Hi folks!
The Dawn Chorus 2026 poll has been open for our patrons for well over two weeks now. We've collected 180 responses in total, giving us an insight into what you like in Dawn Chorus and what you expect from us. All of this is immensely helpful as we go into day 5 and last reworks!
I'm happy to share the results with you too. I'm sure many of you are curious, and perhaps even will be surprised by these. Did you guess which of our characters are the most popular?
At the end, under the poll results, I'm also answering your many questions and feedback, so stick with us! Without further ado, here are this year's results:
Characters
Rune and Lake are two clear favourites. For more than half of you, one of them is the best bean! Every person in the cast was a favourite of at least one person, so they all got some love and that's very important knowledge to us too! If a story resonates with at least one person, that's a success for me.
When it comes to multiple routes, the voices are more evenly spread. Rune, Devon and Lake are clear favourites, but most of you seem to be interested in more than half of the routes. The lowest out of "regular" routes is Bjorn, but at ~39%, that's still a lot of interest in his story, and still a bit of a glowup compared to his score from 2024 poll.
This was a new question. I was curious to see how your opinion about certain characters evolve over time - do you get bored of them, when do you think about them now, when we're nearing the end of the story, compared to the beginning.
The general tendency is clear - the better you know a certain character, or the further we get into the story, the more you like them. The outliers are Klaus and Torulf, but the reasons are clear - the former isn't encountered that often in his own route, while the latter is, well, Torulf. The biggest glowup title belongs to Devon - he surprises you rather positively, if you give him a chance.
Sprites
Now, let's talk about sprites. We're in general pretty happy with our current set, but there are specific characters we ourselves think could use some work. Our opinion seems to be similar to yours - about 1/4th of you isn't happy with the current Lake and Mikko sprites, and we agree that these could use some reworks.
We attempted a redraw of Lake last year, but when I asked in a Patreon poll how did you feel about it, about 80% of you preferred the current sprite to stay. We agree with you, those who voted for Lake here, that something should be done and the sprite could be better. I talked with Haku about it already and we'll go back to drawing board and try to find the right visual language, silhouette and detail level for Lake, while trying to retain as much of the charm of the current sprite as possible.
Regarding Mikko, he's one of the only left front-facing sides. While it fits him in a way, I also see how it is not the most flattering look and how it could feel creepy. At the same time, I think the design and feel of the sprite is on point and we got him right with the last rework. With Haku, we'll attempt to draw another pose for him and make that one the default one, leaving the front-facing one in the VN as an alt pose. That should be a big enough change while keeping the current character of the sprite.
Dawn Chorus
I was personally the most interested in your answers to this question. I've never asked it in the earlier polls, and I wanted to know - what part of Dawn Chorus has pulled you in enough that you decided to stay with us? I was actually a bit surprised that you all enjoy the cosy atmosphere so much - there are moments in Dawn Chorus that veer into much more serious territory, but knowing your preferences, I'm happy to balance it with more wholesomeness. That was my intention for Day 5, but now I can be even more sure of the direction and know what I should lean more into.
I really loved seeing the answer the feeling of a safe place. It was one of my original intentions behind Dawn Chorus, way back when I didn't know which direction it would ultimately take, and I'm glad it shines through. It's very heartwarming.
I'm sorry not all of the answers are visible in full. Hoping for Google Forms to find a solution to that someday!
Q&A - sort of?
You've sent us a lot of questions, inquiries, suggestions and other feedback. I've read all of it but there is so much that I can't copy it all here. About a half of it were words of encouragements or thank yous, I want to thank you all for these! Reading all of your kind words are the best reward for me as a writer.
I've split Q&A into three sections - sprite, general feedback, Patreon benefits. I've tried to answer your chosen comments and questions the best I could.
sprites questions
Q: Please update Arne's sprite his eyes making him look he is high or something to meA: We actually might, yes! I haven't yet talked about it with Haku, but I agree and it should be an easy fix to his expression. We could add him a few more expressions while at it, too.
Q1: Personally, I love the 3d art style of the other characters, but with mikko he looks very out of place with the 2D style. I personally prefer the new sprite used briefly for mikko before the 2D one but should be a lot less buffed and shorter. And also the snout on the 2D sprite can be adjusted by adding a straight line between the nose and mouth like the other spritesQ2: Mikko seems like his sprite is lacking complexity compared to the other characters, and staring straight at the player makes his face look very flat.A: The sprite is more similar in style to our old ones and might seen a bit flat because of that - we weren't fully happy with an attempted rework and decided to base the new sprite off the old one. I mentioned it earlier, in the section about the sprites, but we plan on giving him a new pose and keeping the current one as an alt pose.
