Hey all,
Update time.
Personal life update first. It’s official, as of last Thursday, I am no longer employed. Of course, for a severance package, the company I had given almost a decade to refused to put their hands in their pockets and pay me anything other than what they were legally required to. Surprisingly though, they are not going to bleed me dry and make me work my two months’ notice as I expected. Instead, they are going to pay me in lieu of my notice.
So, yeah, I’m now full-time dev for the time being! And for this past three days, I’m treating it like a full-time job. Drop kid off at school, sit in my office and work on OS until I leave to pick the kid up again. Working on the game 7 hours during the day also means that I get more free time to spend with my wife in the evenings now (though, I’m still returning to the PC to do more work on OS for an hour or two once she falls asleep).
As I implied last blog, unless my Patreon earnings basically double, I unfortunately can’t survive like this for too long though, but it’s nice to take advantage of being paid in lieu to focus completely on Chapter 10 and Season 1 Steam for the time being.
Naturally, work on OS has significantly increased. Render count is now just shy of 1500, so roughly 500 since the last update. I expect it will be closer to 2000 by the time I’ve finished posing Chapter 10. That will put it at roughly the same render count as Chapter 9; however, there’s no big alternate versions of scenes such as the 3 options for the fixing Amber scene (rejected Amber, Amber Solo, Amber/Moon 3Some). There is one particularly lengthy scene that you’re going to need to be on a Pokemon path for (catch ‘em all) and if you’re not, there’s a significantly smaller variation, but otherwise it’s mostly linear.
Plus, there’s also a lot of conversations to be had as we spend some more time with Parker, Riley & Georgia and get to know the likes of Coldsnap, Celeste and even Todd some more. Plus - depending if you’re on their paths (or not in some cases) - some scenes with Evelyn, Amber, Ruth & Tanya.
Ultimately, what I’m saying is that lengthwise, it should feel a lot longer to play.
I’ve also spent a few days designing a new environment that I’m excited for you to see. That’s not because it’s an architectural masterpiece or anything, it’s just because of what takes place within it. It’s essentially three different existing environment assets all smashed together, rearranged and retextured. Unfortunately, it’s a huge spoiler to even tell you what it is so… this was just a tease, I guess!
On the subject of teasing, last time I hinted that the Lake fans are going to be happy with her reappearance. This time, I’ll also tease that you’re also getting the return of Isabella. Although, fair warning, its only very minor (for now) and, only available if you chose her during Georgia’s experiment in Chapter 3 or refused to take part in it entirely. If you’re on the Anna/Arwen path, sorry… no Isabella for you.
I’m still halfway through posing one of the “big-ish scenes” I mentioned last time, and then another big-ish scene to do afterwards. After that, 4 more minor scenes. Then comes all the postwork, the audio, the extra writing and the testing. So, it’s still a little way off, but I’m working as hard as I can to get it to you soon.
And on top of all of that, I’m also simultaneously getting the Season 1 Steam release as ready as I can. I’ve finally received the second translation that I was waiting on, so I’m currently in the process of getting that all built in.
I also have a handful of the music to replace before as through my misunderstanding of a particular creative commons license, I clumsily used some songs that could get me in trouble if I use them without a full license. The license they come with basically means the songs must be played in full, with no fades or edits. Naturally, with the nature of visual novels, this is impossible. Unfortunately, the artist in question is not forthcoming with any replies to my inquiry into acquiring them. Double unfortunately, about three of those tracks I really like. Oh, well.
Ok, that’s it. Back to the grind.
Until next time.JD