Hell Down Under
A downloadable visual novel for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android
(Hell Down Under Contains Adult Themes. It Will Have NSFW Scenes Later in the Story. Reader Discretion is Advised [18+].)
This is a public version of Hell Down Under.
Chapter 3 is already available on Patreon for all patrons!
Donations here are much appreciated, but entirely optional! Instead, you can subscribe to Patreon tiers where you can get early access to future updates, for as little as $3!
This is currently a work-in-progress, so expect errors, bugs and the like. Updates will occur once a month. I update both public builds and Patreon builds at the same time!
Join our HDU Discord!! Patrons gain additional access to private channels with exclusives like work-in-progress sketches/art, dev builds, and more!
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WHAT IS HELL DOWN UNDER?
HDU is a linear, story-focused romance visual novel set in the sprawling lands of Hell itself. And the Devil's set his eyes on you.
You play as a human who has just woken up to an unthinkable world. You are in Hell.
However, the jewel of Fort Hell isn't all that bad. There's open markets, lakeside views, and a handsome Devil leading the pack. But once you venture out past Fort Hell's giant walls, the truth becomes... a bit more complicated.
The charming Devil of Fort Hell has yielded a near-utopia thanks to his diligent leadership. But there's something brewing in the Hellscape out there... something you shouldn't be too keen on finding.
Every newcomer at Fort Hell has a role. Certainly yours will be simple... right?
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Music/Audio by Crystal! Go show 'em some love. Art, story and coding are handled by yours truly.
You can support me by being a patron on my Patreon page!! Or you can support me by sharing with your friends, too!
Check out my other links for more ways to back my work!
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IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a linear story. CGs, backgrounds and sprites will be included/updated as they are finished, along with additional edits and changes. Everything is subject to change.
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Chapter 2 of Hell Down Under is Public!Oct 08, 2022
- PUBLIC RELEASE OF HELL DOWN UNDER IS LIVEAug 03, 2022
Comments
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btw itchio is going berserk on some nsfw games and some got shadowbanned already, make sure to prepare for the worse, and make sure to save game files somewhere safe
This is sad i thought id come back to see news but wish for the best i like the vn
the dev's patreon account isn't a Creator anymore
safe to say the game's development has been canceled.
too bad this is abandoned..
*whispers* tiny eyes
Is this still ongoing?
Jw, is this vn on hiatus, canceled, or still in progress of next update? It has been almost 7 months since the last update.
Goodluck!! Stay safe..
is this vn still in development? Just wandering as I haven’t seen any comments in a while and the update was a little bit ago 😁
Just want to say I love how the VN is going! I can't wait for Chapter 3! Keep up the good work.
thanks so much for taking time to comment!! I’m glad you’re enjoying the story so far. Your support is appreciated!! ❤️❤️
hey, dunno if anyone else has mentioned this, but i felt like giving some Bug reports and advice. First off you're VN so far is amazing! a unique take on the hell experience so far and something that had me invested from the beginning...
However, I couldn't help notice some coding bugs here and there. There were moments where the MC would speak Devil's lines and times when Devil would seemingly speak the line of the MC.
SPOILERS!!!!!
For example, There was one line where the MC said "I know a whole bunch of people who are just as excited to meet you as i was!" from the begining of the vn you made it clear the MC doesnt entirely know where he came from or who he initially was before he arrived in hell. So why would the MC say this? it seems like its actually meant to be Devil's Line instead
Another example is when Devil Later said "I'm starting to gather that a new arrival gets people talking around here" only for him to continue this dialogue with him agreeing with himself "You've gathered right......"
I've enjoyed your VN so far quite a bit, and as an aspiring writer myself, i figured id mention this to you.
thanks! I’m going to do a big cleaning house update this patch. Some of these I’ve stumbled across already, but I hadn’t caught a lot of the tags errors! I’ll make a note of these things to fix. I appreciate you taking the time to leave feedback!! I’m still super new to the coding side of things, and this is a passion project, so seriously, thanks so much for taking the time to report all this! It’s super helpful as I try and improve. :-) most of the things I miss are tagging errors. I’m taking a new approach this chapter of coding the tags as I write the story out, so /hopefully/ there will be less bugs!!
Also, for what it’s worth, there’s a bug reporting channel in the discord if that’s your thing!
Thanks for reading my story! And taking time to comment! <3
Stay safe..
When you say linear, you mean it's a kinetic novel, or it will have routes and choices but the main story doesn't chance besides from your routes decisions?
The latter! Some decisions/choices, but it won’t change the main story! Routes will change things, but in the sense that each route has its own sub-story. The world’s main story will feel a little different depending on the route, but the main idea/issue won’t change. Hope that helps clarify! Thanks for the comment!!
Everyone in Hell has a history… some more heinous than others 👀
Am in love with this visual novel oready
Looking forward for more of it👌🏽😍💕💕💕💕
Aww thank you so much!! ❤️❤️
I'm loving this so far! Can't wait to see what next for the future of this project!
Thank you so much!! Chapter 1 goes live today on itch, so keep an eye out!! Hope you continue to enjoy :)
will there be one for Android soon?
I'm working on an android build for the first chapter's official release! fingers crossed...!!
