The arduous task of planning, prepping, and developing a game solo is the starting line of almost every inspired newcomer with drive and a dream. The research needed to find the best engine, the hours spent crafting your story, and the self-awareness to request helping hands when needed: it’s a long, long road before the pieces come together and form the picture the puzzle has been hiding.

For Josh “mangoku418” Martin, the road is reaching its final turns as his newest title, Dear Mom: My Letter to You releases on Steam Wednesday, June 12th, 2024. I backed the title when it succeeded in its 2nd attempt at Kickstarter funding back in 2022 and have been alongside nearly 200 backers receiving monthly breakdowns of what has been added and seeing the project come to full fruition. I got to catch up with Josh as he and his team count down the final days until release and go over the stress of hitting a Kickstarter goal, working with multiple voice actors, and fighting burnout to reach a completed title.

NOTE: This interview briefly discusses topics regarding self harm/suicide.

——————————————————-

Kyle – Firstly, as a fellow game developer, congrats on the newly minted release date and getting close to wrapping up production!  Looking back at all your work on Dear Mom: A Letter to You, what would you say was the pivotal piece of media, be it game, art, video, brainstorming a-ha moment, etc. that got you in the mindset that you wanted to travel down the visual novel road?

Josh – Thank you very much! It’s been a long journey and I’m glad to finally release something truly important to me to the world very soon! Believe it or not, I’m not a visual novel fan at all.

Wait, you’re not?

Yeah, my brother was flabbergasted to hear that, even to this day. Personally, I really enjoyed the concept of visual novels: the freedom of choice, storytelling, and of course, the visuals. Growing up, I made a bunch of mini platformers and fighting games, so I wanted to try something different. I made visual novels using RenPy back in college and it was pretty easy to get started. Considering the struggle of Dear Mom‘s story, I thought making it a visual novel was the best choice. As for dating sim gameplay mechanics, I was greatly inspired by Persona‘s social link/stat system, wanting to make a game without its dungeon crawling and have a much bigger focus on character development and dynamics.

For those unaware, 2021 and 2022 was a roller-coaster of time for Dear Mom.  After a failed Kickstarter attempt and a small hiatus on production, you reared for another round at crowdfunding the title with the 2nd time being the charm with 196 backers helping bring the project to life.  What was the push you felt after the initial Kickstarter to give the title another shot at success?

It was definitely soul-crushing. I didn’t even have it in me to see the whole campaign period through. I believe a lot of people can agree that indie game development is a tricky business. You could make an amazing game but struggle to stand out in such a saturated market. Roadblocks can occur at any time when we least expect them. There were times when I’d given up too soon, planned too big, or shied away from the unknown, letting those challenges get the best of me. I equated my success and self-worth with the numbers I saw on social media. When I saw the low numbers, I ultimately concluded that my game wasn’t good enough and nobody cared. Truth was, I never gave myself a proper chance and had the wrong mindset. I let what others “may” think of my project decide my future. When the going went rough, I ran away. I believe those were BIG parts as to why I failed the first campaign. A few months of therapy helped me see that, and I later wanted to give Dear Mom another shot. Not to mention, I’m stubborn as heck, and I felt leaving the game unfinished would have been a wasted opportunity. And I’m proud to say I’m here today.

I’m excited to see the full game in motion so I appreciate that good ole’ Game Dev stubbornness! Hahaha, so after you received funding for the title, you brought in a few more staff to help polish and finish up the title. How has it been sharing the development room with Jenna Oliver (@JennaOliverVA on Twitter) and your brother, both additions to the team post-Kickstarter?  I know wearing multiple hats throughout the development process can be hard to balance.

They have been HUGE lifesavers. There was a time when I was getting incredibly burnt out from handling so many tasks and was deeply worried that I’d have to postpone the release date, and in turn work on the game even longer than I really wanted to. Asking for help from others has always been difficult for me. I’ve always worked independently on tasks and tried to figure everything out myself (ex: unless it’s something like me not knowing how to compose a game soundtrack). There were also the concerns of budget and taking a good chunk of time to bring them up to speed, and of course, compromising my vision. However, I’m glad that I went ahead and shared the development space with them.

We got on Discord calls, provided updates, bounced ideas around, and it was all good fun. They came up with ideas and solutions that I never would’ve thought of myself! It’s thanks to their dedication and expertise that we’re able to make this June release date in the first place. They saved me a lot of time and headaches while I was already busy with other big tasks. As other solo game devs may know, developing a game by yourself can get very lonesome and tiring over time. Having someone to share that space with me was a breath of fresh air. I felt reassured that I didn’t have to handle this huge ordeal alone.

Dear Mom is full of lively and colorful and emotionally different characters, a great majority to be voiced in the full game, which was very present throughout the demo. What was your creative process as well as your internal juggling method in handling such a tall task of independent remote voice casting and directing?

Directing 19 voice actors was definitely a tall order, but I found ways to manage them effectively. After offering everyone their roles, I decided to bring everyone to one place: The Dear Mom Discord server. From there, we would communicate with each other on a private channel, I laid out all of the instructions and game scripts, and let them do their thing! The scripts were color-coded based on character and I provided character expression sheets for their convenience. If they ever had questions, needed more time, or wanted live direction, they could just reach out to me directly!

