It all started when I thought about making a quick, simple project on the side. I just really wanted to write something, you know? Suddenly I remembered Dream Diary Jam was a thing and I was like, "I wonder if there's one going on right now?" I'm relatively new to the concept of Dream Diary Jam, so at the time I wasn't really aware they all took place around the same time each year. I checked Itch.io for the latest DDJ page, and lo and behold:

"Oh crap. I've only got four days."

Ha. What kind of game could I make in just four days? That's impossible, isn't it? And if I somehow manage to do it, will my project be rejected as "low-effort?" I was already wasting time asking myself these questions, so I decided to cast my doubts aside and get to work.

Originally, I considered doing a more robust visual novel featuring both Monoe and Monoko as romanceable love interests. I wanted all kinds of endings and dialogue options, too. But even that proved to be too complicated for the timeframe provided and the idea was quickly scrapped. Hey, there's always next year for that one!

I had to strip my concept down to its bare parts. A visual novel? Fine. But there can only be one love interest and two possible routes to get to her. That can't be too complicated, right? Wrong. I had no choice but to settle for one love interest and no dialogue options. Not ideal, but that was just the way it had to be. I sat at my laptop and puked out what I thought was a pretty decent love story with compelling themes and motifs. Writing is my primary interest and creative strength... well, actually, I'll let you all decide if that's true or not.

Visuals were a whole other animal. I'm not bad with GUI stuff so it didn't take long for me to put something together, but there was still one critical problem to deal with: I can't draw.

I already had contingencies for this, though. It's 2023. Why not just AI generate all the backgrounds character sprites? Okay, okay, I know what you're thinking. AI, copyright, artists, etc. I get it. But at the end of the day, this is just a fun little project that's not trying to make money. I think anyone should be able to use this technology for whatever they want as long as it's not illegal. Sure, it would have been nice to team up with an actual artist, I'd considered it, but that just wasn't possible with the timeframe I had to work with. But I digress.

At first I tried using NovelAI's image generator, because I've had relative success when I'd experimented with it in the past. However, it wasn't able to produce a character that looked like Monoe. And the hands... don't get me started on the hands. This clearly wasn't going to work.

So, even though I was almost completely broke, I managed to scrape up $10 for a one-month MidJourney subscription. Paying rent on time? That's for losers. Just kidding. Anyway, the results were a lot more workable this time around. I was able to get some Monoe-esque character art even though MJ was never the best at making anime stuff. I had to settle for a semi-anime, semi-realistic style that I don't like, but whatever. I just need to get this thing done at this point. I downloaded a few possible concepts, some of which were unfortunately too inconsistent to use. Instead I just settled for one or two sprites I liked, removed their backgrounds with remove.bg, and manually created slight variations by manipulating the sprites with software. It would look a little awkward, but I could mask it by hiding the sprite for a few lines of monologue before making the character reappear with a new expression. Perfect.

All that was left to do was throw my script into Ren'py and add some fancy sounds. I used some sound bites from Pixabay, the greatest stock image and audio site on the net, but I also thought it would be cool to write a short track of my own to set the right mood. While writing the piano piece, I thought to myself, "some parts of this sound like Frère Jacques." That seemed kind of weird, so I was going to change it, but then I remembered Yume Nikki is all about sleeping and dreaming so I rolled with it. The song turned out pretty well in my opinion. Actually, it's been stuck in my head for hours.

Don't read this next paragraph if you haven't played the game yet and don't want any spoilers. I thought it would be really, really neat to use my original song when the Salt Flats were finally revealed to the reader and Monoru made his confession. Better yet, what if I added colour to the scene as well? Originally, this whole thing was going to be in black and white, with no music whatsoever. But by creating a contrast, I could add to the emotional weight of the confession scene. I wanted to communicate Monoru and Monoe's feelings in the most effective way possible. When Monoru finally confesses to Monoe, their love brings life and vibrancy into one another's worlds. Pretty cool, right?

Well, thanks so much for playing my game. I know it's a little rough around the edges, but come on, I only had a few days! Haha. Hopefully some people like it and aren't off-put by the whole AI MidJourney thing. And hey, if you're an artist or whatever, let's work together on the next one! Just leave me a comment or something.

Anyway, peace.