Hey all and thanks for over 1,700 plays so far on My Vampire Boyfriend Smokes Lucky Strikes! (browser plays + downloads) That is over 1000 what my previous game currently has after four months LMAO ahhhh. Anyway.

I’m happy people are enjoying this silly game. It (literally) saved my life in multiple ways and has been something to keep my mind focused these past weeks as everything continues to fall apart. I’m really glad that it can bring smiles to people’s faces like it brought to mine.

Btw did you know that Our Wonderland is still deindexed? It’s been 130+ days now. Actually, apparently it’s not "deindexed" it’s some kind of bug that the itch staff themselves can’t even see or know what’s going on, because according to them:

Despite the fact that it does not show up via direct search, does not show up in tags or browse, does not show me CTR + 7D impressions, does not have a single hit of incoming traffic from internal itch genres and tags, and the traffic has been next to nothing for months (only getting a bit more the two times I’ve released something new and have linked the page).

Honestly feels like I’m being gaslit by the site itself at this point lol 😂

And I am not the only dev this is happening to either. I’ve found at least a few others in the same situation where there was no reason for their game to suddenly get deindexed and itch staff can’t even tell it’s been deindexed. This feels even worse than "normal deindexing" because at least with that you’ve just been flagged in the system and you’re theoretically supposed to just need to wait a bit and staff can index it again. But with this one staff don’t even seem to know what’s going on or how to fix it, so probably the games will just be stuck like this forever LOL..............

Apparently though I should not be mad about this and it’s my own fault if my game is not doing well after being deindexed because the mods will just tell you "if you’d just promote the game yourself then it wouldn’t matter that it’s deindexed" (as if I haven’t been promoting this game myself since I began working on it back in 2021)(and literally had a mental breakdown from trying to promote it so much in October and getting zero results....................................)

Everything is fine.

Anyway... this is a devlog about My Vampire Boyfriend Smokes Lucky Strikes, not Our Wonderland! (even if the game shares the same characters lol). I will try to draw something fun to celebrate the number of plays this week. Although it might be slightly busy for me this week as I need to get ready to travel next week and also I still have unemployment stuff going on, need to do family Christmas shopping, and have some art I need to make for something, so we’ll see.

Future Plans

So I’ve already said that I’ll be working on this game in episodes. Ideally each of the episodes will be about the same length, but it’ll probably depend on what each one ends up including and/or whether it will have two potential endings. For instance, the first episode had two endings, but I think that perhaps the second ep will only have one and all the choices will continue over into the third ep, which will then have two potential endings. The potential bad ends are just moments where Iggy could die, just like in episode one. And I don’t want these moments to feel pointless, hence why I want to give them plenty of potential choices and build-up leading into them.

The two major things that will be happening next in the story include 1) everything post-that night and resulting drama and fretting (and cute scenes), and 2) the gala that Orlam mentioned. Originally I wasn’t sure if I was going to try to pack all this into one episode, but because the gala will end up being quite weighty, I think what I’ve decided to do is have episode 2 include point 1 above leading up to and including the intro of the gala, and then episode 3 will be fully devoted to the gala. This feels like a good way to balance it while also not overloading myself. Ofc that’s just my thoughts right now and some of this could change or get rearranged once I actually start work but.

If I follow this, then episode 2 will end up introducing Gidget, along with the rest of Orlam’s brood and one other char I won’t mention yet. Then episode 3 will introduce some of the other vampire broods. (Another good reason to split these eps, as otherwise it would be a LOT of new character sprites...)

Because I’ll be traveling home for the holidays and everything else going on this month, I probably won’t be able to get much art or coding done, so I’ll be focusing mainly on writing, which nowadays I do mostly on my phone so I can do that easily anywhere. (I’m still taking my tablet with me, but the environment in general at home is just much harder for me to draw in, so I’ll probably be using what time I can get to draw to work on some cute holiday pieces of my chars instead).

Then in January I’ll probably be quite depressed lol............... I say as if that’s not just me all the time??? But January is always just a hard month for me even in better years because it’s like happiness over, reality back, hopelessness activated 110%, but now with all the stuff with my dad and my new happy Unemployed Situation and all the work the unemployment agency is going to start asking me to do (in a language I don’t speak that well) I can already predict that it’s going to be... bad. But I’m hopeful that continuing to work on this silly game will give me some respite and joy, so we’ll try to stay somewhat positive about it LOL

Anyway, that’s my current plans for what’ll happen next with this game and its story. I only have a few vague idea for potential happenings after episode 3, though probably my mind will keep percolating bits and pieces as I work on the next two eps and think about new directions it could go afterwards. For instance, probably episode 4 will focus a bit more on Orlam but I’m not 100% sure yet. I have quite a few characters to work with given the crossover nature of this universe, so I don’t want to overwhelm myself (or players LOL) by throwing in too many too quickly with too many different plots going on. Not to mention this is just a silly side project for me to find some happiness and peace in, so I don’t want to feel a lot of pressure about it either and just want to have fun seeing where it leads and writing new parts that bring me joy. That and I’m ofc still working on WtDSR, too! For the time being, I’ll likely just switch between working on them however and whenever my head and emotions take me. Like whichever one I feel compelled to work on I’ll just work on it without putting pressure on myself and we’ll see what ends up being ready to go next.

