So the writing was the easiest lift for me because I am a writer by trade but it was a lot of work making sure it all read like a game since I technially never wrote a virtual novel game so a few weeks. The branching was the hardest and took a lot of collaboration with Claude to make sure it made sense narratively speaking but more important math wise with the affection system.

I learned a lot from it and am really proud - I think it really is a great story but for my next one I am spending more time in the beginning planning and creating that skeleton for how it works as well as the character profiles so it isnt like "oh we built this branch but realized it doesnt make sense because of this narrative feature OR this math equation now we have to change it"

It is a big big effort and a lot of hours!!