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!
I don't know what the hell happened with this update but there's this weird stuff that keeps happening whenever I click on something while paused (pressing Esc). It just un-pauses itself but not really, its some weird suspended state that its actually unpaused but not at all, its making me need to press Esc again to bring back to the menu and again, to actually resume the game. Example of things I've pressed is the Event Menu, the next page of the save slots, and there may be some others I've failed to notice. As I don't want to dabble on those too much.
Oh yeah, for some reason after all those bugs occurred, the button for the Event Menu just disappeared on its entirety. The Relationships menu still seems fine but the Event Menu button is just gone.
I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the first issue involving the use of the escape key. When I was testing this a couple months ago, I noticed there were some issues when using multiple custom screens at once, e.g. MC's dorm computer AND the new event menu on a different layer. That should be fixed, and a quick test I just ran on my copy seems to back that up. Do you notice the same issue when right clicking with a mouse?
As for the relationship menu vs event menu, that's simply a compromise I made with the roll out of the new UI. The new event menu and original relationship menu don't get along, so I hid the event menu any time you're on the relationships tab. Bringing it back is as easy as navigating to any of the other tabs.
I'm not a ren'py expert, so if you or anyone else has an idea for how to get around that issue I'm all ears. Spent a solid couple weeks of trial and error, browsing forums, no dice.
I'm not exactly sure what happened but my latest save seems already fine with it. There's no more weird stuff happening except if I load that save again from the previous update.
Saving on the new version seems to fixed things. As for the Event Menu, I simply clicked Return on the menu to back out of pause and to make the button come back. Seems inconvenient though I can deal with it just fine, but hoping this could get fixed for the future updates.
Edit:
No scratch that weird pause bug seem to occur whenever the Event Menu button is present, but just as I said from the strikethrough text above its just something to do with Relationship menu. I just need to make the Event Menu disappear (by not clicking Return while inside the Relationship Menu) and play the game as normal and only clicking Return when I need to look at the list.
Again, inconvenient and cumbersome but I can deal with it. Hoping this gets fixed for the next update though.
Yeah, when I was building the new UI I knew there would be an adjustment period. For folks who have been around for a few updates it's a change in routine, and change takes time to adapt to. Unfortunately, unless someone else has a workaround they can share, or someone with experience in ren'py would like me to explain the code behind the scenes, I'm probably not going to sink anymore time into that issue. It's inconvenient, sure, but I'll take a little ding on function for a much better looking UI overall. In my opinion, those are diminishing returns for the type of time investment required to come to some sort of solution.
It sounds like you've found a workaround for your particular issue, so that's good. And if more users have similar issues, I welcome them to describe them here. Who knows, maybe that will trigger some kind of aha moment.
Will say I'm slightly worried about MC's image at the top of the page proceedingly getting more screwed up as the game's progress continues.
Also really hope the recollection stuff is expanded, a lot of mini events like the first time (or first couple times) during a sleepover the characters have unique dialogue that you can only see during those first couple times. Really hope you can add all those small events in some kind of recollection book. (Kind of like click a character, click an event like sleepover and choose first time, second time, 3rd+ etc)
Hey there, thanks for the suggestions. To be honest with you I hadn't ever considered making any follow ups to the sleepover mini-events, but it's a fine idea. In some ways, when I built the sleepovers, I built in five nights' worth of novelty for a player: three clothing choices plus the unique event and repeatable event. As time goes on and I revisit older material, that might be a good warm up for heavier events. Into the back pocket.
MC's doing just fine. Dandy, really. He's just a little sleep deprived, that's all. Nothing serious. In fact, he's started taking melatonin every night before bed and he swears he can tell the difference already.
Alrighty, yeah I only brought it up because like with Alivia when you ask to sleep naked together the first time it's kind of adorable. Then the second time is different (can't remember if the 3rd time + is different than the second) and I realized that other than loading an older save there's no real way to rewatch those events/interactions.
And I'm sure MC would be sleep deprived with all the nightly activities he's been getting up to. I'm just skeptical due to the variety of psychological horror stuff that for some reason have been ending up in the seemingly happy games recently. So I'm keeping my eye on MC here.
