A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android

A visual novel about the origin of Wallace and Deacon's relationship.


With only one day left before he moves for college, Wallace must make the most of his last day with Deacon at the big graduation party called Next Step. The only problem is he hasn't told him that he's leaving just yet. Can Wallace muster up the courage to tell his best friend about the move? And maybe tell him about something else?


Written and Illustrated by JoshTywater


If you enjoyed the VN, consider supporting me over on Ko-fi. Any help is appreciated!

StatusReleased
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux, Android
Rating
Rated 4.8 out of 5 stars
(204 total ratings)
AuthorJoshTywater
GenreVisual Novel
TagsFurry, Gay, LGBT, Narrative, Romance

Download

Download
NextStep-1.1-win.zip 147 MB
Download
NextStep-1.1-mac.zip 131 MB
Download
Nextstep-1.1-universal-release.apk 147 MB
Download
NextStep-1.1-linux.tar.bz2 138 MB

Development log

Comments

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seee, 

I loved this so much, the art is really cool and the writing and dialogue were great! Looking forward to the sequel a lot!!!

(1 edit)

Short but beautiful, there are no other words to describe it, tqm creador de esta vn , thank you for making me have a good time 🙏🏽( ´▽`)

(+5)(-1)

One of those VNs that are basically books.

Three backgrounds, 5 characters, 1 choice that doesn't affect anything.

The writing is competent, but the whole thing is monstrously overwritten and desperately needs a good editor to work on it.

The visual style is charming, all backgrounds are very nice, but some characters are half-assed and I'm pretty sure the artist could have done a better job on them - they did on the rest of the cast, after all.

I don't know if I would recommend this VN, but I definitely won't talk anyone out of trying it for themselves. It's alright.

This is an amazing game, I loved it so much and I still do. It's so nostalgic

(2 edits)

im not talk english but this game is incredible , i wish there was a continuation

pls mannnnn (I cried at the end and I'm still sad)


from brazil

(+1)

I know why you decided to abandon the project, but it turned out to be very cool and of high quality, I would like to see the continuation if it’s not difficult for you, then I ask you!

yeah men  (,_,)

(1 edit) (+3)

I'm in love with this VN, I was in a difficult moment in my relationship when I decided to play, and wow, I never cried so much with a game, thanks to that, I decided to have the courage to talk to my ex-boyfriend about my feelings and we resolved the situation.

honestly, lately I've seen a lot of games that have an empty story full of NSFW scenes to fill that emptyness, see a romantic story with a beginning and an end in such a complete way is heart warming, thanks for this work and I'm really looking forward to the next one, greetings from Brazil🥰

(+1)

tmnc chorei pra krl , esse foi o melhor jogo q ja joguei na vida, fiquei a semana toda pensando na continuação

(+1)

Hello, joshtywater. I like your game very much. I translated it into Chinese. Do you need me to send you a Chinese version?

(+1)

798674867@qq.com You can email me if you need

(+4)

Me gusto 👍

Saludos desde Argentina :>

(+2)

Ussually, I turn off the music in visual novels. But this one has a really nice selection of tracks (personally, Space Fun is my favorite). And the story, oh god. I cried at the end. Short, but very satisfying to read. Thank you! :')

(+2)

A short and sweet story

(+4)

You should make a new game referring to this BUT when they meet each other again

(+1)(-1)

20 mins ago I tried to download the game but the links don't work, now i know why (update)

(+1)

Wow... Just... Wow.

Beautiful.

(+3)

first vn in a long time that doesnt have any mind boggling grammatical errors, and the story is just lovely. Good job!

(+2)

This game was just... Amazing. Sad that this game's came to an end. Almost made me cry. :(

(+2)

A very beautiful story  I loved it so wholesome ❤

(+4)

This VN >>>>>>>>>>>>>
I've been waiting so long to see the ending and I loved it :*)

(+1)(-1)

Does anyone know when the next build is coming out?

The VN is finish if you look on the Creator tiktok:@Joshtywater

such a cute story! excited for the story to turn around and have a somewhat happy resolution

Show post...

DIEFURRIESDIEFURRIESBOIDIE FURRIESDIEFURRIESDIEFURRIESBOIDIE FURRIESDIEFURRIESDIEFURRIESBOIDIE FURRIESDIEFURRIESDIEFURRIESBOIDIE FURRIES

(+10)

It costs zero dollars and zero cents to keep your hands off of the keyboard, 

And yet you want to waste your (not so)valuable time typing that out?

