Coding
Hey everyone, we're making some improvements to the code and fixing lingering bugs. We're fixing the continue button in the main menu so that it actually continues your latest save. We're also increasing the dialogue skipping speed a little bit, and making it so that skipping text displays the whole text while skipping.
Two big features we are working on adding to the game are a gallery and point-and-click.
The gallery is pretty obvious, just having a way for players to relive lewd scenes, look at special moments, and unlock fun art.
But we also need to implement a point-and-click system so players can click on objects in the environment. This is a big deal for us since we want players to move around a map, navigate environments, click on characters, etc.
Animation
We have one of the two new character sprites animated for the next build! The next character is already underway and looking phenomenal.
These aren't main love interests or hookups, but important characters in this scene, and they're also there to fill out the world a bit. They might come back later...
Speaking of animation, I don't know if we've announced it yet, but we have someone helping with animations! They are currently working on animating the special moments in Cafe Estro. Once we get those done, we can pivot to doing the moments for this next build.
Koth and Pamika are almost out of school; we just need to hold the line!
Art
If you hadn't noticed, the number of special moments jumped from 2 to 6! That is because we had a lot of ideas for the scene, and the 5 moments that need to be done already have lineart. It shouldn't take too long for those to finish, and then Kokman can go back to Episode 2 with me.
Speaking of art, Pamika is starting work on the new Jade City map! We are going for a slightly different style this time, and Jade City is getting a lot bigger. We're still figuring things out, but already it looks so sick.
We have a better idea on what Jade City looks like and will function like since we've already dipped our toes into it. So we're designing the map to be pretty versatile so that when we inevitably need to move locations and add new ones, it won't be too crazy.
Writing
I am in the weeds, trying to get back into the swing of writing and finish Episode 2. Part of the problem is that my time is divided among team management, customer support, admin, and writing. Going to try to structure my time better, maybe allocating Mondays and Tuesdays to the housekeeping and leave Weds-Fri to write.
That said, I am a bit into writing v0.16.2 and will aim to get it done this week, if not more.
As for our intern, Frisbee sent in more edits that I need to look over once I've written this. I know they've written through the Max scene, so I am excited to see what they cooked up! Hopefully, once they are also out of school, we can get more work done.
Wrap Up
Things are shaping up well! Another animator helping is absolutely huge. Just need to get out of this funk and into the writing flow state so I can get back to my 4k-word-count days.
We are full steam ahead on v0.15.3! Nothing seems broken enough to warrant another hotfix for v0.15.2, so we're just going to aim for the June 2nd release!
Thank you all so, so much, as always, for your amazing support! You are why we even have a studio with team members.
Be kind to one another and Stay Rad!