I'd describe myself as a jack-of-all-trades with a terrifyingly ambiguous future. For now, I try to enjoy the time I have and make as big of an impact in the world as I can. Currently a computer science major, which is very much subject to change, contrary to the presence of this blog.
My influences come from a variety of places, but the most notable include Pokemon, Ghibli, and Cucumber Quest. I like to create minimalist, whimsical atmospheres combined with bright color schemes and interesting creatures. My goal is to invoke peace, wonder, and nostalgia without sacrificing sorrow and indignance. Ideally, my audience will always walk away with a bittersweet aftertaste.
Most of my games are meant to be socially conscious allegories despite their cute exterior. This means that they can be a bit intense at times, but I always make sure to include warnings at the beginning of games that tackle more sensitive subjects. Stay safe!
Game and software development blog for a bug called Cicada. Home to concept art, gameplay gifs, asset previews, and other sneak peaks! Currently participating in the #100daysofGameDev challenge!
Icon by konichisakai!
Making narrative games, focusing on monsters and mental health. Run by @cicadaghost and @otaroddball. Currently working on Lavender Hollow + Switch/Glitch!
Meet restless ghosts and puzzle your way through helping them move on in Lavender Hollow!
The new 1.0 demo includes:
- completely revamped visuals
- audio (including voices!)
- and a brand new ghost!
Keep an eye out for a detailed changelog soon! This is the completed demo - any further updates will be bug fixes or small visual changes. Even if you’ve played before, there’s much more to discover!
Give it a go, spread the word, and let us know what you think! 💜
Hello, everybody! We’ve been hard at work on Lavender Hollow behind the scenes, and we have some big news: the next update of the demo is almost complete! Aside from some polishing that may be added in future small updates (graphics, bug fixes, etc.), this is the final version of the demo.
Lavender Hollow Demo 1.0 will be released on April 26th!
The release will be later in the evening (MDT), because in the morning and afternoon, we will be offering an early sneak peek at All Pikes Peak Makes 2025! This event runs from 10AM-3PM at Library 21c in Colorado Springs, Colorado. If you’re in the area, come say hi and try the updated demo! We also have some very fun headstone-shaped business cards, which are the closest thing we’ve ever had to merch.
Finally, a reminder that if you want to see more behind-the-scenes updates, we share regular progress updates, screenshots, concept art, character bios, and more on our Comradery for just $5/month. It’s like Patreon, but cooler! (Plus, if you’re a creator yourself, they just started their open beta, so you can start your own projects!)
Hi all, it’s been a while! Today, we have some important announcements to make about the future of Shadybug Dev and Lavender Hollow. First of all, we now have a page on Comradery! Comradery is a creator-owned alternative to platforms such as Patreon and Ko-Fi, and it’s a way for people to support our work in exchange for some behind-the-scenes looks at development. Every month, we’ll make two Comradery-exclusive posts: a devlog about what progress we’ve made on our games and an introduction to a character you’ll meet on your visit to Lavender Hollow. Our first devlog post will go up on November 30th!
You might also notice we’ve switched over to using “we.” For a long time, this project has been the work of @cicadaghost alone, with occasional help. However, @otaroddball has now joined as a permanent member of the team! He’ll be helping with concept work, community management, social media, and more as needed. (Plus, it’s much easier for Cicada to get work done when there’s someone else holding them accountable.)
Our Comradery is set up to encompass a primary project and a secondary project. Until its release, Lavender Hollow will be our primary focus! Development on the game has been going at a snail’s pace for quite some time, but having a consistent development schedule through Comradery means that we expect to make much faster progress from here on out. While much of our updates will stay on Comradery, you can still expect to see public posts on other platforms (like this one) as we have time to make them. Stay tuned!
As for that secondary project…
ALT
Switch/Glitch won’t enter formal development for a while yet, to keep focus on Lavender Hollow. You can still expect to see some concept work on Comradery, and after Lavender Hollow’s release, it’s slated to become our next primary project!
I wrote a postmortem about the past month of doing gamedev every day! The real lesson here is no matter how cool your project is, be careful not to neglect your health or comfort.
The demo for Lavender Hollow, my devtober game, is finally released!
Lavender Hollow is a quiet town in the mountains, where a population of monsters have taken refuge from human society. On the edge of the forest you can find the graveyard, where Daisy and her apprentice Ghastropod live and work.
A town as old as this has its fair share of ghosts, old and new. Your job, as a medium and graveyard caretaker, is to help them move on. Each ghost has their own story, traumas, and personal hauntings holding them back. This is about a game about showing compassion for the dead, as well as compassion for ourselves.
Days 15/16: I forgot to post yesterday, but these past two days I’ve been figuring out the inventory! It still has some bugs, but you can drop and pick up items… most of the time.
Day 14: two whole weeks of gamedev!! here’s to two more!
Added in a day/night cycle, sped up here for demonstration purposes, along with a basic time indicator
Revamped my item system, and added an inventory that persists between scenes
Played with shadows some more. For now for all the sprites, I’m going to make a basic mesh to be their shadows, and then just hide the actual mesh. I’m probably gonna just have to learn how shaders work soon.
ALT
ALT
ALT
ALT
ALT
ALT
ALT
ALT