I haven't even downloaded the game but that white cover, although it is simple, caught my attention and reading the comments from the fans has left me very hyped for what awaits me in this story.
Thank you again for sharing your art with us. This work's quality is so surpassing that I feel compelled to offer praise. I spent over twelve hours experiencing the Band Camp installment. Upon finishing, I felt hollow and fulfilled at once, just as if I had raced through an amazing book. Your idyllic Midwestern campus setting conveys wistful romance. The plot is fascinating, among the genre's best. Your characters are remarkably alive; the sheer belief and care they elicit matches the best novels I've read. I've been comprehensively immersed in your world.
I enjoy the curated selection of great classical works, along with every other adept music choice. The visuals are superb: an astonishing fireworks show, a lively carnival, the memorable transitions. The magnificent final performance has been on my mind since I watched it.
The sexual elements are potent, both in romance and in fun. I strongly approve the casual exposure of the rehearsal outfits and the outdoor nudity. The sex scenes are hot, and make shining use of body language.
Your work bespeaks enthusiasm and vastly more effort than any other AVN. There may be bigger stories out there, but I've never seen physical events of this scale even attempted. It's a triumph of design and execution. I describe the AVN experience as 'reading', but yours transcends that mode with synergy between text, images, and audio. This story can only be conveyed as a visual novel. I laud you for realizing that potential.
Perfect Pitch evokes my past joys playing an instrument. Moreover, G.E. band camp reminded me of tech week in high school theater. Those heady days before opening night are full of hard work with others pursuing the same grand objective. This chapter captured that atmosphere better than anything I've ever read. Thank you especially for helping to surface those great memories.
I have type 1 diabetes. I'd never before seen a character with Type 1 in media, and I value it much more than I expected. The depiction felt authentic, and strengthened my empathy for her. I simultaneously hoped to see her check her blood sugar or give herself a bolus, and relished how little was made of her condition by others. I'm grateful you chose to portray her with it.
Most A-wing girls had already come nearly alive; the entire ensemble did the same this chapter. You've skillfully depicted a community of young, gifted, driven people. The dorm events deftly built connection with the girls. Many have rare characteristics, unlikely origins, and difficult pasts. I appreciate the sense of shared history with some, and the new insight others offer into life experiences that have never touched me.
The overall pacing is exceptional. The MC's romance with Kaylyn is a strong, satisfying core for the story. I laughed, cried, and felt pride for her. The 'Knee Play' scenes are genius. The supernatural elements add welcome intrigue. First watching the marvelously composed visions, my subjective witness was two to five times longer than the actual scene length. Your work is among the most successful I've encountered at conveying trauma.
Perfect Pitch has become important to me. Band Camp had a huge emotional impact; I'm deeply glad that this story is part of my life. I'll be an avid reader, watcher, and listener for as long as the project continues!
Reviewing comments like this is a surreal experience for me not just as a hobby VN developer, but as the developer of Perfect Pitch specifically. And I say this because so much of the impression you've shared above reflects in near identical fashion that which inspired me to create the project in the first place.
I think it's in our nature as human beings to chase rich, visceral emotional experiences. That's probably not only the foundation which undergirds the development Perfect Pitch, but maybe even the thesis for the game itself. Perhaps it would sound strange to a player to hear me say, but having completed the production of this update, I've also had the experience of a profoundly hollow feeling accompanying me this past month. A very natural, very human consequence of traversing the 2-year liminal space I found myself in when writing this update.
You've drawn attention to a number of personal connections you've made with characters and events in playing the game, and I really admire you for sharing that. When I put this project out into the world, there's really no way of me knowing what the impact will be. Comments like this show that the solitary hours typing away at my computer can create profound moments for others in ways that others have done for me.
I just finished the latest of the content yesterday, and I have to say you have truly achieved a beautiful experience here. The aspect that sticks out to me the most is the immense effort you put into this game to express your passion for music in its totality. The way you take the effort to display not only the music itself(interposing the sheet music into the movies so the viewer can follow along is such a great touch), but to even highlight the unique culture of musicians(I particularly enjoyed the way you clearly illustrated how "unique" marching band folks can be,), is just awesome. The writing, both from an overarching plot perspective and a individual character perspective honestly surprised me in its quality. All the characters felt real(even goofballs, nay, ESPECIALLY goofballs like Alexis and Amber) and I was always eager to see and learn more about them. The mystery of the main plot has me intrigued about how it will unfold. So suffice to say sir you have done your job at making me "turn the page"(er, click the window as it were). I just wanted to express my immense enjoyment of your game. Hopefully myself and many others will be able to enjoy more from you in the future.
Edit: Also, I wanted to ask, is "Liminal Space" an original composition made by you? I got chills from it bro. The woodwind quartet section in the middle especially got me(I guess a bit of bias on my part as I used to play sax in my ensembles but hey).
Hey, thanks, friend! I'm glad that the effort I make to showcase the culture of musicianship, even if it's through my own imperfect lens, is evident to you in the writing of the events. I want characters to feel authentic, flawed, and relatable when I write. It's why most events receive around 6 to 7 revisions before settling into the state you would see them in game.
It's easy to assume that the developer knows their characters best, but in some ways, I feel like you all might know them better than me. Or maybe it's better to say you know a less fluid version of them than I do. Many times it's tricky to uncover a character's role within any given event idea, and in those moments, characters can feel murky to me. But that gradual discovery is part of the fun of writing, I suppose.
This is an absolute masterwork, I haven't finished the camp update yet, but I am willing to give you a quarter even half of my salary every month to make sure you finish this game,cause this game is geting better and better and I really can't bare its lefted finished. Sorry if that sound heavy ,but just know you got some really,really enthusiastic fan supporting you.
Thanks so much for the support and for the encouragement with this project. It has been a long two years of chipping away at progress on the update, but I'm glad to hear it has made such a positive impression on you.
Alright, I had to make an account on this site specifically so I could comment on this masterpiece. Pardon this Great Wall of China Text but there is so much I have to say.
I grew up playing quite a bit of music and instruments, and one of my biggest regrets is not getting into marching band when I was still in school. I'm in a stage of my life where I am trying to reconnect with my musical roots and find new ways to express myself, and this game has easily lit a fire under my ass to finally commit to it after a few years of waffling.
