0.19 Public Release - Party arc conclusion, Dungeons & Redheads, Jade PR work and teasing the upcoming day
Hey all,
Finally, the public build for 0.19!
Do note that older save files are most definitely not compatible (cf. further for save function overhaul) and likely to break so either use the provided ones (they start right after Jade's final stream and include all the past content) or start fresh!
A part of this release note will be identical to the Early Access one, but I'll highlight the new sections!
Status Update
No further comments on the dev cycle as I covered it extensively in the EA release note and will expand in the upcoming retrospective, but I will note that the public build did take a tad longer to cook than anticipated.
Overall, a lot of time spent in this cycle to build a framework for the roleplaying app, which might not entirely pay off in this release but will provide a robust sandbox for upcoming updates as I really want to further explore this storytelling medium. The mix of dialogue/pictures (with the webcam)/choices/gameplay is pretty interesting and allows for some creative narrative devices.
What's new?
New content, that's the focus!
Story wise, this update aims to close the whole party arc that lasted for a while and introduced a bunch of characters and content. That means day 2 comes to an end, as I mentioned in earlier updates I want a better time frame and grounding for the story so this means it will progress on sunday morning, right before classes resume on Monday.
I feel like the stream was a good conclusion to party-related content, and we can move forwards in the story.
On the day after, you will join Clem for an impromptu roleplaying session, playtesting her homemade DnD campaign in the brand new RoleplayHub app, featuring:
NEW: Character creation (pick your stats, choose your appeareance, class and subclass, choose your backstory). Now features a dedicated character creation screen and custom portraits that are used in the game view!
NEW: Interactive game map with character miniatures moving along the story you're creating, now with more interactive elements and cam frames for Clem!
NEW: Skill checks and dice rolling, now with more class-specific choices in every path. Your character should be able to shine no matter your decisions!
Non linear gameplay, branching story paths: try to explore as much as you can, talk with the characters at the risk of being annoying, gathering information is always good!
This session is a short vertical slice showcasing the possibilities of the app, I'm planning for longer DnD sessions further in the story involving more than 2 characters. I think roleplay can be a very good storytelling device and allows the player to be bolder and try new things with some characters, so I'm excited to hear if you guys enjoy it!
You will also pick up the Community Manager gig with Jade, following the incident that occurred during the stream and the necessity to salvage it with a good PR stunt. She'll provide the content, you have to make the choices and put some flourish on it!
NEW: An outro section with a new conversation teasing what's to come in the upcoming day (end of the weekend, classes resume!) with possibly a future steamy scene at stakes... This will feature a new "convincing minigame" that I'm still workshopping (for now, a dialogue section with a bunch of tricky choices to make) that you can fail and thus miss out on some content. No sweat tho, the scene in question will be in the next update!
NEW: Also included, a bunch of previous artwork remasters w/ color for the party arc, namely the pieces with Jade dancing. I worked on those a while ago, so the production is not entirely up to par with the most recent illustrations and they don't have backgrounds yet, so I will probably go back working on those in the future for some touch up and polishing.
NEW: To go with the very non-linear DnD section and the outro conversation that you can fail, this build includes a first draft of the Save Function overhaul : better presentation for your existing saves with sorting based on savefile date, and you can now manually name your savefiles. There's a dedicated save screen for this, which is very reminiscent of the login view so it should be pretty intuitive to use. Managing your saves and savescumming should be way more convenient now!
What's next?
First and foremost, a new update, of course. The development focus will overall keep the same philosophy, with new content being the main priority but also try to include with each build b&w artwork remasters with color, backgrounds, etc. and polish the existing content.
Story-wise, we move on from the week-end to a regular week with our characters being college students so expect university drama, classes and extracurricular activities. This is mostly me trying to anchor the narration in an actual calendar year of uni.
That's the gist of it, but as I mentioned in past updates will first go through a major rework of my project management and organization, which I will detail in upcoming blogposts.
This will include communication/social media changes, and reworking the way I approach each development cycle (especially the planning/preproduction phase).
In short, wait for the retrospective/future blogposts to learn more about what's to come for the project.
I'm still very eager for feedback so feel free to provide some: suggestions, complaints, bug reports, everything goes!
As usual, thank you so much for the support, and stay tuned for a ton of upcoming publications!