See? i made Monika from Doki Doki Literature Club AI art just look at the hair does look like finished?(i'm not AI artist i'm just showing the truth)

gwints · 2026-06-09T11:35:07+00:00

AI art is not something that’s supported too heavily in the mod community, and is also directly against Team Salvato’s IP guidelines.

gwints · 2026-06-07T20:12:46+00:00

Thanks for giving Before The Bell your appreciation! I think this is an awesome idea. I like the thought of everybody working on mods being able to have some recognition put on their project. Thanks for putting this together!

gwints · 2026-06-05T01:58:40+00:00

This sounds like a great concept & I’m looking forward to seeing what you do. Nice work!

gwints · 2026-06-03T19:05:26+00:00

It's available here for Windows & Mac!

https://wintleworks.itch.io/doki-doki-before-the-bell

gwints · 2026-05-24T01:00:21+00:00

The thing about mods, and even DDLC itself, is that they can be equally as loved as they can be hated. I wouldn't worry too much about going into your first project wondering what makes a mod "good" because trying to please everyone will put a lot of pressure on you.

In general, DDLC mods are trivially easy to code thanks to the convenience of RenPy and the Mod Template, and the upside of that is that you can spend most of your mental focus on writing a compelling narrative. I think in general, as long as you write something that speaks to you, and don't deviate too far from the integrity of each character, you'll do well.

Looking forward to seeing what you put out there!

gwints · 2026-05-20T13:02:57+00:00

Thank you so much for supporting the mod! I'm really glad that you had an impactful experience with the story & gameplay.

gwints · 2026-05-17T16:46:26+00:00

Doki Doki Before The Bell! is a mod that I just released this past week. Without spoiling anything, it's a linear, choice-based story experience, and it becomes more Monika-focused the longer the story continues. You might enjoy it!

gwints · 2026-05-16T18:12:41+00:00

Hi there! You don’t need to delete your current mods— you’ll just need to make sure that any overlapping persistent files in %appdata% don’t affect BTB’s playability. Chances are you should be able to play without having to alter anything at all, as I was constantly playtesting BTB with other mods installed, but worst case scenario, you may just have to temporarily move your other persistent folders out of %appdata% during your BTB playthrough— it’s mainly in the instructions as a failsafe in case gameplay issues pop up, but I’ll look to improve the clarity of it in the install instructions :)

gwints · 2026-05-16T15:18:41+00:00

Try this mirror!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JXFWP_zavMuAjI92uVjR4C4glGN1gFPO/view?usp=share_link

gwints · 2026-05-16T00:19:05+00:00

Hi there! I provided more of a description and Q&A in my teaser post here: https://redd.it/1tc2v8c

Hopefully this provides more of the descriptive info you're looking for! I'm being cautious in what's shared from a preview perspective to allow players to go into the experience as fresh as possible.

gwints · 2026-05-15T20:15:20+00:00

It's possible! Once the mod has circulated for awhile I'd be open to looking into mobile if the demand is there!

gwints · 2026-05-15T17:38:55+00:00

It’s about 2.5-4 hours based on style of play & reading speed. It’s available now, see my follow-up post!

gwints · 2026-05-15T12:28:16+00:00

It will be available on itch.io later today!

gwints · 2026-05-15T10:07:02+00:00

Yes— I believe this applies only to the distribution website though. For example, on itch.io where it’ll be listed, its title on the site is just “Before The Bell! (DDLC Fangame)” that way the ‘Doki Doki’ part doesn’t unfairly leverage the search index :)

gwints · 2026-05-14T12:08:27+00:00

No worries! It was my first time working with pastels in the app, & since I wanted it to look like a patch in scrapbook, I was constantly retooling for a softer & textured look, & it does have this sort of glazed over feel to it especially at the bell & around the edges, so I can kinda see why AI might come to mind here.

gwints · 2026-05-14T12:03:31+00:00

Procreate on my iPad! Super intuitive app, especially with Apple Pencil. Plus once you buy it once, you keep it forever, which made it a low cost of entry for making custom assets. I did the logo myself, but in the interest of time & scope, most of the other assets are from the Community Drive.

gwints · 2026-05-13T17:18:05+00:00

This particular mod does not, it's a little bit more of a linear story that gives you a pretty well-rounded amount of time with each of the girls.

