Happy New Year, everyone!
A little progress on the main story was made last week, but as of Saturday night, I got hit hard with the flu or one of covid variations and has been completely incapacitated ever since.
Sunday was by far the worst, so I hope I've overcome the worst and is recovering.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Progress on the banquet arch at Duchess Mansion has been progressing smoothly with additional, smaller cutscenes and one more CG Scene which is probably considered the main event.
Since it's only been story progression for the past week and I don't want to spoil too much, that means this tiny update is sadly all I can report on for today.
Only one more week before a fat, jolly fellow with a huge sack comes in your chimney!
I actually haven't touched anything regarding the ambush since the writing was finished, this is because rather than begin fiddling around with the emoticons and movements in the cutscene, I jumped straight into the Duchess Mansion arch and has made some decent progress.
Such as a string of smaller cutscenes and even a mini CG scene has all been finished, although that is not even the main CG scene event for the location, but a fun bonus I decided to include.
To think it's only a few more weeks before this year is already over...
Hopefully we can end on a good note, or at the very least with a (gang)bang!
To contrast the last update, this week I don't have much to say, and that's a good thing because I've been focusing entirely on the main story with the next sequence taking place during the ambush at the Valley Checkpoint, which is already finished from a writing standpoint.
What remains is structuring the cutscene, adding the proper emoticons and such.
Then it's off to Duchess Mansion!
So with that, I'll see you next Tuesday!
One beta release later!
And somehow I managed to finish the cinema completely with the full-screen viewing.
As always, most of the time before the launch was polishing up a few loose ends and the time after was spent on fixing a couple of bugs.
But I also have something important to announce this week.
Something I've been both dreading and looking forward to at the same time, because it means I no longer have to keep it a secret, taking all the blame and being stressed out about it.
The International Edition artist, aka SethxZoe has been fired from the project due to being extremely unprofessional and disrespectful to both the project and you as fans.
And you'll quickly see why when I state a few facts.
Last time he finished something, anything, for the game, was back in January this year.
Last time he answered to one of my messages was August the 8th, and it's not from lack of trying to reach out to him, as I've sent eight unanswered messages since October.
This isn't the first time, or even the second, he has gone for very long periods of time without answering, which obviously isn't acceptable when you're working with or for someone online.
Nevertheless, a suitable replacement has already been found, although it's going to be expensive and take time to have another artist come in and redo everything SethxZoe was supposed to do.
What this mean is the International Edition CG's will probably be locked when the full game launches, and be patched in later for a "Golden Edition" when the new artist is done.
And thus, the next beta will be coming out this weekend!
The winners of the poll regarding which four characters should be appearing in the cinemas found in Colussia and Odidania ended up being Farah (Adult), Laquadia, Beatrix and Queen Opala!
I don't think there will be enough time to add the feature of letting you have a seat and watch the animation in full-screen...but who knows, maybe I'll manage to pull it off.
Besides the cinemas within the new areas added to those two cities, you'll also find the fishing mini-game updated with an in-depth "fishipedia" to help track everything, the Quill of Choice being functional in the Hall of Memories, being able to finish Osira's sidequest while triggering a new CG Scene at the end of it and lastly some additional misc content.
While the idea of adding a cinema to Luminessa was scrapped, as it wouldn't fit the overall aesthetics with the current assets in place, I did add a part to Odidania where one can be found.
I decided to run a poll on my Patreon to let my supporters vote on which characters should be appearing in the cinema animations as placeholders until the Sin Swallows ones are done, and while that was meant to be the top three candidates with Luminessa in mind, it'll instead be the four top candidates as I've flipped it around and will have the Colussia/Odidania cinemas run different films, depending on the time of day.
I've also finished the current Osira questline, along with the CG Scene you'll get at the end of it.
While it requires more polish and some tweaking, it'll be in next beta hitting later this month!
Work on the whole idea I presented last week has resumed!
Besides creating even more NPC assets, an additional district has been added to Colussia, north of the park, where you'll now find the relocated gift shop, along with the new Colussia Cinema.
My intention is to add cinemas to Odidania and Luminessa too, with each one showing off a different movie and perhaps even expanding the available selection over time.
A certain adult actress in the motion-picture showbiz, called "Sin Swallows" and who's true identity might be someone you already know in the game, will be getting fresh animations done and replace some of the current placeholders to emphasize she used to be a big name.
(And to avoid confusion, this is all in-game related content to add world building)
Most of you will probably guess it's totally Gabrielle...and perhaps it is, or maybe not!?
Either way, the idea is to have you being able to take a seat and watch the animation on display in full-screen, although I can't say if that specific feature will already be in the next beta.
So that makes this Tuesday short but information rich, me thinks! See you next time!
Today's update is so different than last week it might give you whiplash...in the DICK!
It started out with an innocent enough idea; "Is it possible to create a working cinema in-game?"
And sure enough, not only did I make it work, it gave me plenty of ideas on how animations could be presented and rewarded than just collecting ten trading cards for a given character.