Worldbuilding and Lore

I’ve already mentioned that I’m being pretty fast and loose with vampire lore lol. Though I’m also doing a variety of research, much of what I glean overall from that research is that "people just do what they want" and thusly that is the mindset I’ve decided to take LOL Ofc all the Big Common Vampire Things will all be taken into account, but I may have fun with them in different ways than normal and also just make up a bunch of my own stuff to go along with it where I want to hahaha. It’s more fun that way anyway! Plus there are some older aspects of vampire lore that I’m just ehhhhh about anyway.

I’ve been dropping random bits of lore I’ve been thinking on over on my Tumblr, so I’ll include some of those bits here. For instance, you may have already noticed that I’ve been trying to draw different vampire teeth differently:

I like to think that the teeth of each vampire are also very unique and can come in many forms. For instance I drew Orlam’s as quite long and thin, while Genzou’s I drew stubbier but thicker, to the point where I like to think that when he smiles they actually make his lips bump up over them. It’s fun to think about how this stuff would also affect how they eat and such too. /thinking about this way too much

This is also present in the drawing I did of Ze already and also Jerry’s but his is just a bat so far LOL Ofc there’s also only so many different ways I could potentially draw the teeth, but I do want to at least try to make an effort to give them some distinction, as I think that’s really cool.

If you’ve played the game (which I kinda assume you have if you’re reading this???) then you’ll have noticed Genzou’s eyes turning red when he’s about to bite Iggy (either successfully or unsuccessfully lol). This is part of the lore I’m developing about their ability to activate a kind of poison they can secrete through their teeth:

random vampire thought of the day because I like coming up with new bits about how they work in this universe right after I wake up apparently lol

they have the ability to secrete a kind of lulling, sedating poison when they bite someone. this helps keep their meal still and calm. however, its effect greatly depends on the person’s state before they bite them. It won’t do much if the person is panicking and scared or generally in a state of high energy or anxiety. The person needs to already be in a bit of a lulled state and then it greatly multiplies that feeling (or if they’re in kind of a euphoric state, it multiplies that, too)

they have to purposely activate it in their teeth and when they do, their eyes start to glow red. however, it’s something that needs to be "recharged" in a way, like once they activate it, their body needs time to create more of it before they can use it again, and how long it takes depends on the vampire’s power and age generally (and also requires energy they get from blood)

Ofc sometimes if they get desperate and really hungry or start to reach a frenzy they may try to hunt someone without luring and lulling them first and using the poison but it’s not very effective in those cases and though it can have a slight paralyzing effect it will often increase the feelings of panic and fear and make their blood taste awful and it’s an overall unpleasant scenario for everyone involved

Which I also dove a bit more into a bit later, this time more specifically about using it on other vampires, too:

Thinking more about vampire teeth. Though I already mused about how they use the poison they can activate for hunting/on humans, I think it would also have a sort of paralyzing effect if they used it on other vampires too

The effect of it would probably depend on their own age/strength in comparison to the vampire they bite. If they’re much weaker, the effect would be small, but perhaps enough for them to get away if they’re in some kind of flight or skirmish (maybe just kinda making the older vampire feel sluggish and slow for a few minutes). Oppositely, if the biting vampire is much stronger, it could completely immobilize the weaker one for hours/days

Ofc generally it’s not good etiquette to be using it on other vampires but still 😂

I think it’s a really interesting concept to think about hehe. This also goes hand-in-hand with something I responded to someone’s ask with about blood and vampire hunting, etc.:

i like to think that the emotions and internal state of someone affects what their blood tastes like, hence why it’s not very satisfying to hunt someone down so that they’re terrified and panicking, because this would make it taste very thin and bitter and maybe even kinda rotten and would not be overall very pleasant. instead, it’s better to have a whole luring rigmarole so that the person is in some kind of pleasant, calm, or euphoric state so that it tastes better. orlam is quite good at this and tends to like when it’s a sort of spicy-sweet flavor. i also think that generally negative types are sweeter, and the rarer the blood type, the most sweet (so probably like AB negative would be the sweetest), however, every single person has a slightly different flavor no matter what type they are

Hence why it’s generally not good for a vampire to just go around hunting and terrifying people as they do it as it’s not going to be a very good experience overall and will end up tasting very sour or rotten. Depending on the severity of the prey’s panicked state of mind, some vampires may not even be able to stomach it, it tastes so bad. Though some vampires that are generally not very good at hunting (Genzou) have learned to put up with it a bit since they’re often not very successful at luring.