Whom do you play as, species I mean? This plays a very big role in my enjoyment of furry visual novels so I would like to know that, even if it's a spoiler
In the demo, you play as a human. That may not always be the case, though. After all, Hell's got a lot of secrets.
Woah, that is quite a mysterious answer. I like it
Just finished the demo and really liked it. I liked the way you painted the environment of hell, and just the overall story you have written out so far. Are you going to be looking for any help with the game or just developing it alone? Cause i'm a musician and i'd love to get the chance to put together some tracks for the game.
Thank you so much for the kind words! I really appreciate them. I'm so stoked you liked it!!! It's been a solo project, but honestly I'd love to see what kinda tracks you were thinking sometime. Music is a must at some point!! But I am definitely not a musician, so would def love to hear tunes that the game brings to mind! :')))
Nice! I'll shoot you a message on Twitter.
This is interesting and I'm Absolute in love with this 😍💕💕👌🏽
and looking forward to wait It's going to happen 🥰🏃🏽♂️💕
Thank you so much!! ❤️
I’m looking forward to telling this story. Glad you’re sticking with me!! 🫂
I'm confused by this statement:
"This is a linear story. Currently, Devil is the only planned romanceable character, but there may be 1-3 more in the future."
The story is linear but may have more than one romanceable character? Is it a polyamorous romance?
My main goal is to write a story following your interactions with Devil, but eventually I may add other main character routes. If you’re familiar with The Smoke Room, it would be in a similar vein. But I’ll update this for clarity!
I am aware of The Smoke Room, but I only played it once when it was super early in development so I actually have no idea what it's like.
So, what I'm understanding from this is that there will definitely be at least one route (with Devil), that will be entirely linear, but there may also be 1-3 additional routes (with characters other than Devil), that will also be entirely linear?
yes! That’s correct!! 🙂
Android?
yes, will have it soon enough—figuring that out still!
LMAO every time I posted a response I got a new notif!! Thanks so much for your feedback and enthusiasm... seriously has me extra pumped to keep moving on this.
My excuse for not having legs yet is I'm too lazy to draw them LMAO, but in reality, I will be updating sprites for the characters. So I'll have full body sprites /eventually/. But for now I'm keeping things simple. But the rest of the chapter will include new sprites/shirtless (bc of the same reason as >.> ya know >.> )
For brevity's sake, I'll respond to each bullet--but this is all so very helpful! Thank you <3
ALSO HELL YEAH GALLERIES R THE BEST. Will be on the docket 100%!!
Your comment got me thinking, and I think I found a simple enough solution to moving Devil lower on the screen. I think it looks nice!
And, sorta--I got into visual novels playing Echo Project's stuff, and I like how in some of them, the character's 'route' is basically its own story. I love the possibilities that offers!
I also have played some with the NSFW toggle, and it's been awesome. That and the gallery are a must at some point! I'm working on theorycrafting other OCs for this story, and if they'd be dateable. BGs (for now) are royalty free, public domain images. Taking some advice I heard one of the Echo Project dev's give once--don't worry about stuff like backgrounds upfront. Find some photos to be there in the meantime before you can make/commission the art yourself.
Once I can figure out how to package the APK, yes! Lmao they made it complicated and for what >:(
LOL the idea hit me a week ago, and I wrote fast af to get this out... still have stuff I'm gonna add to the demo! so keep an eye out <3
The first one is a change that will be going live tonight. I figured out how to do that today xD actually, most of this feedback is helpful bc of the changes I'm making tonight!!
I need to make clear the voice at the beginning doesn't actually belong to Devil. Good point.
I'm adding guard sprites and nametags tonight as well! More sketch than sprite but I thought it would be helpful there too!
Yeah, there's a discussion of magic that I haven't implemented yet. Bc i can't decide if the reaction is WTF MAN or like... *panic* or... anyways, it's a character moment I need to make sure I get right. That is most definitely going to be in an update!
"sense-at" should've had an em dash--thanks for the catch!
*edit* also!!! The stops on the audio is intentional, as I have heard very mixed things about long audios in VNs... originally the sounds played through most of the scene it started in. Is that more chill than I assumed? Did you wish it played for the entire scene?
so i have discovered ren'py has trouble differentiating "-" and "—", so I found some more of those errors and fixed em! i was like... now wait a minute
I made the demo in about a week--but this is my second time figuring out Ren'Py. I have an earlier project that needs more time in the cooker, so to speak. My goal is to constantly improve the game itself as it grows, especially by learning more about Ren'Py and pushing its limits in creative directions.
That VN thing is seriously so cool!! What a way to connect to digital audiences!
You totally can!! It can be a lot of info up front, but I just google problems I run into and learn new things that way too xD
The setting is totally (and should feel like) a WTF thing up front. Assumptions can really get you into trouble in Hell (at least, this one LOL). There's far more to be learned about Hell and its occupants. Time will tell >:D
I wanna have fun and play around with Christian/protestant ideas of Hell, while also redefining it in an interesting (and not totally awful) way. The demo is setup (and a test of the OC sprite).
Thanks for catching the typo! When I throw in some additional sketches and stuff, that change will go with it!