With Moon_Cradle currently making the last of the CGs for our original agreement, much of the game's new graphic design is close to done.

Along with getting the creepiest arts possible, these death CGs have been have been chosen specifically with new game mechanics in mind. Until now, with the exception of the gore eyes in the hospital and the blue pants that did a simple back and forth, the enemies were largely uninspired in their behaviour (just mindlessly chasing Ayumi). With the new arts, this will largely change. The goal is for every major enemy type to have their own mechanics, which will allow me much more freedom in enemy placement.

After he is done with the last of the initial CGs, next in line for Moon_Cradle are: Ayumi's outfits -> the design of one more NPC and finally -> some technical stuff (like replacing that god-awful logo I've been using for so much time now, a new title image, etc. etc.).

As for me, currently I am more focused on my Broken Reality RPG at the moment (hopefully it and the new Ayumi version to hit Steam relatively close to each other), but I will soon start looking for a sprite artist that better fits Ayumi's CG/character style, and will also be writing the lines for her voice acting (it will be limited voice acting, in the style of the old Black Isle games).

The game will probably feature a support DLC with the HD versions of all the custom graphics, the sprites, the voice acting, etc. etc (doubt it will have in-game content, but it's not completely out of the question, perhaps some new outfits or something).



(image of Hana, by Stoichion, will replace her current cameo in the first part of the game, in the cafeteria, which uses her old graphics). She's the female lead of my Broken Reality RPG.

And speaking of Broken Reality RPG: Here! The new, playable version of it. Explore a huge, lovecraftian world with emphasis on player choice and brutal combat.

Most potential game-overs in the game will have their own CGs with glorious violence involved. Since the in-game sprites will come after the CGs here, Moon_Cradle has a lot of freedom in the designs and he's delivered. The Discord discussions about how to best make poor Ayumi's deaths as horrible as possible seem hilariously psychotic in retrospect, and I'm loving it.

Once the death CGs are done there's another new character to make a bust for, and finally some environmental CGs "might" follow.


The initial sketch for the Byakhee death CG. Eventually we went for a different pose/perspective, but I still liked this one's style.


On my part I've transferred the game to MV for the upcoming rerelease, and I'm slowly tweaking it to fit some of the new stuff that will be done with it.

Another bust by Moon_Cradle, featuring a new character Ayumi will meat in the newest section of the spaceship. After we're done with his expressions his next assigment will be Ayumi's various death CGs, filled with delicious gore.



The (for now) nameless artist's job in the game will be implying a bit more of the lore, and why Ayumi didn't turn into a bug like the rest of the crew members.

A few updates on the plans for Ayumi: Yellow Edition (4th version of the game):

1)Game will be transferred from Rpg Maker VX Ace to MV. Since I have been working with VX Ace all this time, I'm curious to see what quality-of-life plugins I can find from MV's library, and it's also in preparation for a mobile release.

2)Facesets will no longer be a thing (the little face boxes next to the dialogue-box). The game will feature full busts for all the characters talking, visual-novel style. I'd be lying if I said that would not be done to show off the new arts coming.



3)Ayumi's new bust, created by Moon_Cradle, who will be handling the new character arts and the CGs of the game.

4)The sprites will in all likeliness by handled by Yummy, who also makes the sprite arts for my Broken Reality RPG. Basically whoever I get for sprite art will be remaking all the monster sprites, so I can use whatever bizarre stuff I want instead of limiting it to common, pre-made things I could buy as DLCs for RPG Maker or such (for example the zombie-brother is gonna go, I hate it).

First off, Version 4.00 will be released a few months after I release Broken Reality on Steam, for which I am currently making surprisingly good progress.

Now then, exactly what version 4.00 of Ayumi will entail:

1)Price will be raised from 2.99 to 4.99. Those of you who already own the game need not care about this. The game will also be rereleased, renamed "Ayumi: Elite Edition". It will reappear on the front page and all, so you can expect a new wave of players

2)Ayumi redesigned with new, original model. I will have a pro do this (already have a few artists in mind), and I will make sure to annoy the hell out of them until they get her exactly right. The redesign will mean a new faceset, and new sprite model.

3)In character dialogues and important game moments, busts will be used along with the facesets. Busts are the upper body shots, visual-novel style, so you can see the characters with all the details. In those, you will also be able to see Ayumi's complete redesign better.

Specifically I am planning on making her raven-haired (long, will reach at least until the waist), with more obvious narrow-eyed asian characteristics, a pair of cat-eared headphones around her neck (in referrence to her current design), wearing a light blue jacket atop a white shirt (subject to change, I am open to suggestions).

4)Death and endings CGIs! These will also be viewable from a new, title menu option, after you have seen them once. Each death type will feature a different CGI (for example dying from the plants, dying from fire, etc), which will be deliciously gory.

5)Unlockable outfits with different powers! The costumes unlocked will be permanently saved on your game, kinda like the CGIs that you can view from the title menu, so by unlocking them in one playthrough, you will have unlocked them in all playthroughs! The player will be able to change them in-game, from Ayumi's wardrobe (the game will always automatically start with the default outfit).