Ah, yeah, Alivia is a bit of a special case for sure. That was a choice that felt right for her as a character more than anything.
And I get it. Hats off to Selebus, because any dev out there making a story-rich visual novel using Koikatsu absolutely cannot escape comparisons to Lessons in Love. It almost doesn't matter whether psychological horror is involved or not, even if I'd choose different nomenclature to describe the surreal moments I write into Perfect Pitch. Totally get that, and I'm also totally fine with that. Attempting to develop myself out and away from any similarities or dissimilarities to his game is a quick way to writer's block, in my opinion. Better not to take your writing so seriously that you can't even lift the pen.
So long as I continue to enjoy the process of developing what I feel are meaningful, interesting, and thought-provoking events, I'll continue to do so. And while I would hope the players can see value in that mentality within each update, I also don't have the expectation that every player will love the product or feel like I necessarily did things "right". So far I've built a game that paints pictures of moments big and small in a way I happen to really like— and that's plenty good enough for me.
Yeah I love what the current game is. (Alivia is definitely my fav character so far because of all the adorable stuff she does and says)
But yeah it's not just Lesson in love that went that psychological horror route, truth is a lie and sensei overnight also went that exact route. I think I've played more koikatsu vn games that went that route rather than ones that didn't.
That all said even if Perfect Pitch did or didn't go in some partially similar route I'd be fine with it either way. One thing this game already has over the alternatives for me personally is that I actually like all the different characters in this. The other games have multiple characters I just hold ctrl through all their scenes because I don't care for their characters at all but so far all the characters in this have diverse and unique charm to them that makes it fun to go through all their dialogue. I don't really care or look forward to the other games updating but I'm watching this one carefully because I want to see where it goes.
So cheers, can't wait to see where you take the game.
Hey! Big fan, this has quickly become one of my favorites! I was wondering if you'd be able to share any sneak peeks on what the next update might contain, or any hints on when it might drop? No rush - just curious. Thanks for everything!
Hi there, thanks for coming by to say hello! It's been a while since I posted, so I'm happy to give you a bit to chew on until the next release.
0.7 is going great so far, tons of fun to develop. I'm quite happy with how the new events and the UI overhaul are both shaping up. We're looking at more than a month but less than two until the next update.
Render quality is a big personal focus for this update. I've been spending some time practicing batch processing in my photo editing software of choice and also studying up on lighting techniques in film. This has allowed me to produce more (and better looking images) faster. I'll include a before-and-after example of what the result of this "dressing up" process looks like post render.
I'll save the whole unifying theme idea behind v0.7 for the release's devlog. Suffice to say these updates are always kind of a smattering of ideas, anyways. But in this case my top priority was to lay the groundwork for what is to come in the v0.8 release. Savvy players may be able to read between the lines of content included 0.7 to see what I mean by that. I'll also include the thumbnail I plan to use for the next update to give you some sort of clue as to where this is headed.
Hopefully this is enough to assure you and anyone else reading that I'm still very much involved with the development of this project.
Wow thanks for pulling all this together - definitely appreciate it! Sounds like it's gonna be an awesome update, and the new renders look great, so I'm looking forward to it!
So glad there's a new update! I been thinking about your game and hoping that there would be some new developments soon. Love this game. Can't wait to play it again!
Hey there, thanks for dropping by again to check out what's new. Pretty cool of you to be thinking of this game even after you get done playing it. That might not sound like much to some, but to me it's a compliment that I don't take lightly, so thanks!
Glad you could come check it out. It's going to be a while before the next one, although 0.7 will be an appreciably larger update than the rest. I do feel confident that the time investment will be adequately reflected in the overall quality of the next release. Thanks!
a project that is on my checklist already .I was continuing from the old record to be checked from the beginning .i will reach out for my developer community from discord. Share your discord with me I support you as a developer.
Interested in giving this one a shot, looks and sounds good due to the screenshots and comments. I don't know shit about classical music but hey never a bad time to give it a try. Will there be an update soon? Seems like there may be so I may hold off until the next update.
It's certainly my intention for this game to be entertaining and accessible for both musicians and non-musicians alike. You might learn a bit of terminology here and there, but I'm definitely not locking sex scenes or story progression behind in-game music theory quizzes.
As for an update, yes, there is another one coming in a few weeks. Total play time for a first time player starting fresh at v0.6 will be around 8.5-9ish hours, depending on how fast you read. Hope you'll share your thoughts if you decide to give it a go.
Hey, thanks for that. I appreciate the encouragement. There's a lot coming down the pipe for this spring, summer, and beyond that I've had a bunch of fun developing these past few months. Looking forward to sharing it on here.
Honestly a really fun game, actually looking forward to every girl's routes being expanded since I for once in a game like this really enjoy all of their personalities so I can't wait to see where you take this game. Also the humor and references are pretty funny/enjoyable in my opinion.
Thank you for making this. Sorry for the too much info coming but it'll be short. I used to be able to play music and I was going to go somewhere with it but then I got into an accident and it wasn't possible anymore. Love this game way more than I thought I would. Emotional, unique characters. The gorgeous soundtrack so far. I hope you complete this. I'm a big fan.
Hey Grey, thanks for dropping by to leave a comment and share a little about your experience with music. I can only take guesses as to how the loss of ability status in such an abrupt manner would feel, but I sure am glad to hear you found something in my game that moves you.
There really is nothing like performing once you've done it, or being in that creative musical zone where hours pass you by before you know it. Nothing I'm aware of can replace that feeling. But you've fostered enough of a relationship with music that, even now, it still manages to keep some kind of a hold over you. That matters, I think.
I'm sorry to hear about your accident, and I'm glad that music still has a place in your life. I hope you can continue to find new ways to connect with that creative part of yourself.
As someone whos been playing music since 5th grade I have a huge respect for you for putting in my instrument of choice the string bass into the game. Not to mention Im from the midwest so this game feels like home
Glad you're enjoying the game. Love me some good bass, 2D or 3D. Been listening to Brian Bromberg's Wood II this week while I work on new stuff. I highly recommend the album if you're into technical, and sometimes a little flashy, upright stuff. Thanks for dropping by.
Most of the +18 visual novel on itch are above average at best, but sometimes you find gems like this one. Perfect Pitch manages to tell a great story so far (v0.5) with interesting characters that are more than just foils to the MC or caricatures of a stereotype. I would rate this as one of my favourites as the writing has the same quality and character that you would find in games like "Out of Touch" and others like it. I am looking forward to the full version.
Hey there, I was just wondering if you have any way to donate to the project? I'm in love with what I played so far, and any way that I can help develop more of it would be amazing
Hey, thanks! That's very kind of you to say, and it makes me happy to hear that this project has made a positive impact on you. But no, I am not soliciting any donations for this game nor do I plan to do so.
Wrote a review on F95 I'd like to cross-post here since it looks like dev does not have a presence there:
"A game about music, romance, and the covid-19 pandemic as a convenient plot device" does summarize this AVN up pretty well. I was pretty surprised to see five updates and no reviews, and then I played it. I can see why people would have just dropped it. I will be honest... the beginning is a slog, and the use of COVID hits you like a sledgehammer. Contrast that to, say, Now & Then, which played with the traditional zombie genre during the COVID era by evoking themes of isolation and the destruction of old norms.
Get past the first hour, however, and it gets much better. It fits within that Lessons in Love/Sensei Overnight category of Koikatsu harem games organized around weekly schedules, a cast of LIs, and event triggers. Instead of a mentally broken teacher in Japan, you play a prodigy teenage musician brought into an all-girls music conservatory in rural Midwestern US by an eccentric Headmistress to act as a mentor/object of desire to her pupils of great potential. The stakes are... the conservatory is at risk of closing during the COVID era economy, and the last chance at survival is impressing a billionaire investor with a Spring Showcase of all the students.
Over the course of the next few months, the MC attends classes with the star pupils in A-wing, and slowly but surely a few of them warm up to him more than others. The love interests don't fit the same anime archetypes as in aforementioned comparable AVNs, but a few of them are still one-dimensional this early on. But as typical from this "genre", most of the developed LIs have faced hardships in their lives, and much the romance involves the MC relating to them by listening, consoling, and giving his own background. The quality of dialogue writing is excellent, and I would be surprised and impressed if the dev is not a native English speaker.
Unfortunately, the writing fails in two places: the MC, and the plot. The MC is a Gary Stu with no discernable flaws, and the Headmistress spends the entire AVN talking about how wonderful and talented he is. He is humble and recognizes how good he has it, but the lack of flaws ultimately makes him merely a vessel for the reader and not an interesting character to root for. When he speaks of his parents suffering in the early days of COVID, it falls flat. Speaking of COVID, you could completely remove all references to it and make it simply about living isolated in the middle of nowhere at a conservatory and the plot would be unaffected. As someone without musical talents, experiencing life among these young creatives is interesting, and constant reference to COVID feels pointless and does not seem to be relevant to anything moving forward in the plot.
Within the character-driven elements of the plot, the romance is extremely well written, especially in the last two updates. The emotions of the LIs feel genuine and heartfelt, and I found myself rooting for quite a few of them. I was heavily concerned early on that it would become a catch 'em all harem game when a lewd scene popped up with a LI within the first 30 minutes, but the writing for that character since that event has been realistic within this world's logic. These are eccentric girls, with one boy, in the middle of nowhere, encouraged by a (somewhat creepy) eccentric Headmistress, but they are also inexperienced and anxious girls. Their actions reflect this reality, so progress toward lewd scenes is slow but purposeful, and lewd scenes are awkward when they occur, except when involving the more experienced more depraved staff members.
Perhaps an artistic choice, perhaps a limitation of the dev, but some of the models are not very appealing. I suspect part of it is an attempt to make the girls appear less Japanese in the Koikatsu engine, but it has mixed results.
In overall, I played this out of curiosity, but I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. Its quality across all releases probably justifies 3 stars, but with the strength of the romance dialogue and the improvements in recent updates, I will give it 4 stars.
Keep in mind my criticism is my opinion and its your story to tell. Rest assured, soundsommelier, this is an AVN I will be following! This will catch its audience in due time and I anticipate this AVN will only get better! I would hazard to say the 0.4 and 0.5 content feels like a different game.
I am most impressed so far with the Kaylyn, Lily and Jayd plots. Lily is an absolute sweetheart, and Kaylyn's intensity is... yikes.
Hi there. Thanks for the well-written critique of this project. It's clear that you've given this a good amount of time and critical thought, which I greatly appreciate.
For whatever it's worth to those reading these comments, covid is not central to my long term goals for this project. In January 2021 when I began writing this game, the salience of the whole lockdown phenomenon was very intriguing to me— social islands of people baking sourdough bread and walking through empty streets against the grim backdrop of tens of thousands of people dying each day. Independent of politics, independent of personal liberties and decision making, I was very interested in that juxtaposition. And I wanted to explore it while talking about music.
I mention it further down in these comments, but exactly how I want to approach the stories told in this game has shifted considerably since its first release. And while I don't have a crystal clear view of where this game is headed, I do intend for covid to remain just background noise in this game— it's there to bring a historical realism (whether it peeves the player or not) to the events of a time that I happen to think is pretty interesting. With the exception of Lyndsie's poor, distant Halmeoni, no one in this game is catching covid. Although one person is in fact very, very sick.
I'll be the first to admit that this game starts off clunky while I got my bearings. It isn't amazing, and it doesn't do a stellar job selling what comes after. But it is a part of this game's history, and that much is enough for me to want to leave what's written as is. Because, as much as I sound like a broken record by now, I do this as a hobby to entertain myself, and so far I've had a lot of fun. It's all gravy if someone else feels moved by what I've written, or decides that Mozart does, in fact, slap.
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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.
I don't know what the hell happened with this update but there's this weird stuff that keeps happening whenever I click on something while paused (pressing Esc). It just un-pauses itself but not really, its some weird suspended state that its actually unpaused but not at all, its making me need to press Esc again to bring back to the menu and again, to actually resume the game. Example of things I've pressed is the Event Menu, the next page of the save slots, and there may be some others I've failed to notice. As I don't want to dabble on those too much.
Oh yeah, for some reason after all those bugs occurred, the button for the Event Menu just disappeared on its entirety. The Relationships menu still seems fine but the Event Menu button is just gone.
Hi there.
I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the first issue involving the use of the escape key. When I was testing this a couple months ago, I noticed there were some issues when using multiple custom screens at once, e.g. MC's dorm computer AND the new event menu on a different layer. That should be fixed, and a quick test I just ran on my copy seems to back that up. Do you notice the same issue when right clicking with a mouse?
As for the relationship menu vs event menu, that's simply a compromise I made with the roll out of the new UI. The new event menu and original relationship menu don't get along, so I hid the event menu any time you're on the relationships tab. Bringing it back is as easy as navigating to any of the other tabs.
I'm not a ren'py expert, so if you or anyone else has an idea for how to get around that issue I'm all ears. Spent a solid couple weeks of trial and error, browsing forums, no dice.
I'm not exactly sure what happened but my latest save seems already fine with it. There's no more weird stuff happening except if I load that save again from the previous update.Saving on the new version seems to fixed things. As for the Event Menu, I simply clicked Return on the menu to back out of pause and to make the button come back. Seems inconvenient though I can deal with it just fine, but hoping this could get fixed for the future updates.Edit:
No scratch that weird pause bug seem to occur whenever the Event Menu button is present, but just as I said from the strikethrough text above its just something to do with Relationship menu. I just need to make the Event Menu disappear (by not clicking Return while inside the Relationship Menu) and play the game as normal and only clicking Return when I need to look at the list.
Again, inconvenient and cumbersome but I can deal with it. Hoping this gets fixed for the next update though.
Yeah, when I was building the new UI I knew there would be an adjustment period. For folks who have been around for a few updates it's a change in routine, and change takes time to adapt to. Unfortunately, unless someone else has a workaround they can share, or someone with experience in ren'py would like me to explain the code behind the scenes, I'm probably not going to sink anymore time into that issue. It's inconvenient, sure, but I'll take a little ding on function for a much better looking UI overall. In my opinion, those are diminishing returns for the type of time investment required to come to some sort of solution.
It sounds like you've found a workaround for your particular issue, so that's good. And if more users have similar issues, I welcome them to describe them here. Who knows, maybe that will trigger some kind of aha moment.
Will say I'm slightly worried about MC's image at the top of the page proceedingly getting more screwed up as the game's progress continues.
Also really hope the recollection stuff is expanded, a lot of mini events like the first time (or first couple times) during a sleepover the characters have unique dialogue that you can only see during those first couple times. Really hope you can add all those small events in some kind of recollection book. (Kind of like click a character, click an event like sleepover and choose first time, second time, 3rd+ etc)
Hey there, thanks for the suggestions. To be honest with you I hadn't ever considered making any follow ups to the sleepover mini-events, but it's a fine idea. In some ways, when I built the sleepovers, I built in five nights' worth of novelty for a player: three clothing choices plus the unique event and repeatable event. As time goes on and I revisit older material, that might be a good warm up for heavier events. Into the back pocket.
MC's doing just fine. Dandy, really. He's just a little sleep deprived, that's all. Nothing serious. In fact, he's started taking melatonin every night before bed and he swears he can tell the difference already.
Alrighty, yeah I only brought it up because like with Alivia when you ask to sleep naked together the first time it's kind of adorable. Then the second time is different (can't remember if the 3rd time + is different than the second) and I realized that other than loading an older save there's no real way to rewatch those events/interactions.
And I'm sure MC would be sleep deprived with all the nightly activities he's been getting up to. I'm just skeptical due to the variety of psychological horror stuff that for some reason have been ending up in the seemingly happy games recently. So I'm keeping my eye on MC here.
Ah, yeah, Alivia is a bit of a special case for sure. That was a choice that felt right for her as a character more than anything.
And I get it. Hats off to Selebus, because any dev out there making a story-rich visual novel using Koikatsu absolutely cannot escape comparisons to Lessons in Love. It almost doesn't matter whether psychological horror is involved or not, even if I'd choose different nomenclature to describe the surreal moments I write into Perfect Pitch. Totally get that, and I'm also totally fine with that. Attempting to develop myself out and away from any similarities or dissimilarities to his game is a quick way to writer's block, in my opinion. Better not to take your writing so seriously that you can't even lift the pen.
So long as I continue to enjoy the process of developing what I feel are meaningful, interesting, and thought-provoking events, I'll continue to do so. And while I would hope the players can see value in that mentality within each update, I also don't have the expectation that every player will love the product or feel like I necessarily did things "right". So far I've built a game that paints pictures of moments big and small in a way I happen to really like— and that's plenty good enough for me.
Yeah I love what the current game is. (Alivia is definitely my fav character so far because of all the adorable stuff she does and says)
But yeah it's not just Lesson in love that went that psychological horror route, truth is a lie and sensei overnight also went that exact route. I think I've played more koikatsu vn games that went that route rather than ones that didn't.
That all said even if Perfect Pitch did or didn't go in some partially similar route I'd be fine with it either way. One thing this game already has over the alternatives for me personally is that I actually like all the different characters in this. The other games have multiple characters I just hold ctrl through all their scenes because I don't care for their characters at all but so far all the characters in this have diverse and unique charm to them that makes it fun to go through all their dialogue. I don't really care or look forward to the other games updating but I'm watching this one carefully because I want to see where it goes.
So cheers, can't wait to see where you take the game.
Hey! Big fan, this has quickly become one of my favorites! I was wondering if you'd be able to share any sneak peeks on what the next update might contain, or any hints on when it might drop? No rush - just curious. Thanks for everything!
Hi there, thanks for coming by to say hello! It's been a while since I posted, so I'm happy to give you a bit to chew on until the next release.
0.7 is going great so far, tons of fun to develop. I'm quite happy with how the new events and the UI overhaul are both shaping up. We're looking at more than a month but less than two until the next update.
Render quality is a big personal focus for this update. I've been spending some time practicing batch processing in my photo editing software of choice and also studying up on lighting techniques in film. This has allowed me to produce more (and better looking images) faster. I'll include a before-and-after example of what the result of this "dressing up" process looks like post render.
I'll save the whole unifying theme idea behind v0.7 for the release's devlog. Suffice to say these updates are always kind of a smattering of ideas, anyways. But in this case my top priority was to lay the groundwork for what is to come in the v0.8 release. Savvy players may be able to read between the lines of content included 0.7 to see what I mean by that. I'll also include the thumbnail I plan to use for the next update to give you some sort of clue as to where this is headed.
Hopefully this is enough to assure you and anyone else reading that I'm still very much involved with the development of this project.
Wow thanks for pulling all this together - definitely appreciate it! Sounds like it's gonna be an awesome update, and the new renders look great, so I'm looking forward to it!
Loved the update! Love the music love the girls. Can't wait for the next one! Thank you!!
So glad there's a new update! I been thinking about your game and hoping that there would be some new developments soon. Love this game. Can't wait to play it again!
Hey there, thanks for dropping by again to check out what's new. Pretty cool of you to be thinking of this game even after you get done playing it. That might not sound like much to some, but to me it's a compliment that I don't take lightly, so thanks!
Thanks for new update
Glad you could come check it out. It's going to be a while before the next one, although 0.7 will be an appreciably larger update than the rest. I do feel confident that the time investment will be adequately reflected in the overall quality of the next release. Thanks!
a project that is on my checklist already .I was continuing from the old record to be checked from the beginning .i will reach out for my developer community from discord. Share your discord with me I support you as a developer.
Sorry, I don't have a discord, but thanks for the support!
I'm sorry to hear that. You can reach me on other social platforms.
Interested in giving this one a shot, looks and sounds good due to the screenshots and comments. I don't know shit about classical music but hey never a bad time to give it a try. Will there be an update soon? Seems like there may be so I may hold off until the next update.
