Hey, everyone! I've had a productive few weeks and have a lot to share in May's second game status report. We'll start with a few additions to the game that were already in progress when I wrote the last status report, then move on to the important stuff—the next two game updates.
Non-Critical Projects
I mentioned in the last status report that I had a few things I was working on that weren't critical to the next release, but which I wanted to finish up so there weren't loose threads dangling.
The first of those is our cover boy, a semi-new character. One of the first fantasies you can have in the game is Connor reminiscing about his celebrity crush—the formerly squeaky clean teen dream actor Gavin Grenier—whose sex tape leaked. Here's what Gavin looked like in one of his family friendly movie roles:
If you read the latest sneak peek post, you know that Connor and Matt will be watching some interesting vids while hanging out. The last time there was a movie night at Matt's place, I used a stock photo to represent the wolf boys in Wolf Boys from West Hollywood. This time, I thought I could create a custom-made video to put on screen, and Gavin's sex tape seemed fitting. That led to creating the character model.
In doing that, I came up with some ideas about how he could actually appear in the game. Specifically, he'll be tied into the Alex storyline, filling in a gap in the romance version that was previously open-ended. For now, Gavin has joined some other characters waiting in the wings for their formal debut.
I also did some model updates to Julian and Parker. Julian involved some slight adjustments to fix proportions, and I gave his textures and mesh the HD treatment:
Parker will be starring in the third Grind'm hookup scenario, so I had planned to revise his design at some point. I found a new body hair asset that I wanted to try out, and he seemed the perfect guy to do that with, so that point came early.
If you've been following the game for a while, you may recall that Parker has gone through several different hair and facial hair changes as I tried to find something I liked. I finally found assets for both that better fit what I was going for.
This was all in addition to the same HD upgrade I've been gradually giving all the characters who need it, including buffing out some baked in details to the model that made Parker appear older than I intended. Here's what I've come up with:
He's still the same old Parker, though. His exaggerated expressions are intact!
And of course, he's still sporting his legendary trouser snake:
With those outstanding projects done, I moved on to what's most important—the next update featuring Trevor's Grind'm scenario and the story update that will follow in a separate release.
Getting to Know You, Part 1 Story Update
Last time, I shared some charts I was making to keep track of all the topics you would naturally discuss when hanging out with your bff Matt. I completed that and moved on to the other character who has tons of topics that can come up in conversation: Marco.
Marco has the most scenes of any non-Connor character in the Morning After Update, and there's a whole lot that can be discussed with him during those scenes. He'll be popping in at the start of the next story update, so I needed to figure out what all would logically be referenced.
When writing all of Marco's various Morning After scenes, I played it a little loose, adding in things like propositioning him—or him propositioning you—on the fly. Sometimes that included something semi-hidden, like arranging a hookup between Marco and Matt (did you know you can do that?). Sometimes it was something big like having a heart to heart about the bad hookup with Julian.
So I've been charting out all the choice branches from those morning scenes to come up with different personality statuses for Marco. The idea is to consolidate several of his conversation end points into a specific flavor of interaction so I'm not trying to write a bunch of variations of the same thing. The choice mapping looks like this so far:
And a zoomed in view on one of them:
One of the things I learned when making the Morning After Update was that I needed to simplify where I can while peppering in references to specific choices to make those choices still feel meaningful. It makes life a whole lot easier while still being reactive to your choices. But before things get easier, first I have to map things out like this!
Also being mapped out is the nitty gritty of each new scene. I already have some written, but there's a lot between those scenes that needs hammered out. The flowcharts are being finalized to prepare for writing the rest of the update.
The story will pick up immediately after the end of the Morning After Update. Here's a view of that part, which is purposefully unreadable so as not to spoil:
Along with this, I'm compiling a list of CGs that will need to be made. Right now that count is 135 CGs using 63 unique camera/pose setups, and that's not even the full update. We're reaching a point in the game where you're gonna have more detailed sexual encounters, and with that comes a lot of art!
Because of how much will be on my plate, I'm very likely to first release this update as three in-progress Dev Builds so as to not have long waits between chunks of story. But I'll have a better idea of that when I actually focus entirely on that release. First I need to finish the Trevor Grind'm update.
Next Release - The Trevor Grind'm Update
This is the one that's been in the works since the Morning After Update was released. It's been taking a while for a number of reasons, like important non-game issues pulling me away, scrambling to make adjustments to comply with platform rules, trying to finish up what was lingering from the Morning After Update, and revisions to existing art.
I'm in a much more productive place right now, and I don't think it'll be much longer before the update is ready for early access. The most recent hitch was pre-emptive content compliance, which led to having to scrap a bunch of art that now needs revised, as well as add in the content toggles discussed in Status Update #77.
I wasn't breaking any rules when it comes to content allowed on platforms like Patreon, but I was toeing the line enough that I wanted to pull back a little, just to be safe. This isn't something I'll discuss in detail on here, again due to the platform rules, but it'll all make sense once you actually play.