The details, music, everything in the game really contribute to an immersive experience that I couldn't put down. As much as I try to avoid binging wonderful content such as this, I had to keep following along with bated breath. I'm not gonna lie, originally I was a little put off with how some of the character's vernacular and ways of speaking felt "off" or "extra", but I quickly learned to appreciate the diversity of each character. From their upbringing to the way they speak, it really helped to distinguish each character and really feel immersed in each of their stories.
That being said, I was and still am on the edge of my seat regarding every little bit of the mysteries going on with the game, and I constantly found myself with an elevated heart rate, anxious and wary of how things were going to play out and affect the world and narrative. I am dying to know how things will progress, and equally excited to get to know each character further. I absolutely have to know where things are going to go from here, and am anxiously awaiting even more character development (which there has already been a plethora of), especially for my favorite girls (Lily, Jayd, Kaylyn, Willow in no particular order).
While this is obviously an adult visual novel with nsfw elements, those clearly take a backseat to the immersive and inspiring world that you have created here. I truly thank you for such an eye-opening and inspiring narrative, I am going to go through withdrawal waiting for the next update (which will hopefully come sooner rather than later, but you can't rush perfection and I will wait for that fateful day, and the subsequent ones up until a full release).
That being said.... I am so thirsty for the mysteries to be revealed, and hopefully some of my suspicions confirmed, that if this ever goes unfinished, I swear I will sacrifice several orphans to curse you and your bloodline for the rest of time :). Mostly a joke, but I truly am excited to see future dev logs and hopefully as quick a turnaround as you can possibly manage for whatever is to come. My sincerest and greatest kudos to you, my friend, hopefully I was able to emulate the MC here in a winding tangent filled with copious amounts of praise and warmth.
Wow! What a thoughtful post, and thank you so much for sharing it.
There are many complimentary statements in your message, but what I appreciate most is the degree to which you feel invested in the characters and their lives. Especially to the point where it's making a yo-yo out of your sympathetic nervous system. That's an uncommon experience for any sort of media, and I can certainly speak to just how rich that type of thing makes a story feel to me. So to be on the receiving end of that fills me with gratitude.
I also appreciate your statement about wanting to explore new avenues of self-expression. Despite blue's clues and sesame street drilling it into us, I don't feel like folks often make it a point in their daily life to be creative for the sake of being creative. Sometimes it's for fear of failure, or a fear of producing something that's terribly uninteresting. Heck, I struggle with that more days than not. In fact it's one of the sources I draw from when I consider how MC views his own poetry writing.
Anyhow, thanks again for your message and for spending however many hours it took you to make it through the game. I'm glad to have created something that you found to be particularly meaningful.
As a matter of fact, I don't have a PC or Mac to play this game, but I found out that many games with Ren'py engine can work with JoiPlay, so I would like to know if there is any way to solve this error, I know it's not a game thought for phones but maybe there is a soluțion?? <img src="https://img.itch.zone/aW1nLzE4NjcxODMwLmpwZw==/original/bPXBrp.jpg">
Oh, that's a bummer! The issue you're seeing is a result of the ren'py engine opting to use these big, bright and colorful emojis by default with one of their releases in the last year. It really messes with appearance of the dialogue when including a heart or other non-text shapes, so I turned off that option in the code.
Unfortunately, if I went back and switched that out it would affect all tablet and desktop users. And you're right, I really never built with mobile in mind.
I'm not sure if this would throw some other error entirely, but if you used a source code editor (Notepad++ is free, for instance) you could simply use that software to open "screens.rpy" and then delete lines 8115, 8121, etc from the code and see what happens. I'm obviously no programmer though, so maybe save a back up of the game somewhere before poking around in the guts of it.
excuse me for bothering and I found the file and copied it, then I put it somewhere else so that I have the original copy, now I'm the kind of stupid person who doesn't do anything if he's not told beforehand that what he's doing is right, so if he please can you tell me if I have to delete the whole sentence/code or just the numbers<img src="https://img.itch.zone/aW1nLzE4Njk1Mjc5LmpwZw==/original/6aSh32.jpg">
Hah, thank you! I was sure the first comment I'd get about that was someone wanting to be snarky about how little effort I put into the thumbnail. Hope you enjoy the update.
i get not having a patreon or what have you, but like ever considered a ko-fi or something as just a no questions asked tip jar? cause i reaaaaaallly wanna throw some money at you
I'm always given pause when someone holds such passion about Perfect Pitch that they suggest supporting the project in this way. Thank you very much for expressing that desire— I do not take the sentiments behind it for granted.
In the absence of some catastrophic occurrence that leaves me destitute and starving, I am certain that I will never solicit, accept, or otherwise allow folks to contribute financially to Perfect Pitch. I really do not like the idea of attaching monetary value to this game. It's a similar feeling to another inquiry I occasionally receive about creating a Discord community or any other forum for this game outside of the Itch comment section.
I'm not trying to make money, garner attention, or do much of anything at all except remain creatively connected to music. At this point in my life where I no longer teach nor perform, I'm simply grateful for this outlet that adds value and richness to my life.
Hey there! I'm doing very well, thank you for asking. The roller coaster I had mentioned further down in these comments several months ago has smoothed out quite a bit. My life outside of the game has settled into a much better version of normal than before it, and I'm very grateful for that change.
I also have a bit of exciting news to share regarding progress on the next update. At this point I can say with a very high degree of confidence that v0.8 will release later this year.
The next update's play time and file size has significantly exceeded my initial expectations. v0.8 will add about 10 hours of play time and clock in just shy of 10 gigabytes once unzipped (8gb comes just from this new release). It's very exciting to be transitioning into the phase where I'm tying up loose ends, crossing t's and dotting i's, and all that fun stuff.
I'll tell you now, we're still easily over a month away from launch. But for now I am focusing in on the remaining tasks on my rapidly shrinking to-do list— and boy does that feel good.
Hey, thanks for that! Unfortunately, this is the only social media presence I maintain. You're always welcome to drop in and check on the game or the developer. Couldn't help but notice the Riley thumbnail, by the way. Is that fan art? Very cool!
Sounds very exciting! I'm looking forward to listening to what kind of music you've chosen for the update and how your going to use it in the story. The way you do that makes it one of the most immersive if not the most of any of the games I've played. It's just enjoyable from beginning to end. 2024 sounds so far away but I will continue to be an annoyance to you until it's done. I guess you can't rush perfection. Carry on my friend. Thanks for the update!
