Our Wonderland
Finale Releasing April 5 (i.e., this effing game is finally gonna be finished!!1!!!!!1)
It feels extremely surreal to be writing this, but...
...THE FINALE IS FINISHED. WHICH MEANS I CAN FINALLY GIVE A RELEASE DATE.
🎉🎉🎉THE FINALE WILL BE RELEASED ON APRIL 5TH🎉🎉🎉
That's right. FINALLY. AFTER... NEARLY 3 YEARS(???). THIS GAME. THIS GAME THAT HAS OCCUPIED EVERY SINGLE PART OF MY LIFE. THAT I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON LIKE A BAT OUTTA HELL.
WILL.
BE.
COMPLETE.
Insert vaguely celebratory image here.
I am still in slight Shock and Awe over this factoid. But I'll refrain from going on a wild rambly tangent for now (I'll save that for post-launch perhaps LOL). Instead, I'll simply go over some FAST FACTS about the finale so you can be RRRRRRRRRRREADY for this thing to RRRRRRRRIP its way into your life in a few weeks' time. SOUND GOOD? Good. Let's get started.
THE COLD HARD DEETS
- Around 35k new words
Word count-wise, this thing is about the length of every other arc (or arc part, in the case of Arc 5) I've put out. So it does fit quite nicely as the final third of Arc 5. Tbh, I'm not sure how it is that every single time I always end up about the same length when it comes to these things. I truly do not plan this. It just kinda happens. HOWEVER. The finale is the only part where the routes will play more of a dominant role, so you won't be ~ experiencing ~ all of these new words on a single playthrough. I'd say a single run only covers around 22k or so of those words, so it'll probably still feel a bit shorter overall than some of the previous arcs. (BUT THEN YOU CAN GO BACK AND TRY TO UNLOCK/PLAY THE OTHER ROUTES YEAHHHHHH.)
Which brings us right to our next point...
- Four different epilogues
I talked a bit about the routes in general in the previous dev log, so feel free to check out it out there if you missed it. But tl;dr, there are four different "routes," though the routes are not completely different from each other, only in some areas. The main story and main ending are the same no matter which route you're on; however, depending on the route, you'll have a different special scene towards the beginning of the finale, and then you'll get a different epilogue at the very end (and also a few small differences throughout the path leading up to the ending). Each of the main "love interests" for lack of a better word has their own route, and then there's also a neutral route. But you'll need to have gotten enough affection for an LI throughout the game in order to unlock their route!
- 109 CGs
WTF.
WTF ME???
109 CGS???
Yes. Yes, there are 109 CGs JUST FOR THIS FREAKING FINALE. I honestly could not tell you how I managed to draw this much in so little time. It was as if someone lit a fire under my butt and I literally could not stop it was so intense. A lot of these CGs come from the cutscenes, because there's a good chunk of those. There's also a lot of CGs for the ending and epilogues. Since there are four different possible epilogues, that required four different versions of the final CG sequence, so... yeah... just... a lot of art overall... BUT HOPEFULLY WORTH IT (??????)
- 3 animatic-style semi-animated cutscenes
Ofc OW would not be complete without its cutscenes!! Mostly because I am a little bit unhinged and need The Big Scenes to all play out exactly how I imagine in my head set to music. And because this is literally the finale of the entire game, ofc it would have some cutscenes!!!1!!!1! Two of the cutscenes kinda meld into each other, but because they're separate in my head, I'm labeling them as two different ones. I hope they will be as epic for people playing as they are in my head... weep.
- 15 new music tracks
You all know me, I love me my soundtracks. And the finale has a lot of new bangers!!!!!!
- A ton of new sprites!!!1!!!!!! (and also some updated sprites)
I don't even want to take the time to go try and count up all the new sprites, but there are a lot! Also, as I mentioned in the previous devlog, I've redone a few sprites that I didn't like anymore. AND there's a ton of new sprite variations, particularly in one flashback-heavy sequence.
Iggy channeling my tears as I wept profusely while finishing this up.
