Welcome to the first Development Diary for Zerra’s Adventure.

The goal of these diaries is to share details about the game’s development and milestones in a traditional reading format.

Without further ado, grab your cup of coffee or soda, get comfortable, and let’s begin.

First things first. How many years has the game been in development?
Development began in 2021, based on a game of the same name I had been creating for a few years to entertain myself and my friends. During the pandemic, I found myself rediscovering various hobbies, and one day, I stumbled upon the old version of the game. I played it and thought, "I could actually make a game, couldn’t I?" Seconds later, I opened the engine and started creating. After a few months working on the story, I realized I was dedicating a lot of hours to the project, so I decided to stop using assets and start developing my own.

Thus, at the beginning of 2022, Zerra and the entire game universe underwent a complete transformation into a unique, original design. From then on, my goal was to create a game I could finish and release so more people could enjoy the crazy ideas I kept coming up with. And that’s how we’ve reached this point.

2024: The Most Important Year for Zerra’s Adventure So Far

I. Major Milestones:

Steam Page
This year, I had a clear goal: the game needed a Steam page. I wanted people who heard about it to have a place to learn more about it beyond what they could find on X (Twitter). I worked on the trailer and Steam page from January to April, and I finally launched it. It was a beautiful moment. The phrase, “Mom, look, I’m making a game,” became more real than ever. First mission: accomplished.

Closed Beta
I had avoided this for months. I didn’t want anyone besides my friends to try the game and tell me it was broken, boring, or that I was outright wasting my time on it. I was simply too scared. But somehow, I mustered the courage and made a call on Twitter for anyone interested in being a tester. The response was amazing: people I didn’t know were reaching out because they wanted to play the game. It was strange but awesome.

There was no turning back. I uploaded the beta and spent a couple of weeks updating it, fixing a few (thousand) bugs, and implementing many suggestions from testers. It was exhausting but absolutely worth it. The feedback was mostly positive, with constructive criticism that made the game much better than the original proposal. Thanks again to all the testers who took the time to give me feedback, especially those who endured game-breaking bugs :D

YouTube Appearance
“Mom, I was on TV!” That sums it up. To be honest, when I saw Zerra’s Adventure featured in a “25 Upcoming Indie JRPGs You NEED to Know About!” video from a channel I’d followed for years, I went absolutely crazy (in every sense, haha). I remember perfectly: I was on the couch with my phone, and suddenly I saw it. I just couldn’t believe it.

I started jumping with excitement, showed it to my then-girlfriend (now fiancée, hehe), and when she realized it, she was thrilled too. That day, I felt the game could be something people might want to play. From then on, I was even more determined to give it my all. By the way, thank you again, Taylor (@TheGamingShelf). Here’s the video if you want to catch my second of fame (and check out other great games to add to your wishlists =))













II. Development
2024 was also the year when the game’s development progressed the most. What made the difference was, for the first time, I established an official schedule to work on the game. Every Tuesday morning, without fail, I was sitting with my coffee, working on some aspect of the game. It became my favorite day of the week.

Some key progress includes:
- Numerous battle and map animations, with different poses for various characters.
- New environments: forest, cave, clouds, desert, snow, and others I’ll skip to avoid spoilers.
- Many new enemies with unique designs and mechanics.
- Progress in the game’s story.
- Refinements to the battle system.

On a technical level, I also implemented features like key remapping, controller support, and language selection (English and Spanish), along with significant optimization improvements.






Plans for 2025

2025 is packed with plans. Here are the main milestones I hope to achieve:
- Add voice effects for characters (e.g., attacks, expressions like “hey,” “ouch,” “yeah,” sighs, screams, etc.). There are no plans for voiced dialogues.
- Hire a musician to create the game’s original soundtrack (This part excites me the most!).
- Launch Closed Beta 2.0 early in the year.
- Public demo release.
- Updated trailer (I love and hate seeing how outdated the current trailer is—it means I’ve made so much progress).
- Participate in SteamFest.
- Game release in Q4.

How do I plan to achieve all this?
By maintaining my current workflow and taking necessary breaks to recharge and avoid burnout.

That’s all for now. If you’ve read this far, you have my utmost gratitude. I hope to share more updates on the game’s progress by the end of June.

See you then! =)

Yet another year down for all of us. Great job!

