Status Update #20 - June 1, 2025
A huge thank you to everybody who played Episode 1 of Jezebel in its first week! By the by, in case anyone missed it, the Android version is now live as well! There are some issues with the UI at present, but I'm working to get them resolved ASAP. The actual game works perfectly well.
Going into game development totally blind with no prior reputation as a writer can be a very solipsistic experience; the entire time I was making the first episode, it was almost like the game both didn’t exist, and did exist but was possibly terrible. It’s wonderful to see the positive reception and to know that neither of those things appear to be true! The game hasn’t exploded overnight or anything, nor did I expect it to, but from what I have gathered the people who liked it really liked it, which is a great sign for the prospect of growing its fanbase in the future! A special shoutout to anyone who subscribed to the Patreon, and to anyone who gave it a positive review on sites like itch.io or F95Zone! Both of those things are so vital when it comes to getting this thing off the ground early on!
That being said, on the other end of the spectrum, I suddenly understand why every creative type seems to have an intense “fuck the haters” mentality now. I didn’t receive too much in the way of negative feedback (negative, that is...not constructive!), but some that I did was reaaaallly dumb. On one hand, I’m extremely pro-criticism and always have been; on the other, I’m not sure the point of negative criticism is for it to reach the creator its directed toward, so much as it is literally everyone else. I view it as a sort of collective exercise in understanding what makes things good, and what makes things bad, like a prosecutor and defense attorney working together to find the truth. I’m worried that, if I were to read negative reviews in the future, I’d eventually run into one that I didn’t think was dumb…one that would shake me and make me go “damn, they have a point”, maybe even make me want to alter my fundamental vision for the game. As such, I don’t think I’ll be doing so going forward.
As for the further development of the game, anyone who is invested can continue to look forward to these progress reports every week! I plan on previewing episode 2 as I make it as well as being as transparent as I can about where I’m at with things. Further bonus scenes are going to be released once a month for Matriarch-tier Patrons…I’m thinking the first one will be out June 25th. It’s taking a bit longer than I would have liked because it features a new character I only just got the artwork for, but I hope it will be worth the wait. It’s also going to canonically take place during the events of episode 2…if the player considers it canon at all. Every bonus scene is going to be Schrodinger’s canon; whether it takes place during the events of your Jezebel save is completely up to you!
I know this post is getting obnoxiously long, but I would like to share what I’ve actually been up to! I’m starting the process of getting the game onto Steam, and I have been writing Episode 2 every single day. I have a unique opportunity here, as writing Duvessa is so much fun that I rarely get burned out. I can 95% guarantee that the second episode will be out within 2025 and, depending on its success, I’ll hopefully be able to release at least three more in the year 2026. 😊
That’s all for this week! Thank you for playing, and thanks to anyone who put up with all of my ramblings and read the whole thing! The picture attached is the very first sketch of Duvessa, aka the first bit of art ever produced for the game! :D