All that said, I'm not at a point where I can give definitive release dates, so we'll continue on with my to-do list showing what's completed and what remains. Anything with an asterisk is newly added or updated:
Completed Components
🟢 GENERAL 🟢
Revised Models
Alex, full revision
David, full revision
Evan, tweaks
Isaiah, revision
* Julian, tweaks
Marco, tweaks
Matt, tweaks
NC17, tweaks
Owen, tweaks
* Parker, revision
Trevor, tweaks
New Models
* Gavin Grenier (Connor's celebrity crush)
Henri (Matt's former roommate)
Patrick (music teacher)
Revised CGs
Dominic/Isaiah Day 2 showers
Isaiah intro
Isaiah Day 1 tease
Isaiah Day 2 tease
Isaiah shower teases (4 of 4 completed)
* Julian Week 1 tease 4
* Marco Day 1 tease 1
Matt & Leo Day 1 tease
New CGs
* David Week 1 tease 1
* Gavin Day 1 tease 1
* Gavin Day 1 tease 2
* Gavin Week 1 tease 1
* Gavin Week 1 tease 2
* Parker Week 1 tease 1
* Wes Week 1 tease 1
Revised Sprites
Connor's Grind'm clothes for Jordi's scenario (8 of 8 completed)
David Day 2 (8 of 8 completed)
Isaiah Day 1, Day 2 afternoon, Day 2 evening, underwear, & towel (41 of 41 completed)
Jordi's Grind'm clothes (5 of 5 completed)
Jordi naked erect (5 of 5 completed)
* Julian Day 1, Day 2, underwear, underwear erect, naked flaccid, & naked erect (47 of 47 completed)
Matt Day 1, Day 2, Day 2 shirtless, Day 2 drunk, underwear, underwear semi, underwear erect, & naked erect (103 of 103 completed)
* Owen Day 1, Day 2, naked flaccid, & naked erect (41 of 41 completed)
* Parker Day 2, naked flaccid, & naked erect (37 of 37 completed)
Writing
Isaiah Morning After Update pre-shower scene
Evan Morning After Update pondering scene
Evan Getting to Know You Update, Part 3 scene
* Matt Getting to Know You Update, Part 1 scene (sneak peek)
Will Getting to Know You Update, Part 3 scene
Coding
Content preference menu toggles
* Content adjustments in-game to account for toggles (mostly done)
Jordi's Grind'm scenario CG unlocks
* Julian's sprite display code update
Matt's sprite display code update
* Owen's sprite display code update
* Parker's sprite display code update
Bug fixes (ongoing)
🟢 TREVOR GRIND'M UPDATE 🟢
Art - Menu
New main menu screen
Revised Grind'm menu screen
* Trevor profile pics (5 of 5 completed)
Trevor profile text (2 of 2 completed)
Grind'm gallery screens (4 of 4 completed)
Jordi's Grind'm gallery thumbnails (39 of 39 completed)
* Trevor's Grind'm gallery thumbnails (78 of 99 completed)
Art - Sprites
Cell phone (10 of 10 completed)
Connor Grind'm clothes (24 of 24 completed)
Trevor Grind'm clothes (5 of 5 completed)
Trevor naked erect (8 of 8 completed / 3 more added)
Additional character(s) (5 of ? completed)
Unlock pop-up notification sprite
Art - CGs
Scenario intro CGs (2 of 2 completed)
* Scenario foreplay CGs (22 of 31 completed)
* Scenario side CGs (15 of 28 completed)
* Scenario bottom CGs (19 of 30 completed)
* Scenario top CGs (19 of 27 completed)
* Scenario cumming CGs (52 of 69 completed)
Scenario afterglow CGs (4 of 4 completed)
Scenario ending CGs (2 of 2 completed)
Scenario end screen CGs (3 of 3 completed)
Art - Backgrounds
City (1 of 1 completed)
Hotel (7 of 7 completed)
Art - Character Models
Hotel Clerk
Valet
Writing
Trevor profile text (2 of 2 variations completed)
Scenario introduction
Scenario foreplay
Scenario side/oral, part 1
Scenario side/oral, part 2 (3 of 3 variations completed)
Scenario bottom, part 1
Scenario bottom, part 2 (3 of 3 variations completed)
Scenario top, part 1
Scenario top, part 2 (3 of 3 variations completed)
Scenario versatile
Scenario cumming (10 of 10 variations completed)
Scenario afterglow (2 of 2 variations completed)
Scenario ending (2 of 2 variations completed)
Scenario end screen (3 of 3 variations completed)
Coding
Trevor scenario unlocks
Revised Grind'm menu screen
Grind'm gallery screens (2 of 2 completed)
Scenario introduction
Scenario foreplay (5 of 5 segments completed)
Scenario side/oral, part 1 (4 of 4 segments completed)
Scenario bottom, part 1 (4 of 4 segments completed)
Scenario top, part 1 (4 of 4 segments completed)
Scenario versatile
Scenario end screens
Needed Components
🟡 TREVOR GRIND'M UPDATE 🟡
Art - Menu
* Trevor's Grind'm gallery thumbnails (21 of 99 needed)
Art - Sprites
Additional character(s) (total unknown)
Art - CGs
* Revised foreplay CGs (9 of 31 needed)
* Revised side CGs (13 of 28 needed)
* Revised bottom CGs (11 of 30 needed)
* Revised top CGs (8 of 27 needed)
* Revised versatile CGs (3 of 3 needed)
* Revised cumming CGs (17 of 69 needed)
Coding
Scenario afterglow
Scenario ending
* Content adjustments in-game to account for toggles (mostly done)
Relationship Guide
Lastly, I wanted to share some of what I've done with the upcoming Patreon-exclusive relationship guide. I shared a preview of an older version using Matt's guide in Status Update #76. Since then, I've worked more on the design and added extras like "Playing the Field" notes that point out places where you can hang out with other guys while not straying too far from the "critical path" of the character whose guide you're following.
This thing is probably far more in-depth than it needs to be, but hey, it's for all of you—your support lets the game exist, so it's worth the effort!
This is mostly on hold while I focus on the next game update, though I occasionally work a little bit on it during downtime while waiting for art to render. But it's coming soon, and I hope that you guys will find it a nice supplement to the game!