Now then, because this is the finale, this ofc means that the game will be completely finished! So let's take a look at the numbers for the complete game:
- 288k words
- 520 CGs
- 7 semi-animated cutscenes (just counting actual cutscenes set to music, even tho there are a few cutscene-esque sequences I'm not counting)
- 128 music tracks (wtf)
- 470 sound effects(wtfffff)
- 12 optional deaths (+4 non-optional deaths LOL)
- Countless loops
- Countless tears
- Countless moments of pain and suffering (especially my own)
WOW THAT'S A LOT!!!!! I'm not sure how I feel about this!!!1!1!!! Dang!!!!!!!
At any rate, there's never been a better chance to play now that the full game will finally be out so you can experience this atrocious monstrosity from start to finish.
And with that, I don't really know what more to add to this release announcement, so I suppose I'll end it before I start rambling about irrelevant things. I'll ofc include any additional details and the new CWs, etc. on the actual release day. And in the meantime, I'll be finishing up testing and working on the launch week art and all that fun stuff. In my head, I had imagined setting up like... some kind of big fanfare celebration... thing... for the finale release, but...
I'm just...
So tired LOL
That and I don't really know what I'd do. And I just wanna get this thing launched so I can stop worrying about it and people can play it.
So I'll just be doing my typical release countdown.
Until then!!!!!
A farewell dance or something to sign off this devlog.
Comments
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Congratulations on this milestone! I've only recently discovered this game through the Queer Halloween Stories Bundle, but I've been hoping to someday stream the game for its unique art style and it's kind of insane I managed to stumble across it right before its finale releases! It sounds like so much hard work went into this project- so truly, congratulations!
Ahhhhh thank you very much!!! And I'm happy to hear you found the game through that bundle! 😍 There were a lot of amazing games in it and I was really excited to be a part of it!
LOL it would be quite the coincidence indeed! I'm quite excited to be able to finish it up though! It's been a really long time in the making. I hope that if you do get around to playing it or streaming it that you end up liking it!! Thank you so much for the kind words!
I have found this game like 4 days ago, and i just got into that story that i go to sleep at 4, when normally i have problems with staying awake ater 11, and oh gosh This game gives that feeling that i only get like once a year, when i found something so fucking amazing that i cant stop about it, i want to use all of my free time into getting deeper into this universe. Tbh it wasn't what i expected, but it comes out that i found another gem. I love these characters!! (well maybe expect bucks, im still upset about her killing her baby ...(but im just starting gidgets arc, so this may change)) and the way how the queer is portrayed here, and how in some ways everybody can sympathize with any character!! And Iggy gosh hes such an perfect protag😭. So yeah I love all about this game!! But i have one issue, when i play sometimes the dialogues start to lag, like some letter appear, and i have to wait quite a lot for the whole line to appear, and i cant skip it... Maybe its just mine download which has this problem but i think its better to say if i have this bug. Oh last thing, i congratulate you for making such a good work, which made lots of people feel like me about this game. So thank you :)
Ahhhhhh thank you so much for the kind words??? I'm really happy that you've enjoyed the game so much (and even only having gotten through three arcs so far lkdjfas) THO PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF TOO PLEASE REST AND SLEEP????? 💦💦
Re: the bug, that's very odd, no one's ever reported something like this happening before... 😭 I'm not quite sure what exactly is going on, is there anyway you could show an example of what you mean? As I'm not sure I fully understand. I'm really sorry this is happening though... I'm not sure if for instance it's some unique conflict between your computer and the Ren'Py engine or something as I've never heard anything like this before 😢
okay so for example this, the 2 first letter appear normally but then it stops, and i have to wait for the rest of text to appear (but when it does come up it doesnt show a letter by letter, but the whole sentence appears at once (if you know what i mean), and i cant skip to the next dialogue
THIS IS WHAT PASSION DOES TO SOMEBODY.
IT MAKES THEM CREATE 109 CGS FOR THE FINAL OF A GAME.
