Good evening!
Just a month left before DATING OF THE FUTURE releases on the 23rd of October!
Don't tell me that's not a month. Look. It's exactly 30 days away. I don't care if it isn't the 23rd today, that's not how months work anyway!
Anyway I'm going to talk at you about the game today.
I've been relatively relaxed with development over the last month. This is partly because the game is basically done, and partly because Hollow Knight: Silksong came out.
One major development that has occurred recently has been the addition of the game's "Glossary". This works as you may expect; providing the player with definitions on the game's proper nouns and lore concepts as they hear about them.
Since the game was fully developed without any consideration of a glossary being added, it is still perfectly understandable and playable without opening the glossary to read up on terms. The last thing a visual novel player wants is to read, after all.
Each glossary item actually has two entries; one containing a basic definition so players can better keep track of things in their head, and one that provides more in-depth lore on the item. The second entry is usually unlocked much later in the game. You can see both of these entries for the "English" item in the image above.
While I finished developing this system just before Silksong came out, I was struck by how similarly it functioned to the franchise's "Hunter's Journal" feature. It's been years since I last played Hollow Knight, but I suppose many of its ideas stuck with me...
Besides the Glossary, one other mechanic has been seeing some development recently: Guest stickers!
Yes, I was unfortunately not powerful enough to complete DATING OF THE FUTURE's sticker library on my own, and had to resort to the nuclear option: SPEAKING TO OTHER PEOPLE.
It's so shameful. All these really great artists whom I've always admired... Their art is in MY video game?! It's sickening beyond words.
Well, anyone who has been following me on Twitter or Bluesky has already seen the terrible, terrible works that have emerged from this faustian bargain, but it's probably for the best that I show the rest of you, too.
Here are the three that I have posted to social media so far:
Respectively made by Loggus Doggus, Dieselbrain, and Ginrawruss. Thanks, nerds!
There's one guest sticker for all ten main cast members, and each artist was specifically picked and assigned a character which I believed best suited their strengths. They were encouraged to be quite liberal with their styles and designs, and I'm extremely happy to see the personalities of each artist come through so immediately in their final stickers.
It'll become more clear as more guest stickers are revealed, but I really tried to ensure a level of diveristy in the artists picked for the project. Some are illustrators by trade, but others are fellow visual novel creators, or even animators. The thing that really unites them is a common dedication to LGBTQ and/or PoC diversity in their works.
Sorry if this is how you find out that DATING OF THE FUTURE is liberal garbage made by a pronouns snowflake with avocado toast, or whatever.
Not all guest stickers are finished, though I am trying to ensure that they are all complete and implemented by the game's release. This is the area where the game is arguably its most incomplete.
Well, the game is coming out soon. I'm equal parts excited for it and terrified.
I mean, what if the game releases and people don't like it? What if it comes out and it doesn't work?! What if it comes out, turns around, goes back in, and falls back asleep??? WHAT THEN?????????????????????
Well, probably none of that will happen... But there are a few things that have been dusting my doilies.
For a start, the United Kindgom is run by spineless cowards, and has blocked access to 18+ games on Steam behind the necessity of owning a credit card. Not a debit card, as you may suspect, but a credit card.
Who the hell has a credit card nowadays...? That's like asking me to verify that I'm over the age of 40. Needless to say, I am considering the game's market in the United Kingdom basically dead on arrival.
This latest disrespect to the British public comes in line with the UK government's ridiculous "Online Safety Act", which they have acknowledged does not introduce changes that will actually make the internet safer for anyone. Thanks, assholes!
This was sort of a matter of time, in my opinion. Things have been getting increasingly tough for anyone who makes a living off of anything sex-adjacent online, and the noose continues to tighten. That, I suppose, I have American evangelical groups to thank for. I'm feeling super thankful today, as you can tell.
Well, as long as things don't go from bad to worse within the next month or so, hopefully I won't be back here reporting that the game has to be censored just to sell in the United States. That would be a REAL code-red disaster.
In the meantime, make sure you support artists making sex-positive media. All this absolute horseshit about the dangers of pornography reeks of "video games cause violence", and has absolutely zero factual basis. It's just a way of restricting basic freedoms while claiming that it's in the name of "protecting" women or children or whatever, so they don't ever have to face pushback for it. Don't let this shit fly in your home country.
Welcome back, 80s-style censorship and moralism! Let us know when we should start worrying about Balatro being a Satanic portal to the underworld.
Additionally, I'm unsure of the present situation on Itch.io. I was there when all of its NSFW games were de-indexed, and from what I hear the situation hasn't improved much if at all, so I'll have to consider what position the game is in to actually release on the platform.
Ugh... The world moves too fast nowadays...
Remember! Be there on October 23rd! Don't forget! Set a calendar reminder! Set an alarm! Set an alarm that plays voice clip of you saying "PURCHASE VIDEO GAME, PURCHASE VIDEO GAME"! Set that voice clip to play throughout your home every second of every day until the 23rd! Hook that voice clip up to a sports stadium PA system! Indoctrinate everyone! Indoctrinate everyone!!!
In the industry, this is what is known as a "call to action".
-Marina