Strawberry Dagger Studio 🍓🗡️

Do You Like Italian Food? | Visual Novel YouTube video by Strawberry Dagger Studio

The game is free and was made as a gift for my best friend, @absolutegoblinmode.bsky.social

It feels good to make things again.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxZU...

Jared is only supposed to be stopping by for caffeine. Instead, he keeps finding himself drawn back by a smile, a little conversation, and the hope that maybe this could become more than part of his routine.

Do You Like Italian Food? by Strawberry Dagger Studio Coffee. Banter. Pasta. Can Jared ask her out and survive the first date?

Do You Like Italian Food? is a short, slice-of-life, romantic visual novel about a shy college student, a coffee shop crush, and finding the nerve to ask for a date.

sbds.itch.io/dylif-vn

#vndev #visualnovel #AmareGame #AmareGames #AmareGamesFestival #AmareDev #dylifvn

they both happened to blink at the same time when i took this screenshot

#vndev #visualnovel #AmareGame #AmareGames #AmareDev #dylifvn

i did a very loose rough doodle of Jared as a 14 year old at 2am last night. he's 21 in Do You Like Italian Food? but i thought it would be fun to sketch him at a different age.

#vndev #visualnovel #AmareGame #AmareGames #AmareDev #dylifvn #art #illustration

she's supervising development

Jared stands in the kitchen with his mom on his phone screen. The dialogue is from his mom, Miriam. She says, "Okay. I see you. Don't touch it or I'll lose you and then I have to press things." Jared has a tired expression.

Jared trying to video call with his mom is one of my favorite scenes in the game.

#vndev #visualnovel #AmareGame #AmareGames #AmareDev #dylifvn

A screenshot of Jared in his apartment saying "Hey, buddy." to his orange cat, Conway Kitty. #vndev #visualnovel #AmareGame #AmareGames #AmareDev #dylifvn #art #illustration

Fun Fact: Jared's cat, Conway Kitty, was one of my Grandma's cats when I was growing up.

okay, i think the CGs are done

feeling good about what I've achieved even while balancing going to work on top of it

Alex with dyed blue hair from Destiny Fails Us, standing with his arms crossed and wearing a gray jacket and patterned scarf. His younger brother Samson appears beside him because the image could not be cropped further.

Close-up of Alex with natural orange hair, brown eyes, and a casual smile, wearing a blue plaid shirt over a star T-shirt. This is his college look before he dyes his hair.

went to look at the old DFU trailer to look at what Alex looked like in DFU and to see if it fits.

and i'm happy with it. pre-blue hair-era alex finally makes an appearance in something.

I like how this turned out. i've drawn him twice already and he just didn't look right. but this actually looks like Alex.

third time's the charm

Character Sprite showing both a full-body and portrait view of Alex, a college student with messy orange hair, brown eyes, and slight dark circles under his eyes. He stands casually with one hand on his hip, wearing a blue plaid overshirt, a light blue T-shirt with a star design, ripped jeans, and sneakers. #vndev #visualnovel #AmareGame #AmareGames #AmareDev #dylifvn #art #illustration

Alex from DFU is a side character in Do You Like Italian Food? with his real hair color.

last night i hung out with shin again. i watched her play more clair obscur while i worked on backgrounds.

i think i finally pinned down what the backgrounds look like in the game and i like how the ones i worked on turned out. now i can finish the rest of them.

now that i have a few days off before i'm back at work, i'm coming up with a plan of what i wanna tackle on Do You Like Italian Food? next.

i got the replacement pen nibs while i was at work yesterday so i made this before i fell asleep to test everything out.

Liz stands there holding a to go cup and a sharpie while smiling. she has a side shave and a radio head shirt. #vndev #visualnovel #AmareGame #AmareGames #AmareDev #dylifvn #art #illustration

she's waiting for your name... ☕

also broke my pen nib as i was half asleep and snapped it back into the case incorrectly... which was unfortunate.

i didn't have any replacements so i ordered more to arrive today so i can work on stuff again after work. i just wanted more in time for my days off.

Jared runs a hand through his hair as he looks over nervously. He's blushing from the tips of his ears to his chest. #vndev #amare #amaregame #visualnovel #dylifvn #art

yesterday i had a particularly tiring day at work, but i still wanted to make something for the game. i ended up drawing this right before going to sleep.

Liz holds Jared's hand while he blushes. #vndev #visualnovel #amare #amaregame #art #dylifvn

talking to shin over discord while working on things today and watching her play clair obscur expedition 33.

i sketched liz and jared and i think i'll use it for something in Do You Like Italian Food?

four stages (sketch, lineart, flat colors, final) of a game book cover i made in a commission that features the main characters in do you like Italian food Liz and Jared are embraced in a romance cover pose. #art #vndev #amaregame #amare #visualnovel #dylifvn

years ago, shin commissioned me to draw her characters reading and discussing a romance book together.

as an easter egg for her, i drew Jared and Liz on the cover of the book the characters were reading.

however Do You Like Italian Food? is a meet cute and first date vn than a full romance novel

this is you

a man with messy hair and dark circles under his eyes drinking coffee from a coffee pot. #art #dylifvn #vndev #amaregame #visualnovel #amare

I woke up around 3am unable to fall back asleep so I decided to messily sketch Jared drinking coffee from a coffee pot

Liz was the character that was based on shin in DFU.

she appeared as a side character in one route in that game and was Samson's cousin.

based the design on how Shin looked back in college, and the game takes place in 2012.

Three full-body character designs shown side by side. On the left is a red line-art sketch of a young person with glasses and shoulder-length hair, wearing an oversized T-shirt, striped long sleeves underneath, a belted skirt, star-patterned tights, and chunky lace-up boots. The two images on the right are fully colored versions of the same character on a light blue background. In the middle, the character wears a black Radiohead T-shirt over gray striped sleeves, a yellow skirt, dark star-patterned tights, and black boots, with one hand on their hip. On the far right, the character wears an oversized red sweater, dark gray pants, and black boots, also posed with one hand on their hip. The character has an undercut hairstyle with blonde hair swept to one side and is smiling. #dylifvn

very rough idea sketch to flat colors for Liz.

#vndev #amaregame #visualnovel

I think the sprites in this little game jam birthday game are just going to be flat color. I just like the look of it right now.

Jared was a side character in Destiny Fails Us, and my friend Shin absolutely latched onto him, despite him only being in like 2 scenes.

Now as a belated birthday present for Shin, he gets to be a main character in this game.

#amaregame #vndev #visualnovel #dylifvn

The first thing I'm working on and will be releasing is a visual novel called Do You Like Italian Food? 🍝

It's a belated birthday present for @absolutegoblinmode.bsky.social

I'll talk more about it later, but I am so hype for all the things right now

So, as I get back into the cycle of posting game dev stuff again. And creating in general...

Hi there! My name is Ame. I make games under Strawberry Dagger Studio. My account is @awesomeame.art

I have plans for cool things this year.

However, I am feeling great about this year. I am excited. I want to work on all of the things right now.

I bought myself a samsung tablet during Black Friday so I can draw more. And it's already working. I am going to make this this year.

And that means, I'm gonna make some games.

I haven't used this account since I made it. I wasn't sure what to post, or what to say, or what to do with it. I've been relatively offline for a while in terms of social media, so it feels kinda strange. Especially when I was kinda burnt out on so many things in life that I didn't create much.