Chapter 04 part 03 releaseChapter 04 part 03 release
Hi everyone!
Just letting you know that the final part of Chapter 04 is now complete. This piece is quite short, but the story is beginning to get more heated... ;)
I've decided to continue the game release in smaller pieces to ensure a shorter wait between updates. My life is still in a bit of a mess, but at least I've been able to work every day even if not for long periods of time. Work on Chapter 05 begins today, hopefully the next update will be done soon!
I hope you enjoy this update as much as I enjoyed creating it!
<3: Yume
Chapter 04 Part 02 Release
Yakuza Kiss Chapter 04 Part 02 Released!
Hi everyone! Just wanted to let you know that I've managed to finish another slice of chapter 04. Life has been dealing me some pretty messed up cards lately, but I'm determined to finish this project even if I take it slow.
I hope you enjoy the new bit as much as I enjoyed making it! Thank you so much for the patience and support, it means the world to me. <3
>3: Yume
0.4.2 (Chapter 04 Part 02)
Chapter 04 part 02 release! :D
A New Yakuza Kiss Release & life update
Hi everyone!
It’s been over a year since the last update, and almost a year since my last communication. A lot of you, understandably, must have thought Yakuza Kiss had been abandoned, but–I’m still here and I’m still working on it–the pace of development is just painstakingly SLOW. There are many reasons why, but among other things, we had our second child last year. Being a stay-at-home parent during these turbulent times and trying to get anything else done has been… challenging. Like so many other families, we´ve also had health and financial issues bogging us down. At times, it's been incredibly difficult not to get cynical, but I’m trying not to get discouraged by the slow pace and hopefully, neither will you.
Today I’m releasing the first part of Yakuza Kiss chapter 04. Please let us know if you run into any issues with the build. We have overhauled most of our code in hopes of tackling some performance issues. This chapter is also the most “asset heavy” part of YK thus far. I will very likely continue partial releases until the development speeds up again.
I truly hope you all have a safe and great year 2022, and again apologies for the slow updates. Hopefully you will all stick with us until Jeong’s story is finished.
Thanks for all the love and support! Yume / Pink Potion
Yakuza Kiss Partial Chapter Release
Hi everyone!
After a long wait, we can finally release the first part of Yakuza Kiss Chapter 04! Let us know if you have any issues with the latest build. You can join us on the Steam Community forums.
Thanks for all the love and support! Yume / Pink Potion
Chapter 03 is available!
Hi everyone!
It's been a looooooooong time coming, but finally Yakuza Kiss Chapter 03 has been released! I wrote another post to explain why it's taken this long for an update, you can read it here if you are interested.
This update features: - chapter 03 - bug fixes to earlier chapters - new visual effects - performance optimizations - named save points for chapter 03
I want to thank each and every one of you for the support and love you've given this project. I couldn't do this without you! I hope you enjoy chapter 03 and continue to support us as we continue on to the next chapter.
I've been gone for almost a year. There were many reasons for my long absence and silence, but in a nutshell: my personal life took a very dark turn, and just when things finally started to brighten—the pandemic began. Overall, it's been a year where everything has felt like a constant struggle, and honestly at some point I really wanted to just give up.
I'm still busy picking up the pieces and gluing them back together. But, I'm feeling so much better and I'm also making steady (yet slow) progress with Yakuza Kiss (chapter 03 has been released today!). This project has always been my "happy place" and I'll keep working on it until it's completed, no matter the constraints on my time and energy.
You've been incredibly supportive and understanding, and I know the constant delays and my bad communication have been frustrating, leading to a lot of you thinking this game has been abandoned. I tried to hide my problems and wait until I had good news to give you, but I never imagined it would take this long. So, going forward I'm going to do my best to keep you updated even when things aren't going well. As for a project timeline–all I can say is that it's going to take time. I've learned my lesson about how life can change without a moments' notice and false promises only create stress for me and disappointment for you. I'm also working solo on all of the content from music to graphics so everything depends on me, and I'm not willing to sacrifice quality over speed. So please bear with me! I'm trying very hard to make the end result worth the wait.
So once again, I apologize for the wait and the silence, and I'll try to do better in the future. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the latest chapter of Yakuza Kiss!
At the start of this year I wrote a short and happy post about us beginning our tests for chapter 03. I also mentioned that we were going to have our first child in a few months time. At the time, I was utterly oblivious and honestly thought that within a few months time, life would continue as it was before our son... Well, I was wrong. Turns out, the cliché about life never being the same after you have a child–is true.
I will try to spare you all the boring details, but these past 9 months have been a whirlwind of exhaustion and chaos. During this time my own life has been on pause, I've had no choice but to neglect myself, all my work and this project. I'm still struggling, trying to combine my life as a stay-at-home-mom and game dev, but I can see light at the end of the tunnel.
