It's time for a public project update, and this one is jam-packed with news and lots of little sneak peeks ✨
A lovely addition to the key art
Players who tried the demo noticed that despite being promoted to love-interest, Ascanio was still absent from the key art... that's not the case anymore! Aside from his addition, everybody received some extra love. The key art was already beautiful, but it's now perfect!
Ah, and... once you complete the game, something might change in the title screen🤭
Carolise's new wardrobe
Work on the sprites has been completed! This included new arm poses, expressions and, in some cases, outfits.
The main character got the most love with two additional outfits—a lavish dress in green velvet and a pretty blouse for the hottest months ahead. Enilia, the resident seamstress, can help you acquire both!
She can also help you come up with a gift for Sylas—a new blouse to replace her threadbare one! This outift is exclusive to Sylas' romance😃 More characters got their wardrobes spruced up, but I am going to keep some things a mystery! 😀
Development progress
It something is not on the list (like background art), it's because it has been completed and implemented ✨ here's what still needs to be done:
Proofreading: only the last chapters still need to be proofread!
Voice line recording: almost completed! Once I have all the lines, audio-editing will begin in earnest.
Implementation: this process takes the word script and turns it into code, checking for logic, variables and whatnot. Not the most exciting part of the job, but it's the backbone of the game!
Release date clarification
Sigh of the Abyss will release around September! No fixed date yet, but I will publicly announce one as soon as I'm able to!
You have until July 1 to play or re-play the voiced demo of Sigh of the Abyss ✨
Want to know more about the demo? This announcement has got you covered!
I hope you will enjoy this taste of what the full game has to offer. Have a lovely day! ✨
Demo bugfix 1
Hello everyone! I hope you have been enjoying the demo ːsweetelfː
Today's patch includes the following:
Changed a lone word spelled in British English
Fixed one missing credit in the dedicated UI
Play the voiced demo now!
Surprise! Sigh of the Abyss joins the Steam Next Fest with a voiced demo!
The Steam Next Fest is an event centered around upcoming games and their demos. It's a treasure trove of incredible gems, and every year I have a blast discovering new games to look forward to ✨ I'm really excited to join this year—it's my first Next Fest as a developer!
I had these four goals in mind while crafting the demo:
Concise and accessible: I wanted it to be a somewhat contained experience that doesn't alienate new players who have not experienced Shadow Bonds / are not familiar with the characters.
A showcase of the voice acting: 70% of the demo is voiced, so I'm pretty pleased with the end result.
I was keen to introduce Ascanio to everyone. He's the only love interest not featured in Shadow Bonds, and I wanted everyone to meet him, especially because he became a love interest thanks to the support of the Kickstarter backers.
I really wanted to show more of the romances!
While the demo is somewhat representative of the full game, it's also... not.
Character creation has been simplified.
You can customize the name of the Envoy and determine her personality in the demo, but her powers have been pre-determined since they are only featured in one minor choice. This will not be the case in the full game—she will be fully customizable there, and her powers will have more impact!
Choices, branches and lines had to be cut to streamline the experience.
This is the direct result of the new context behind some scenes! A major choice has also been cut. In the full game, infiltrating the Halls is not mandatory! You can also heed Sylas' pleas, let the matter rest & find a subtler way to find out what happened. This slow-burn approach spans multiple days and is not voiced, so it was cut from the demo. When you play the full game, events will play differently!
Three romance options are available in the demo.
You'll be able to enjoy the company of Sylas, Alpheon and Malec. Their scenes have been taken from early in the game, before committing yourself to your beloved, and feature variations based on your romantic preferences ✨
I hope you will enjoy the demo! I would love to know what you think ːcharmwitchː I have created a new section in the forums to collect feedback—you can find it in the game's main hub.
Have a lovely day! ✨
Sigh of the Abyss joins the GAMES WITH WINGS showcase 📣
I am thrilled to announce that Sigh of the Abyss will be featured in the Games with WINGS showcase, airing for the first time ever this Friday March 1st at 10AM PST | 1 PM EST | 7PM CET on Twitch, Youtube & the Steam Women's Day Sale Event Page ✨ Hosted by award-winning creator, Ebonix, and Krista from WINGS, the showcase will include gameplay trailers (including that of Sigh of the Abyss!) and several exclusive interviews with talented women developers behind popular indie games.
Have you seen the new look of the game's Steam page?
I redesigned the Steam page of Sigh of the Abyss to tell you more about the game and showcase some of the amazing art: Click on the widget below to take a look, and wishlist the game to ensure the game's announcements will show up in your library hub ✨ https://store.steampowered.com/app/2025310/Sigh_of_the_Abyss/
Have a wonderful day, and don't forget to check out the stream 👋
Sigh of the Abyss joins the Storyteller's Festival ✍️
Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well 😃 Today's announcement is jam-packed with information—let's dive right in!
Release date
Sigh of the Abyss has a release date! Mark your calendars, the game will become available June 26! A new voiced demo will release some weeks prior as well, and I will try to make save files compatible between the main game & the new demo! Sigh of the Abyss will be priced at $17.99 / € 17.49 / £ 14.99 £ / A$ 26.50 / CDN$ 23.49 (and make use of Steam's regional pricing tool 😃).
