GameChanger studio brought My Lovely Wife to the public for the first time in early 2019 after finishing the alpha version in 2018. However, the project was put on hold until the team picked it up again in late 2020. What happened during that time? In this very first devlog, We’ll have My Lovely Wife’s producer, Riris Marpaung, talk about the game’s development process!
Not only acting as the game’s producer, but Riris is also the CEO and co-founder of the studio herself. Having no experience in game development, she was “dragged” by the founder, Dodick Sudirman, to join the industry by establishing GameChanger Studio in 2013. They were actually academicians working together at the same university in Indonesia. Their passion for video game is what keeps them going until today.
(From left to right: Riris, Dodick, and their students)
Without further ado, let’s start our interview with Riris!
1. Since 2019, My Lovely Wife has been seen on gaming events both offline and online. However, we didn’t hear much about it until this year. What happened?
Hello! It’s true that we’ve brought My Lovely Wife to events such as GCA, Taipei Game Show, Gamescom (Indie Mega Booth), Level Up KL, and other events. However, only in October 2020, we continued the development of the game. Almost 2 years of interval.
(Riris with a fellow indie game developer on Level Up KL 2019. We miss those times!)
As a small indie game dev studio, we need to prioritize our projects so that our lovely studio can keep on going. At that time, we were kind of occupied with our other project, thus our focus was shifted. In mid-2020, we then decided to continue to work on My Lovely Wife. Along with the game designer and the lead artist, we planned to apply some big changes to the game.
2. You mentioned “applying some big changes.” Can you elaborate on what kind of changes that you make in the game?
All of it. From art style, sound, and even the gameplay. The only thing that stays is our vision to raise the issue of toxic relationships which are often found in our life as a human. Do we still want to hold on to that kind of relationship for the sake of love? Or should we just let go of it and pursue new happiness?
We make the world of My Lovely Wife become “whole” with the help of our story writer, who added complexity to the story for the players to delve into. The visuals, starting from the characters, environment, to the UI, sticks to the fantasy-victorian era setting. The same goes for music and SFX as well.
(Town’s management simulation — prototype 2018 version)
(Town’s management simulation — alpha 2019 version)
(Town’s management simulation — current version)
In terms of gameplay, players will see a more complex design compared with our previous game, My Lovely Daughter. By adding the element of visual novel, the choices that the players make will determine which ending that they will get. So, be prepared to have your feelings all stirred up, hehehe.
3. Since there are lots of challenges as an indie dev, are there times when you want to drop the project?
That actually has never crossed my mind. In fact, I really want to finish the project. It’s all because of the enthusiasm from our players, who’ve patiently waited for the sequel of My Lovely Daughter.
Moreover, having support from our awesome publisher, Neon Doctrine, boosts our morale indefinitely! The best part is that we also get a lot of help for the game’s promotion and marketing — stuff that I can’t really handle myself.
4. Can you tell us more about the prototype version of My Lovely Wife? What kind of concept do you have in your mind at that time?
My Lovely Wife was actually shaped by our players’ feedback on My Lovely Daughter. Gameplay-wise, they want our game to not be too repetitive. Story-wise, they want a deeper story to explore, especially about the homunculus. From there, we visioned our next game, to raise a frequent-but-deep issue — which is toxic relationships, by having succubi as the creature that the players will interact with.
We also want the world of My Lovely series to expand vastly, just like Final Fantasy. For starters, in terms of visuals, we decided to lock the unique art style for the series. From there, we make sure that the characters, though subtly, are interconnected with each other — all by maintaining the topic of human relationships depicted through fantasy creatures.
(Player’s interaction with a succubus)
5. Are you satisfied with the changes made in the game?
Certainly. Though satisfaction has no limitation, right?
However, I can say that all of the elements in the game, starting from the story, art, sound, to the gameplay itself have aligned with the vision of the game. Although, it kind of took us a long time to make it work. I’m really thankful for my team; the game designer, visual artists, sound designer, story writer, programmers, voice actors, and all the interns who have contributed to the making of this game.
(The team is about to have lunch together!)
6. Lastly, do you have a thing or two to share with the people who have been anticipating this game?
First, I want to thank especially our My Lovely Daughter players, who have been patiently waiting for our next title. Be it old players or new players, we hope to receive continuous support and gain as much feedback as we can to create better games in the future.
Grab a popcorn, or prepare some tea when playing My Lovely Wife. Though, we advise preparing your heart before going on a heart-wrenching journey in this mix of dating and management simulators!
My Lovely Wife is planned to be released in early 2022 on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox.
Thank you for reading, and see you on the next devlog!