#I am currently on ep3 and find it entertaining and interesting

[scarefox]

The irony, tea and inception meta levels of "Bump up Business" is giving me whiplash 😅

Like this whole kpop group that is popular for it's gay concept (which is fine imo), makes a BL about kpop idols who have to build a new group which has to do a gay concept, while criticizing the existence of "gay as a concept" (fanservice, real shipping, + pleasing toxic fans), while actually falling in love

It's fun to watch. But the irony and idol business tea makes me pause every few minutes.

[rpgmgames]

January’s Featured Game: Hello Charlotte

DEVELOPER(S): etherane ENGINE: RPGMaker VX Ace GENRE: Surreal, Horror, Dark Comedy  WARNINGs: Gore, Body Horror, Graphic Content SUMMARY: Hello, new Puppeteer! Meet Charlotte - a puppet you will control. Meet her alien friends, maggot cat and a certain Observer. Dive deep into horrors of junk food, TV world, religion and romance novels for middle-age women. Keep your puppet safe at all times. Or don't. Have fun dying!

Check it out here:  EP 1 | EP 2 | EP 3 | Delirium (spinoff)

Our Interview With The Dev Team Below The Cut!

Introduce yourself! *Hello! I'm etherane, the developer of Hello Charlotte series. I don't have much to say about myself.

What is your project about? What inspired you to create your game initially? *etherane: Hello Charlotte is a story-rich surreal puzzle RPG with various elements including: sci-fi, dark comedy, tradegy, body horror, violence and even romance! Wow! There are currently 3 main episodes + 1 extra in the series. 

I think the main source of inspiration was everyday life, followed by 90s cartoons and popular science books.

How long have you been working on your project? *etherane: I have started working on the first episode in February, 2015. By now, there are 4 games in the series. Which makes it 3 years total.

Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project? *etherane: It's hard to say. I consume a lot of media daily, so I'm sure some of it influenced me on subconscious level.

Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them? *etherane: The main challenge was to figure out how the engine works! Having very limited experience with any kind of coding, it took me some time to get a hang of it. Then, in EP2, I decided that I wanted to have 80% to be my own music, so that became a challenge on its own...I still suck at it, but at least HC now has its own music box theme...and by EP3, Bennett has a variety of chiptune themes to accompany him. So I consider that a personal achievement!

Have any aspects of your project changed over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept? *etherane: Hello Charlotte was supposed to be an episodic comedy game! The one where characters might die during the course of the episode, then get magically revived by the next. I think the spin-off game, HC:Delirium, captures that feeling perfectly. I find it to be the happiest game in the series! 

However, over the course of development, the story got a little more personal, and became...what it is. Oops.

What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? *etherane: I work alone. However, over the course of the development, many translators kindly offered their help with bringing HC to wider audiences! Not only that, during the past year, my friend and editor L.K. has greatly aided me with proofreading and testing the game.

What is the best part of developing the game? *etherane: Watching the empty shells of characters become alive through the combination of dialogue, drawings and music. Although...I love everything about gamedev, no matter how inexperienced I still am. 

 Do you find yourself playing other RPG Maker games to see what you can do with the engine, or do you prefer to do your own thing? *etherane: I tend to play RPG Maker games to see what kind of stories creators come up with! Gameplay-wise, there's not much that interests me, since I tend to come up with game events that fit the story on my own, then look for solutions and scripts that may allow me to implement them into the game.

Which character in your game do you relate to the most and why? (Alternatively: Who is your favorite character and why?) *etherane:  I love Charlotte! Who doesn't? (But my dream girl is miss Warhol.)

Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently? *etherane: Not really! I love HC for what it is. It's always been an experimental project, my first game and a finished one at that. I believe that all the failures and mistakes are a part of the learning experience. However, I'll continue to work hard in order to improve my skills.

Once you finish your project, do you plan to explore the game's universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is? *etherane: Charlotte's story is over. But, there is a possibility for a spin-off.

What do you look most forward to upon/after release? *etherane: Everyone's reaction! And... finally making public my drawings that contain spoilers!

Is there something you're afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game? *etherane: I hope there are no more bugs left. I'm losing sleep thinking of those. May the game run smoothly for everyone!

Do you have any advice for upcoming devs? *etherane: Make a game you yourself want to play! As long as you can barely contain your own excitement for the result, you'll be able to overcome any hardships during the development. That's what I believe.

Question from last month's featured dev @CHUMBOSOFT: Did you have a specific demographic in mind when making your game?  *etherane: No... not really. All I was thinking was, "Oh god, I'm making a game! With my own two hands!", so the excitement over the process of game development itself overshadowed all the other thoughts. (That being said, I still can't define a proper genre for HC, so I end up naming all the elements that it has.)

We mods would like to thank etherane for agreeing to our interview! We believe that featuring the developer and their creative process is just as important as featuring the final product. Hopefully this Q&A segment has been an entertaining and insightful experience for everyone involved! 

Remember to check out Hello Charlotte if you haven’t already! See you next month! 

- Mods Gold & Platinum