Rorasuketo Dev Blog

Thanks to Rob for capturing this photo of two dorks laughing at something silly. If you're not subscribed to The Promo Twins , strongly consider it, and give Bardertown a follow on Facebook. Somewhere in there, there's video of Cam flailing around on roller skates after having not done so for several months! I am very glad to have not kissed asphalt. We met a few lovely folks at Bardertown on Saturday afternoon. It continues to be fascinating to watch people play, though it hurts my heart a little every time someone goes to interact with a microwave or recycling bin and nothing happens. As such, I have started typing up dialogue for The Chatty Update. Some suggestions from our playtesters, I am totally stealing - and some of them might have to remain in the realm of myth and maybe. (We've got some pretty creative thinkers out here! More than my programming chops can handle!) The Accessibility Update, 1.02, is closing in. I put in a few good hours this weekend until I reali...

 I thought it would be fun to have one, so I made one. Somehow I managed the awkward spatial awareness of putting three pieces of fabric together inside-out. My first attempt was pretty bad, and I scrapped it. This one is still imperfect, but close enough. Now, where do I keep a Lala?

It's been almost 3 weeks since release, and we are approaching 3 times our original sales goal. I've said it before: Our sales goal was small. I really tried not to set over-the-moon expectations, because  so  many games are released on Steam, and it's hard to be discovered when drowning in all the AI slop. But I'm pleasantly surprised to have reached as many people as I have. This thing started out as "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if you could play roller derby in a video game?" and I have been realizing how much of myself I've put into the game - how the characters are really just me trying to reach out to strangers and put a little love and compassion into the world. It's corny, I know, but there's a lot of division, anxiety, and hate out there, and I would like to think I can maybe give the pendulum an imperceptible nudge, but a nudge all the same. That helps me sleep better at night. For those who don't know, Steam tells developers where t...

I have mentioned t-shirts to a couple people over the past few weeks, to which they were like, "I would totally wear that shirt!" So Tibbs-Babu has launched a storefront! We are hoping to add stickers as well, because, personally, I love stickers, and I think Lala deserves to be on anything and everything with a non-porous flat surface. So if you are a sticker person, know that your time is coming. If your wardrobe is already full, or you feel compelled to give us a tip, we also have a Ko-fi you can donate to. One of the shirts we have available is a two-sided Barnes City Brawlers "jersey," which I am particularly fond of; I designed it using Inkscape and free-for-commercial-use fonts, so it's all above board if you have concerns about that kind of thing. The other shirt is a freeze frame of the end credits that shows Kady and Lala sunbathing out in Las Estrellas, every pixel of which was laid down by yours truly. And, of course, you have to have a shirt with ...

Last week, the Internet decided to not play nicely, and we had to cancel the interview with DC Lasair . But we are hoping to have another go at it this Friday the 23rd at 3 PM Eastern or 12 PM Pacific. This time, whoever has possession of the Internet, please use it responsibly. Think of the little people! I spent a little time starting on updates over the weekend. Actively watching more people play the game instead of handing it off and saying "TEST THIS!" has been giving me a lot of insight. We are calling 1.02 the Accessibility Update. We are: Changing the text "highlight" color from a dark semi-opaque overlay to pink Adding visual countdowns to time-critical minigames Adding HUD displays to multi-stage minigames so you know your status An update I would like to do later (maybe in December) - let's call it the Chatty Update - has a bit of a different flavor to it. Certain interactive elements are a bit lacking in places, especially in the first chapter or two...

We spent way too long talking about all manner of things, from  Animal Crossing  to studio setups to what makes art successful versus good. Check it out! The purple text box midway down the screen informs you what the subject is, and there's a smorgasbord of links to investigate. If you just want the funny soundbyte, we also just put out our first YouTube short  on the Tibbs-Babu channel. And if you want to know the full list of SNES sounds that are used in Rorasuketo, we've got you covered. A few years ago we did an email interview with Mike! Give Nebyoolae a peek over at Bandcamp and consider throwing him a tip!

So, I am a big fan of the synthwave band The Midnight. Went to their concert in my hometown a few months ago, and it was excellent. Highly recommend. Don't forget to bring your inflatable saxophone when you go! One morning, my husband asked what it would be like if one of The Midnight's songs were used as the end credits music for Rorasuketo. I am a traitor to our good friend Michael Chadwick - it's probably blasphemy of me to even think of it. But the lyrics fit  so well.  When I put the song over the end credits montage, I actually cried a little. I hear it as Kady and Lala singing back and forth. Maybe you don't know what that means if you haven't played the game, but if you have, you hopefully do. The lyrics online actually vary slightly from source to source, so I'm going to go with what I hear (or what I want to hear). " Avalanche "   Written by Tyler Lyle, Tim McEwan, and Jessie Frye Album: Heroes  Kady: You were a whisper in the night And I ...