I've just discovered your universe and I'm obsessed. It's good, like, insanely good. The kind of good you come across only a few times in your life while browsing online.
I'm a huge fan of interactive visual novel, romance and indie games, and man you delivered all i could hope for and more.
And it's FREE ?? And the quality ?????
Man, you are insane, like the people in Wonderland, but, please, never stop creating, because you're so gifted.
In the meantime : take a break. You deserve it.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH PASSION OR PERHAPS OBSESSION I'M NOT SURE 🤣🤣🤣 Either way it was certainly a lot, and it left me feeling quite tired afterwards, but I've been trying to rest and relax as much as possible while still being nervous as all heck for the launch, so I'm glad for that at least.
Weep you are too kind, thank you so much??? 😭💕 I'm really happy that you've enjoyed the game so far (as well as the side games??? from what I can tell akdjfasd) This game started as something quite a lot smaller than it eventually became, but I'm really happy with how everything has turned out and the way it's not only become such a big part of my life but changed so much of it too.
LKDJFALDSKF MAYBE I'M JUST IN MY OWN WONDERLAND, WHO CAN SAY LMAO
At any rate, I hope you'll enjoy the finale! With so much build-up, I'm rather nervous about meeting people's expectations, but I hope no matter what, people will be able to feel satisfied and happy with how things wrap up. Thank you for the kind words and all your support! 💕
OF COURSE I ENJOY YOUR GAMES ARE YOU KIDDING ??? I feel like i'm gonna be obsessed with them for a while. And you're so kind with your community it's heartwarming !!!! Don't worry, whatever comes out we will be amazed by it, i'm sure you're too hard on yourself (a bit of iggy-coded ????)
BTW UNRELATED but i've tried shazaming the song during Gidget scene in the inn's room where she... hm... makes sure iggy looks at the red side of life, during act 2, i can only figure out "kira kira" something i dont speak japanese do you know where i can find the song ??? I've been looking at the help section for sound but i cant find it
Either way i'll pby see it during final credits !!!
GET SOME REST CARROT ITS AN ORDER FROM A FAN
LOL Iggy has, uh, a lot of myself in him, I will admit 🤣💦
Re: the song, it is here: https://dova-s.jp/bgm/play10979.html
If you ever need to find a song in the game, you can check out the Music gallery in-game. You can listen to the tracklists to figure out which song it is/if it's the one you're looking for, then click on the composer's name to go to the site where the song is. For instance, this song in the game is called "Our World":
thank you so much :3 now i'll know where to look hehe
once again, you can be proud of urself for all the great creations you're putting out there <3
OMFGGGG I LOVE THIS SO MUCH WORDS CAN NOT EXPRESS IT
and the fact the final part comes out like 4 days after my birthday???? amazing late birthday present i swear this is one of my favs visual novels and im in love. but i still dont know yet is Jerry dead??????? imma be so sad if he is but we didnt see him die right? ( or thats just my false hope talking) but anyway i canttt wait for the last part and i love youur games carrot! imma go download some more <<3333
HELP 4 DAYS AFTER YOUR BIRTHDAY. I swear there have been like 10+ people that have told me the release is either on or near their birthday, what is happening lakdjfasd IS THIS A POPULAR TIME FOR BIRTHDAYS???
Re: Jerry, yes... I mean yes, it doesn't actually show it in the game, so ofc anyone can think whatever they want, but my intent with that scene was that he does die 💦 (particularly as that scene would feel a lot less impactful if he was perfectly fine afterwards and kind of defeat the point of him sacrificing himself to ensure that Iggy and the others can make it to the castle and try to fix things lol)
AT ANY RATE. THANK YOU FOR THE VERY KIND WORDS. I really hope you'll enjoy the finale! I'm quite nervous but excited for everyone to play it! 💕
YESSS OMG OMG!!! this is my favourite game, i know im gonna cry at the end hahah but im so happy!! ahh i can't believe this! hahaha
Wishing you all the best and a lot of relaxation!! <3
I HAVE CRIED A LOT WHILE WORKING ON THE FINALE ALREADY LKJADFADS
I just really hope people will enjoy it! Even despite this being the end (of the main game at least, because I don't think I'll be able to stop thinking about these characters even afterwards lol)
Thank you so much for the kind words of encouragement! 💕
BRO! I can't believe this masterpiece is gonna be finished! Brings tears of joy to my eyes. Carrot, you're amazing.
