It’s officially been a year since the team released its demo. A year. Christ, where did the time go? I’m almost in disbelief that we’ve made it this long in production. It has been a trip. There have certainly been some ups and downs, but the team has since a year ago been continuously cultivating the whole universe of Meteor Shower, and all its several spin off stories that the team is absolutely thrumming with excitement to get to. BUT this is about Meteor Shower. 

The whole development period for the new 5 chapters has been an arduous trudge. I think all three of us have learned some vital lessons regarding development - me especially since the most visual novel I got into was the Our Life series. So a singular love interest - has a lot of serpentine-like branching that’s really important in writing. So that’s still an aspect I still want to get better at doing for the team’s sake. I have Skai to thank for a million times for hard carrying that especially in the finale of the story. But I won’t trouble you with self-reflection because honestly I just want to celebrate (because God knows I don’t get enough opportunities like this IRL). 

It sure feels good to see the first arc of the story wrap up the way it has. The way the FINAL story came out in contrast to the original outline almost seems like some far-away alternate reality that Meteor could’ve been. But I’m happy that it turned out the way it did. It had a lot of character building - for Lori and everyone around her, inadvertent new additions to the cast, and the whole reminiscent highschool experience that I hope we were able to portray in this story. 

I usually don’t have the pleasure of looking back on what I wrote because of the sheer cringe I often feel when I do. But I did recently, because aside from Chapter 7 - I’ve had about at least some good healthy months to detach from the very healthy mindset of “I WROTE THIS SHIT BLEGH.” So earlier this month, I was able to read through the build that Skai had sent the team and not to toot my own fucking clown horn but they were moments that really made me squeal - the writing, the art, the music all just came together in this nostalgic teen memory. I was crying, shaking, vomiting on the floor by the end of it. Needless to say, I really am proud of the work that the three of us came together to create. 

To cap off my section of this Release log, I shall share my most favorite parts of the whole development period. It’s become a fun little quirk to write-in recurring actual no-named characters who just appear in the background. I  hope you caught it if you already read the update. It’s not a “funny in your face haha” bit I think. But rather, just adds the ambient coziness of the small town setting that Meteor Shower is set in. And the private school experience of seeing all the same people  in your year. If you’re that type of person maybe you know everyone in your year. If you’re a little bit more of the introverted spectrum like me, then you know them by faces. And when you look back on highschool maybe go “I don’t know them personally, but they seemed cool.” 

Another bit that I enjoyed during the development? Writing Luke Mallas. This boy ended up in more scenes than Julio did. And I am sorry that happened. We shall do right by Julio in the next update. We promise. BUT LEMME JUST SAY Luke just popped off in the very first scene that I wrote him in. He came a long way from being a no-name, no-faced president. AND I KNOW that he isn’t vital or essential to the story. But that was what made him such a fucking breath of fresh air. He could do whatever, and get away with it (for this update at least). I absolutely love this infuriating piece of shit who thinks he’s all that, and I would absolutely, positively enable his behavior until the day I die. Please give this school’s president the love (OR SHIT ON HIM) that he so justly deserves.

With that said, I do hope that the wait has been worth it. Please let the team know what we did right, what we could improve on, and what YOU want to see in future updates! Skai, Pyr and I are all really happy to see any and all feedback regarding our work :) Till next time!

So, WOW, the Falling Stars update for Meteor Shower is out!  It took a lot of rough patches, but I’m so glad and grateful for the team for pulling through! The difference between the 2022 demo to the now Falling Stars update really is huge. It only really does take a couple chapters for the whole experience of Lori’s high school life to be organically immersive.

I think it is fun being a non-writer in the dev team. I get to have an experience similar to that of an alpha tester/reader. All while having the opportunity to make the game a more immersive experience by bringing in the music. I get to appreciate firsthand how cohesive the Meteor Shower universe is. It boggles my mind, really, how we set out to create a realistic, natural high school experience, and have the narrative unfold really, really neatly.

Working on Chapter 3 onward in terms of the new music involved has given me more perspectives to consider. There was a lot of mustering up concepts for events like the School Fair and the Christmas Ball – they had to be fitting for the scenes, all while drawing from the sounds and motifs from previous music. One particularly challenging one was making a track dedicated to Luke – something that was humorous, fun, and ever so slightly sinister. (Sidenote: I FUCKING HATE LUKE’S GUTS. I WANT TO PUNCH THAT GUY SO MUCH YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW)

That also reminds me of the time I had to remake the track when Taylor first showed up. For me, I think that change was needed because it strayed too far from the mood and sound of the game. Gotta keep things in cohesion.

I think the tracks I enjoyed working on were the tracks where I had to pull off an introspective kind of sound. When making music, I don’t usually feel drawn to making inspiring, uplifting, or happy chords and melodies. I just appreciate it when there’s a lot of depth in the sequence of music I’m currently spewing out, and it just comes so fast and natural for me, which is where the enjoyment stems from. Unsurprisingly, these scenes are where Lori does a heavy introspection for a character or a moment. One of these is the track that I closely relate to Scarlett, because underneath that abrasive, childish brat is a, well, a child. (STILL, I FUCKING HATE SCARLETT TOO LMAO GROW UP BESTIE)

To end, I want to bring up one thing that has been an inside joke and a running gag for the Meteor Shower team. There is a scene where Lori retreats to the library to read for leisure. And I wanted to point out that “Hold on, Lori wouldn’t do that, she’d probably go to the library to work on a homework or something; she’s a straight-A student” but all I managed to say first, in call, was “Hold on, Lori can’t read'' which is a GROSS CONSTRUCTION OF WHAT I REALLY MEANT. While I managed to convince the team that yeah, it’s better if she did homework or something, they will not let me live this down. It’s funny anyway lmao. Oh Pyr, you don’t think straight-A students have hobbies?

Anyway, I hope you like the music!

So I'm tired, I'll be sentimental or more coherent in another log. xD

I’m basically writing this coming off from the high of literally just finishing the build so that we can make it for otome jam. I swear to god, we almost didn’t submit but then I had the big brain idea to speedrun the rest of what was missing from the update in the final three days because we were SO CLOSE. I’m so happy we managed to make it in time for Otome Jam 2023, a year later since we’ve first posted the demo.

I have a lot of fond memories of the production of this update. The three of us have added loads and loads to our arsenal of shitposts and inside jokes as we went along. One of the most prominent points of contention being the student council president, Luke. Pyr hates his guts and Jinn adores him. Personally I’d wanna punch a guy like Luke in real life but he’s a pretty funny character to write. Sorry Pyr, but I like him. xD

Like Jinn’s basically stated before, the update has a mini character arc of sorts outside the romance. It focuses on Reese and Scarlett this time around but there are two more major updates planned to delve into characters like Julio who hasn’t gotten the spotlight this time around. For the second update, we’re definitely going to focus on his involvement.

Beyond that, though, we’re going to have to deliver on that promise to ourselves that we’d take a break from production when the update goes live. It was a huge update and we’re all kinda burned out plus Jinn has exams in October so we’ll probably only fully resume production again when her exams are over. That being said, I hope our update was enough to tide you over for the time being while that’s happening. :))

Anyway, I already mentioned in a previous devlog what we added and changed in the build. You can just check that out here. Thanks so much for giving our funny little VN a read.