Hey everyone, feasgar math!

Now that we’ve caught up on some much-needed rest, it feels like the right time to look back on how An t-Slighe Dìomhair (The Secret Path) came together for Spooktober 2025. It’s been a wild, misty ride full of late nights, placeholder sprites, and way too much caffine.

This devlog’s a quick run through of what went well, what didn’t, and what’s next for the project.

How It Started

The idea for An t-Slighe Dìomhair had been floating around for a while across various sketch and notebooks, a quiet horror story set in the Scottish Highlands, focused more on atmosphere and grief than on jump scares. So, with Spooktober approaching, it felt like the right time to finally bring it to life.

I started with the basic concept, characters, fae-folk and an outline, but the story really took shape once Cael joined in. They took my scattered notes and turned them into a poetic, interactive narrative that balanced both Cedric’s and Eris’s perspectives perfectly, giving them each a strong voice and perspective for players, making for better replayability. Their writing brought the emotion and tension we wanted right to the surface.

And of course, Sandra absolutely knocked it out of the park with her character designs and rendered sprites. She gave each character a distinct personality shining through into their visuals, and helped shape the visual direction of the whole game. She also worked her magic on the game page, creating the background and banner assets which brought the page to such a good place visually.

The Jam Grind

Once we had the story and designs, it was time to build. I worked on implementing everything in Ren’Py alongside Cael, setting the scenes, transitions, and accessibility options in place. Cael was refining the script, and we were all testing constantly to make sure it actually felt right.

Of course, no jam goes perfectly. A few placeholder sketch sprites (we see you little Wulver) snuck into the final build. We also didn’t manage to get any sound design or ambience in before the deadline sadly. But that’s jam life, you work with what you’ve got and promise to patch it later.

Still, seeing it all come together right before the deadline was so satisfying. Cedric, Madra, and Eris all finally had a story to walk through, and we have been thrilled to see people connecting with it.

What Went Right

The writing: Cael’s take on the story was beautiful. He made the story feel grounded, emotional, and eerie in all the right places.

The art: Sandra designs carried so much life and subtlety. Every character sprite looked so good even the last few made under more time pressure. While Amber was an amazing extra helper as the deadline loomed over us, by sketching out the alternative Madra poses and creating a number of the backgrounds for us using the editing approach I showed her.

Teamwork: Communication stayed strong even when time was tight, which made all the difference.

Mood and visuals: Even without sound, the tone landed exactly how we hoped, a quiet, uneasy, and human quality reflected throughout.

What Could’ve Been Better

Like any jam game, there were a few bumps along the way:

• Some placeholder sprites made it into the build.

• No sound design or ambient effects in for the initial release.

• A few script sections still feel a bit off in pacing or tone and need another pass of editing

So, What’s Next

We’re not done with An t-Slighe Dìomhair yet! We’re working away on improvements, here’s a few:

• More sprite expressions and alternate poses for the cast, to really sell the more emotional scenes.

• Small script tweaks and pacing improvements, to make things a little easier to follow in places that left players a bit confused in the initial release

• Expanding the story past where it currently ends, which Cael has already been hard at work on! We’ll be adding new branches and building toward multiple endings. Alongside those endings, we’ll be getting some gorgeous CG’s from Sandra!

It’s a story we all really care about, and we want to give it the time it deserves beyond the jam deadline.

Final Thoughts

Making An t-Slighe Dìomhair for Spooktober 2025 was challenging, chaotic, and honestly really special. A huge thanks again to Cael for the incredible writing, Sandra for the amazing art and Amber for their help with the art side toward the jam deadline, and a huge thanks to everyone who’s played and shared feedback so far.

We’re already hard at work on these post-jam updates, and we can’t wait to share more of the world (and maybe a few new horrors) soon. Thanks for walking the secret path with us, we’re excited to see which path you’ll choose to follow!

— Rosia