So, of all the characters, I won’t make you pick a favorite because that’s rude: but which would you say was the most interesting to design and see come to life?

At the start of development, it was definitely the little chef Miso Shizuki because I just loved her energy. She was one of the oldest characters I ever made, even prior to the prototype demo “Project Kawasaki”. However, as I was working with Jenna Oliver to write Miamo Shirogane’s chapter onward, I actually found Miamo to be a more interesting character to see come to life. When I released the demo on Steam, Miamo was still yet to be completely fleshed out, as most of her screen time happens later in the game and her chapter at the time was only outlined. I think what I appreciated about her character was that she was “complicated”. As players will see when they start the game, Miamo’s relationship with the main character Ayame is a little rocky, so their interactions will be anything but friendly. With the other three main characters (Perrine, Miso, and Chip), players will have a much easier time engaging with them. But with Miamo, it’s a little bit challenging. You could set her off if you say something that would normally be okay with the other characters. After all, she used to be Ayame’s friend and now considers her an enemy. She adds a layer of complexity and I personally love her backstory.

On Steam, you describe Dear Mom as a “Narrative-Driven RPG wrapped in a dating sim.” With the endless possibilities that the slice-of-life high-school genre of multimedia has brought to the table and continues to bring, what puts Dear Mom at a level that has grabbed the attention of hundreds of backers?

I believe what attracted people to my game was the game’s concept and message. Suicide is a topic that’s not widely discussed in the media. While I haven’t lost anyone to suicide, I believe people would still resonate with the feeling of grief and the journey of coming to terms. Also, in many visual novels set in high school, the story usually revolves around the main character meeting romantic partners, and then the story focuses on those relationships. But Dear Mom has a much bigger emphasis on the main character herself. We follow her struggles and witness her grief, allowing us to resonate with her at a whole new level. It also makes the interactions and situations with other characters feel more “real”. We see how Ayame’s bonds with others help her grow and heal from her recent loss. The dating sim mechanics are used as a parallel to Ayame’s growth as a person.

Speaking into Ayame’s bonds with others, her friends had their own personal errands and specific scenarios (which are miss-able so choose your routes wisely!) that really breathe life into the world using the Day/Night system.  Can you go into that system more?

One of the goals for Dear Mom‘s Day/Night system was to make gameplay feel fresh, and not repetitive. As your connection with others deepens, your conversations with them will also change, even referencing topics you discussed with them previously. The idea was to emulate a natural progression of a human bond. This even applies to the librarian you talk to when you read books. She’ll have something new to say with every book you pick up and read. Players can also expect to receive text messages from friends for Sunday outings!

One of those natural progressions are some of the romance paths Ayame can take with a few of the other characters in the game. Can we expect multiple endings based on those choices or will there be one definite ending to the story that all the choices branch back to?

There are multiple endings, but it’s based on your stats and not who you romance with. Dear Mom has a couple of bad endings in the middle of the story that are triggered if you don’t have the required stats within a certain time limit. But there’s only one definite GOOD ending that ties everything together.

Gotcha! So some branching paths but ultimately we will get that sweet, sweet, singular cherry on top?

Exactly! The story of Dear Mom focuses more on the main character’s growth than on who she ends up with. By having one ending that brings everything together, I’m able to capitalize on Ayame’s emotional journey: From where she started when her mother died, to where she is now after the events of the game. We get to see how much she’s grown from her experiences, regardless of her relationship status. That said, players can expect to receive bonus dialogue and interactions if they end up with one of them by the end of the game!

You mentioned before about Ayame’s growth as a person. One of the biggest drivers in what flags will hit, which characters you will be around, and what Ayame will be able to do focuses around her Social Stats. Of the five social stats Ayame can boost by doing daily tasks around the house after school or during specific events: Charisma, Knowledge, Craftsmanship, Kindness, Determination; which one do you feel is your highest trait?

I would 100% have to go with Determination. I’ve been working on Dear Mom since late 2019. That’s almost five years! As we’ve discussed, this project has gone through many ups and downs; marketing struggles, two Kickstarter campaigns, an 8-month hiatus, and a lot of development headaches and adjustments. No amount of craftsmanship, knowledge, charisma, and even kindness would be enough to encourage me to see this through to the end. Hard work, solid teamwork, and discipline are three key factors that pushed me to get this far.

Lastly, when people finish Dear Mom: My Letter to You, what are you hoping most comes through your hard work in finishing the title with your fans and potential first timers to your work?

I hope that players will be able to resonate with the story and its characters, especially the main character Ayame.  I’m very big when it comes to character development, character dynamics, and the lessons learned along the way. Each character provides so much depth to the story and I believe there will be at least one character players can connect with. I want to share a story about how the bonds you make can truly shape you into a better person, and even help you cope with grief. I also hope that my development story resonates and inspires fellow developers who may be going through something similar. Game development can be a long and arduous journey, especially if you’re working as a solo dev. But if you’re dedicated to the craft, willing to make constant adjustments, and have the discipline to keep pushing no matter the odds you face, I believe you can go far.

——————————————————-

I want to thank Josh again for taking the time to speak about his journey with Dear Mom! Dear Mom: My Letter to You releases June 12th on Steam.