User:LaytonLoztew

Creator of Manda no Yume, Dream Diary Jam discord mod
 * Dev blog
 * Manda no Yume dev blog
 * Manda no Yume
 * Guide
 * References

My first exposure to Yume Nikki was a Youtube video series by Trask Nari many years ago. My favorite part of Yume Nikki are the effects. In attempting to speedrun the game I routed and performed about half but never uploaded a video, instead choosing to run Crypt Worlds.

In 2014 I bought RPG Maker VX Ace for a dollar from Humble Bundle. I worked on an unreleased comedy RPG titled Ddong Quest, which is referenced in previous MnY versions as ''Dustonia Online. ''I planned most of the game but only completed early versions of the prologue and first chapter, consisting of default assets and excessive cutscenes. In a later chapter I planned a section similar to Yume Nikki, where a party member would briefly explore dream-like worlds. I made two worlds, a music world and a game world (pictured).

In 2017 a post on the Yume Nikki subreddit led me to enter the first Dream Diary Jam. I was inactive on the subreddit, subbed only so the navbar wouldn't display default subs in the empty space. I had always desired participating in a game jam, and I had so much prior experience in RPG Maker, so I was interested. I waited for 10 people to sign up before I did, so I was #11. Before this I had never played a Yume Nikki fangame.

Very little planning went into the game prior to June. Most thought went into the effects and effect menu. Manda's name has no real significant meaning past being just a name. It is not pronounced as a shortening of 'Amanda', but the pronunciation was an afterthought. I was aware of the shared name with a snake creature from Naruto, but I don't know if it had any influence. I had originally planned for the game to have a theme of mandala imagery, reflected in the original nexus design.

In 2018 for the second Dream Diary Jam I was brought onto the discord chat mod team, and later the Dream Diary Development discord. I attempted to make another fangame titled Setimun, but was unable to decide on game play aspects. My goal was to make a more 'basic' fangame than MnY. I may revisit the concept for Dream Diary Jam 2019.

I still semi-actively work on Manda no Yume, taking unannounced breaks often. As someone who no longer finds much appeal in Yume Nikki or most fangames, I've found myself in an odd pursuit of making a fangame that I would somehow find appealing.