Hi everyone, September is almost done! Here’s a look at what’s been worked on for Harlequinade~
The first draft of Harlequinade is nearing completion, with Giles’ route on its epilogue section and Lynn’s route still in progress. I’ve been focusing on Giles’ route to get a feel for how long the game should be and how the routes should go, rather than jumping between both routes. I’ve also tried incorporating more choices that don’t change the endings but just how the scene plays out, to give you more control over Colette. There are still several choices that affect how the game plays out, though—I’ve already written a few dead endings as well as a bad ending for Giles’ route for those of you who like to make questionable choices~
Once the first draft is done, I’ll be going back with some revisions such as better integrating the side clowns Polly and Betty! Here’s a look at their introduction on the day after the demo ends.
A carnival with just a Harlequin and Pierrot isn’t enough—we need a whole circus. That’s where Polly and Betty come in! They’re both performers & coworkers at the carnival alongside Lynn and Giles, who you’ll be able to meet not too far into the common route. Polly is based on Pulcinella and Betty is based on Brighella, who are both stock characters from commedia dell’arte.
Polly (left) will have a star-themed design with red, white, and pastel yellow & gold. Betty (right) will have a more muted green and white design. They’re not love interests but I think they’ll be fun additions to the cast and make the carnival feel more like a real place you could go to!
I also worked on new CGs for the demo portion for both Lynn and Giles while they’re performing. You can see Lynn’s here in this speedpaint!
This art will be added to the demo soon in a small demo update.
Last but not least, we have some new merch artwork for the upcoming Kickstarter! Here’s Giles and Lynn looking incredibly cute~ The chibi at the center was illustrated by paradox064 and the chibis on the outside are by TeaZea.
You can follow the upcoming Kickstarter to be notified when it launches soon.
Until next time~
— Arimia
