Hello again! I still don't have a new build yet, but I have been making some good progress despite a few setbacks.
First off, my CPU kicked the bucket last week so my PC was unusable until I was able to get it replaced. Thankfully, it's up and running again. I also realized the blob belly phase would need a lot more special treatment than I anticipated, but I'm figuring it out. Luckily, I was able to get the initial belly growth phases working in Unity pretty easily so here's a peek at that.
As I mentioned before, the blob belly phase needs a totally different setup so it can roll and work with the softbody physics. This means I had to build a new belly using the maxed out belly blendshape as a reference. The new belly mesh is separate from the rest of the character and has a much higher polygon density so it can use the softbody system more effectively.
I also had to make a new set of animations and set up an adaptive rig that can react with the belly in a more convincing way. Notice how her hand stays gripped to the belly as it wobbles and her elbow bends as you'd expect. Without this, her limbs would clip through the belly as it jiggles around.
I still need to make a few more animations, but the idle and jumping feels pretty good so far. She also gets squished a bit when the belly rolls over her. :P
There's still a ways to go, but most of the hard stuff is figured out. I still need to make clothing textures for the blob belly and hook it up to some of the other systems. I'd really like to get this update done before the end of the year and start off 2026 with some inflation stuff.
Thanks again for your patience and happy holidays!