Besides lifting the restriction of only having one animation per character, it also gives me plenty of ways to reward film reels to the player for viewing at Castle Warrengard's new theater.
At the bottom, you'll see a comparison preview of the first theater layout on the left, and the finalized version on the right after I created bunch of additional assets for a better look.
Also, the "movie" on display is fully functional and animated in-game.
I'll probably go into more detail next week as not every idea I currently have is implemented at this point, and I don't want to give away too much if there is some unseen complication that forces me to scale back on my mental degeneracy.
So that'll do it for today, see ya next week!
It's tied directly to the sealed gate you can find right by the entrance within the Hall of Memories, which now looks different to empathize the connection. (And a hint if you don't have the item)
Changes made to how your character will appear in unlocked scenes within the Hall of Memories will always remained saved, even if you leave and come back later.
Osira's questline has also been progressed, with the visit to Bergville in order to recruite some lizardmen originally only having you make a quick stop, evolving into a more in-depth background history lesson about Crayden and Laquadia's time in Vhazar's camp and how things played out.
I still need to add Osira's CG scene for when you return to Colussia, though.
Another thing I've been working on is implementing the "Quill of Choice" that has been an unlockable reward from a scholar quiz for quite some time now, although not working yet as the mechanic turned out to be way more complicated than predicted.
But that was then, and since I've figured out a much smoother way of letting everything click together.
As a reminder, that item lets you change art style/main protagonist on the fly in the Hall of Memories so you can see/unlock all the CG Scenes you've encountered at least once before, without the need to restart the story to get the other variations.
Of course, this only apply to the Hall of Memories.
I think that covers everything for today, so I'll be back as always next week!
The "Fishipedia" is almost done, even got a little preview at the bottom too!
Or technically it's already finished and I just need to apply it to every fishing spot, but its a slower process since each one has to be manually edited to properly list the local fishes that appear.
Besides listing your overall stats, it's also a quick way to check which fish can be found at that specific location and/or if any undiscovered marine life can be found there.
Colussia, along with the Divine Palace in Luminessa is also undergoing a renovation to make room for some huge statues, and I'll be showing off a sample next week of what you can expect!
That about does it, see you next Tuesday!
Full disclosure, I lost a few days this week due to lack of sleep.
It's nothing new being a pain in the ass this time, just my insomnia acting up again.
Anyhoo, with that out of the way, most of the time since last Tuesday was spent on fixing a few minor bugs related to the last release, thankfully only visual ones involving a status increase displaying the wrong name or fishing while turned left showing the wrong protagonist.
(That last one was super weird)
I'm in the process of finishing off the last few details to the fishing mini-game.
The equipment option will be replaced with a completion list, listing all the fishes and letting you see how many you've caught of each, along with showing what species can be found at the specific location you're at, as long as you've caught at least one of them before.
With this change you'll also be able to just simply scroll down to the equipment window, rather than having to go through the extra menu step that's being replaced.
The "Mystery Bottles" will be added to the Encyclopedia as well.
You know the deal, weekly updates right after a beta release are usually really flaccid.
And since one was just the other day over the weekend, there isn't much to say except the time spent before that was basically prepping the beta for launch and playtesting.
Although, I did managed to add Sunny-Sue Ellen to Strippin' o' Die within the limited window!
The equipment descriptions you have in the fishing mini-game is also something that was added last minute, since it would've surely been a real pain to keep track of everything otherwise.
So that about does it for this one, I'll see you again next Tuesday!
As mentioned last week, every individual fish now has a base value and tracking statistics.
While I unfortunately don't think I'll have time to give players a way to view this in-game with the next beta hitting this weekend, know everything you do will still record your progress and be reflected in a future update.
To avoid spoilers by mentioning the character by name, the latest member to join your party has also been included to Strippin' o' Die, which in turn can unlock her photoshoot and nude outfit.
Meanwhile, Layla has been given two dialogue conversations you can engage in once she arrives to Castle Warrengard, one which will allow her to participate in the Tavern Wench Challenge.
I think...that covers about everything this week, what probably won't be included in the beta that I've mentioned in the past is the full-sized version for Strippin' o' Die and Tavern Wench Challenge, along with the latter making an appearance at the Gentlemen's Club.
It depends on how much I'll be able to finish in time.
Insert random quote or pointless sentance here.
The final number of fishing spots landed on 12, and I think that'll be all of them for now.
A lot of minor tweaks have been made, although the biggest ones worth mentioning are probably the East Lighthouse location being slightly expanded and several maps where land/rock/buildings are touching water have been updated to make the shift between the two surfaces less "floaty".
This is mostly noticed in locations with large bridges, and in Odidania.
There are also some NPC dialogue updates, most found in Port Ronod.
Next step will be to give all the various fishes a base value, accordingly to their difficulty and add a bunch of tracking stats before I can close the book on that mini-game until the new character associated with its upgrading system can be included.