This is going to be short because its New Years Day and I've been partaking in the family traditions (hike in a local state park, eat cornbread, watch Star Wars, probably take a nap) and I don't have much time.

If we want to get technical, all the writing for the game is done! However, the writing kinda sucks right now. About halfway through January, I'm going to go back to the project with a fresh mind and start revising what I have written to make it actually rather good. Sometime in early February, I'm going to reassess what I've got. If I am happy with it, I will add in the last bits of visuals/music/sound and pick a release date. If I am not, I will revise some more.

So as of today, I can't commit to a specific release date. But I will give a range of between February and May of this year. Yes, the writing is that much of a mess right now that I may need to revise up through May.

But enough from me, yall enjoy your New Years Day and any weird traditions you may have. :-)

Hi everyone, hope your new year is starting off on the right foot!

As for me, this is going to be a very busy year, but I'm looking forward to it. The vast majority of my time will be spent on Vampire Syndicate, although I am still finishing up the final backer update for Memoirs, adding on some additional content for my joke parody art project, Baldr's Squid Isekai, and continuing to assist one of my good friends with their own project, That Which Rises.

With Memoirs, I often found myself upset with what I personally think are some mistakes I've made in the narrative of the game. There are parts that can be confusing, and while I intended for much of it to be open to interpretation and steeped in mystery... I think I overdid it.

So hopefully, this update will answer some of that before we move onto the sequel.

Also I'll add a threesome scene with Kore + Thassia and a female MC, because it's much requested :D.

-Added an extra checkpoint after Spinosaurus waterfall sequence.

-Sarcosuchus (crocodile) area no longer spawns previous boss battles if you backtrack on accident.

-Adjusted Spinosaurus area geometry to make it more clear on where to go.

Hi everyone, hope your new year is starting off on the right foot!

As for me, this is going to be a very busy year, but I'm looking forward to it. The vast majority of my time will be spent on Vampire Syndicate, although I am still finishing up the final backer update for Memoirs, adding on some additional content for my joke parody art project, Baldr's Squid Isekai, and continuing to assist one of my good friends with their own project, That Which Rises.

With Vampire Syndicate, I am close to finishing up the demo version of the combat system. Since combat is the most prevalent gameplay system in VS, it's probably something I'll want feedback on the most. Especially in terms of UI design, which is something I'm not familiar with.

As I've said before, the combat in Vampire Syndicate will be broadly similiar to a hybrid between nu-XCOM and Baldur's Gate 3 (to use a few more well-known examples). It is a tactical RPG system that rewards both sound tactical decisions as well as proper character builds.

I do not anticipate it being overly complicated - I prefer simplicity. Additionally, it will be more on the simulationist side rather than being gamey, so don't expect a lot of puzzle-like combat mechanics. Hopefully it will be intuitive and very familiar to a lot of you who are already experienced in this genre.

That's all for now. It'll still be some time before the demo will be ready, but I'm looking forward to your feedback!

Patch Notes

• Debug controls have been moved to the config file.
  
• Holly has a new outfit and weapon.

Adding visual effects and fixing issue with Guard System and more

- Fixed Issue on Menu where you couldn't select the listed server to join session
- Added Guard Break visuals and logic
- Guard now stops stamina regeneration
- Fixed animation not playing when the character lands after being launched in the air
- Added Force Push for physics simulated bodies (Added on Dive Attack for Lobster to test push physics objects)

We’ve listened to your feedback and are excited to introduce a new feature to enhance your gaming experience:

Tips Window 💡
A tips window is now accessible at any time:

From the main menu, to prepare before playing.
In-game, by pressing F1, for quick access to the information you need.
What’s in this window?
Character Abilities:

Learn the unique powers of the Chaenombrus and Fulgeonix, along with tips on how to master them.
Detailed explanations of the default inputs for each action.
Environment Mechanics:

Discover how to use tools like axes and pickaxes to break through obstacles.
Learn how to handle situations where tools aren’t enough by using advanced mechanics like duplicating objects or setting up TNT.
Tips for transforming into specific objects and interacting with mechanisms like doors or locked systems.
Game Mechanics:

Understand the nuances of each role and how to maximize your success, whether you’re a Fulgeonix or a Chaenombrus.
Advice on exploring and interacting with the game’s dynamic environments.
Why This Update?
We want to make Prisoners Hunt more accessible while helping you master all the details of the gameplay. Whether you’re a new player or a seasoned one, this tips window will guide you every step of the way.

