wet spring & hot summer

right off the bat, the eta for update 0.3.0 is august 8th, 2026. i'm going to see what i can cram into this update without hitting collapse levels of exhaustion. i know my limits now, and because 0.2.0 is out of the way, most core parts of the game are done. the hard stuff is gone. some of the things i need to share here might have a stronger tone than normal, but it's best to get them out of the way now

i've been posting much more to my socials lately, mainly on my X/Twitter. if you haven't already and are interested, please give it a follow! it would mean a lot to me. a lot of times it feels like i'm just sharing stuff into a void. i'm sticking to twitter since i don't really enjoy bluesky, and a lot of creators i follow still primarily use twitter anyway

while it's still not perfect, i'm getting much better at music theory and composition. music is still always the best part of development for me. my first goal for this update is to fill in the loud silence in a lot of the scenes, as well as redo some old tracks i made a few years back. i'm unsure if i should upload the ost as i finish each track, or if i should wait for chapter 1 to be fully done. one of my midi cables also broke during a song i was working on, but it's fine, i have a backup somewhere

i'm including my art in the nsfw cgs starting now, alongside @pancakesbcakes art. if my perspective sucks, woops :3. it's exhausting to say "i'm going to go study art now," burn out, and then repeat the cycle

"insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

i got a bit disorganized with the nsfw scenes in nokf. some have been planned for a while, but i've just been winging others. i'm not the best writer either, so i might change how these scenes are presented in the future. for 0.3.0, i'm planning to include at least one straight scene with kay and one gay scene with salem, the panther professor. i might have messed up the pacing a bit by not planning out the mid-story scenes ahead of time, since i mostly just focused on the general plot progression. i'll do my best to fix this. this is my first nsfw game, so please bear with me

while most of my everyday anxiety has toned down, i'm still actively fighting my fear of posting nsfw art, especially since my kinks can be a bit heavy for some people. if you can handle the kind of stuff @Ralekarts draws, then you'll probably enjoy my work. if anyone starts complaining about my content, especially when it's completely legal, you're just getting blocked. i really couldn't care less about your opinion on why a drawing upset you

anyway, i'll try to be less negative and tone things down next time. i just really needed to get that off my chest

i've added a new hidden archive section. i'll add a button for it in the future, but for now you can check it out by adding /archive.html to the end of the url. i'm going to start keeping just the 2-3 most recent posts on the main page

07/05/2026

0.2.0 update release recap

i suggest reading the update devlog if you haven't yet. i’m honestly just relieved to finally have this update out. i really appreciate all the feedback i’ve received so far. it sounds like people are actually enjoying the new content, and that makes me really happy

ever since the update went live, i haven’t been able to stay awake for very long. i’ve been feeling completely exhausted and i’m not sure if i actually got sick or if it’s just burnout. to be totally honest, i ended up rushing a lot of features and tests at the last minute. i always planned to fix those things, but i definitely overestimated how much i could get done in a day. that’s on me for not managing my time better

update 0.3.0 is going to introduce monster transformation abilities, which is a core mechanic for the game. you can expect some brand new enemies along with a familiar one from the prototype. this next update will be way more focused on gameplay, and i have some fun stuff planned for it. the meadowhop section is being pushed to 0.4.0 since it needs a massive amount of work. i’m hoping my art and writing skills will be a lot better by the time i get to that part

before i can even think about 0.3.0, i have a lot of bugs to iron out in the 0.2.x patches. the two biggest issues right now are the weird controls and inconsistent action inputs. i really value a good user experience, but i’m still learning how to actually build that. i’m figuring it out as i go, so i apologize if things feel a bit clunky for a while

i’ve realized that i keep forgetting to properly plan out where the nsfw content fits in. i might need to rethink parts of the current update so there isn’t such a huge gap without that content. i’m planning to ask some friends for advice on how to make those scenes feel natural instead of just shoving them in. i don't want it to feel like an afterthought. it’s going to be more of a focus moving forward, but story and gameplay are still my top priorities

i won't have an exact eta for 0.3.0 until the 0.2.x patches are finished. i want to be a lot more relaxed with my deadlines this time around. since the game has a solid foundation now, it shouldn't take a whole year like 0.2.0 did. it won't be out in a month either, mostly because i want to actually spend time improving my art instead of just settling for what i can do right now

i’m still excited that i made something people enjoy, and i’m glad there are still players looking forward to more. that said, looking at the analytics after the first week was a bit upsetting. i mistakenly thought the update would get as much attention as the prototype did, but it only got a few hundred views and about 80 downloads. i’m not looking for fame, but having people notice my work was a huge motivator for me

at the end of the day, it just means i have a long road ahead of me. it’s a wake up call that i need to focus more on building my socials and getting better at art. i don’t post enough art or nsfw content to really draw an audience in yet. i wanna take art seriously and grow my presence online before i dive too deep into 0.3.0