(+2)

It took me awhile to realize that Wallace has a moustache, its super cute

(+1)

Jeez, super cute

(+2)

Oh my god, the update... I cried ;-;

I'm in love with this vn ❤️❤️

(+2)

i had a feeling that i'm gonna cry A LOT

and yep, i cried

this is incredibly cute and lovely!

can't wait for the story to continue

blessed tendernes

(+7)

yes im gay, yes i like vn, yes im a furry and yes i will play this

Wow im really early to an update

Omgomgomg new update aAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA :0

Interesting, a companion to the comic your currently making.  Makes me wonder if you will make the comic eventually a part f this or a separate VN as continuation.  I also wonder about Jay, he obviously isn't one to be intrusive, but... only you know the answer.

(2 edits)

I tried playing on linux but it crashed on launch, got the error

X Error of failed request:  BadLength (poly request too large or internal Xlib length error)
  Major opcode of failed request:  255 ()
  Minor opcode of failed request:  0
  Serial number of failed request:  228
  Current serial number in output stream:  228

though I don’t have a clue as to what that means °w°

(I’ve never had any similar issue with any other vn on my system btw)

Same, I tried "sudo apt update" and "sudo apt upgrade" neither worked

(+2)

Go to next-step/game/gui/ folder and check the window_icon.png. It’s just too big in resolution and needs to be resized. I brought it down to 1000x1000 and now the VN runs great.

(+1)

Oh thanks :D

(1 edit)

If i can guess, maybe the problem with the resolution, screen length. It's really hard to programming with renpy if the creator has zero experience, like me. I just figured out. When i will release my vn, i not gonna make a linux version. Everybody says Android is way worse, but Linux is a difficult op system. Let's try it on Android or IOS. :) It's not the programmer's fault, because it's hard to make the game to being compatible on everything. There are also goods on the internet for your trouble. :) 

(+3)

Funnily enough, you’re not that far off. The problem is the resolution OF the window’s icon. This VN uses a 4000x4000 icon and it’s just too big.

On the game/gui/ folder there’s a window_icon.png. I brought it down to 1000x1000 and now the VN runs without any problem. Seems to be a problem with the display server on Linux?

(+2)

Oh my gosh, thank you so much! I've been trying to figure out what was wrong for weeks now. You're a life saver!

(+2)

It’s a pleasure to help :) I just really wanted to play this VN, you know? lol, definitely wasn’t an easy thing to track down, very unexpected problem for sure.

PS: I love this VN, can’t wait for more!

(+2)

If you guys suggesting it as a real good one, i gonna give it a shot too! Also, my read thirst came back too. ♡

Sorry if i'm wasn't a nice help too, i'm a fellow noob, but doing everything to be better. 

Have a wonderfully nice night. ♡

(+2)

Same here, but I managed to solve the problem. Quite a weird problem tbh :P

Go to next-step/game/gui/ folder and check the window_icon.png. It’s just too big in resolution and needs to be resized. I brought it down to 1000x1000 and now the VN runs great.

(+1)

You’re a genius! Thanks a bunch!

(+1)

Happy to help :D

(+2)(-1)

First off, i love this game wholistically. The opening title theme is gorgeous (it sounds like Sufjan Stevens scored your vn), good sound design,  love the art style, love the character design, love the more diverse LGBT+ rep (finding anything other than gay men in fvns is rare). 

Secondly, noticed a few typos/small grammar things that I wanted you to be aware of. I'll put the fixes below:

 Line 49: "I-  if I check my phone to see if it was him, will you let me sleep?"

Line 115: "Well I didn’t feel the need to, since I thought his best friend  would have already told him."

Line 130: "*Sigh* Yeah, you’re right, I’ll tell him tonight... and stop  saying I'm in love with him- it's weird."

 Line 133: "Denial doesn't suit you well, Wallace."

 Line 165: "Now c'mon, let’s figure out what we should wear to the party."

 Line 167: "Besides, you need a wingman."

Line 187: between "don't know" and "it's complicated", I'd suggest some sort of punctuation depending on how you want the line to be read (... - ; , etc)

Line 190: "Trust me, I get it."

Line 191: "Yeah, thank you,"

Line 192: "Well, ok then."

Line 203: "Hmmmmm, I’ll allow it.

Line 204: "Oooo, my favorite!"

Line 208:  "After about an hour of Jay tearing me to shreds about my taste  in clothing, we ended up having to go to the mall."

Line 211: "But that can wait for tomorrow, because before we knew it, it was time to leave for the party."

(+1)

Oh wow, thank you so much! This feedback is really helpful and I'll be sure to fix the mistakes in the next update!

(1 edit) (+1)(-1)

No problem! Also no pressure, but I'm a part of the Furry Visual Novel Discord server, which is mainly a nice big community where writers, creators, and fans interact. We got a lot of the big names in the community, everyone's really helpful and supportive,  and we're a really chill bunch, so feel free to drop by if you want.

I got to the end of the game. It was pretty nice. <3 Amazing storyline, amazing characters. Pretty cool uwu

Wow uwu <3

Love it so far :D

Very cute~