The final report for v0.15.3 is here! Let's dig into what we have done and what we still need to do.

TL;DR

All the sprites are animated for the new update.

None of the special moments are animated, but they will be over the next month.

The next update will include the missing animations from v0.15.2.

Gallery coding is done, but won't be in the game, need to create UI assets.

Episode 2 is mostly written, just need to finish writing lewd scenes and additional routes.

Animation

We have finalized the sprites we need for this update! There are three new character sprites that show up, and they look incredible. None of these characters are love interests or hookups, but are important to the story/make the world seem more lived-in. It always bothers me when games ONLY have the important characters be drawn. Reminds me it's a game.

Hopefully, everyone is chill with that!

(Just because someone is hot doesn't mean they will be a love interest)

As for the other animations we need, Erassdz animated scenes that weren't animated in the last update. Meeting Hazel, Hazel being sad, and the close-up of his butt.

This week, I am going to put him on animating the scenes that need to be done for v0.15.3. He won't get them done in time, so we'll likely include them in the first Hotfix.

Koth has already moved on to animating the lewd scene in v0.15.4 because it is very involved. The character in the scene does a lot of moving around, so I can't imagine how tough that is, but Koth is a beast, so he's got this.

Illustration

Everything for v0.15.3 is done, so Kokman and Pamika are working on Episode 2 stuff.

Kokman has been cranking out scenes, and my god, they look stellar! I'll be able to get a firmer idea of how many we need soon.

Pamika took last week off but is back and working on the map once again. We're splitting the map up into segments, so we're currently working on the area around Noto's.

Coding

Lotus has set up a system for displaying static images with variants. The reason for this is that, in the next update, there is a static scene where we show off Isaac (you!) in all his various combinations. But this scene is not animated and will not be animated in time for the update. So we need to do what we usually do, but since it isn't a Spine2D animation, we had to come up with something else. Obviously, once the scene is animated, this static image will be replaced, but it is good that this is done. In the future, if other scenes aren't animated in time, we will have something as a placeholder.

Lotus has also made a gallery system! We just need to find a moment when Pamika is free to work on the UI. Once that is done, we can implement a gallery. So don't expect it in the next update, but now that the code is done, we can get the assets.

Most of the update's scenes are compiled; we're just still adding all the images and finalizing the music.

Lotus is now pivoting to working on the point-and-click system so players can click on environments.

Writing

I managed to do a 3k writing day last Tuesday, but unfortunately, over the course of that day, I realized I was getting sick. I was then out sick all week, sitting at home playing RDR 1 and binging Naruto while sneezing, coughing, and feeling like absolute shit.

On the plus side, most of the narrative work is done! I finished up the main story scene I needed to finish. This is what I need to still do for Ep 2:

Most Lewd Scenes

Alternate Routes for Failing

Alternate dialogue for Asexual

End of Episode recap

So that is what I am going to try to work on this week as I recover from this sickness (still sick btw).

I wouldn't be surprised if this episode ended around 50k words. Which is a lot, but this episode is doing a LOT of work. Incorporating material from Episodes 2, 3, 6, 7, and new stuff. Hopefully it'll work :D

Wrap Up

v0.15.3 should be a smooth release, just some missing animations. Pamika and Koth are wrapping up school, then we can get this show on the road. We're working on core features to add, since the visual novel stuff is pretty stable.

Thank you all so so much for your support! You're the reason this studio exists < 3 Don't forget to stay Rad!