It's June, Pride month where I live, so how about I kick things off with the latest details on my very gay game?

Today's cover image is from one of two stories Matt can tell Connor about a prior hookup. It's probably not a shock that Matt indulged in some of Will's training, but if you hadn't clocked that, surprise!

I've talked plenty about Matt's other story about hooking up with his first roommate; one of the CGs from that sequence is being detailed in the new Behind the Scenes series. I did two stories instead of just Will since I knew not everyone is into the professor/college student fantasy.

I originally planned even more stories, but when the time came to actually make all the CGs for those stories, I realized it was massive overkill. I'll save those stories for another time!

That's actually mainly what I want to discuss in this relatively brief status report—trimming content for time. There wasn't much activity from me on Patreon the past month because I've been head down, focusing entirely on making the game. As the end of May approached, I realized that there was still a lot more to do despite all the work I'd done.

So I decided to temporarily cut some "ooh, wouldn't it be hot if..." content I outlined in a fit of horniness but isn't all that necessary for this part of the story, so I could get this out to all of you sooner than later.

Doing that means I'm now entirely done with all the art for the next story update. What remains is partially some script writing but mostly programming and testing. Shouldn't be too much longer now, though as always, I won't give a specific timeframe until I am 100% certain it's a deadline I will meet.

That cut content truly is a temporary removal, by the way. Enough of it is done that I'm not gonna deprive you (and me!) of it. I might be able to fit in its creation between the early access release of the next story update and the public release.

Here's an early setup I did for one CG from that sequence, which I originally shared in Status Report 93. It's far from finished but is enough to give an idea of what the scene will entail:

I've talked about it before, but it's become apparent that this game can no longer be a "one man show." I'm very aware of how long the gaps are between updates, and it's primarily because it's just a lot for one person do. Incredibly exhausting, in fact.

So it's now a top priority, once this update is complete, to start bringing on collaborators. I've been putting it off because figuring out things like contracts and pay structures and everything else it'll entail is a lot to handle when already overwhelmed with game work.

That means sometime soon I'll be putting out a call for anyone interested to contact me. Specifically:

Artists familiar with Daz Studio to help create CGs

Writers who can match my voice for script work

Game testers

I'll go into more details when I'm ready for submissions; that time isn't now, so if you're interested, please wait until I put out the call. I'll be doing that for patrons first; if you're someone who offered assistance already, I might already have you down as someone to contact.

That's really the only pertinent stuff to talk about today. Here's the updated to-do list of what remains before the next update is ready for release.

TO-DO LIST

For anyone new, I don't guess at release dates since I'm notoriously bad at guesstimating. Rather, I share my to-do list in these posts so you can follow along with development in another way.

This list is focused entirely on new content and doesn't cover the full extent of all tasks being done, like changes to code and other revisions. This is, however, the bulk of what needs done before the Getting to Know Matt Update is ready to be released.

Anything that has changed or been added since I last shared this to-do list in Status Report #95 is bolded with an asterisk next to it.

WRITING

"Variants" are different versions of scenes to account for choices; there are many choice-reactive dialogue changes in these scenes that are not included in the count.

Overnight transition (5/5 variants, completed)

Gym transition (3/3 variants, completed)

* Matt hangout, opening conversations (35/40 variants)

Matt sexual situation #1 (2/2 variants, completed)

Matt sexual situation #2 (2/2 variants, completed)

* Matt hangout ending (1/1, completed)

ART

Note: These numbers fluctuate with each new status report as art is added, revised, or removed.

Sprites (done)

Connor, new (21/21, completed)

Matt, revised (107/107, completed)

Matt, new (132/132, completed)

* Leo, new (14/14, completed)

CGs (done)

Leo selfie, revised (1/1, completed)

Transition (2/2, completed)

Gym (5/5, completed)

* Matt hangout (63/63, completed)

Backgrounds (done)

* City (4/4, completed)

Dorm room (2/2, completed)

Gym (7/7, completed)

Matt's apartment (9/9, completed)

Character Models (done)

Matt (tweaked, done)

Leo (tweaked, done)

Henri (new, done)

Will (tweaked, done)

Prominent extras, revised (7/7, done)

Prominent extras, new (10/10, done)

Background extras (9/9, done)

Character Design (done)

Connor, week 1b outfit (done)

Matt, week 1b outfit (done)

Matt, gym outfit (done)

Matt, towel (done)

Leo, week 1b outfit (done)

* Will, fantasy outfit (done)

Sets (done)

* Gym, new (5/5, completed)

Matt's apartment, revised (1/1, completed)

CODING

Overnight transition (5/5 variants, completed)

Gym transition (3/3 variants, completed)

* Matt hangout, opening conversations (30/40 variants)

* Matt sexual situation #1 (1/2 variants)

* Matt sexual situation #2 (cut for time)

Matt hangout ending (0/1)

GAME PLANNING

Connor personality states (done)

New Leo hookup (done)

Matt Hookup Level increases (done)

* Matt conversation templates (done)

* Backfill tracking to add scenes later for other characters (done)