Gotta tell you, your writing is one of the best i've seen in any visual novels. Like, you make the characters seem so human, y'know? And finally, the mistery behind that doll is gonna come to light, i'm in the edge of my seat! Keep doing your best, bro.
(Pardon my english)
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT MYSELF TO BE HONEST LOL
(also apologies for the latest of this reply -- with everything going on between the launch and my own RL stuff I've been really all over the place lately dlkjafd)
That's really so kind of you to say, you're gonna make me cry... 😭💕
I WILL KEEP TRYING TO DO MY BEST.
And I hope you'll enjoy the finale! Thank you so much for the kind comment!
OHHHHHHH！I am so excited to see the final😭it has been a long time since the first time I found this game! Congrats🥳🥳
IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME COMING THAT'S FOR SURE 🤣
I hope that you'll enjoy it when it's released!! Thank you so much for the kind words! 😭💕
You know whats really sad tho? That after this amazing game is out im not gonna see your awesome dev logs anymore. I feel thats the real sad part in all of this.
But im so excited to play the full game! I've held off playing chapter 5 just so I can experience everything! Can't freaking wait!!!
LMAOOOOO THE FREAKING DEVLOGS 🤣🤣🤣 I am really happy ppl enjoy my unhinged devlogs. I wish I could have written more, but they take me so much energy to write lakdjfads MAYBE THEY'RE NOT OVER THOUGH WHO KNOWS. I have vague plans for more OW-related stuff in the future, and maybe some new projects too! So I'll probably still be here writing completely off the rails stuff every couple of months LOL
Omg you haven't played any of Arc 5 yet???? lfkLDKJFALDKFA then you will have a lot to look forward to!! I feel like so much happens in Arc 5 that I mostly just take for granted now that people know 🤣 I hope you will enjoy getting to play it all in its monstrosity!! And thank you so much for the encouraging words! 💕
You? Are an absolute powerhouse, and deserve all the respect—and rest—in the world. I'm so excited for this finale, you do *not* even know.
That said, and maybe this is preemptive, but I say this with compassion:
When you finish this saga—because it's been such a massive part of your life for a long time and you've been working unbelievably hard on it—you might feel a heavy listlessness afterwards, or a sense of "emptiness". Like you've done it all, but now what? But this is not the end for you, nor your well of creativity. Make sure you give yourself the time you need to relish in reflecting on your remarkable journey, indulge yourself in the little things that give you joy, and cherish your downtime with yourself and others.
We love you, carrot! You are so goddamn amazing!!
CODA. THIS COMMENT IS GOING TO MAKE ME CRY?????
Thank you so much for these kind words... 😭💕 You don't know how much it means...
And thank you also for the encouraging advice. I am definitely expecting a crash/slump after the release. I've already felt it a lot even with the individual arc releases pretty hard each time, and those weren't even the end of the game! LOL So... I am... yes... very sure it is coming... especially since I've been pretty nonstop intense the last two months while working on the finale. I will really try my best to be kind to myself and plan for it and prepare my mind/things and ways to keep myself distracted or to focus on other things. And also just taking some rest (finally). I have a problem with the constant pressure of needing to be working on something making it hard for me to enjoy my downtown/do other things I enjoy just for fun, tho I'm hoping a bit that at least without the overhanging knowledge that I need to finish the game hanging over me, I'll actually be able to break out of that for a bit hahaha. We shall see. Either way, I'll try my best... 💦 And I'm excited to think about the things I'll do next after this once I've had a chance to clear my head and come down from everything 😤
WEEP I'M CRYING AGAIN. I really hope you'll enjoy the finale! It ended up being very personal to me on top of everything, so I'm quite happy with it but also very nervous and hope that it will live up to people's expectations...😭 Thank you for this lovely comment, reading it really filled my heart!!! 💕
Maximuuuum congratulations are in order!!! ^‐^ It's such a huge achievement! You've poured so much time and love into it all :3 I really, reeeeally hope you will be scheduling yourself some celebratory noms and relaxation time cos you've more than earned it x3
LMAO REAL PROBABLY I WILL JUST CRASH FOR A BIT TBH 🤣 Particularly with intense it's been the last two months I'm a bit worried after the launch about the coming slump. But hopefully I can wrap my head around actually relishing in some rest and turning my mind to other things for at least a little bit so I can actually come down from all of this hahaha.
