Those who have been reading DDNet for some time know that for a few years now I’ve been working on a visual novel that’s on a subject close to my heart: Ballroom dancing!
Why has it taken so long? Because the scope of this project is just that significant, and it has been a lot to take on as an “indie”. Thanks to the amazing team that I’ve been able to work with, this game is already massive in scope, with 26 key art CGs, 17 pieces of music, a dozen backgrounds and tens of thousands of words of text… and that will by no means be the final count. I like to think of this game as landing somewhere between an indie visual novel and something that an Otomate might produce – as you can see from the screenshots, we’re pitching quite high on the production values and content, and that takes time to do right.
The game itself is going to be quite the epic, spanning a dancing career of 20 years that takes Dee Dee and Micah across the world, competing and dancing in all the most amazing places. The Last Waltz is heavily inspired by the likes of the Welcome to the Ballroom and Yuri on Ice anime, but with my own twist, a gorgeous art style, and everything from humour to tears. This has been a story that I’ve wanted to write for almost 20 years now. I tried it as a novel and screenplay but could never make it work.
It works as a visual novel, though. It works so well.
It has been worth all the work to see it coming together and I am so excited about these last few legs of work. Which is why I’m also so excited that I’m finally going to be ready to produce a playable “prototype demo” this weekend, which will give people a chance to see the first couple of chapters in action, and get a feel for what the game will be about.
To get access to that demo, all you need to do is subscribe to our Patreon. For even $1/month not only will you support the ongoing development of the game, but you’ll be one of the first to play it, and you’ll get exclusive behind-the-scenes updates as we go along.
And of course you also get access to the Dee Dee Zine, weekly updates/mini essays and more – the Patreon is great value, and you’ll be directly supporting everything that we’re doing.
Look forward to the weekend! In the meantime, enjoy these screenshots!
Congrats, this is exciting!
Thank you! After so many years of work I’m terrified about taking these next steps and start showing the game to people, but also very excited. Can’t wait to hear what people think 🙂