Q: I think Lake should be a little less "soft" - I preferred their older spriteA: They are getting a rework!
Q: I feel like a tongue piercing would suit Lake incredibly well. My hc is that they accompanied jørgen to a piercing appointment and got fomoA: Mayhaps.... I honestly could see it.
Q1: i just feel like the new rune is still slightly too buff, like in my mind a basketball player / someone who also swims a lot is usually tall (which rune is) and quite thin-ish, whereas rune's sprite is kinda too bara and bulky, rather than fit, lean and slightly muscly.Q2: Devon and Rune for sure. I feel as if Devon looks far bulkier than he should. What i liked about his old sprite so much (this applies to Rune too) is his features (face and body) were soft and handsome with subtle hints to muscularity, rather than a hulk like body that takes away from his soft features. Eg. In the old sprite Devon’s eyes were soft and a window to his character now they feel like the last thing i see. Similarly with Rune, he was this hot fluffy soft deer guy, his fluffy soft hair was his main feature that caught your eye. He used to seem clean and well kempt and handsome, now he just seems jagged.Q3: I preferred Devon's sprite from 0.47 or so (before the last rehaul). Part of what made his route compelling was the contrast. He had composed, reliable older-guy energy on the surface, thus discovering what lay underneath felt meaningful. The new sprite looks bone-tired and hints at what he’s going through (which's logical), but it takes away the surprise of finding out he’s more than the archetype and there's actually more story behind it.A: I could agree, but I'm hesitant to touch these sprites again. I simply Idoubt that we could make them better than they are right now. Getting to a point where we're happy with them has been a literal nightmare. Both me and Haku had numerous nervous breakdowns over both sprites and I wish it was only a joke.Regarding Rune: arriving at the current one took a lot of attempts and most didn't look better than what we already had - the current one works and we (the team) like it, which is already a great success! I'd like Haku to give him back the abs someday, but only if they would look good on him. We only plan slight retouches to the boy.Regarding Devon: we could try doing something to his default expression. I could see a less tired one working very well.
Q1: A bit more variety in movements and Expressions, more detail and shading: EveryoneQ2: I would change the expressions to make them more natural, perhaps adding some body language with the arms or positions where possible.A: We want to get there eventually! More expressions, more poses, more expressiveness. For example, Haku has just finished a new pose for Jorgen and we can't wait to show it to you!
Q: I'm fine with the sprites as they are, but I'd just like to see more expressions for Guðrún and ArvoA: Guðrún especially needs more expressions. Haku has finished two more for Guðrún earlier this week, but more are planned.
Q1: Just sad the old sprites aren’t being used anymore. An option to switch between old and new style would be great. The old ones had more character and were more unique than the modern onesQ2: Please just ensure the legacy sprites remain availableQ3: Not too sure even my minor dislikes add up but maybe if possible add a feature so we could pick old spirits in the gameA: There is an option! If you missed the post about the legacy mode, the older sprites are still in the VN, you just need to activate them. This question repeated a few times, so I decided to make the legacy mode available in the Patreon version by default. There however won't be any more updates to these sprites and no new ones will be drawn.
other feedback
Q: i really hope there is a spicy nsfw scene with rune and arvo before the end of the game!A: Yes. We already have the illustrations 👀
Q: I will say this, I'm very worried about how torulfs route is gonna go, is there any redemption for him? Or is he just permanently that way thanks to his past? I hope for his route, he gets some kinda happy ending but of course not everyone gets a happy ending in life so who knows what's on the table for him.A: No spoilers! I strive for realism when considering how things could go.
Q: What is the next project after dawn chorus? Would be nice to get multiple endings/routes for each character eg: when arvo confronts lake about flirting to rune the player can choose reconciliation or toleration which can lead to adward moments. Would be nice to have an epilogue at the end of routes to “glimpse into the future” eg day 3 bad ending of mikko what interaction/feeling will mikko and arvo have if they saw each other in uni? Or would one have transferred to another uni?A: Epilogues are planned and I am very excited for these! We have different endings planned for most of the routes too. For after Dawn Chorus, I have one idea I'm very enthusiastic towards, but I wouldn't again work in the same way - I'd rather start a studio, but that depends on the success of Dawn Chorus.
Q: Kill TorulfA: 👀
Q: I'd love to have a "real" Guðrún route so we can get more time with her from the start. Even if I love both Lake and Jørgen, it still feels just a bit off dating them together because of the lack of a CG scene with them (it would be lovely to have a CG of them sleeping together for the first time for example).A: I'm still thinking of ways to introduce her earlier. It's not impossible but it's not easy either, this late into development; I can't promise anything yet.Arvo is a pretty well-defined character (although I'm working on defining him even better during the first day), for him to get interested in Guðrún while he's near-desperate for a romance with a guy, would be pretty unlikely unless circumstances like the ones in Torulf's route arose.
Q: Keep on doing what you feel is right with the game, cause God knows it's working lmao. I've been following you guys for quite some time and it feels like with each new iteration the game just keeps getting better. Maybe once you've fully released the game you could get it on steam? Circling back to the merch, I would absolutely buy anything Rune related, body pillow (18+ or otherwise), plushy, pins, charms, even Dawn Chorus t-shirt\hoodie. I would probably buy something from the other characters listed above, but Rune is just my fixation atm.A: Working on it at the moment! Hopefully we'll have something to share with you very soon
Q: Gorgeous writing. I always look forward to new updates on this story, and will be sad when it's over. Also, if Lake gets a plushie, I would be first in line to buy it. lolA: Possibly 👀 and thank you!
Q: More music and jorgen content lol, i would love a side story involving him and Klaus or maybe him during a band set. If each character had a epilogue section or extra little side story dates I think it would be lovelyA: Everyone gets an epilogue. There's at least one side story planned (focused on Lake), and actually already written, but it still needs to be adapted to a VN - it's been sitting on my hard drive for about two years now, but the task of making a VN out of it is pretty massive. It's a more sprawling story than Broken Harbours, and a bit more ambitious.
Q: Having a flowchart with choices, routes etc etc would be very goodA: I'd love to have one, even for myself, but we have 192 choices in total at the moment (according to the RenPy lint tool) and when I tried to make one, I gave up after a few days, not even 1/4th through. There is a small chart for Torulf's subroutes posted on Patreon perhaps 2 years ago - for other routes I'd prefer to do these only after they're finished.
Q: I think only that i would love the music on spotify its super relscing and i just love itA: I don't like Spotify personally, I think their practices are awful and I'm hesitant to see my music there. I celebrate each time I hear about a big profile artist leaving Spotify. On the other hand, it would definitely make it much more easily accessible and I'm just a tiny creator - I'll think about it, but for now it's a matter of integrity.
Q: I'm a huge fan of Mikko. I know he's not very popular, but if there were a chance to give him a positive or happy ending, even an open one. Perhaps more illustrations of him along his route.A: More popular than you might think, looking at the statistics. I have some good ideas for illustrations!
Q: I wouldn't mind longer updates bi monthly for example instead of monthly short ones.A: We've just switched to a model closer to this one!
Q: I appreciate you using different artists for different moment shots and it really creates a nice indie feel to the game but the shots specifically for Mikko vary so much that in my opinion it hurt the immersion. Especially compared to other routes that clearly had multiple artists with different styles but still managed to be samey and recognisable as the characters they represent. If I were to make the decision, I would add the some of the shots used now to the legacy version and commision new ones. I think the most immersion breaking, at least for me, were Mikko playing piano in Day 1(2?) and Mikko and Arvo sitting on the hillside that is also the banner for Patreon; the latter is mostly about Arvo not looking at all like himself but both of them seem off-art style. I think the same could be said for bara Bjørn waking on Day 2 but I find it too funny to complain :DA: Mikko playing piano is one of the last illustrations by Tintiai to remain in the game and I intend to change it to something else. I'm hesitant to change the hillside picture just because of how nice it is, but yes, the style there clashes with the rest of the VN. I might ask PoisonPaint to look into retouching it sometime.
Q: I really enjoyed the Klaus route and some of the surreal themes in the Rune route. I think there's a lot of potential for these "horror" or paranormal aspects and I hope they are explored further. In the same vein I'd also enjoy perhaps exploring Norwegian mythology/folklore beings or customs?A: Klaus route will lean into these elements heavily, with the other routes I don't intend on including much more horror elements, but I enjoy writing surreal and paranormal a lot - you can expect these to appear again!
Q: Mostly regarding the discord, I'm a patron and have access to the server, but it does feel kinda shitty that discord access is being a pay wall, let's say that this month i can't pay my patron due to personal reasons, I'd lose my ability to interact with the rest of the community and possibly new friends i made there till next monthA: I hear you, I'd like the server to be open too - it won't happen, unfortunately, as we don't have the capacity and resources to moderate an open server. We already had one in the beginnings, handing it was a miserable experience and took my attention away from working on the VN. The server staying behind the paywall is mostly a way for it to self-moderate. Paywall stops bad actors and only that has let us keep the server running.
patron benefits
Q: More sneak peeks would be greatA: I'll try to negotiate sharing WIPs with the artists and share what we're working on more often. I'm always a bit adamant to share anything that is a potential spoiler, but there is a balance to be struck here.
Q: I almost wish the Discord server was still up, but I know there were reasons why you all took it down.A: The first one is still up, as an unaffiliated fan server, and there's also the official one for our patrons - to join, you simply have to link your Discord in your Patreon account and the bot will handle the rest.
Q: 18+ Art PDF collectionA: I'll talk with Haku about curating something like this.
Q: Credits in game?A: Since the beginning, these are limited to Formidable Feline tier. It would feel disingenuous to all of the past patrons who has paid for it to change that now.
Q: A proper Guide to which Choices lead where, with Lines 'n allA: A simple version of it is planned for when the entire of Day 5 is finished.
Q: Sharing any sort of wip visual art or sprites is always nice but I understand there isn't always as much to share in comparison to the writing.A: That's true, though now, as we're slowly coming to the end, I'm commissioning much more artwork so that everything can be ready on time!
Q: Maybe some special artworks? Stuff that wouldn't make it public. Also, it may be cool if you guys are conflicted about some certain character stories, if we could vote on how the story goes.A: Not everyone has the money to become a patron and I'm hesitant to commission Patreon-exclusive items. I sort of like the idea of getting some promotional non-canon artwork from Haku once in a while and sharing it with our patrons first. I'm committed to go an extra mile for our Patrons - the builds feature extra jumps to the current updates, I plan on adding jumps to other days too, I want to build in a few of the past special builds into Patreon builds, share extra materials like the flowchart for Torulf routes etc., on top of the benefits listed in the tiers.We have polls for the two top tiers, but I'm fairly sure in which direction should every route go story-wise - however the polls often touch on other, less serious but fun things.
Q: More frequent polls could be fun. Even if just small onesA: I do want to make more of these! Now that I plan to give each update more time, it should be easier to do.
Q: I think the pricing is fair although paying 9€/monthly is a lot if there's only one sidestory available for a one time payment of 4€. But I have no issue with it.A: It's one of the extra benefits, I see sneak peeks and full size artwork as the bigger ones as these happen more often. There is another short story planned eventually, but I have no timeline for it yet.
Q: One of the multiple reasons why I originally subscribed to your Patreon was because of how well you keep us updated compared to other developers. That has not changed. One small thing though, maybe giving patrons first access to any hypothetical future physical merchandise would be cool? I’d die if I missed out on any Rune stuff hahaA: I could talk with Pawprint, I don't see why they would be opposed to that! But we'll to see
Q: Its less a benefit and more an add to the discord. It would be cool to have patreon exclusive events like say a dawn chorus interactive Q&A or like a game night or something. Would be fun!A: A proper Q&A is something I wanted to do for a long time, but haven't found the time too yet. This is a miniature version of it - I can think of something!
Q: It might be cute as something extra to have character art from moments outside of the week we're playing in, like cute little tidbits of their daily lives ^^, tho It's fine of it's not doableA: That's something that would be cool to do after day 5, once the development slows down a bit. I'd be happy to share these, I've been talking with Haku about a possibility of a comic series but at the moment we just don't have the capacity.
Q: Keo's Fat Tuesday. Every Tuesday, Keo takes a picture of a cup of tea and everyone on the Patron has to guess what kind of brew it is. Everyone who answers incorrectly gets their Patron access revoked until the next Keo Fat Tuesday. I think this'll be a smash hit.A: Lovely idea! But don't be mad at me then you have to guess between a Dong Ding and a Tie Guan Yin oolong.
That's it for this year's poll! Congrats on reaching the very bottom of this very long post. See you soon with the next updates and news!- Keo