Hey! I'm back again, Just catching up on how things are progressing. Sounds like things are still moving forward but not there yet. Can't wait to see what's in store. Hope all is well with you!
Hey Sim, good to hear from you again! It's always interesting to reflect on where I was with this game when I last wrote you, and to see how far things have come.
Right now I'm in the midpoint of what is likely the most intense, time consuming event that I may ever develop in Perfect Pitch. Beginning to end, I'm guessing this one single event is going to take me a month and some change.
Once this one is done, I'm betting a big psychological weight will be taken off my shoulders for completing the remainder of the update. I won't say I was dreading this one, but I knew it would be the doozy to end all doozies.
Lots still to do afterwards, though nothing quite like this. And I still want to impress upon players the likelihood of a post-2024 release.
Contrary to last person, I very much like Kaylyn! Her character, even though, was just as a "villain" at first, became more interesting and appealing as we get to know her and seeing her being, even a little bit, softer to MC (At least that's how I see it, that is).
Kaylyn is insufferable. I have a cousin who had a childhood that would make hers look like sunshine and rainbows and he doesn't treat others like garbage because of it. She has the audacity to say the MC has an attitude when she's the one with the fucking attitude and insecurities. At this point, I would rather see her get hit by a bus than see any sexual content with her to be honest. She belongs in a mental institution rather than a music college. Love all the other characters though even Riley. She has her good moments.
I appreciate you saying so. Being able to build characters that come alive to the point where players have visceral, emotional reactions to their personality (especially negative, to be honest) is one of the most flattering comments a visual novel developer could hear.
I apologize if it came off rude. It's why I edited it and added that positive note about enjoying the rest of them. Very few characters in these types of games got my blood boiling like she has.
Hey there, thanks for dropping by again! Things are going well here. Wrapping up yet another event this week in the last large grouping of them, and I'm starting to think I might see a pin prick of light at the end of the tunnel.
The development time of what's left is hard to predict because I've never attempted something like what I'm trying to build with these last handful of events. Thankfully, I gave myself opportunities to practice some of the techniques in a few of the events leading up to the final few.
And yes, that description is vague and probably won't mean much to anyone until they play v0.8, but suffice to say I'm trying pretty hard to make something special.
Hate to break it to you but this isn't it. Still, there's an interesting first hand account into Riley backstory for folks who care about that sort of thing. She gets the spotlight more than a couple times in the next release, but I'd stop far short of calling it a "Riley Update".
Hey, thanks! It's just as much of a discovery for me every time I sit down to write. Very proud of the v0.8 progress so far, and there sure has been a lot. We're clocking in just shy of 10,000 new renders at this point*** , and that's to say nothing of the various animations, video, and other mixed multimedia that accompanies it.
It's the type of update where you need to keep your head down and focus on rendering frame by frame to make any progress. Like standing on the roof of a tall building, you just have to keep looking ahead or else your palms start getting sweaty.
***My math's not so great. We're around 6000, not 10,000.
Time flies, doesn't it? Almost a whole calendar year since the last release! And sitting courtside to the evolution of these characters across that year has been so much fun.
The massive checklist for v0.8 continues to be chipped away at. Just last week I finished all renders and music for one of the largest events (~20 minutes) in this series, and that felt like a great milestone.
Thanks for checking in again. I'm sure some of the folks who occasionally lurk around here waiting for updates from the dev appreciate your consistency in reaching out, seeing as I usually do respond.
Life outside of Perfect Pitch has been a bit of a roller coaster lately, and I'll leave it at that. Even so, I'm managing to keep up with development at a respectable pace despite it all.
One of the upsides of the roller coaster is that I'll be taking somewhat of a brief sabbatical (i.e. vacation) to western Europe where I plan on visiting some of the sites important to the world of classical music. A few concerts, a few museums, a brief bit of time spent living where it all went down— I'm really looking forward to that.
As for the progress of the game, again, not much news to share at the moment. I've been dedicating a lot of time to understanding and iterating on animation within Chara Studio, which has led to some great breakthroughs for the upcoming release, but obviously it's also a time investment. I think when the update finally does go live you'll agree it was time well spent.
Wow! Sounds amazing! Hope you have a great trip and that the roller coaster smooths out a little in the future. Can't wait for the next release but I will. I just miss it.
Thanks for saying that. I'm really itching to share what I've been up to, too. It has been consuming all of my non 9-5 hours for a very long time. In fact, this isn't really a spoiler, but I finished the dialogue for the very first v0.8 event way back in September 2022— probably about half way through my work building renders for v0.5. Needless to say I've been working on this update for a while.
Out of curiosity I took a look through my word documents to see where I'm at with event writing + screen directions, all of which are done thankfully, and the total number of MS word pages for v0.8 (and only v0.8) is around 375. It certainly feels like I've been writing a dissertation, or at least what I imagine it would feel like.
I think most people recognize that writing a book is a multi-year affair, and even though I'm not going through quite the same editorial rigors that a well-published author might, it's still a lot of text and a lot of visual materials to match. I realize most of my comments lately are contextualizing my busy-ness, but my goodness, this update sure does keep me busy.
Some of the visual novels out there don't have much of a story to them but yours definitely does so it really is book worthy in my opinion only with animation and visual effects and music to worry about as well. I truly enjoy reading the story and getting to know the characters. So excited to see the release!
Hey, friend. Smooth sailing here still, though I'm afraid I don't have much additional news to share about the update. Lots done, and lots still to do. Keeping a good pace in light of the update's play time and quality of that play time. I'm excited to share it with you once it's ready.
Just want to make it clear though that the next update is definitely not coming out in January. I'll likely post an addendum to my "Not dead; just busy" dev log in the new year with a little more info, but v0.8 is still a looong ways away. Still on track and going well, but the update is enormous.
Yeah I remebered that a little later. Guess I'll just have to wait. That's okay it's totally worth it! Thanks for all the work you put into it and for the great game. Hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year!
Hey everyone, I've seen this mentioned before a few times and wondered myself. Since the dev kindly authorized an unofficial Discord server, I set up a Perfect Pitch fan club Discord! You can join here: https://discord.gg/psDcve5n
This game requires either the “Horror” tag or, more appropriately, the “Psychological Thriller/Horror” tag to give players fair warning. It's an unnecessary plot device in a story that is otherwise extremely well executed. It's a shame, really, aside from the (I can't say for spoiler reasons) tagged content, Perfect Pitch has excellent writing, unique animations and renders, engaging characters, and expert-level music treatment. The story had many devices to carry independently, and the momentum had so much potential. But the flashes of horror and completely random introduction of outer-worldly things feel like a bit of a narrative cop out, an uneccisary plot device. Sadly, this classic first-timer writer mistake became increasingly apparent, eventually leaving the game unplayable for me—9/10 from the start but 6/10 on the whole.
Thanks for taking it in stride. Have you considered Patreon or SubscribeStar for this game? There is clearly a fanbase and people playing it, and you deserve to get some reward for your efforts.
Yeah, for sure, I gave it a little thought initially. And I appreciate you saying so. Really the only thing keeping me building this game day after day is intrinsic motivation, and in my case I think any extrinsic motivators would erode that. I'd hate to see my passion project become my side hustle.
Doesn't need to be Patreon or Subscribestar ,I believe some people like me just want to give you the money to thank you because how good this game is.So please give us some way to express our gratitude,like the Buy Me a Coffee,or anything.
Hey friend, I'm touched that you would be so insistent on compensating me for my efforts on this project. It's obvious that this game has made some significant and positive impact on you for you to say so. Thank you very, very much.
What I'll say to you and anyone else wishing to support this project, beyond just downloading the game, is this: offer that money instead to help fund the creation and performance of music in your own community, if at all possible.
Attend a concert with local performers, buy a t-shirt or other merch from your favorite band/musician. The type of support matters far less than the spirit of that support. Having this game result in a small group of people becoming patrons of the arts in their community would mean far more to me than $5 in my pocket.
And if you can't or don't want to support music locally or otherwise? Choose another small developer making these sorts of projects and offer them your money instead. That would also feel very fulfilling to know I'm indirectly supporting those with whom I share a common medium. After all, this game wouldn't exist without the inspiration I've found from the work of so many others on Itch and beyond.
Hey there, good to hear from you again! And nope, the new release is not even close to close. The good news is that what progress has been made has me more excited about the story than any other release. Things feel sharper, smoother, with what feels to me like the biggest jump in production value of any update. It's like putting on glasses.
I do mention this in the "Not dead; just busy" devlog, but this game won't see another release until 2024, and I'll go ahead and tell you now that it won't be coming out in January.
Still, it has been a little while since I've posted, so I'll include a contextless render from the upcoming release:
To be honest, the idea of creating and managing a discord community for this game has never appealed to me, so I think it is very unlikely that it would ever happen. As for typos, I'd ask that you please direct those to the bugs/errors devlog. Thanks again!
If someone felt so strongly about the game that they'd like to create and manage their own forum on the topic then hey, more power to them. But, respectfully, I have no desire to participate in that sort of thing myself.
All three of the S-wing marching band girls did, plus Elaine! In fact, the only girl introduced in the v0.7 version who hasn't marched corps is Taylor, but I'm pretty sure I only ever canonize the groups of those four, Kara, and Sam.
I hadn't made it that far when I made my first comment, but you making fun of Cavies had me giggling as well.. Elaine marched Coats right? You referenced Down Side Up at least. Give me the chance to send my boy to the Devils and I will :D
Despite the Cavies banter, I'm honestly a little sad to see them do away with their classic technique these past few years! It's probably not conducive to the types of programs that elite groups put on these days, but it had its charm.
Actually, Kara was the one who marched Coats. Great show too, wish I could've seen it in person. Thankfully I did manage to see Tilt live, which if I only could only pick one, I'm glad I got to see that one. Still comes second to seeing E=Mc2 in person. Chills every time.
Hope you'll stick around for v0.8. Something tells me you might like that update.
Might take some digging.... but check out pretty much all of top 12 from 1980. Way before my time, but that's probably one of the best finals that has ever happened. Down Side Up was a lot of fun live, though I saw it early and dirty, I had aged out by then. Coats put out great sounds. My first Crown show was Industry, and that one sticks in the memory because of the massive sculpture they built on the field. My best Crown memory is beating the snot out of them my age out year :P
Let me finish up what you've put out so far! I only found this yesterday! Gotta say, more than a little confused with the spooky mind stuff MC is dealing with, but I can tell that I'm fairly early into it and I don't think he knows any more than I do. Still, story is engaging, wonderfully told, and while it's a slow burn, it's a very good burn, like incense on a spring afternoon. Need more Euphoniums though :P
I'll check it out, for sure. Haven't looked much further back than the 90s around the time when Star of Indiana was still a thing, but I'm very interested in giving the stuff of that era a listen. Glad you like the game so far, too. And in my opinion, good timing to start up a first play through. Solid 10 hours of gameplay and the render quality is finally catching up to where I had wished it could be early on. Writing is a lot of fun these days, too. Getting better. I'm glad I can feel good about the product I'm putting out instead of sacrificing the quality of releases. I'd rather have a solid release every few months than 6 biweekly duds.
It was really well done, Loved the whole game. Nice to see things progressing with Kaylyn and Jayd. Would love to see more Alivia content. Music and sound effects were great as usual. Thanks again!
Thanks! That bit was quite a learning experience-- one I'm excited to build upon for the next release. Also a great plug for some of the incredible and often under-appreciated works by female composers. Clara Schumann has some bangers and that's just one of them.
I was so excited when I saw that there was a new update! I love the game so much. Thanks for all the hard work and creativity you put into the game. I can hardly wait to check it out!
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Thank you again for sharing your art with us. This work's quality is so surpassing that I feel compelled to offer praise. I spent over twelve hours experiencing the Band Camp installment. Upon finishing, I felt hollow and fulfilled at once, just as if I had raced through an amazing book. Your idyllic Midwestern campus setting conveys wistful romance. The plot is fascinating, among the genre's best. Your characters are remarkably alive; the sheer belief and care they elicit matches the best novels I've read. I've been comprehensively immersed in your world.
I enjoy the curated selection of great classical works, along with every other adept music choice. The visuals are superb: an astonishing fireworks show, a lively carnival, the memorable transitions. The magnificent final performance has been on my mind since I watched it.
The sexual elements are potent, both in romance and in fun. I strongly approve the casual exposure of the rehearsal outfits and the outdoor nudity. The sex scenes are hot, and make shining use of body language.
Your work bespeaks enthusiasm and vastly more effort than any other AVN. There may be bigger stories out there, but I've never seen physical events of this scale even attempted. It's a triumph of design and execution. I describe the AVN experience as 'reading', but yours transcends that mode with synergy between text, images, and audio. This story can only be conveyed as a visual novel. I laud you for realizing that potential.
Perfect Pitch evokes my past joys playing an instrument. Moreover, G.E. band camp reminded me of tech week in high school theater. Those heady days before opening night are full of hard work with others pursuing the same grand objective. This chapter captured that atmosphere better than anything I've ever read. Thank you especially for helping to surface those great memories.
I have type 1 diabetes. I'd never before seen a character with Type 1 in media, and I value it much more than I expected. The depiction felt authentic, and strengthened my empathy for her. I simultaneously hoped to see her check her blood sugar or give herself a bolus, and relished how little was made of her condition by others. I'm grateful you chose to portray her with it.
Most A-wing girls had already come nearly alive; the entire ensemble did the same this chapter. You've skillfully depicted a community of young, gifted, driven people. The dorm events deftly built connection with the girls. Many have rare characteristics, unlikely origins, and difficult pasts. I appreciate the sense of shared history with some, and the new insight others offer into life experiences that have never touched me.
The overall pacing is exceptional. The MC's romance with Kaylyn is a strong, satisfying core for the story. I laughed, cried, and felt pride for her. The 'Knee Play' scenes are genius. The supernatural elements add welcome intrigue. First watching the marvelously composed visions, my subjective witness was two to five times longer than the actual scene length. Your work is among the most successful I've encountered at conveying trauma.
Perfect Pitch has become important to me. Band Camp had a huge emotional impact; I'm deeply glad that this story is part of my life. I'll be an avid reader, watcher, and listener for as long as the project continues!
This was very moving to read!
Reviewing comments like this is a surreal experience for me not just as a hobby VN developer, but as the developer of Perfect Pitch specifically. And I say this because so much of the impression you've shared above reflects in near identical fashion that which inspired me to create the project in the first place.
I think it's in our nature as human beings to chase rich, visceral emotional experiences. That's probably not only the foundation which undergirds the development Perfect Pitch, but maybe even the thesis for the game itself. Perhaps it would sound strange to a player to hear me say, but having completed the production of this update, I've also had the experience of a profoundly hollow feeling accompanying me this past month. A very natural, very human consequence of traversing the 2-year liminal space I found myself in when writing this update.
You've drawn attention to a number of personal connections you've made with characters and events in playing the game, and I really admire you for sharing that. When I put this project out into the world, there's really no way of me knowing what the impact will be. Comments like this show that the solitary hours typing away at my computer can create profound moments for others in ways that others have done for me.
I just finished the latest of the content yesterday, and I have to say you have truly achieved a beautiful experience here. The aspect that sticks out to me the most is the immense effort you put into this game to express your passion for music in its totality. The way you take the effort to display not only the music itself(interposing the sheet music into the movies so the viewer can follow along is such a great touch), but to even highlight the unique culture of musicians(I particularly enjoyed the way you clearly illustrated how "unique" marching band folks can be,), is just awesome. The writing, both from an overarching plot perspective and a individual character perspective honestly surprised me in its quality. All the characters felt real(even goofballs, nay, ESPECIALLY goofballs like Alexis and Amber) and I was always eager to see and learn more about them. The mystery of the main plot has me intrigued about how it will unfold. So suffice to say sir you have done your job at making me "turn the page"(er, click the window as it were). I just wanted to express my immense enjoyment of your game. Hopefully myself and many others will be able to enjoy more from you in the future.
Edit: Also, I wanted to ask, is "Liminal Space" an original composition made by you? I got chills from it bro. The woodwind quartet section in the middle especially got me(I guess a bit of bias on my part as I used to play sax in my ensembles but hey).
Hey, thanks, friend! I'm glad that the effort I make to showcase the culture of musicianship, even if it's through my own imperfect lens, is evident to you in the writing of the events. I want characters to feel authentic, flawed, and relatable when I write. It's why most events receive around 6 to 7 revisions before settling into the state you would see them in game.
It's easy to assume that the developer knows their characters best, but in some ways, I feel like you all might know them better than me. Or maybe it's better to say you know a less fluid version of them than I do. Many times it's tricky to uncover a character's role within any given event idea, and in those moments, characters can feel murky to me. But that gradual discovery is part of the fun of writing, I suppose.
This is an absolute masterwork, I haven't finished the camp update yet, but I am willing to give you a quarter even half of my salary every month to make sure you finish this game,cause this game is geting better and better and I really can't bare its lefted finished. Sorry if that sound heavy ,but just know you got some really,really enthusiastic fan supporting you.
Thanks so much for the support and for the encouragement with this project. It has been a long two years of chipping away at progress on the update, but I'm glad to hear it has made such a positive impression on you.
Got recommended this by someone and damn tihs is the best game i've tried in a while
Alright, I had to make an account on this site specifically so I could comment on this masterpiece. Pardon this Great Wall of
ChinaText but there is so much I have to say.I grew up playing quite a bit of music and instruments, and one of my biggest regrets is not getting into marching band when I was still in school. I'm in a stage of my life where I am trying to reconnect with my musical roots and find new ways to express myself, and this game has easily lit a fire under my ass to finally commit to it after a few years of waffling.
The details, music, everything in the game really contribute to an immersive experience that I couldn't put down. As much as I try to avoid binging wonderful content such as this, I had to keep following along with bated breath. I'm not gonna lie, originally I was a little put off with how some of the character's vernacular and ways of speaking felt "off" or "extra", but I quickly learned to appreciate the diversity of each character. From their upbringing to the way they speak, it really helped to distinguish each character and really feel immersed in each of their stories.
That being said, I was and still am on the edge of my seat regarding every little bit of the mysteries going on with the game, and I constantly found myself with an elevated heart rate, anxious and wary of how things were going to play out and affect the world and narrative. I am dying to know how things will progress, and equally excited to get to know each character further. I absolutely have to know where things are going to go from here, and am anxiously awaiting even more character development (which there has already been a plethora of), especially for my favorite girls (Lily, Jayd, Kaylyn, Willow in no particular order).
While this is obviously an adult visual novel with nsfw elements, those clearly take a backseat to the immersive and inspiring world that you have created here. I truly thank you for such an eye-opening and inspiring narrative, I am going to go through withdrawal waiting for the next update (which will hopefully come sooner rather than later, but you can't rush perfection and I will wait for that fateful day, and the subsequent ones up until a full release).
That being said.... I am so thirsty for the mysteries to be revealed, and hopefully some of my suspicions confirmed, that if this ever goes unfinished, I swear I will sacrifice several orphans to curse you and your bloodline for the rest of time :). Mostly a joke, but I truly am excited to see future dev logs and hopefully as quick a turnaround as you can possibly manage for whatever is to come. My sincerest and greatest kudos to you, my friend, hopefully I was able to emulate the MC here in a winding tangent filled with copious amounts of praise and warmth.
Wow! What a thoughtful post, and thank you so much for sharing it.
There are many complimentary statements in your message, but what I appreciate most is the degree to which you feel invested in the characters and their lives. Especially to the point where it's making a yo-yo out of your sympathetic nervous system. That's an uncommon experience for any sort of media, and I can certainly speak to just how rich that type of thing makes a story feel to me. So to be on the receiving end of that fills me with gratitude.
I also appreciate your statement about wanting to explore new avenues of self-expression. Despite blue's clues and sesame street drilling it into us, I don't feel like folks often make it a point in their daily life to be creative for the sake of being creative. Sometimes it's for fear of failure, or a fear of producing something that's terribly uninteresting. Heck, I struggle with that more days than not. In fact it's one of the sources I draw from when I consider how MC views his own poetry writing.
Anyhow, thanks again for your message and for spending however many hours it took you to make it through the game. I'm glad to have created something that you found to be particularly meaningful.
Nvm is not working in next year maybe i will purchase a good PC and i will play it
Awesome! these next days are going to be great,
Oh, that's a bummer! The issue you're seeing is a result of the ren'py engine opting to use these big, bright and colorful emojis by default with one of their releases in the last year. It really messes with appearance of the dialogue when including a heart or other non-text shapes, so I turned off that option in the code.
Unfortunately, if I went back and switched that out it would affect all tablet and desktop users. And you're right, I really never built with mobile in mind.
I'm not sure if this would throw some other error entirely, but if you used a source code editor (Notepad++ is free, for instance) you could simply use that software to open "screens.rpy" and then delete lines 8115, 8121, etc from the code and see what happens. I'm obviously no programmer though, so maybe save a back up of the game somewhere before poking around in the guts of it.
How did I not come across this one in the past, looks amazing, might need to invest some time into this soon.
Glad to see the update here!
Perfect Pitch is finally here!!! I can't tell you how excited I am! Thanks so much for all your hard work. I hope your doing well!
WoooOo
Havent seen a comment relating to your cover art for the game. The White Album is one of my absolute favorites of all time, you got good taste :)
Hah, thank you! I was sure the first comment I'd get about that was someone wanting to be snarky about how little effort I put into the thumbnail. Hope you enjoy the update.
I'm glad to see the update's out! I see it's a big one and can't wait to play through it. Keep up the good work and I hope you're doing well.
Thank you very much! Very surreal to get the product of a little over two years of my life published. Hope you enjoy it.
Also, be sure to stand up and stretch every so often with this one. It's a whole lot of content.
i get not having a patreon or what have you, but like ever considered a ko-fi or something as just a no questions asked tip jar? cause i reaaaaaallly wanna throw some money at you
I'm always given pause when someone holds such passion about Perfect Pitch that they suggest supporting the project in this way. Thank you very much for expressing that desire— I do not take the sentiments behind it for granted.
In the absence of some catastrophic occurrence that leaves me destitute and starving, I am certain that I will never solicit, accept, or otherwise allow folks to contribute financially to Perfect Pitch. I really do not like the idea of attaching monetary value to this game. It's a similar feeling to another inquiry I occasionally receive about creating a Discord community or any other forum for this game outside of the Itch comment section.
I'm not trying to make money, garner attention, or do much of anything at all except remain creatively connected to music. At this point in my life where I no longer teach nor perform, I'm simply grateful for this outlet that adds value and richness to my life.
How are you dev? And how is it going?
Hey there! I'm doing very well, thank you for asking. The roller coaster I had mentioned further down in these comments several months ago has smoothed out quite a bit. My life outside of the game has settled into a much better version of normal than before it, and I'm very grateful for that change.
I also have a bit of exciting news to share regarding progress on the next update. At this point I can say with a very high degree of confidence that v0.8 will release later this year.
The next update's play time and file size has significantly exceeded my initial expectations. v0.8 will add about 10 hours of play time and clock in just shy of 10 gigabytes once unzipped (8gb comes just from this new release). It's very exciting to be transitioning into the phase where I'm tying up loose ends, crossing t's and dotting i's, and all that fun stuff.
I'll tell you now, we're still easily over a month away from launch. But for now I am focusing in on the remaining tasks on my rapidly shrinking to-do list— and boy does that feel good.
Damn that sounds amazing !! Going to greatly look forward to it.
10/10, waiting for the next update!! 💜💜💜 Have a Twitter btw? Want to support!
Hey, thanks for that! Unfortunately, this is the only social media presence I maintain. You're always welcome to drop in and check on the game or the developer. Couldn't help but notice the Riley thumbnail, by the way. Is that fan art? Very cool!
Thanks!!! 💜💜, i'll be glad to check on the game, i'll wait the update, but for now i'm going to appreciate the game, love your work!
Sounds very exciting! I'm looking forward to listening to what kind of music you've chosen for the update and how your going to use it in the story. The way you do that makes it one of the most immersive if not the most of any of the games I've played. It's just enjoyable from beginning to end. 2024 sounds so far away but I will continue to be an annoyance to you until it's done. I guess you can't rush perfection. Carry on my friend. Thanks for the update!
Hey! I'm back again, Just catching up on how things are progressing. Sounds like things are still moving forward but not there yet. Can't wait to see what's in store. Hope all is well with you!
Hey Sim, good to hear from you again! It's always interesting to reflect on where I was with this game when I last wrote you, and to see how far things have come.
Right now I'm in the midpoint of what is likely the most intense, time consuming event that I may ever develop in Perfect Pitch. Beginning to end, I'm guessing this one single event is going to take me a month and some change.
Once this one is done, I'm betting a big psychological weight will be taken off my shoulders for completing the remainder of the update. I won't say I was dreading this one, but I knew it would be the doozy to end all doozies.
Lots still to do afterwards, though nothing quite like this. And I still want to impress upon players the likelihood of a post-2024 release.
Contrary to last person, I very much like Kaylyn! Her character, even though, was just as a "villain" at first, became more interesting and appealing as we get to know her and seeing her being, even a little bit, softer to MC (At least that's how I see it, that is).
Kaylyn is insufferable. I have a cousin who had a childhood that would make hers look like sunshine and rainbows and he doesn't treat others like garbage because of it. She has the audacity to say the MC has an attitude when she's the one with the fucking attitude and insecurities. At this point, I would rather see her get hit by a bus than see any sexual content with her to be honest. She belongs in a mental institution rather than a music college. Love all the other characters though even Riley. She has her good moments.
I appreciate you saying so. Being able to build characters that come alive to the point where players have visceral, emotional reactions to their personality (especially negative, to be honest) is one of the most flattering comments a visual novel developer could hear.
I apologize if it came off rude. It's why I edited it and added that positive note about enjoying the rest of them. Very few characters in these types of games got my blood boiling like she has.
Just here to check in and hope things are going well for you.
Hey there, thanks for dropping by again! Things are going well here. Wrapping up yet another event this week in the last large grouping of them, and I'm starting to think I might see a pin prick of light at the end of the tunnel.
The development time of what's left is hard to predict because I've never attempted something like what I'm trying to build with these last handful of events. Thankfully, I gave myself opportunities to practice some of the techniques in a few of the events leading up to the final few.
And yes, that description is vague and probably won't mean much to anyone until they play v0.8, but suffice to say I'm trying pretty hard to make something special.
oh man the arms on that pic is a cool effect I can see why things take time when you do cool things like that.
Hate to break it to you but this isn't it. Still, there's an interesting first hand account into Riley backstory for folks who care about that sort of thing. She gets the spotlight more than a couple times in the next release, but I'd stop far short of calling it a "Riley Update".
Super excited to see more to this game, excited to see where the story and fun characters will go!
Hey, thanks! It's just as much of a discovery for me every time I sit down to write. Very proud of the v0.8 progress so far, and there sure has been a lot. We're clocking in just shy of
10,000 new renders at this point*** , and that's to say nothing of the various animations, video, and other mixed multimedia that accompanies it.It's the type of update where you need to keep your head down and focus on rendering frame by frame to make any progress. Like standing on the roof of a tall building, you just have to keep looking ahead or else your palms start getting sweaty.
***My math's not so great. We're around 6000, not 10,000.
July is coming up! Hope I'm not being annoying but I'm really excited to see the next update! Hope your doing well!
Time flies, doesn't it? Almost a whole calendar year since the last release! And sitting courtside to the evolution of these characters across that year has been so much fun.
The massive checklist for v0.8 continues to be chipped away at. Just last week I finished all renders and music for one of the largest events (~20 minutes) in this series, and that felt like a great milestone.
Thanks for checking in again. I'm sure some of the folks who occasionally lurk around here waiting for updates from the dev appreciate your consistency in reaching out, seeing as I usually do respond.
Glad things are progressing. Thanks for the pic. Love it! Looks really cool!
Patreon?
Hey again. I'm back.. I was just wondering how the game is progressing. Can't wait to see the next update. Hope all is well with you!
Hey Sim!
Life outside of Perfect Pitch has been a bit of a roller coaster lately, and I'll leave it at that. Even so, I'm managing to keep up with development at a respectable pace despite it all.
One of the upsides of the roller coaster is that I'll be taking somewhat of a brief sabbatical (i.e. vacation) to western Europe where I plan on visiting some of the sites important to the world of classical music. A few concerts, a few museums, a brief bit of time spent living where it all went down— I'm really looking forward to that.
As for the progress of the game, again, not much news to share at the moment. I've been dedicating a lot of time to understanding and iterating on animation within Chara Studio, which has led to some great breakthroughs for the upcoming release, but obviously it's also a time investment. I think when the update finally does go live you'll agree it was time well spent.
Wow! Sounds amazing! Hope you have a great trip and that the roller coaster smooths out a little in the future. Can't wait for the next release but I will. I just miss it.
Thanks for saying that. I'm really itching to share what I've been up to, too. It has been consuming all of my non 9-5 hours for a very long time. In fact, this isn't really a spoiler, but I finished the dialogue for the very first v0.8 event way back in September 2022— probably about half way through my work building renders for v0.5. Needless to say I've been working on this update for a while.
Out of curiosity I took a look through my word documents to see where I'm at with event writing + screen directions, all of which are done thankfully, and the total number of MS word pages for v0.8 (and only v0.8) is around 375. It certainly feels like I've been writing a dissertation, or at least what I imagine it would feel like.
I think most people recognize that writing a book is a multi-year affair, and even though I'm not going through quite the same editorial rigors that a well-published author might, it's still a lot of text and a lot of visual materials to match. I realize most of my comments lately are contextualizing my busy-ness, but my goodness, this update sure does keep me busy.
Some of the visual novels out there don't have much of a story to them but yours definitely does so it really is book worthy in my opinion only with animation and visual effects and music to worry about as well. I truly enjoy reading the story and getting to know the characters. So excited to see the release!
Thanks! I look forward to it!
Hey! Just wondering how things are going on th next update? I can hardly wait. Love your game!
Hey, friend. Smooth sailing here still, though I'm afraid I don't have much additional news to share about the update. Lots done, and lots still to do. Keeping a good pace in light of the update's play time and quality of that play time. I'm excited to share it with you once it's ready.
Hey! So excited for January and the new update! Hope your doing well and the you have a very Happy Holiday! Best wishes for the new year, Sim
Hey, Sim! Great to hear from you again.
Just want to make it clear though that the next update is definitely not coming out in January. I'll likely post an addendum to my "Not dead; just busy" dev log in the new year with a little more info, but v0.8 is still a looong ways away. Still on track and going well, but the update is enormous.
Yeah I remebered that a little later. Guess I'll just have to wait. That's okay it's totally worth it! Thanks for all the work you put into it and for the great game. Hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year!
