Hello everyone! Happy 247th Marine Corps birthday! You're probably surprised to see a DevLog coming from this game after so long. I decided now would be a good time to look back on the game and what I think of it now after working on three other projects. Before you proceed, please note that this will contain spoilers for the entirety of All in Love and War. You have been warned.

I talked about the creation of VN in previous devlogs but since it's been so long I'll summarize a little bit. I wanted to make a dating sim, which would eventually become Barachoda Bloom. However, a friend told me that the scope was too big and that I should start with a small(er) project. Barajam 2021 was coming up, so I had the idea of making a linear VN that focused on a character from BB and his love interest. I really wanted to write about a silver daddy and give him a tragic ending. I was inspired by Gengoroh Tagame's manga about two soldiers in the Russo-Japanese war. I particularly liked the design of the old soldier and wanted to base a character on him. I also wanted to give the VN an 80s anime art style after watching the original Super Dimension Fortress Macross (I like to think that this VN takes after the TV series while BB takes after Ai Oboete Imasu Ka?). It's the strangest thing, I based the VN after Macross because I thought one of the love interests died, because of a google suggestion but she never does aside from it being implied from materials set after the series ended.

I want to mention the writing process. This is the first major project I ever wrote creatively for. I didn't have much experience writing a story before. I spent time with people who study writing creatively, read a bunch of articles on how to write a good story, and wrote some basic prose stuff, but never a complete story. I forget if I have mentioned this before, but the plot was created using the Save the Cat beat sheet. For those who don't know, the Save the Cat beat sheet was first described by Blake Snyder in his book Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need. In it, he describes the beat sheet as something that many, many famous and successful movies have used as the foundation of their story in order to create an emotional and memorable response from the viewers. Essentially, it's the three-act structure modernized for the writers of today. This book has gotten sequels made by the author as well as spin-offs made by other authors. This beat sheet is slightly controversial as they consider it the reason why most movies are so "same-y" but nonetheless it works as a good starting point for a novice writer like me.

The book I read to better understand the beat sheet was Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book On Novel Writing You'll Ever Need by Jessica Brody (try saying that three times fast…). In this specific book, the author describes several "genres" of stories that can be used to make better stories. These genres aren't the typical romance, horror, slice of life, etc. Rather they're genres based on the plot. One of the genres listed was called Buddy Love. Essentially it's about the growth and connection between two important characters and how both change over the course of the story due to their actions toward each other. That genre, alongside the Save the Cat beat sheet, was the basis of All in Love and War's story.

One thing I learned from working on this project and other projects after All in Love is that ideas aren't concrete. In a video made by the author of Tonoharu, 4 Time-Saving Tips (from a guy who spent 13 YEARS drawing a comic), he says that one thing that was holding him back was that he would always stick to his vision no matter how inconvenient it was. There was no reason why two characters had to say goodbye in a busy bus station, but the author depicted them in that situation anyways because it was his "vision", when he could have saved time doing it somewhere else. There's respect towards people who stay true to their original vision, but the truth is that "sticking to your vision" can stop you from making better stories or making them faster. Out of all the projects I have created thus far (All in Love and War, Barachoda Bloom, By Your Hands) this one was by far the one that changed the least from its original conception, and I think it hurt the VN in the long term. I conceived this story as a story between two Marines, but when I started creating the story I had to research all this Marine stuff. Not to mention there was the issue of glorifying the Marines when that wasn't my intention. There was no reason why they had to be Marines, they could have been Firefighters or even Doctors. Yes, I would still have had to have done the research, but I could have changed their occupations to fit the story I was going for. Instead, I fit the story to the Marines and that's not what you're supposed to do as a writer unless you're writing someone else's story.

One issue with the story I find is the lack of world-building. This sounds weird for a contemporary setting but thinks about it. What fucking country are Jayden and Hardy in? I was too uncomfortable to name the country they were in for fear of disrespecting real-world history, but I feel like I should have at least named the country they were in. I might name the country they were in BB but it's still not great for the original VN. Another issue with the story was that despite all the research I've done, it's still not accurate. Why does Hardy have a beard while in duty? How is he still a Marine when he's this old? How is Ahmed a Marine when he's an albino and he can't be in the sun for too long? How does he become a Corporal at the age of 20? These were questions I either didn't want to answer or just kind of handwaved. Again, lodging a setting into a story that it didn't fit into.

The last major thing I'll mention is that I don't like how I wrote Sindukht. I needed a reason why Hardy was divorced and I also needed a reason why he hasn't seen his son in years but I feel like I just fucked both of them up. I feel like Sindukht is just too unrealistic, like maybe a narcissist would do that, but I'd say it's highly likely considering her situation. It's just too convenient. There were other ways to separate Hardy and Ahmed and there was no reason why she had to be written like that. I'll avoid writing characters like her in the future and if I have to include a toxic or malicious character, I'll try to make them either realistic or give them depth.

There are some other flaws with the VN. I feel like Jayden acts a little immature at several points in the story, and I think the dialogue and narration could have been improved overall. It was my first time writing a Visual Novel and I thought I had to describe everything. But then I toned it down to the point where I'd only narrate when I absolutely had to. I'm still figuring out a good balance to this day. I also wish I put in more foreshadowing about the ending because I was weirdly anal about telling people that it had a sad ending before the story was finished. In terms of art, some of the art looks off but I think I did a good job overall. Poor Jayden though. He's supposed to be African-American but instead, his ethnicity is so ambiguous that he just sort of creates his own race. I do like how I drew him post-time skip. If it wasn't for the nose it would have been perfect. I can't say for certain, but I feel like my ability to indicate race with my drawings has improved between All in Love and Barachoda. 

That's not to say that I think the VN is bad or that it had no good points. While I do think that the story didn't need to involve Marines, I do like that it portrayed a more mundane look of them in a way that wasn't comedic. I really like how I wrote Hardy, how he's both mature and experienced yet it's still apparent that he's dealing with issues. His scenes with Jayden were pleasant to write. It's to the point where I'm worried that some of the characters in Barachoda will be unfairly compared to Hardy. And I liked how I drew him, it's a nice mix of sexy and realistic. I think I got a good grip on creating sex scenes with this VN, and how to structure the CGs, even if some of them look a bit…wonky. Oh yeah, I also figured out that I was a top during the development of the VN, so that's why Hardy suddenly starts to only bottom from the second sex scene onward. Looking at the first sex scene feels like I'm looking at myself from an alternative dimension. And I do think I did a good job at giving the ending its emotional impact, even tearing up at a few points while writing it. I think my favorite scene in the VN is the one at the graveyard, it just shows the beginning of the development of both Jayden and Ahmed.

I learned a lot from making All in Love. From working with composers to managing work in a tight schedule (spoilers: it's really fucking hard) to marketing, drawing in a consistent style, coding, using free assets, UI, how to draw sex scenes, and even just learning how to write. I learned what I was capable of and what I wasn't capable of (don't ask me to draw backgrounds). I learned what styles suit me the best and what inspires me to do what I do. There's a reason why people tell you to start with one small project. Just finishing a project teaches you so much and gives you the confidence to keep going. The difference between making the first build of BB and making the first build of All in Love is like night and day. I was so much more capable and confident in my ability to make an entertaining VN by the time I made BB. I also had a better understanding of what people wanted from me and what made characters likable. I feel like the response I got about Hardy influenced how I wrote some of the love interests. And I was more comfortable writing the slice-of-life stuff in the VN. I think the most important thing I learned is to have fun. That and that hairy, fat asses are the best, but still.

Overall I believe All in Love and War to be a Visual Novel that's just alright. But I do have fond memories of the development of the VN and I think that as a first project it's pretty good. I'll be honest when I say that I finally found what I wanted to do with my art when I released that first build. Before All in Love, I was trying really hard to do something with my art. I kept making illustrations and posting them on social media, but nothing stuck. So when I released All in Love and got a ton of attention and kind words, it finally clicked. And now a year later, I'm still making visual novels, still writing and drawing about old men getting railed, and growing my audience steadily. I really hope I keep on doing this for years to come. Thank you to everyone who has been with me since the beginning and thank you to those who came a little later. You're all amazing and I'm so glad that there are people out there who enjoy what I do.

So once again, have a nice day!