Thank you again for your incredible support of this indie project! This is just the beginning, and more improvements are on the way. 🔗✨

Hello everyone.

We had informed you that we would be releasing the Early Access version of our game Game Cafe, which we have been working on for more than 1.5 years, in the 4th quarter of 2024. In fact, the upcoming period was quite enough time to complete the features we promised for Early Access.

However, during this time, we encountered some unexpected sad events and difficult situations as a family. For that reason, the development process slowed down and was interrupted. Again, we continued our work without losing hope, but unfortunately we could not bring the game to the point we wanted at the end of the 4th quarter.

Of course, we are not stopping developing the game. We just need a little more time to compensate for these disruptions. We beg your pardon and would like to complete the Early Access version of the game and present it to our players in early 2025 without keeping you waiting too much longer.

We will continue to inform you from time to time on our social media accounts during this process.

We wish you a happy new year ːsteamthumbsupː

[Incredibly cute guest art done by sheemin on Tumblr]

Can you believe it? IT’S 2025! 🎉We hope this year is full of completed goals, fulfilled dreams, and time spent for YOU. (Perhaps with a GB Patch game? 🤭)

So, what’s the plan for OL2 this year? More below, but we can confirm that there will be at least one more major demo launch update for folks to explore. Keep an eye out for more updates and estimates on Patreon and our socials. We frequently have news to share regarding daily progress and would love for you to see them.

Let’s push on toward GB’s hopes and dreams for 2025 ✨!


Hey everyone, it’s GB Lady writing this part of the post! Claire handled the rest of the update. However, I wanted to explain how things were going with Our Life: Now & Forever. My hope was that the base game and some DLCs would release near the very end of this very year, late November most likely. Even though 2025 has just started, I can already see that we might not hit that goal. I’ve made mistakes these past few months.

There was a certain amount of work I needed to have done by the end of 2024 to keep to the planned schedule. Step 1 needed to be fully written. That happened! The massive Step 2 prologue had to get checked off, I did that too. But I wanted to have at least four Step 2 Moments scripted out. Instead, I’m at two and a half. One and a half Moments isn’t massive in the grand scheme of the project, but it’s not that likely I’ll work fast enough to make up for being that behind. I could catch up on a few days of progress, but this being multiple weeks’ worth of work makes it more complicated. Plus, if I ever get sick during 2025 or decide to go see family, I could get even more behind. By the end of 2025, the game could still need a few months, not just to finish the writing but to then edit/proofread, program, and test the late scripts.

The problems began when I started writing those Step 2 Moments. To be honest, I haven’t been confident in creating the teenage time period. The leads are going through a tough time and I don’t know if I’m portraying it well or if any of this is enjoyable. When I feel unsure of myself, I tend to overcompensate by making things bigger, an “if it’s not quality it can at least be quantity” type of deal.

I already accounted for Step 2 scenes being longer than Step 1 in my plans since there’s more alterations to consider, yet these first few Moments have still taken more time than I ever anticipated. It’s gotta stop. In 2025 I need to get a grip. I have to be stricter with myself on designing scenes no matter how much I feel compelled to expand and expand.

So, what is either going to end up happening is there could be some Moments in Step 2 that feel unusually pared down or short to make up for the unexpectedly long ones, or we’ll have to accept the loss, keep going as normal from here, and the game ends up delayed until 2026. No matter what, we’ll keep you informed.

I’m sorry to start the year on a low note like that. In better news, there will be another public demo update coming in 2025! It will expand the Step 2 prologue more.

There will be multiple casting calls to bring VAs onto the team for OL2. You’ll finally get to hear what these characters sound like! Then perhaps 2025 will finally be the year Our Life comes out on the Google Playstore or gets verified for Macs. We’ll see. Anything could happen.

But that’s mainly it. Thank you so much for following along with this grand story adventure. We’ll keep doing our best to actually finish something. Happy new year, everybody 🥳️

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And there you have it! Whether it’s new asset reveals, demo updates, fan contests, or reliving some OL1 throwbacks, you’re in for a treat this year. We promise to work hard to bring you the content you love, with some surprises along the way. We hope the next 365 days are everything you hope they could be – we’ll be there every step of the way. Happy New Year to you all!