Currently I can only work for short periods of time, mostly during the night. This of course means that Yakuza Kiss is definitely not going to be finished this year, but as bad as I feel about having to delay the project, I'm not going to give up nor take shortcuts and lower my standards. I will keep chipping away little by little until Yakuza Kiss is finished. I'm immensely thankful to everyone who've offered kind words and encouragement here on Steam and on our Patreon–I couldn't do this without you!
I hope you will forgive the delay and continue to support Yakuza Kiss. I will do my best to make it a game worth the wait.
Happy holidays everyone! - Yume, Pink Potion
ps. You can check our social media for the latest updates or if you have urgent questions!
It's been another long grind to get here, but we're finally beginning the test rounds for chapter 03! As we did with earlier chapters, we will test the new chapter in parts with the help of our test group and patreon test group, and when all parts have gone through with flying colors, we will release chapter 03 here on Steam. As always, the best way to keep posted on our progress is through our twitter account.
I'm sure some of you are frustrated with the pace of our updates, but please be patient with us. Our team is small and I keep adding new features to the game with each chapter, and to be honest... I sometimes go a bit overboard with things - f.e. remaking and tweaking graphics for days; It's a constant battle between quality and production speed. Still, I hope that the long wait will be worth it and you can see and feel the love that I'm trying to pour into each scene of the game.
Another reason for our slow pace is a huge life change I and my partner are currently going through and preparing for: In less than a few months we're going to become parents. :) It's obvious that this big change will affect the development of Yakuza Kiss - especially during the first few months - but I will do my best to mitigate this as much as possible. We will finish this project no matter what! I just wanted to let you know what's going on behind the scenes.
Thanks so much for the support and love you've given this project. It really keeps us going when the going gets tough.
<3: The Pink Potion Team
To keep posted on our progress you can check out our sites below. If you wish to offer extra support and gain some rewards in the process, please check out our patreon page! We offer Steam keys, test build access, making-of videos, visual novel tutorials and more!
PS. I sometimes miss messages posted here on the Steam community, so please don't hesitate to send me an email or contact me on twitter!
October update & Patreon information
Hi everyone!
Just wanted to pop in and give you an update on our progress and discuss some other things too.
First off, chapter 02 launch went quite well and we haven't had that many bug reports so far. Please let us know if you encounter any issues! The story text hasn't been edited yet, but if you spot any typos or mistakes, you can also report those.
Currently I'm revising the chapter 03 script and creating a to do list for this month. We're changing our work pipeline in an effort to finish this chapter faster than the horribly delayed chapter 02. We'll see how it goes and if you're interested in daily updates, you can always check our twitter.
I'm also trying to figure out which features we'll add in chapter 03. My dream list would be:
- manual save
- full screen mode (remove UI and other screen elements so you can just look at the images)
- conversation history (create a log where you can read your previous discussions)
It remains to be seen if we can actually deliver all of these improvements in this chapter, but at least some of them will be included. Please let me know if you have any feature requests and what you would like to see added next.
Finally I'd like to tell you a little about our Patreon. For those of you who aren't familiar with Patreon it's a website that offers you the chance to become a patron of a project you like - support the project and you get rewards. Our team is small and since Yakuza Kiss is in an early development stage, we have to work on other projects as well to cover our development costs. For that reason Patreon is a great tool for us to speed our development and also to connect with our players. Below is some more information in case you're interested.
Pink Potion Patreon Tiers:
1$: SHATEI: Get access to patron-only feed and exclusive digital content!
- Access to a feed of patron-only content
- Exclusive digital content (wallpapers, images, comics, etc.)
- Connect with other patrons
3$: KYODAI: Learn how to make a visual novel!
- All previous tier content
- Access to visual novel tutorials
- Access to Yakuza Kiss making-of materials
- Six month bonus: If you're a Kyodai for six months, you will get the next Pink Potion game for free
5$: SHATEIGASHIRA: Play new content before it's released to the public!
- All previous tier content!
- Access to the Yakuza Kiss test builds (requires that you already own the game)
- Special mention in the end credits of the next Yakuza Kiss chapter
- Six month bonus: If you're a shateigashira for six months, you will get the next 2 Pink Potion games for free
10$: WAKAGASHIRA: Get a Yakuza Kiss Steam Key!
- All previous tier content
- Get a Yakuza Kiss Steam key (1 x key/month)
- Special mention in the end credits of the next Yakuza Kiss chapter
- Six month bonus: If you're a wakagashira for six months, you will get the next 3 Pink Potion games for free
[Please note that the Wakagashira tier price might change since it's linked to the current Steam store price!]
20$: KUMICHO: Become a Yakuza Kiss lover!
- All previous tier content
- Get your name permanently added to the "Yakuza Kiss Lovers" section of the game end credits
- Six month bonus: If you're a Kumicho for six months, you will get the next 3 Pink Potion games for free & you get to be a side character in Yakuza Kiss (you also get the Live2D character file)
I will keep you posted on our progress here on the Steam forums, but for daily updates it's best to check our twitter!
<3: Yume & Pink Potion Team
You can reach us here on the forums or check out our pages on social media:
