Hey there! Fae here with a massive Void Dreaming post! I’m doing my best not to let the recent cyclone stop me, but it’s sure screwed me over a fair bit!

This is the first entry of the blog series to actually come up on the actual, brand new, handy-dandy Itch.io page! Looking swanky, if I do say so myself! Don't forget, all of the old posts that came before this one regarding Void Dreaming can be found on my SoFurry, FurAffinity and Weasyl pages, though the SF one is in my opinion the best put together. Check out the first one here, if you'd like to see what all Void Dreaming has to offer. I've talked about mechanics, plans, design goals, and a whole lot of worldbuilding over the last few months!

Last time we automated our life with some more worldbuilding insights on simulant and AI technology, as well as their creators in Biomech Service Solutions. Today however we’re stepping well away from AI as we talk about and to the artists who are helping bring Void Dreaming to life! I’ll also talk about the release of the first public build, and how I’m going to handle your ability to support the project moving forward.

And one last thing before we dive into the art of the visual novel. In case you missed it on the BlueSky account, the Void Dreaming Discord is now live! If you want to talk with others interested in the VN (or even with me, perchance?) and share your thoughts and whatnot, then come by and check it out!

Now, let’s dive right in!

Fuck Exposure

We’re going to start with the mercenary topic of money, because most artists don’t make enough of it. Void Dreaming is not being made by a team. It’s being made by me. Just me, all by myself, where possible. See, most FVNs tend to be the work of a group of people with mixed skills, all pulling together for the common cause. I don’t have that. I just have my madness and the drive to forge that madness into words. And programming. Hot damn do I hate programming.

Because I don’t have a team behind me and because I’m not an artist, this presents the obvious problem. I don’t draw. I can’t make music. I sure couldn’t animate something if my life depended on it. What, then, is a Fae to do? Well… I’ve got an answer for you, but I don’t like it.

The answer, as hinted above… is money.

Now, I say I don’t like it, but that’s a bald faced lie. Artists, as I have said and will continue to say, deserve to be paid a fair rate for their time and for their effort. I knew from the start that if I only offered artists a cut of whatever the VN was earning through Patreon or whatever, I couldn’t guarantee that they would be fairly compensated for their work. That was wrong. I couldn’t abide that. I wouldn’t abide that. Unfortunately, that left me in an awkward position. After all, a visual novel requires a lot of art… and quality work is expensive.

So I saved. And I saved, and I saved, and I saved, and then I saved some more because Australia’s currency is generally weak against the US dollar. I’ve poured so much money into this project, to ensure that not only is what you get to see up to the standard that I think this story deserves, but that the artists involved in it are paid what they believe they are worth. I did not negotiate. I did not haggle. I let my artists set their prices based on what they thought was fair, and then I paid them that money for their work. There’s no promise to fulfill here; everything you see in Void Dreaming has been paid for in advance, and I spared no expense in doing so. To do any less would have been unthinkable to me.

I’m also actually, painfully broke now. More on how you can help with that later; for now, let’s talk about the art and the artists themselves!

Sprightly Designs

We have to start with the spritework, of course. They’re the front-facing dynamic art of the VN medium, and I knew I needed to get someone who could produce vibrant characters, expressive bodies and faces, and… well, capture some of their naughtier aspects as well. This was actually a fair challenge (especially with a budget!), either because my feelers either went unnoticed or ignored, or were turned back because artists didn’t want to get tied down. Both are completely understandable! There weren’t that many feelers at first either, since a lot of FVNs focus on a very male, gay-centric cast of characters. Given the other options on the table with Void Dreaming, I needed to make absolutely certain that I was with a sprite artist who would be willing, and ideally enthusiastic, to work with all of the characters I’d envisioned.

That artist, as you’ve probably seen on posts for the Void Dreaming Bluesky account, is Vallhound! He’s got the look that I wanted, the quality I needed, the experience and skill I just had to have, and was very helpful, understanding, and reasonable throughout the whole process! I’ve got a couple questions I asked him just for this entry, so I’ll let those speak for themselves!

Faora: First, thanks for letting me ask some questions! Why don’t you start with telling everyone a bit about yourself?

Vallhound: Hi folks! I'm Vall, a freelance Illustrator out of the great white North (of America) that draws exclusively for the Furry fandom! It's been my full time job for over a decade, but I usually draw for individuals with personal requests rather than large projects used for games or publishing. In that way Void Dreaming is a new experience for me!

Faora: I’d like to first ask, what was it that made you interested to work on this project with me in the first place? Besides paying the bills, of course!

Vallhound: My bills aside, it was an important factor that the project was being treated seriously and fairly from start to finish in relation to funding the portions that couldn't be accomplished alone. Faora was not trying to get anything for less than it was worth, was willing to allow the artists a bit of creative freedom with his written creation, and emphasized fair treatment in having the appropriate amount of time and resources available to complete the work required. It also helped that the writing from what I could experience myself felt truly engaging, making for a good read/play experience.

(Fae’s Note: I swear I didn’t ask Vall to be this kind to me; he’s an absolute sweetheart and gives me far more credit than I deserve.)

Faora: What did you find was the most difficult part the spritework for you? Or was it all no challenge at all? It sure looked effortless to see you bringing the characters to life!

Vallhound: I tried to visualize why the sprites would be impactful to the story, a visualization of a wider range of emotions and reactions that were possible to accomplish with a limited amount of sprites, and lean in to those expressions with facial expression and body language while keeping each character's underlying personality present.

The other thing was their clothes! Some of the fashion choices, from the uniform design to the casual clothes are important to each individual so I had to figure all that out! I spent a fair bit of time finding reference material and simplifying designs to suit everyone!

Faora: Did you have a favourite character to work on? I know in your read of an early build of Void Dreaming that you were very fond of Bromm!

Vallhound: Actually it was Sam I think! Bromm and every other character fill the criteria of not being one dimensional and rewarding to interact with, but designing and drawing Sam was a character I paid a bit more attention to just due to the complex nature of their personality and motivations. Expressing someone that is more antisocial by avoiding direct eye contact is one example of that.

Faora: I have to ask it: what were the Origin choices you went with for your Rael when you had a look into the story the first time? If you can remember, that is!

Vallhound: I believe I chose that he grew up on a working planet, was a dreamer personality and that his mess up was a death related incident with navigation soft.

(Fae’s Note: for clarity, and if you’d like to try Vall’s version of Rael for yourself when you get your chance, this corresponds to the Colonist, Dreamer, and Innovator choices for his Origins!)

Faora: Do you think you’ll stay with that when the story finally gets released? Or are you interested in trying something a bit different next time? 

Vallhound:  I do like the choices that I made, being that Rael is a bit more optimistic than pessimistic, and more people pleasing than confrontational, from the choices I make in the game so far. I like to peel off all the barriers characters throw up without being too invasive. Not sure how, but there are those kinds of rewards in this game, which make it extra neat!

Faora: Thanks so much! I’m sure I won’t be asking you more questions soon.

Setting the Mood

That doesn’t mean that other artwork for a visual novel doesn’t matter. Sprites may be the expressive way the characters come to life on the screen, but background art is just as important if you want to set the scene and make sure that the reader is immersed in the world you’ve created for them. This actually took me longer to find than a sprite artist, mostly because it was hard to find an artist who had the look I needed and who would consent to being asked to do dozens upon dozens of backgrounds with nary a character in sight.

However, I eventually found Rico! He was excited to take on the job after I talked about what it would entail, and I can’t wait for you to see all of the environments of the galaxy he’s brought to life. I asked him a couple of questions in advance of this blog, too!

Faora: Thanks for taking the time, Rico; I know I’m working you pretty hard and you’re especially busy when I’m asking all of this! Would you care to introduce yourself to the readers?

Rico: Hi, I'm Rico, also known as beanworks (@beanworks.bsky.social /bean-interests on FA) !

How do I put this... I'm a freelance furry artist that makes story-driven character and environment scenes. If you want to explore your character's story, lore, personality... I'm your guy. I also do backgrounds for comics, and more recently, visual novels. Void Dreaming is actually my first ever freelance gig that isn't one-off commissions, and I'm thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this project!

Faora: So, what was it about Void Dreaming that appealed to you enough to take on my madness as your own? What about the project appealed to you?

Rico: The short answer: bills don't pay themselves!

The long answer: I usually get a lot of sci-fi themed commissions from my regulars, and I'm a fan of sci-fi stuff myself! I figured, why not? It's only fitting I'd go for a project like this. And working for a VN is new grounds for me, so I was also genuinely curious. One of the things that really grabbed my attention was the worldbuilding: Void Dreaming mixes things from both the space opera and hard sci-fi subgenres, and I wanted to see what kind of directions the setting and characters would go. Safe to say that I’m excited to see how the final product turns out!

Faora: The background work you’ve done already is so stellar, pun certainly intended. I know I’ve seen them (and contributed a few!) but what were some of the inspirations you took from to help build the environments of Void Dreaming, and of the Dreamer herself?

Rico: Thank you! A lot of my inspirations come from considering several things when designing and rendering the backgrounds: real-life sources, art direction from existing fiction, and specific requests from the client (in this case, you) like story cues, tone, and any other nitty gritty details that are a must. I do contribute a few of my own inspirations, but I do my best to keep it in line with your vision.

Faora: I know that for me personally, the backgrounds were important that we get very right. My feeling is that without them hitting the mark, the scene just doesn’t have the same impact. What’re some of the things you did that you really think the reader will appreciate when they get their hands on the visual novel?

Rico: I like to have faith in my backgrounds helping immerse the reader into the story being told. Having a good and creative set dressing really helps tie the characters and story together, as it sets the tone before any word gets spoken or read. My brief stint working for the set and props teams of my college’s theater club a few years back taught me that much, and I went into creating the backgrounds for Void Dreaming with those same lessons.

Faora: Is there a particular background that you enjoyed more than the others? Any that stand out as particularly challenging, so far?

Rico:  I’d say the cockpit background was my favorite one to make. It’s a major part of the setting, and I used to play a lot of Elite: Dangerous back then, so weirdly enough it felt like home. I also loved working on the more detailed, utilitarian backgrounds; they felt more familiar, like the more hard sci-fi and space western style scenes I was commissioned to make in the past. As for the more challenging backgrounds, I’d say the VR environments as a whole took the cake. At the time, I was trying and refining a new art style and software at the same time. It was a struggle, but one that was worthwhile!

Faora: And finally for now, just like with Vall, did you have a favourite character in the story, and what were your Origin choices when you started going through? I’m pretty confident in guessing Zuberi’s your favourite, based on what I know!

Rico: I ran with colonist, dreamer, and innovator for my background for Rael, as those mirrored some of my current IRL circumstances. I haven’t gotten very far into the VN myself, but I’ve enjoyed what I saw so far! And Yes, Zuberi is my favorite. You can say I have a type, lol.

(Fae’s Note: This cracked me up; until I got this answer from Rico, I had no idea that he and Vall both took the exact same Origin path! A one-in-twenty-seven chance!)

Faora: Thanks again for taking the time, Rico!

Spicy (Meat)Balls

Finally, let’s talk about the CGs! It’s important to be able to set the scene, and if I had my way I would love to do way, way more CGs than are currently in this story. I’d love to scatter them all around to help set the scene in important moments, and down the road if the project does well, I think I will! However, due to budget constraints, I can only do so much in the here and now. I mean, shit… I don’t have bespoke music or even fancy UI. There’s not even a logo for the VN yet, for goodness’ sake. I’ve poured everything I (financially) have into Vall and Rico’s work.

The CGs in Void Dreaming at present are split between two purposes: the spicy stuff, and the splash screens that welcome each new Day of the story. Regardless of the type, you’ll find that they’ve been done by a familiar artist: Vallhound’s back again, with the CG duties! He’s also done the amazing title screen for when you load up the VN, and those daily splash screens!