02/09/2026

of love and dreams to share

hi! thanks for the patience this past year and a half. i avoided itch during the prototype stage, but development stayed active. i still post seasonal updates to my socials and blog. i'll update here more often now, though only when there's a good chunk of progress to show it's still in development

as a reminder, i’ve officially renamed the game to Night of Kawanuki Fest. i wanted the title to directly match the name of the festival in the game

the 0.2.0 update deadline is february 4th, 2026. it includes the entire prologue, the start of chapter 1, and nsfw art. i’m currently finishing 4-5 environment models, rendering and rigging sprites, setting up cutscenes, and fixing a shit ton of bugs to hit that date. all old character sprites have been refactored for better consistency, though you may notice some lackluster placeholder textures in the map art for now

regarding nsfw, i’m using visual novel or RPG Maker style stills to keep the scope realistic. sprite animation would stop all progress and doesn't fit most character designs. this allows for more content variety and avoids puppet animation which i don't personally enjoy. i hope for hand-animated scenes later, but this ensures the game actually gets finished

however, there is still a lot i won't be able to complete before the deadline or will have to keep hidden until i can finish it up more. after over a year of waiting, i can understand that would be frustrating to hear. but i can't stress this enough: the first demo release was a proof of concept prototype to show that this game exists and what i'm capable of. at that time, i had nothing ready and everything was loosely planned. the docs were messy, the story had many plotholes, and my art process was inconsistent. if i had just rushed and kept putting out updates from that state, everything would have eventually crashed and i would have had to remake everything at once. i have already had to remake the prototype from scratch three times now, and i would prefer not to do that again. regardless, this update should give a much better idea of what to expect in the future

i’ve struggled with anxiety and overthinking the "what-ifs" of this project. as a solo dev, managing adhd and burnout makes the entire development and design process feel overwhelming, especially during the concept phase. i often get stuck overthinking the player's path or feeling empty when designing background details, which leads to a constant fear of looking unoriginal. this is why i'll often stall or redo writing; for example, i'm still deciding how much to change about the planned tournament in chapter 3 so it doesn't feel too close to The Thousand-Year Door. i'm also keeping berries as currency since they tie into the lore and were in my rp headcannons years before Bug Fables existed. ultimately, if i focus too much on if i'm copying then i won't get anywhere

while i have experience making prototype games and technical training from college, i’ve never managed a project at this scale. moving from a separate sfw account where my games got 20 downloads to a prototype getting ~3k downloads was a massive shift in how i view my work. i care deeply about optimization and making the game run well, even though i'm not an expert on the more complex stuff. i find myself struggling with the sins of oop and barely understand how an ecs works yet, but i still try to optimize wherever i can (but i still have this memory leak and i can't find where its coming from ;~;)

on a side note, i still prefer to keep a low profile. i'm not a big fan of social media, but i understand i still need a presence there to keep people updated. i want the focus to stay on the project itself rather than me as a personality, and i appreciate everyone respecting that boundary

to be clear, this game uses zero ai generated assets. everything is hand-crafted, from the art in Affinity Designer to the music i write in FL Studio. ai is still incapable of replicating the detailed vector work i do, and i have all my source files to prove it. i only interact with ai for technical assistance, like helping me organize dev notes or troubleshooting blender issues if i can't find a solution online. when it comes to the game itself, i am the one making everything

it has always been my philosophy to avoid 3rd party assets to keep my projects authentic. the only exceptions are technical tools like Dialogue Manager (which i've contributed to on their repo), Phantom Camera (which i’ve modified to my liking), and some fonts. i'm also temporarily using one stock leaf texture for the ui background, but otherwise, i am writing every line of code and creating every asset from scratch

i don't hate the technology, and, like Boichi, the creator of Dr. Stone, i "believe in its future and the possibilities it may bring." it just sucks to see how it's currently abused by companies and "ai bros" instead of being the helpful tech i imagined as a kid watching Astro Boy. i also think the way itch.io handles ai labels is pretty useless, since it hides sub-categories (you can only access by modifying a url) and makes it harder for devs who just want to be honest about their process

• itch.io & steam: chapter 1 will be free on these platforms when it releases. later chapters or full versions will cost money, and content may be limited or cut to comply with platform guidelines
• github: every version of chapter 1 will have an alternate download via github releases. these will be completely uncut and are just as easy to download as the itch versions
• subscribestar: subscribestar is the place for the full, uncensored versions of all chapters. this includes the complete uncut game along with early access releases

the best places to follow development between these posts are my socials and my blog. i also have a subscribestar where you can support the project directly; while i've been doing this solo, getting that extra support helps a lot with keeping things moving, so i'll be sure to keep the link more visible from now on

i eventually want a consistent team for modeling, texturing, writing, and music, but i'm pretty picky about who i bring on. i want to avoid drama or "break ups" over small things, so i'm taking my time to ensure the project stays stable. while i can't afford a full team right now, i am looking for separate assistance in those specific roles

massive thank you to Kryptic, my current concept artist who assisted with the new cover art and some character concepts. i also have an artist friend who's offered to help out with the nsfw art; it isn't set in stone yet, but they may be helping out during this current dev phase for the next update

thank you again for the comments, donations, and for just being here. it means a lot to see people interested in what i'm building. i’m looking forward to getting 0.2.0 out in february; just keep in mind that things shown during early chapter 1 are subject to change, especially since it will be the free version of the game

here's a few previews of what i've been working on lately without spoiling too much

12/26/2025