Hey everyone, I've seen this mentioned before a few times and wondered myself. Since the dev kindly authorized an unofficial Discord server, I set up a Perfect Pitch fan club Discord! You can join here: https://discord.gg/psDcve5n
This game requires either the “Horror” tag or, more appropriately, the “Psychological Thriller/Horror” tag to give players fair warning. It's an unnecessary plot device in a story that is otherwise extremely well executed. It's a shame, really, aside from the (I can't say for spoiler reasons) tagged content, Perfect Pitch has excellent writing, unique animations and renders, engaging characters, and expert-level music treatment. The story had many devices to carry independently, and the momentum had so much potential. But the flashes of horror and completely random introduction of outer-worldly things feel like a bit of a narrative cop out, an uneccisary plot device. Sadly, this classic first-timer writer mistake became increasingly apparent, eventually leaving the game unplayable for me—9/10 from the start but 6/10 on the whole.
Thanks for offering your honest review of the project.
Thanks for taking it in stride. Have you considered Patreon or SubscribeStar for this game? There is clearly a fanbase and people playing it, and you deserve to get some reward for your efforts.
Yeah, for sure, I gave it a little thought initially. And I appreciate you saying so. Really the only thing keeping me building this game day after day is intrinsic motivation, and in my case I think any extrinsic motivators would erode that. I'd hate to see my passion project become my side hustle.
Doesn't need to be Patreon or Subscribestar ,I believe some people like me just want to give you the money to thank you because how good this game is.So please give us some way to express our gratitude,like the Buy Me a Coffee,or anything.
Hey friend, I'm touched that you would be so insistent on compensating me for my efforts on this project. It's obvious that this game has made some significant and positive impact on you for you to say so. Thank you very, very much.
What I'll say to you and anyone else wishing to support this project, beyond just downloading the game, is this: offer that money instead to help fund the creation and performance of music in your own community, if at all possible.
Attend a concert with local performers, buy a t-shirt or other merch from your favorite band/musician. The type of support matters far less than the spirit of that support. Having this game result in a small group of people becoming patrons of the arts in their community would mean far more to me than $5 in my pocket.
And if you can't or don't want to support music locally or otherwise? Choose another small developer making these sorts of projects and offer them your money instead. That would also feel very fulfilling to know I'm indirectly supporting those with whom I share a common medium. After all, this game wouldn't exist without the inspiration I've found from the work of so many others on Itch and beyond.
Hey! Hope your doing well. Just wondering if the next Pitch Perfect will be out soon. Love your game!
Hey there, good to hear from you again! And nope, the new release is not even close to close. The good news is that what progress has been made has me more excited about the story than any other release. Things feel sharper, smoother, with what feels to me like the biggest jump in production value of any update. It's like putting on glasses.
I do mention this in the "Not dead; just busy" devlog, but this game won't see another release until 2024, and I'll go ahead and tell you now that it won't be coming out in January.
Still, it has been a little while since I've posted, so I'll include a contextless render from the upcoming release:
Not fair! Now you've got me even more excited for the update. Oh well guess I'll just have to be patient. Thanks for the reply and the pic. Love it!
Can we get discord server for this game tho?To send typos and stuff
Hello there! Thanks for stopping by.
To be honest, the idea of creating and managing a discord community for this game has never appealed to me, so I think it is very unlikely that it would ever happen. As for typos, I'd ask that you please direct those to the bugs/errors devlog. Thanks again!
What if management of discord would take someone else and you'll be on it just as author of the game?
If someone felt so strongly about the game that they'd like to create and manage their own forum on the topic then hey, more power to them. But, respectfully, I have no desire to participate in that sort of thing myself.
I set up a fan club Discord, here's the link :) https://discord.gg/psDcve5n
You had me laughing telling me that Kaylyn marched with Crown, thanks for that!
All three of the S-wing marching band girls did, plus Elaine! In fact, the only girl introduced in the v0.7 version who hasn't marched corps is Taylor, but I'm pretty sure I only ever canonize the groups of those four, Kara, and Sam.
I hadn't made it that far when I made my first comment, but you making fun of Cavies had me giggling as well.. Elaine marched Coats right? You referenced Down Side Up at least. Give me the chance to send my boy to the Devils and I will :D
Despite the Cavies banter, I'm honestly a little sad to see them do away with their classic technique these past few years! It's probably not conducive to the types of programs that elite groups put on these days, but it had its charm.
Actually, Kara was the one who marched Coats. Great show too, wish I could've seen it in person. Thankfully I did manage to see Tilt live, which if I only could only pick one, I'm glad I got to see that one. Still comes second to seeing E=Mc2 in person. Chills every time.
Hope you'll stick around for v0.8. Something tells me you might like that update.
Might take some digging.... but check out pretty much all of top 12 from 1980. Way before my time, but that's probably one of the best finals that has ever happened. Down Side Up was a lot of fun live, though I saw it early and dirty, I had aged out by then. Coats put out great sounds. My first Crown show was Industry, and that one sticks in the memory because of the massive sculpture they built on the field. My best Crown memory is beating the snot out of them my age out year :P
Let me finish up what you've put out so far! I only found this yesterday! Gotta say, more than a little confused with the spooky mind stuff MC is dealing with, but I can tell that I'm fairly early into it and I don't think he knows any more than I do. Still, story is engaging, wonderfully told, and while it's a slow burn, it's a very good burn, like incense on a spring afternoon. Need more Euphoniums though :P
I'll check it out, for sure. Haven't looked much further back than the 90s around the time when Star of Indiana was still a thing, but I'm very interested in giving the stuff of that era a listen. Glad you like the game so far, too. And in my opinion, good timing to start up a first play through. Solid 10 hours of gameplay and the render quality is finally catching up to where I had wished it could be early on. Writing is a lot of fun these days, too. Getting better. I'm glad I can feel good about the product I'm putting out instead of sacrificing the quality of releases. I'd rather have a solid release every few months than 6 biweekly duds.
It was really well done, Loved the whole game. Nice to see things progressing with Kaylyn and Jayd. Would love to see more Alivia content. Music and sound effects were great as usual. Thanks again!
Loved Three Romances! So good! That must have taken a lot of work to put that together.
Thanks! That bit was quite a learning experience-- one I'm excited to build upon for the next release. Also a great plug for some of the incredible and often under-appreciated works by female composers. Clara Schumann has some bangers and that's just one of them.
Hey! Hope your doing well! Just wondering if the next Pitch Perfect will be out soon. Love your game!
I was so excited when I saw that there was a new update! I love the game so much. Thanks for all the hard work and creativity you put into the game. I can hardly wait to check it out!
Another one, Willow's birthday event just repeated when I talk to her again on Orchestra class.
Thanks. This one is just a simple coding error on my part.