Hey all, I'm checking in.
I've worked on a core minigame again (you know just in case this game doesn't have a bunch of them already). Wasn't planned but it works so well with the genre and the game I wanted to make that I was off the path.
Again.
The video above should work (for some reason, Patreon is being a pain with how they handle videos and disallowing catbox so I used mega. But if it doesn't work, here's the catbox link:)
If you've played the Ace Attorney games, you know what this gameplay is.
I promise I'll use this mechanic again and again once the route gets fleshed out. (It obviously won't be forgotten and never used again, right? nervous laugh.)
Art is still a little gritty at places but I'm running animations (or try to when possible) so you'll have to bear with it until, well, until the day when I can call myself decent. (By the way, the guys are drawn uglier on purpose and not because I don't usually draw men and have a lack of experience doing.)
v0.31.5, what we call a phase/small/one-event update will be released next Saturday night, on the 11th for Superfan tiers. If I finish earlier, I'll drop it earlier. Otherwise, that'll be the date.
To manage expectations: this will be a one event (not small at all in terms of effort) update with a focus on the mechanic above, focus on some lore, focus on the new guy. Fair amount of artwork as you'll expect from my events so do look forward to it.
I've said this before but if you prefer to play a bunch of events at one go, then it's totally cool to just wait for the milestone update (like 0.28 -> 0.30) content as a supporter. They'll come out every 1-2 months or shortly after the arc is done. If there's any delay or what may be that happens in my life and I don't see it coming out soon, then I'll just drop the small updates 1-2 weeks after it's given to the superfans.
But the smaller updates/latest events that all make up one "arc/bundle" falls into the superfan tier and releases in bursts of 2-2.5 weeks. I'll try to be consistent, but I also want every release to have a nice mini ribbon tied up on them, even for smaller updates. (So let's say this event can be a bit better/longer, then we'll look at 2.5 weeks.) I'll try to stay on track but please allow me some flexibility too, there's a lot of things that can happen in this journey, but I'll communicate.
I'm figuring out as I go so if you can, the pitchforks don't need to be sharpened just yet.
Dev ramblings:
I'll still drop sneaks here and there as the date comes closer but usually when you don't see new artwork/behind the scene art here it's because I'm either messing with the gameplay or doing all the writing first. Since the last release was a disaster in terms of delays, I decided to jump on the writing first this time instead of the art first (Which is why there wasn't much patreon posts with new stuff since it's all text and stuff).
Now that you see the art being posted above, you get an idea of where the writing is. (It's mostly done.) Where the main plot (with Jords, Shion, Dan and the new guy) will be going might feel less of a slow burn but it's because the 2nd and 3rd act is massive (in my mind anyway) so there's no helping that.
Side plotlines refers to Ota, Big B and Shivers and a bunch of other characters that hasn't been introduced yet and you'll find in the future that updates will be focused on their plotlines (obviously with art too). If you enjoy the main plot, you might be frustrated if it pauses for awhile (Jords and New guy sent to the standby room) but it's necessary to expand the amount of content due to the nature of this route.
None of this matters until its manifested though but yeah, side quests are fun if done right.
Masaru doesn't have them because of the one-to-one nature and Erica being there but this..well, this will be different. (No matter what you think of Jords and how his role will be).
Okay enough, until the next one!