🗞️✨ Dev Update – Lucky Us News + Crunch Time Notes

Hey everyone! 💖 I’ve got some important updates about Lucky Us that I wanted to share with you all!

✍️ New Teammate on Board!

First of all, I’m super excited to announce that someone has officially joined me to help with the story writing and world-building for Lucky Us! 🎉

This is a big relief for me, as it allows me to focus more on the visual side of things — especially the art and animations for the demo. 🖌️💻

🕓 About the April 30th Demo Date...

While having help has definitely taken some pressure off, I’ll be honest: I’m still feeling pretty stressed about getting everything ready in time for the April 30th deadline. 😥

Lately, I’ve been producing animated CGs every 2–3 days, which is super exciting, but also really draining. I’m doing my best to stay optimistic, but I want to be honest with you all — this pace might not be sustainable in the long term, especially for my health.

That’s why, starting this week, I’ll be posting small weekly updates so you can stay informed about the state of the demo. 📝✨

If we get close to the deadline and things still aren’t 100% ready, I’ve decided I will refund everyone for the month of May as an apology, and let you know exactly how many more days I’ll need to finish things up. 🙏

I don’t want to release the demo with missing assets or placeholder/draft CGs. I’d rather take a little extra time to make sure everything feels polished and complete. I want you to experience the story the way I truly envision it! 🌟

( CG WIP)

🐛 Bug Fixing + Stretching Minigame

On the tech side, I’ve been fixing bugs! 🔧
Playtesters have only reported minor visual bugs so far, which is good news. However, I still need to finish coding the stretching minigame, and I suspect that might come with its own bugs... 😅

So I’m setting aside extra time toward the end for betatesting and polishing. I want this demo to feel solid when you play it!

🏋️‍♂️ Trainer Sprite Reveal!

I finally finished the sprite for the coach/trainer character! 🥳
It took a bit longer since I’m currently working away from home, and I don’t have access to my usual setup. Drawing on a tablet instead of my main PC slowed me down a little, but the progress is steady!

The good news is — he’s already implemented in the game! I’m currently testing him to make sure his sprite behaves well and doesn’t break anything. 😄

Here are some lil sneek peeks 👀💦

Hope you like him! 💦🦁

✍️ Story Progress + Big Rewrites!

Thanks to the help of the new writers on the team, we’ve managed to rewrite almost 5,000 words this past week alone! 😳

These changes are really improving the story, even though they’ve added a bit of extra delay on the programming side. I think the new direction feels stronger and more consistent, and it makes me even more excited for what’s to come!

Early feedback from proofreaders has been very encouraging — they find the characters engaging and are eager to learn more about them. 💬💖

📚 Story Scope – It Just Keeps Growing!

Just to give you a little peek behind the scenes — I’ve now reached 155 pages of writing just for Mason’s route! 🐺💬
The story keeps growing as I keep building out the world and characters more deeply, and I’m really trying to make sure everything feels alive and meaningful.

Even though the demo will only give you a small glimpse of that full journey, I want you to know there’s a much bigger world planned beyond it!

💭 Final Thoughts

Despite the stress and tight schedule, I’m genuinely proud of how far I’ve come learning how to build a visual novel from scratch — from writing and coding, to art and animations. It’s been a huge journey, but one I love. 💪🎨

So far, I’ve completed almost 20 CGs (!!!), and I’m still going! I truly hope all this hard work pays off, and that Lucky Us and its cast will be something you’ll enjoy just as much as I’ve enjoyed making it.

Thank you all for your patience, support, and kindness. It means the world to me. 💕