Progress
All the backgrounds of the game are complete, and so is the soundtrack! Have a taste of both in this video about the sights and sounds of Carolise: I am currently editing the script, which is also being looked at by the proofreader. It's... 396k words in total?! 😳 Once the script is ready, coding will begin in earnest, and selected scenes will be given to the VAs to receive voiced lines ✨
The Storyteller's Festival
Sigh of the Abyss has been invited to the Storyteller's Festival! If you enjoy narrative games, you can't miss this event! Head over to the festival's Steam page to discover amazing new games, demos & more ✨
Thank you so much for reading until here. Toodles~
June/July update ✨
Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well😄 I recently posted this update on Kickstarter; since it's public, I thought of sharing it on Steam as well!
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Summer Solstice passed by in a flash, and sweltering July arrived in a blaze.
In their starlit chambers, astronomers study the sky to announce the exact date of the aphelion—the point of our planet's orbit that is farthest away from the Sun. Rumor has it that on that day, the influence of the Triune Goddess wanes; the nobility revels in luxury without putting on a pious façade, leaving the Citadel for the shade of the Forester's Hide. Stretching between the river Valse and the city, the Forester's Hide is a vast woodland dotted with natural springs and pools. Its canopies give shelter to the rowdy boar, the laughing fox and the nocturnal dormouse—beasts to the peasant, but quarries to the nobles. The Hide is where they compete to prove their hunting prowess, returning with trophies to be devoured over a glass of wine or mounted on the wall.
Those that turn their eyes away from the hunt prefer to dance instead, with flowers in their hair and fur trimmed fineries; some chase love, others chase powerful alliances and political marriage.
What might bring the protagonist into this verdant realm of scheming and diplomacy? The reeds that surround the creek shield you from sight with their gentle dance.
If you have romanced Alpheon in Shadow Bonds you might find the illustration above familiar, but there are some differences in the angle of his head and in the hand that cups his face, which brings me to...
Development progress
After a short break, character art and illustrations have picked up the pace again! Alongside new art, updates are being made to old pieces to have them fit the full game, like in the example above.
Most of the OST is done, with only some arrangements left, and the majority of the background art pieces have been completed as well. Woot woot 🎉
When it comes to writing, this "Forester's Hide chapter" is a massive, branching monster of choices, consequences and some points of no return. I'm having a lot of fun working on it! The challenge is to keep the scope of this asset-heavy portion manageable (she says, already resigned to the fact that several characters will need a costume change).
Updated content warnings
The content warnings here and on the Steam page will have to be updated to reflect the previous chapters and the den of debauchery I'm currently writing. Here they are:
On screen: murder, suicide, blood, consensual discussion of sex, coarse language, legal prostitution, implied nudity, mind control;
Text only: consensual sex, public execution, gore, legal alcohol consumption, stalking, poisoning, torture, infanticide;
I wonder if a list like this would be enough, or perhaps it'd be better to be more detailed while still trying to keep spoilers to a minimum. Let me know if you have a strong preference for either way!
And now, a palate cleanser...
...in the form of a sneak peek~ Alpheon, June's golden child, is featured in two of them this month 😉 I had to share more than one expression, so I turned it into a GIF (which looks better here than on Kickstarter!)
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Thank you for reading thus far! I'm so excited to share more of this world with you 😄
I'll see you in two months with the next public update which will be all about the game's sapphic options—Sylas and Marané! For now, toodles ✨
FULLY FUNDED! Now... onto stretch goals?
Hello everyone! It's time to celebrate... 🥳THE CAMPAIGN IS FULLY FUNDED!!🎉 Thank you so much for the outpour of support and kind words! I'm stoked to bring voice acting to Sigh of the Abyss, and can't wait to show you what the voiced game will be like. I'm so excited!!
What's next?
Let's talk about stretch goals! If the campaign reaches €15k, a fifth romance option will become available in the game! Who might this mysterious suitor be? Even big spoilers get small hints... 20% of the stretch goal funds will be used to commission illustrations for the romance and modify the above illustration to give it a romantic spin. The remaining 30% will be used to voice act the romance-specific scenes and add more voiced scenes in general to the game!
Greetings, Envoys! In the world of Sigh of the Abyss, tea is a rarity known only to Marané and a handful more.
In Kabaret, however... https://store.steampowered.com/app/1525580/Kabaret/ Fellow WINGS-funded game Kabaret releases on April 5th! This visual novel is steeped into Southeast Asian myths and folklore, and is the story of a boy turned into a monster. You will: 📖 Talk to monsters & learn their stories 🍵 Brew tea 🕹️ Play minigames To celebrate its release, write in the comments the name of your favorite tea blend to have a chance to win a key! You can do this in this post or in the Shadow Bonds one (or both, to double your chances)!
I'm thrilled to show you two previews of what voice acting would sound like in Sigh of the Abyss!
Listen to Malec, Marané, Ascanio and the protagonist: Listen to Sylas, Alpheon, Atri and the protagonist: Having the character talk truly makes a game feel more alive, more engaging and immersive, don't you think? That's why I launched a Kickstarter campaign to bring voice acting to Sigh of the Abyss!
I would love your support—even just sharing the link helps a ton :D Thank you!!
