So the hints blah blah blah page had "Dev Lore" in the title because I just copied the title from the devlog of the other translated game I released here, but there wasn't actually a whole lot of lore if any from the development side of things.

Until NOW! I've been a bit preoccupied with other stuff/tired the past few days to make the post, (I'm on the verge of climbing into my bed for the night right now) but I asked the creator a bit on their creative process, how they come up with things etc. Though the emails didn't exactly read like an interview, I'm gonna format it as such for easier organization. As well, the answers are gonna be written in the perspective of the creator, so come on over and step into their shoes! (Do not worry, they are very comfy shoes.)

Spoilers below. It's recommended to unlock all the pages and reach the ending before reading on.

How did you think of the book mechanic?

It was inspired by the concept of a choose-your-own-adventure book, and I thought of the idea about two years before development. Being able to jump from one page to another as opposed to reading the pages in a set order was, at the time, such a refreshing concept to me. Then I thought about how interesting it would be to connect the pages not by page number, but by words, and that was how I finally started on the development. I will say, though, I might've also seen something similiar in a game somewhere before. I don't really remember...

How did you think of the title?

I decided on the title "liar notes" before I even thought of the story. I do this a lot, and almost all of my past works have started with me deciding on a title before getting to the story. This is a really childish way of thinking, but the way it works is that I choose words that "sound cool," and then think of other words that go together with it...... That's it. Even with "liar notes," it all started because I wanted to use the word "notes".

How did you think of the story?

The story changed a lot from what it was in the beginning. At first, there was going to be a big cast of characters, and you were supposed to find out who the traitor (or the liar) was among them. I don't exactly remember how it changed into what it is now, but I think it was while I was trying to come up with different elements to tie in to my past works. All my games build up the world in the same kind of way, but I still make it so that each one can be enjoyed on its own. That's just for my own satisfaction, and is also a nod to the fans who have followed me so closely. To prevent spoiling my past works, I can't explain what the connection is here, but the four characters in this game do not appear in my past works... That's all I will say. However, rather than focus on just the worldbuilding, I wanted to prioritize setting up the four characters' relationships with one another, their powers and lies intertwining, all to create a complex story with a complex set of lines.

How did you come up with the character designs?

Their appearances, I think, incorporated whatever suited my tastes at the time. Especially the palette! (Black and white, more muted colours...) Whenever I make a story, I try to make it so that the characters don't have the same hairstyle or hair colour. (An exception to this rule would be when I want to try and mislead the player into another direction.) I also keep in mind not to make them look too similiar to past characters I've made to the best of my abilities.

*I was curious about Nanase and Kairi's outfits in their full glory, and they sent me a full-body picture of Nanase which happened to be from the first time they drew Nanase, and is also the only full-body picture of her (and I'm assuming the outfit). Since I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post the picture, I've chosen to just recreate the key points of the picture, which they talked about one of them more right below.*

I just realized this, but if you look really closely, she has two moles under her right eye. She lost them both somewhere along the line, it's so sad...

How did you come up with the character's personalities?

Their personalities weren't set in stone right from the jump, but moreso made to fit with the story as I wrote it. Teach was the only one kind of exception; in the beginning, I had an idea to make him into a sweet, calm, reliable kind of presence. He's one of the only few adults who were ever nice to Nanase...
Also, the idea to make Nanase into a "boy who wanted to act like a girl," I came up with midway through. I don't remember specifically how it came to be, but I think it was because I wanted to write Nanase as someone who struggled with being different from the people around her.

That's all the questions I could think of for right now, but if I come up with anything later, edit I shall! And thank you to rojinoura-san for taking the time to answer, it was so insightful to get a peek into their mind!