It was important to me to be able to have consistency in art between the sprites and the CGs, so that the important moments (and nice moments) of the story can take place with everything looking right and good and proper. Vall was very kind to allow me to further monopolize his time.

In earlier planning, I was afraid that I wasn’t going to be able to afford all of the art necessary to get the CGs in on the initial launch. Since I pushed that back somewhat, I was able to build up a little more cash (though I also blew out my initial budget by, uh… a lot). It turned into enough to secure the art that I need for at least the start of the project, with additional CGs to be added over time as the budget allows. More on that later.

For now though, I’ve managed to wrangle Vallhound once again for a few more questions!

Faora: Hey again! Just while I’ve got you back here, can you talk a little about your process for crafting these CGs for the project?

Vallhound: The CG's were a fun look into some of the scenarios you can put Rael into, a good chunk of them nice and spicy. They were also a kind of collaboration in that the settings were something Rico created thoughtfully as well. I tried to visualize parts of the ship from different angles, and parts that hadn't been drawn yet to try and fit with Rico's settings and layout drafts, hopefully in a way that sets a fun scene for players!

Faora: So far I’ve asked you to do the title screen, the splash screens for the first few days, and quite a few CGs at this point. Did you have a favourite piece to work on? One that you feel came out better than the others?

Vallhound: Its hard to pick one, because all of them had their challenges and pieces I thought I did well. I think the <<Redacted>>/Rael bedroom scene came out well with the progression of the panels and the drawings themselves.

(Fae’s Note: {RiverSong} Spoilers! {/RiverSong})

Faora: Did working on the CGs change your favourite character at all? Or have you been pretty locked in since the spritework?

Vallhound: It's honestly difficult for me to pick a favorite regardless! My playthrough doesn't include a lot of Zuberi time so I suppose getting to know his character a bit more through the CG's was interesting!

Faora: Rael doesn’t really get a lot of screen time; his sprites are more for reference and for rare use to show the reader early on what their lovely protagonist looks like. How’d you find pairing him with different characters in the CGs you’ve done so far?

Vallhound: Rael can get up to plenty of shenanigans so it's interesting to show him wandering and searching through the ship and encounter a variety of scenarios, although I have to chuckle at the concept of all possibilities somehow being capable in one playthrough; what would the crew think of Rael being so horny and eavesdropping so much?!

Faora: Is there a pairing including Rael that you’ve not worked on yet but you’re looking forward to? And do you have a pairing on the ship that really does it for you, including Rael or not?

Vallhound: All the characters have interesting stories to uncover, but I am interested in seeing something of Tulemeni in her digital space in the future. As for pairings I did like Rael and Caleia!

Faora: Thanks so much again for the time, Vall! I look forward to throwing exorbitant amounts of money at you in the near future for more Void Dreaming work!

Vallhound: Thanks for choosing me for the project! I look forward to drawing more Void Dreaming for the readers to enjoy in the not too distant future! If you can please go help support the completion of this project folks! Faora has been funding it out of pocket so far and does a vast majority of the work by himself. Let's help him create this story for us all to enjoy!

(Fae’s Note: See what I mean? He’s an absolute sweetheart and far too kind to me! But seriously, yes, please help.)

Making the Ching-Ching

However, that does bring to light the ugly side of VN development that I touched on at the start. This shit’s expensive, yo. Even with me learning the programming I need to make things work, and writing a truly obscene amount of words to make this project a reality, I can’t do it all alone and I need to pay people for their work. As I said last post and further above and will shout to my last breath, artists deserve to be paid.

Whether or not I deserve to be paid too, I do need more money if I’m going to actually complete this project. I’ve definitely put my money where my mouth is so far; I’ve invested, even before release, over twenty-five thousand dollars (AUD, mind, but it’s still a fuckton of money for me) into the development of this, just in the art assets alone. And that’s just to start. My wallet weeps.

An example of this is something that I’ve struggled with more and more as the initial launch of Void Dreaming draws closer. There have been so many FVNs lately (and in general!) that have launched with impeccable production values (Under Heaven is the one that comes immediately to mind!), but because of how I’ve had to make Void Dreaming, I can’t do all of that. One little Fae does not have the skills and resources of a team! Corners have had to be cut, for now, as stated earlier. Royalty free music from various sources, the Ren’py standard UI, only the bells and whistles I’ve personally learned to program in… this is what I’ve been resigned to, because my budget had been completely expended on what the VN does have so far, out of my own pocket. I think it’s been money well spent, and I hope you do, too!

And as much as I would like to fund this all out of pocket, it’s just not sustainable for  me to do. Void Dreaming, if it’s going to reach completion (let alone fulfill my goals for it and to add those wonderful production value elements that’ll make it truly shine), is going to be a long and expensive slog. Longer, if it takes me alone years to save up for the art assets required. That’s why, unlike anything I’ve ever done in the past, I’m actually going out of my way to ask for people to help.

That’s right, motherfuckers; Fae’s finally looking to charge people for his work!

If, uh… if you like.

Please.

I had a couple of options on the table, but I narrowed it quickly down to one. I thought about doing a Kickstarter, but if for whatever reason I couldn’t sustain my output and the project died, I’d be disappointing a lot of people (and be unable to pay them back if I’d already spent the money). The same went for if I did something like doing an Early Access thing on Steam. I intend to finish this story and this project, of course, but asking people to shell out cash to me without getting what they’re paying for in return? It doesn’t sit right with me. This way, if I can’t sustain the project and I have to stop for whatever reason, I can suspend payments to it immediately and take not a cent more from people.

So I’ve settled on the same process that most furry visual novels go for. And with that, it’s time to reveal that thing that everyone’s been waiting for! The thing I’ve been dancing around and not saying publicly for far too long now!

I’m incredibly thrilled to announce that Void Dreaming’s initial builds will go live on the morning of April 5th, 2025, on Itch.io and Patreon! At least in my Australian timezone it will; you might get it a bit early!

The visual novel will publicly release on Itch.io, starting with the Prologue and Day 1… but for those who can’t wait for the next update, that delightful little introduction and Day 2 will be available for subscribers to the project on Patreon at the same time! Originally I was set to release just the prologue with Day 1 on the Patreon earlier in the year, but I wanted to make sure that I had enough story there to tantalize you. If I hadn’t, the public release would just have been the prologue… and that would have been massively underwhelming! The delays have been unfortunately neccessary, but at least we can now settle into a regular(ish) release cadence. Don’t worry; we’ll get more into that release schedule and my roadmap (starmap?) once we get to the release. I’m gonna hit the ground running for now!

The trouble with a project like this, of course, is one of cost. I’ve already put a lot of money into this up front and, like I said above, being Australian in a community where most artists deal in USD, the comparative weakness of the local dollar is simultaneously a blessing and a curse. It’s made the initial buy-in for the project extraordinarily high, but it will reap better rewards down the line if I can earn the support of enough subscribers over a long enough period.

I believe I’ve secured enough sprite assets to get me through at least until the end of Day 6, and background art is coming in clean, coherent batches every month. For those who remember from the very first post about this project, Day 6 is barely over a third of the overall project length. I’m going to need more money from supporters if I’m going to finish this in reasonable fashion. The writing will happen pretty definitely, but I can’t fund the art alone. It’s just not feasible if I want to ensure those who’ve helped make this a reality are fairly compensated.

Hence, Patreon. The hope is that between the money I keep putting into the project and the support of readers who want to see this become the best that it can be, Void Dreaming can not only be finished in good time but also be something that truly stands apart in the FVN space. I set out to create something really cool here, and I hope I’ve done enough to convince you, dear (and, if you’ll allow me, most attractive and smart and funny and generous) reader - and have you done something new with your hair, because you look great! - to support the project as well. We’ll talk a bit more about that post-launch.

But this time next time, it’s all happening! I’ll be cracking open the bubbly to celebrate as we see the first initial release of Void Dreaming just about coming to fruition! You’ll get to see the release notes, get a link to where you can support the project going forward, and I hope you look forward as much as I do to your journey past the fringe with Rael, Zuberi, and all the rest.

Until then, stars guide you.

 - Faora