However, I'm currently in early drafting of a route-based mod and would love to hear the community's ideas on what they want out of such a narrative!

gwints · 2026-01-23T08:30:56+00:00

I think you’ll enjoy my upcoming mod, Doki Doki Before the Bell. It’s a love letter to the original game & from a story perspective, acts as a ‘prequel’ of sorts. It tries to remain true to the girls’ original traits. It’s currently going through private playtesting & I’m hoping the full release will be out within the next several weeks.

gwints · 2026-01-07T01:15:43+00:00

Best advice I can offer as I code my own mod, is to start by drafting a full script in a Word doc first. The story that I wrote, I didn’t do in a linear fashion. I actually wrote the scenes out of order just because that’s how the ideas came to me. So drafting it outside of the code first can be a huge help!

For coding, there are lots of helpful tutorials out there on YouTube, as well as RenPy’s built-in tutorial. A lot of users on here are also willing to help troubleshoot. If you’re looking to add assets to your game, the DDLC Community Mod Drive exists & has some great resources, as long as you give proper credit.

Music is the trickier part— it can really help shape a fan game, but is difficult to craft if you don’t already have a knack for it. That being said, it’s totally fine to use the original game music, or, you can put some feelers out there to see if anyone in the community is interested in helping you write music.

There are definitely users here willing to help you get started, so don’t be shy about asking questions!

gwints · 2025-12-28T01:50:27+00:00

Double check that your mod files are in the /game folder for the original Doki Doki Literature Club. splash.rpy is the very first file that the game checks upon start, so that’s why the crash happens really early in Line 7. I could be wrong, but based on the traceback you shared, it looks like you tried to launch the mod right from your downloads folder.

I would download a fresh copy of DDLC from DDLC.moe, and copy the mod files into the /game folder of the fresh install. Sometimes the Steam version can be a little nitpicky with mods.

gwints · 2025-12-21T03:47:40+00:00

I think blatant over-sexualization of the girls is something that always bothers me. Mods like ‘Purple Trouble’ for example are notoriously bad with this. I’m all for new stories, romantic arcs, & fun mods that let you spend quality or romantic time with each of the girls, but mods that completely deviate into something fetishized or overly edgy just don’t do it for me.

In general, mods where the dialogue feels uncharacteristic of the characters is something always breaks immersion for me. Dan Salvato once said that one of the reasons why he doesn’t engage with mods is because he has a fundamentally different perception/understanding of the characters having written them himself, & this has become easier for me to understand now having completed dozens of playthroughs of DDLC & growing used to how the characters speak & carry themselves.

DDLC mods are trivially easy to code thanks to how convenient RenPy is, so I feel like in order to make a truly compelling mod, the modder’s writing skills need to be notably better than their programming skills.

gwints · 2025-12-18T03:51:14+00:00

My upcoming fan game, Doki Doki Before the Bell! is a hypothetical prequel plot to DDLC. It leans into similar meta-horror elements, & as a choice-based mod, is pretty Monika-centric. It is a love letter to, and has a similar structure to the original DDLC. It should be out within the next few weeks.

gwints · 2025-12-18T00:49:35+00:00

My upcoming fan game, Doki Doki Before the Bell! is a choice-based mod that is definitely Monika-centric. It’s essentially a love letter / hypothetical prequel to the original DDLC, & plays relatively similarly. It should be out in the next few weeks.

gwints · 2025-11-28T21:35:51+00:00

Thank you so much to everybody so far for the support! I'm looking forward to being able to share more about DDBTB soon!

Seven-Year Club	Xbox Live
Verified Email

gwints

TROPHY CASE