It's certainly my intention for this game to be entertaining and accessible for both musicians and non-musicians alike. You might learn a bit of terminology here and there, but I'm definitely not locking sex scenes or story progression behind in-game music theory quizzes.
As for an update, yes, there is another one coming in a few weeks. Total play time for a first time player starting fresh at v0.6 will be around 8.5-9ish hours, depending on how fast you read. Hope you'll share your thoughts if you decide to give it a go.
You've got a really cool game here.
Hey, thanks for that. I appreciate the encouragement. There's a lot coming down the pipe for this spring, summer, and beyond that I've had a bunch of fun developing these past few months. Looking forward to sharing it on here.
Honestly a really fun game, actually looking forward to every girl's routes being expanded since I for once in a game like this really enjoy all of their personalities so I can't wait to see where you take this game. Also the humor and references are pretty funny/enjoyable in my opinion.
Thank you for making this. Sorry for the too much info coming but it'll be short. I used to be able to play music and I was going to go somewhere with it but then I got into an accident and it wasn't possible anymore. Love this game way more than I thought I would. Emotional, unique characters. The gorgeous soundtrack so far. I hope you complete this. I'm a big fan.
Hey Grey, thanks for dropping by to leave a comment and share a little about your experience with music. I can only take guesses as to how the loss of ability status in such an abrupt manner would feel, but I sure am glad to hear you found something in my game that moves you.
There really is nothing like performing once you've done it, or being in that creative musical zone where hours pass you by before you know it. Nothing I'm aware of can replace that feeling. But you've fostered enough of a relationship with music that, even now, it still manages to keep some kind of a hold over you. That matters, I think.
I'm sorry to hear about your accident, and I'm glad that music still has a place in your life. I hope you can continue to find new ways to connect with that creative part of yourself.
Patreon?
I don't have one, sorry. But thanks for expressing potential interest in supporting this project. I do seriously appreciate that.
As someone whos been playing music since 5th grade I have a huge respect for you for putting in my instrument of choice the string bass into the game. Not to mention Im from the midwest so this game feels like home
Glad you're enjoying the game. Love me some good bass, 2D or 3D. Been listening to Brian Bromberg's Wood II this week while I work on new stuff. I highly recommend the album if you're into technical, and sometimes a little flashy, upright stuff. Thanks for dropping by.
Most of the +18 visual novel on itch are above average at best, but sometimes you find gems like this one. Perfect Pitch manages to tell a great story so far (v0.5) with interesting characters that are more than just foils to the MC or caricatures of a stereotype. I would rate this as one of my favourites as the writing has the same quality and character that you would find in games like "Out of Touch" and others like it. I am looking forward to the full version.
Hey there, I was just wondering if you have any way to donate to the project? I'm in love with what I played so far, and any way that I can help develop more of it would be amazing
Hey, thanks! That's very kind of you to say, and it makes me happy to hear that this project has made a positive impact on you. But no, I am not soliciting any donations for this game nor do I plan to do so.
Wrote a review on F95 I'd like to cross-post here since it looks like dev does not have a presence there:
"A game about music, romance, and the covid-19 pandemic as a convenient plot device" does summarize this AVN up pretty well. I was pretty surprised to see five updates and no reviews, and then I played it. I can see why people would have just dropped it. I will be honest... the beginning is a slog, and the use of COVID hits you like a sledgehammer. Contrast that to, say, Now & Then, which played with the traditional zombie genre during the COVID era by evoking themes of isolation and the destruction of old norms.
Get past the first hour, however, and it gets much better. It fits within that Lessons in Love/Sensei Overnight category of Koikatsu harem games organized around weekly schedules, a cast of LIs, and event triggers. Instead of a mentally broken teacher in Japan, you play a prodigy teenage musician brought into an all-girls music conservatory in rural Midwestern US by an eccentric Headmistress to act as a mentor/object of desire to her pupils of great potential. The stakes are... the conservatory is at risk of closing during the COVID era economy, and the last chance at survival is impressing a billionaire investor with a Spring Showcase of all the students.