And then ofc there’s one of the Big Questions whenever it comes to vampires: how do vampires get turned into other vampires in this universe? I didn’t really want it to be where anyone they bite also becomes a vampire. That just feels like there’d be vampires everywhere then LOL and is a bit boring... So I did a bit of research into this, looking at how a few other franchises handle this, and developed some lore around of it my own that combines and expands on some of the methods I resonated with the most:

thinking about... vampire turning

actually I have been thinking about this for a while and researching a lot and am still working through some of the details

but in this universe, in order for someone to become a vampire, they not only need to be completely drained almost to the point of death of their own blood, but then be fed the vampire’s blood, but not too much at once, otherwise their body will reject it. It’s a process that can take upwards of three days, being given more blood every few hours, and it can be scary and painful so the vampire who does it needs to be very vigilant about it and help them through it as best they can. if they grow too weak during the process, the person can die. Oftentimes, if a vampire is doing it for the first time, they’ll enlist the help of an older more experienced vampire to mentor and oversee the process because of this as this usually ensures it goes more smoothly, but it can still be kinda scary

then after they’ve fully turned, they’ll be pretty weak in fledgling form for at least a year or two and generally need help hunting for food on their own, which is why broods can be so important to look out for each other whenever someone new joins

Ofc this will probably not come into play at any point soon in the narrative, BUT, i thought it was still important to have this mostly nailed down because it does affect a lot of other narrative aspects indirectly, especially in how broods work, thinking about everything that went into Orlam’s decisions for his own brood and how all that went down, etc. That and knowing me you’re gonna bet that even though it’s likely far into the future, I do have............ thoughts............ about when it might actually come into play and be directly relevant LOL

All of these are just my general current thoughts though and some of these ideas may continue to evolve, be expanded upon, get tweaked slightly as I actually develop them more and keep working on the story. But I really love thinking about stuff like this to flesh out the lore and world, and it also helps me come up with ideas for future story points, too! You’re also free to ask me any lore-related questions you may have about the world (either here or on my Tumblr or wherever)! If it’s not something I’ve thought of too much up to that point, it will give me an excuse to think about it and start developing some lore. And it’s also just fun talking about it. Also feel free to come up with your own ideas about stuff if you want to also have fun with vampire lore with the chars hehe.

Final Thoughts

Probably no one noticed but I released a tiny update yesterday fixing a few small things: mostly a handful of typos that I discovered by watching some streams of the game, as well as an issue with the Auto-Forward button image being named incorrectly. It takes a while to build and upload 6 different versions of the game but it was bothering me enough that I wanted to at least fix those things quickly LOL Feel free to shoot me a message here or on Tumblr though at any point if you discover anything else! This game was kind of made in a massive blur fever dream headspace (I swear I don’t even remember like half the weird things I wrote) and also pretty quickly and with less people checking it over so I am zero percent surprised that there are small issues here and there (actually more percent surprised there’s not more lol).

What else uhhhh... I’m super appreciative of everyone who’s left me a comment or rating on the game! All of that type of engagement directly here on itch really helps the game in the algorithm here, which can give it more visibility. (Not that I have a whole lot of that after the deindexing... though that is why every little bit of it helps...)

Btw if you’re interested in a lot of the inspiration that went behind this game (and was pretty much my constant music source during its production), may I direct you here:

I had the entire Jiminy album basically on repeat while I was working on this game, but this song in particular was what sparked the initial:

...which is how the idea and game even came into being in the first place LOL

This game turned out so extremely different from just about anything I’ve done before. The vibes are a bit more similar to like OFW and a few of the slapstick parts of WtDSR, but this really just takes everything to like 10x more ridiculous levels with absolutely no apology. Also you know I had fun making Genzou sooooOOOOooooo thirsty LMAOOO I’ve never written Genzy quite like this before and I enjoyed it immensely. It’s made it a lot of fun for me to work on something so silly and different (with still some darker and emotional elements) and I’m glad to hear from people who have played who have had a lot of fun with it, too.

Actually, the ending of this episode ended up being particularly emotional for me. I didn’t mean for it to go that direction when I first got to it, it just kinda turned into it... It took on the vibes of something from my own life that is still quite emotionally scarring for me (and one of the big things that helped me figure out I was ace). Let’s just say it had a somewhat similar build-up but then ultimately did not turn out like it turned out in the game (and more like the worst way you could possibly imagine). But I don’t feel comfortable going into any more details. So by making this, it felt a bit like rewriting and reclaiming that horrible moment from my life for myself. Which led to me crying multiple times while working on it LOL Ahhh... so anyway, it makes me happy if that part can maybe have some emotional impact on others, as well. Without meaning to, it somehow turned into something that felt very important to me, I guess.

Ok this devlog is getting way too long as normal. But if you have read this whole thing I’m really appreciative! Thank you so much for the support and love for my games and chars even in this horrible year where I probably have been really annoying to follow. I am trying to get through things. I am trying.

Thank you all <3

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Get My Vampire Boyfriend Smokes Lucky Strikes