. When properly used, even total silence can deeply enhance the player's experience. I started working on sound effects at the same time that I began development for Catalyst: Blind Faith, and had absolutely no experience with them until now, but have taken on a passion for making the sound in this game the best it can be.

I truly hope you enjoy the ludicrous number of immersive, crisp, lovingly balanced sound effects that I've picked out or mixed myself. We have a killer accessibility feature that allows you to disable ones you don't like at will too! (squelching_guts.opus is a classic though, I swear.)

I'll be having some help with the full game too, given how much an experienced hand will help to make the sound design even better. Our next devlog will have even more on that!

PROGRAMMING

It's insane to think that I had never programmed before starting on Catalyst: Blind Faith. It's a testament to the strength of Ren'Py as user-friendly software, but also a whole lot of hard work, brain-wrinkling thought, and the unbelievable help of the Ren'Py community. I once again want to thank Lezalith, Oliver, Fen, and every other legend of a programmer who has helped me make this game what it is.

Just in this year, I have programmed the following into the demo (as in, contained in what you can download now), which continues to blow my mind lol:

• Dynamic click to continue buttons and dynamic UI based on the usage of the player's abilities!
• A deeply complex, branching narrative, with over 100 unique scenes across over 40 separate choice menus.
• A color-changing name for our protagonist, based on your relationship values with each deity in the pantheon.
• The deity relationship system is also tracked in the player's custom journal, with dynamic entries for each relationship value.
• A robust History menu, which also tracks changes in the protagonist's name while invoking the Gods' powers.
  
• A hand-written style Inventory system, with items that can play a role in the narrative (for better or worse)!
• Social Contacts are tracked in the player's journal based on what events have transpired, complete with sketches of who you've met!
• A Notes section of the player's journal with a chronological summary of events you have experienced.
• A page in the Notes section of the journal where players can enter your own notes.
• A dynamic, isometric Maps page that updates based on which locations you have visited.
• An optional filter at the start of the game to toggle off routes which contain extreme content.
• A secret branch with a hidden CG and even more additional content (which is deeply hidden, but is tied to one of the 8 demo endings)!
• A unique accessibility screen to toggle any sound effect or ambient noise in the game on or off at the player's will, separate from the master volume sliders.
• Preview of the text speed in the options menu!
• Rich Discord presence!
• A custom, persistent Gallery, featuring all iterations of all seen backgrounds, sprites, CGs, items, special unlockable momentos, and endings across all playthroughs.
• Achievements on the main menu for each of the 8 demo endings found.

This is far from exhaustive, since this upcoming update next week is heavy on even more accessibility options and programming features!

WRITING

You might be able to tell that I love writing. :^) Bear with me! We're nearing the end of the devlog.

Bringing this story of compassion and overcoming impossible odds to you all means the world to me. It's the reason why I started making Catalyst: Blind Faith to begin with— but I want to bring more to you all than a solid story. I'm hoping to share an experience! One that you decide on, based on your own preferences, your own history, and the kind of story that you want to tell. That is the beauty of a choice-based medium. That's the awesome thing about visual novels, and that is what I will continue to cultivate as I write the full game's script and work on this monster of a project.

Below is an outline of every choice or variable dependent scene in just the common route of the full game. I have written well over 200k words for the game's script so far, and have been working incredibly hard with editors and beta readers to make it exceptional.

Making each one of these choices, routes, hard branches, and endings meaningful is of the utmost importance to me. It will take some time to bring this all to life, but you all deserve nothing but the best I can write!

HEALTH

This year has been one of adversity for me, especially in terms of health and wellness. Consistently working on this game has been an escape for me in a lot of ways, particularly given how many visits I've had to pay to the hospital and doctor, and during a brief stint of unemployment due to those issues. I am deeply grateful to say that the underlying issues that were plaguing me have been addressed, I am on the mend, and I have been able to do better than ever! In the coming months, as I continue to heal, I will be working an excellent new job, and should be making huge strides in continuing to improve my quality of life. 

It's worth mentioning that with my work/life balance back on track, I have game dev steamrolling ahead. It's something I can focus on in a consistent and healthy fashion and can truly enjoy in addition to balancing the other aspects of my life. I wanted to include this section in this year's update not just because of how important getting my health back in order has been for me, but also for ensuring the stability of this game's development— which has a very, very bright outlook as we move into 2023.

COMMUNITY

All of my family, friends, fans, and just nice people passing through who have supported me during this last year means more to me than words can possibly say. The Catalyst community is a constant source of joy in my life, from something as simple as hearing from you guys in Discord, to seeing someone take time out from their busy lives to play and leave a rating on the game. We have had memes, fanart, let's plays, streamers, and so many heartwarming comments that I have taken to hoarding them like a dragon and looking at whenever I need a burst of motivation.

Clockwise from top left: Father Richard Anscham by Jacq_Attakk, rating by ysoscel, meme from Jse, Celegwen by ActuallyASign, meme from Florin.

On top of the AMAZING individuals who have done alpha testing, beta reading, and shared their thoughts with me via streams and reviews here, I am VERY proud to share that Just Write Studios is off the ground AND now has an official logo!!! AAAA!!!

I'm really happy with how the logo came out. Really.

More importantly, the AMAZING individuals working with me on Catalyst: Blind Faith in Just Write Studios are going to be featured in our next update. More on that below!

WHAT'S NEXT

In one week's time, on Saturday, January 7th, 2023, I will be releasing a huge update to Catalyst: Blind Faith. It will contain a huge assortment of accessibility options, several dozen edits to the script for clarity, finalized tweaks to the game's programming, makeovers on the starting screens to the game, a new splashscreen with the Just Write Studios logo, and EVEN MORE.

I'll have a big devlog next week when the new update drops, which will contain a very detailed look at all of the goodies inside.

In the new year I will be focusing very heavily on getting the artists finalized for the game, commissioning all of the pieces we need, and hopefully getting the music composed as well! Commissions are starting in January for the sprite art, as I find the best talent possible to bring my characters to life, and while those individuals are hard at work, I will be writing the full game's script across all routes, in order to get exactly what assets will be needed.

It's killing me to sit on this update until next week lol but I want to make sure it's the best it can be for you all. Please feel free to leave a comment on the main page for Catalyst: Blind Faith, or play the demo in the meantime! Shoot me a message on the Catalyst Discord, let me know your thoughts or if you want to say hi! Check out my Patreon or Ko-fi for art, music, writing, or just to share your support! I'm also on Twitter and Tumblr, if that's more your speed! I love hearing from you guys any time.

Thank you so, so much again for reading. Have a very happy New Year! See you all in 2023!