Hazelnut Latte Progress Report 7/22/25 + New Hires!

Hello everyone! Welcome to another progress report!

Writing

This week, I began reviewing the script for v0.14 and identifying areas for improvement. I have been writing small talk scenes for Robbie and other characters who felt they needed more, like Hazel, since you can visit him at home. I'm going to keep reviewing everything and seeing where I can improve! I'm definitely going to add a few more small talks if I can think of some good stuff.

Though this week has been challenging. Since Wednesday, until about 30 minutes ago, my bathroom has been a construction war zone. A dip in the floor meant that the whole floor had to be ripped up and fixed. Meaning I haven't had a bathroom! It's been... a special kind of suffering, but I've been through worse. Still, it's hard to work when I need to travel to go to the bathroom, and people are drilling right next to my room.

Coding

I finished adding sprites, but now I've written new conversations, so I'll need to add those too. This past week, Noba has been reviewing all the information for the update and determining what is needed. He has also been offloading his Unity work to Lotus, while I've been working on the Ren'Py script. So this is still slow going, but it'll ramp up soon.

Unity is also looking awesome! Every time I get a progress video from Noba, Lotus, and Koth, it feels like Christmas. I'm excited to share what we've been working on.

Art

Kokman is currently drawing some new characters for the Unity build. We have two new hookups that will be added with Unity, so we're figuring out their designs.

We are also going to be giving Robbie a bit of a makeover. His face has some proportion issues that we want to address. I adjusted the sprite to illustrate the problem. Just a bit of tinkering and he'll be perfect.

Note: We haven't changed Robbie yet; this was done to illustrate the issue so we can perform the actual fix.

New Hires

Now for some news!

I am excited to announce that PaperPlaneBomber is joining the voice cast as the new mystery hook-up character being introduced in v0.14!

As per usual, the voice cast is providing the delightful moans and whimpers you hear during the lewd scenes. I am keeping the character a secret, but here is a little tease of him. Paper's work blew me away, and I can't wait for you all to hear him moan in v0.14! He actually gave me a lot of material to work with, so I'll have to bring this new character back a few times, even to use all these moans.

Last but not least, I am delighted to announce that Pamika Young is joining the team!

Pamika is an incredibly talented artist and is taking over drawing backgrounds, and will also be working on Special Moments! Her work totally blew me away, and I am so hyped to have her on board. Having another artist on the team will help free up Kokman and increase our output. She'll be working on a part time basis since getting an actual industry artist is a lot, but even then it will be a massive boon to the game.

What does this mean for backgrounds? Pamika is going to create backgrounds that complement Kokman's art style while also being fresh and new. She is going to start drawing new stuff, but will eventually redo every background in the game and then do all the backgrounds from now on. We'll see how long this process takes, which is why we're starting her on new things first. But I anticipate that when she is done, Jade City will look astonishing.

If we find backgrounds are going at a good pace, or if we run out, Pamika is on board to also draw Special Moments. As you can see from her art, she can do it all, and in different styles. I'm so stoked to see what she can whip up!

Wrap Up

Hiring real artists is very important to me, as the industry is being dominated by Generative AI slop. I don't just want to take this money and sit on it, spending it on Horse Girl Gacha games. (The IRS certainly takes a big enough chunk) But I want to use it to give real artists jobs and to continue to improve this game. We are now a team of six, not to mention the people who work on a commission basis, like our animator and our VAs. If you include them, we have 14 people working on the game.

This game is a full-time job for me. Not just writing it, but also leading the team. Your support is what allows us to hire new amazing people like Paper and Pamika. Pay our current incredible team in Noba, Lotus, Kokman, and Koth. Allow me to hire real Voice Actors like SukeBancho, Sed21, Scarlet Garden, and Amelia. YOU keep this game afloat, keep us growing, and keep us 100% authentically Human.

It means a lot to me, and when I can grow the team and tell an artist, "Hey, I will pay you what you're worth to make art at a stable income," it's one of the best feelings in the world. You all make that possible.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your support, and Stay Rad!