Over the course of the next few months, the MC attends classes with the star pupils in A-wing, and slowly but surely a few of them warm up to him more than others. The love interests don't fit the same anime archetypes as in aforementioned comparable AVNs, but a few of them are still one-dimensional this early on. But as typical from this "genre", most of the developed LIs have faced hardships in their lives, and much the romance involves the MC relating to them by listening, consoling, and giving his own background. The quality of dialogue writing is excellent, and I would be surprised and impressed if the dev is not a native English speaker.
Unfortunately, the writing fails in two places: the MC, and the plot. The MC is a Gary Stu with no discernable flaws, and the Headmistress spends the entire AVN talking about how wonderful and talented he is. He is humble and recognizes how good he has it, but the lack of flaws ultimately makes him merely a vessel for the reader and not an interesting character to root for. When he speaks of his parents suffering in the early days of COVID, it falls flat. Speaking of COVID, you could completely remove all references to it and make it simply about living isolated in the middle of nowhere at a conservatory and the plot would be unaffected. As someone without musical talents, experiencing life among these young creatives is interesting, and constant reference to COVID feels pointless and does not seem to be relevant to anything moving forward in the plot.
Within the character-driven elements of the plot, the romance is extremely well written, especially in the last two updates. The emotions of the LIs feel genuine and heartfelt, and I found myself rooting for quite a few of them. I was heavily concerned early on that it would become a catch 'em all harem game when a lewd scene popped up with a LI within the first 30 minutes, but the writing for that character since that event has been realistic within this world's logic. These are eccentric girls, with one boy, in the middle of nowhere, encouraged by a (somewhat creepy) eccentric Headmistress, but they are also inexperienced and anxious girls. Their actions reflect this reality, so progress toward lewd scenes is slow but purposeful, and lewd scenes are awkward when they occur, except when involving the more experienced more depraved staff members.
Perhaps an artistic choice, perhaps a limitation of the dev, but some of the models are not very appealing. I suspect part of it is an attempt to make the girls appear less Japanese in the Koikatsu engine, but it has mixed results.
In overall, I played this out of curiosity, but I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. Its quality across all releases probably justifies 3 stars, but with the strength of the romance dialogue and the improvements in recent updates, I will give it 4 stars.
Keep in mind my criticism is my opinion and its your story to tell. Rest assured, soundsommelier, this is an AVN I will be following! This will catch its audience in due time and I anticipate this AVN will only get better! I would hazard to say the 0.4 and 0.5 content feels like a different game.
I am most impressed so far with the Kaylyn, Lily and Jayd plots. Lily is an absolute sweetheart, and Kaylyn's intensity is... yikes.
Hi there. Thanks for the well-written critique of this project. It's clear that you've given this a good amount of time and critical thought, which I greatly appreciate.
For whatever it's worth to those reading these comments, covid is not central to my long term goals for this project. In January 2021 when I began writing this game, the salience of the whole lockdown phenomenon was very intriguing to me— social islands of people baking sourdough bread and walking through empty streets against the grim backdrop of tens of thousands of people dying each day. Independent of politics, independent of personal liberties and decision making, I was very interested in that juxtaposition. And I wanted to explore it while talking about music.
I mention it further down in these comments, but exactly how I want to approach the stories told in this game has shifted considerably since its first release. And while I don't have a crystal clear view of where this game is headed, I do intend for covid to remain just background noise in this game— it's there to bring a historical realism (whether it peeves the player or not) to the events of a time that I happen to think is pretty interesting. With the exception of Lyndsie's poor, distant Halmeoni, no one in this game is catching covid. Although one person is in fact very, very sick.
I'll be the first to admit that this game starts off clunky while I got my bearings. It isn't amazing, and it doesn't do a stellar job selling what comes after. But it is a part of this game's history, and that much is enough for me to want to leave what's written as is. Because, as much as I sound like a broken record by now, I do this as a hobby to entertain myself, and so far I've had a lot of fun. It's all gravy if someone else feels moved by what I've written, or decides that Mozart does, in fact, slap.
Thanks again for the review, Van.