Hello friends! It's time for the weekly dev diary. I've been working on getting the February content update ready. Since it'll be in your hands tomorrow with the full changelog so far, and since I still have some things I want to finish up, I will probably not belabor this too much, but I'll give you the rundown on what I've been working on this week.
I've mostly been working on extending the library basement storyline, and I'll get into that in a bit. First, a detour I took earlier in the week: an attempt to make the NPC customizer a bit less of a mess. This isn't really a huge existential change, but I worked on organizing the options into tabs and changing the selections themselves into dropdown lists.
You can tell me whether you think this is an improvement or not, particularly once you can see it for yourself starting tomorrow. One thing I still have to do is a better presentation of the hair options. Dropdowns are okay when there are just a few possible selections, but not so much when there are dozens, so it needs some form of categorization, particularly given that available styles should depend on the hair length. I'll see if I can get this done today, but it's more likely to be next week.
For the moment, though, the new customization is just as functional as the old interface. If we decide we hate it, we can switch back, though I think this one may be a better base to build an improved UI from. We'll see!
As I said, most of my time this week has been spent on the library basement extension. I added a couple of new events to the set that opens up once you've unlocked access to the weekly discussions. This includes one that puts the subs in more of a serving role, as some of you suggested, and different things can come of that.
This set now has a further progression for dom characters: Upon proving you're truly part of the group and can be trusted, the librarian will offer you a key to allow you to access the room anytime. This will allow you to use the room for a unique type of booty call (which is my project for the rest of the day, and I think I can get it done before early access starts — if not, it'll come in an update sometime next week).
You can also show up during the weekly discussions, and once you can let yourself in, they change from a single set event to more of an ongoing social situation, like the parties are. You can talk with the other doms, have random events happen, and also have access to opportunity events that let you interact with the subs in the room with you.
Still pending is a path to give sub PCs similar access to the room. Given the nature of the whole arrangement, I think it makes the most sense for this to be through a dominant partner, or through some special arrangement with the librarian themself, but I'm open to suggestions.
So, it's mostly been a lot of event writing. I've added the special basement furniture, previously only seen in prose scenes, to the database to make it usable in regular encounters, though I still have to do incidentals like proper bondage and having toys available in the room. If this isn't done by tomorrow, I'll get it in by public release next week, and that'll be enough done for the library basement for this month.
Last week I mentioned Hee Ho adding a new holiday — I believe this is mostly finished, but Hee Ho has been overtaken by real life and won't be able to have it ready in time for early access, and maybe not this month at all. But I'm confident it'll come soon. Hee Ho's regular fashion update is finished, though, and already integrated into the project. Rfpnj's new location and date type are also finished and integrated, as are the additions to the Character tab from CGeorge. For those who enjoy the collectible card game, noonycurt has also added a new Character tab that lets you check on your status with it.
I'll leave it there for now! Again, early access starts tomorrow, and I'll post the changelog to date along with it. Until then, thank you for reading, and thank you as always for your generous support!