Sigh... at any rate... THANK YOUUUU 😭💕 I still can't really believe it myself. This is the longest project I've ever finished in my entire life LOL So it feels a bit surreal. But it's become such a big part of my life that it feels very emotional that I was able to see it through to the end. I just hope that people will like how everything wraps up!! 🥺
Holy christ on a cracker, Carrot! This is such great news! I'm so happy for you, man. Don't know how your own hand doesn't fall off from all that drawing and tweaking you must've done for the final part of Arc 5, but seriously... wow.
Not going to lie, part of me feels bittersweet over how this game will soon reach its finale, but it beats having one of those titles who continue milking its story & characters until its merely a husk of what it used to be.
I know I haven't been on Itch.io in a while, but I'm glad to have logged back on during such a glorious announcement. Looking forward to April 5th, and to me gushing even *MORE* about all of your wonderful characters and lore!
So proud of you, Carrot! That's true dedication and passion, right there! <3
I ALSO DON'T KNOW TBH. My arm/back has been pretty messed up for years already though more from general life than from working on this game. Sometimes it actually hurts less WHILE drawing 🤣 But even I will admit these past two months have been a litol bit intense even for me. I could not tell you what was spurring me to draw sometimes 3-4 CGs in an evening LKJDLAKSDF
Sob I am also feeling similarly. As excited as I am to be finished and be able to share the complete story, I know I'm going to feel a bit empty afterwards 💦 I do have some other plans for the universe, like an eventual remaster where I redo some of especially the early artwork in the game and give it some scripting polish and maybe a few other additional things. Also probably at least one other side game. But ofc it will never be the same as working on the main game and its core story. ALSO JUST WORKING ON SOMETHING FOR 3 YEARS AND THEN IT'S DONE LIKE. It feels incomprehensible to me lakdjfads
Thank you so much though for the kind words and all of your support and lovely comments and thoughts on all the other past parts and side games!! 😭💕 It really means so much hearing from people who have so many thoughts about the game and its chars lkadsjfasd I hope that you will enjoy seeing how it ends!! I AM A BIT NERVOUS AMONGST ALL THE OTHER CONFLICTING FEELINGS LOL.
OH HORRAYYY!!! Thank you so much for creating such a wonderful game🙏 Our wonderland has been a hyperfixatipn since I steamrolled through every little thing you have made. Finally a game with an MC that I can genuinely relate to and characters that are so easy to love 🫶🫶🫶 You ate I am afraid. Zero crumbs.
"You ate I am afraid." --> LKDJFASLDKFA I DON'T KNOW WHY BUT THIS IS SENDING ME HAHAHAHAHA
Sobbbb thank you for the kind words and support! Hearing stuff like this honestly makes me wanna cry, and I'm really happy that people were able to love the chars and the game so much over the years!! I just hope that I will be able to meet everyone's expectations with the ending! 😭💕
I'm so excited for it!!! I've returned to this project each time an update has added to it, and I was always blown away by the new developments that came with each update. It's a little sad for this to be the last one, but it's also going to be exhilarating to see how this story ends! Thank you Carrot for making such an amazing game.