On that note, the player room door before the horror part begins will now be locked after viewing the mail, not after entering the room, meaning you can change your outfits and try speaking again with the crew members, for some unique dialogues.

When equipping an outfit, the bust used in dialogues will change to use that outfit (I have already figured out how to program that easily). Moreover, Ayumi will have some unique commentary about it. Each outfit other than the default one will have unique powers.

The outfits I have planned until now are:

• Default outfit. (white shirt, light-blue jacket, earphones, no bonuses)
  
• Grade-School Engineer outfit. (basically a worker suit but with cute stickers, makes Ayumi immune to being burned and electrocuted)
  
• Neko Pajamas outfit. (full-body winter pajamas meant to resemble a cat, with paws, tail, hoodie with fluffy ears and all, the style Illya wears in Fate Kaleid, allows Ayumi to run faster)
  
• Entomolist outfit (a funny T-Shirt that says "I love Roaches" along with a hoodie that has long black antennas, that makes Ayumi immune to the bugs and allows her to actually push them, unlocking new paths).
  
• Carcosa Junior Priestess outfit (a long white skirt atop grey-yellow armormed pants on the lower body, a bandage-bra and gold bracelets for the upper body, increases all credits found by 25% and makes Ayumi immune to the Flying Polyps enemies)
  
• Lazy Janitor outfit (an orange full-body work suit with blue hat, with apple-pin accessories on the suit, allows Ayumi to buy Apple Juice from the venting machines, which are consumed when she dies and respawns instead of losing credits, also doubles the amount of Apple Juice looted.)
  
• Misunderstood ~Almost~ Teen outfit (a black shirt, pants and jacket, with a silver apple-shaped pendant and a chocker, basically a cute emo look, allows Ayumi to hack some systems, letting her restore light and open doors to some areas.)
  
• Kono Ayumi Da! outfit [bright yellow jakcet and pants atop a black top, freezes all enemies in place, allows Ayumi to kill enemies, makes her immune to all deaths and unlocks a different ending to the game (it's basically God Mode). The outfit is rewarded for finishing the game on nightmare difficulty with 0 deaths and no security mechs activated, so have trying to get that.]

Unfortunately I doubt the CGIs will be able to take the costumes into account (they will all be done with Ayumi's basic outfit).

6) Limited Voice Acting! Ayumi will have brief voice-acted responses (in Japanese), along with her dialogues. For example, when she starts talking to her brother, you will hear her say "Aniki..." (brother). She will also have unique lines when changing outfits, will start panting when running for too long, etc. I am planning to have her voice-acted as a little sister tomboy tsundere type (basically Karen from the Monogatari series but more melancholic and toned down), which I think will fit the most with her new look. This will probably be the most annoying part to make, finding a voice actress who sounds right AND can pronounce basic Japanese, so wish me luck.

7)The Christian and Islamist chambers in the Religious Center will be unlocked, and the whole area will be expanded.

8)A new sector of the spaceship, the school, will be unlocked for exploration. It will roughly be the size of the Rich Quarters. (I recently got my hands on some sweet new tiles that I've been dying to put to use.)

9)A proper inventory system, along with a game-quit option will be added, accessible at any time. Saving will still be done only with the Mara Meba devices.

10)In Nightmare Difficulty, credits will be required to use the Mara Meba save points (100 each time).

11)After beating the game once, the player will be given the option to skip the opening and go straight to controlling Ayumi.

12)Two new achievements will be added.

13)The horrible Steam emoticons that I am using now will be redrawn by professionals, same for the card badges.



After that whole thing is done, and depending on the reception, I might have someone translate the game to Japanese. If that happens, who knows where the limits are.

If you have any other suggestions, I'm all ears. For now I am focusing on Broken Reality, which is turning out amazing, and getting better with each new patch. Google it as "Broken Reality RPG" and check it out.
:Bugger:

Enjoy one of the biggest RPG Maker games out there!
(which will eventually hit Steam)
(but until then I want feedback on what works and what doesn't)

Broken Reality RPG (itch.io page)

I'm not giving specific dates, but around the same time my Broken Reality RPG will get released on Steam, I will also release a major update for Ayumi, featuring a lot of cool stuff.

Until then, stay tuned with Broken Reality, which is a massive RPG I've been making for nearly 5 years now, and which I update every month or so: https://lord-rutsah.itch.io/broken-reality

My Broken Reality RPG has been updated to version 14.6! (yeah, I've been working on it for a long while). It's a medieval fantasy RPG, with brutal combat and lovecraftian plot (big surprise there). The world is huge, and I'm having tons of fun making it. Eventually it will hit steam as well, but knowing how good I am with deadlines, you might as well check it out now:

https://lord-rutsah.itch.io/broken-reality

Reported bugs have been fixed, you're good to go.

If the game crashes anywhere or does not work as intended (for example returning to the old form of the flashlight after exiting some surface), report it, I can fix them pretty fast now that I know the drill.

Also added a new chest in the cafeteria (after the horror game "begins") which asks for the second part of the code. It contains 1200 credits in normal difficulty and 700 in nightmare. To find the second part of the code play my RPG: Broken Reality!

(the first part of the code, found in Ayumi, can be used in Broken Reality to also open a chest)