YOUR COMMENTS ALWAYS FUELED ME SO MUCH!! Thank you for all the kind words and thoughts and support throughout the years(???) I'm losing track of my sense of time LKDJAFS I digress though, hearing that makes me really happy to hear! I AM ALSO SAD. Even though I have some vague ideas for plans for other OW-related stuff, like the remaster I wanna do, maybe another side game or something, it will never be the same as working on the main game and its core story 💦 That and it'll just be so weird to wake up in the morning and it's just... done. Like. I finished it. I think it will hit me a bit harder after the launch though since I'm still keeping myself busy with final tweaks and launch prep, etc.
Thank you so much for your words of encouragement sob sob sob 😭💕I hope that you'll enjoy seeing how this all comes to an end. I am excited, sad, and anxious as usual about it lakdjfasd
I can't wait to play it, Carrot. I hope you are doing your best.
THANK YOOOOOU!!! I'm looking forward to watching it!! 😍 sOB I hope it'll live up to everything lakdfjad
Just played through OW in a feverish daze, so excited for you! It was amazing seeing your adoration, and I'm so glad to be able to see your hard work!
A FEVERISH DAZE HELP DLKADSFASDF I-I-I'M GLAD(?????) (please take care of yourself LOL 💦)
Sob thank you so much though, that's very kind!! 😭💕 I'm still in a state of surreal numbness about everything right now but I feel like after the launch it's all going to hit me pretty hard that it's finally done LKDJAFSDFA
I just could NOT stop playing, it just gripped me that much (Sleep? Whats that!?). It was a great inspiration to me, in terms of writing stories
And I can only imagine! Big things only seem to hit a little later! Just know that we're all ecstatic for you, and you take care of yourself too.
Ahhhhhh I'm really touched and honored to hear that!! LOL REAL WHAT EVEN IS SLEEP LKDJADFA
Thank you so much for the kind words, it's really sweet!! 💕 I shall try to!!! Tho first I shall prepare for the launch!! 😤
Dear! (No offense) It’s been such a long time! I'm really excited for you! Thank you for your unremitting efforts over the years, thank you for your hard work!😉
I still remember the first time I came into contact with "OW", probably around July last year. I always felt that you had unimaginable love for each character, not only through the game itself, but also on Twitter and Tumblr. 🥰The personalities of these characters are fully fleshed out, which I think is particularly remarkable!👍
Carrot, you have really done a great job. I wish you good health and all the best!🥳 As well as being able to achieve more loving feelings according to your own expectations in terms of family and love, congratulations again on accomplishing this feat!🫡
WEEP THANK YOU VERY MUCH 🥺💕
It has indeed been a very long time. I'm really excited but also a ton of other conflicting feelings about this final release. But overall I'm just happy that I was able to see this thing through until the end!!
LKDJFADSF I DO LOVE THE CHARACTERS VERY MUCH. This game and these characters have become such a part of me. Not a day goes by where I'm not thinking about them. Even if it's not always the main game, since I've taken breaks to work on side games, them and their stories are still always at the forefront of my mind sob. They are just incredibly important to me...
I'm really happy others have been able to connect with them so much, too!!
Thank you so much for the kind words and well wishes!! And I hope you'll enjoy the end of the game! 🥰
FINALLYYYYY I WAS WAITING FOR SO LONG AND NOW I'M EXCITEDD
FINALLY INDEED. IT'S BEEN SO LONG LKADJFADSF
Really happy and relieved and a million other emotions that I've managed to bring this thing to its conclusion after these many moons LOL
Yayyyyy congrats ! That is so great and I'm so excited for the 5th.
Thank you!!!! I hope you'll enjoy finally getting to see the end of this monstrosity!! 🥺💕
that is INCREDIBLE, congrats again!!!
WEEP GREY YOU'RE TOO NICE KDJFLADKFAD Thank yooooooooou.... 😭💕
I'm so excited! Im so happy that I got along this crazy bandwagon! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy for you Carrot! And I cannot wait until the 5th!!!!^^
Ahhhhhhhh thank you so much!!! 😭💕
I am so so so grateful for everyone that's come along this ridiculous journey with me! I really hope that the ending of the game will live up to everyone's expectations!!