Hi folks,
Just my usual check-in to keep everyone updated... From my perspective, it was a very boring week on Season 2 as I was doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work on stuff like the in-game menus, the stats screen, the replay gallery, the preferences/ game settings screen and the start-any-episode function, plus finishing off the import save feature (to ensure you can import / export saves between season 1 and Season 2). On the last item, I had the code working before last week, but I had to add the screens / menus, etc. so the player can do everything with the click of a button. It's not the most exciting thing to talk about in a dev update, but it is stuff that needs to be done, so the players get to play! 😊 So, it was boring, but productive.
The good thing is that this stuff (working in the game engine code Ren'Py) is always time-consuming, but sometimes it can be time-consuming AND can still go horribly wrong, but pretty much everything I attempted seems to be working and up-and-running (maybe not on my first atempts but I got there in the end).
Also, regarding the "start-any-episode" option... It still surprises me how many people still aren't aware of this function, so I've either done a poor job of communicating it or some people just missed the memos. For anyone not aware, the "start-any-episode" function is a way to jump into the action at the start of any episode of your choosing (The clue is in the name 😊) and it allows you to customize your relationships with each of the girls, plus allows you to pick specific paths / choices (from previous episodes) to set up the game, so you can jump right into the action at any episode. Unlike the replay gallery (where you just get to play a single scene), the start-any-episode fucntion can be played on through the whole game (and make regular saves), so it's a way to try out different routes/ paths without having to start the full game from scratch. This option is available in the original game AND in season 1 (and will also be in season 2).
The way the export / import function will work is... At the end of Season 1, you will bee given an option to export your end-of-game save details. And you can choose up to 10 slots to export at a time (you can re-use these slots after you import the data in Season 2). The export function will be done at the click of a button (and you can name the relevant slots if you want).
Then in Seaon 2, you can import theses saves at the click of a button. It will all be very straightforward. The only hassle is that you will have to open Season 1 to exportthe end-of-save data. (Just once). I did look at a few other options like having ALL save files accessible in the same directory (i.e. Season 1, Season2, etc.) but that gets very messy, especially for players with multiple paths / playthrus.
I also looked at using the regular save menus in Season 2 to temporarily access/view Season 1 saves at the start of a game, but this gets very messy too (Ren'Py doesn't like mixing full saves between different games / seasons). So the best function in my opinion is the import / export function, which means you can transfer ALL of your stats and decisions from Season 1 to Season 2, then save this file as a regular season 2 save and play from there (without ever having to go back to Season 1 after your initial export). Hope that makes sense, but let me know if any quesitons.
So, the next steps are to send a playable demo of the first couple of chapters to the QC team to make sure it all works... and if so, then I will give you folks an option to play the demo too if it's of interest. This demo is going to the QC folks later this evening.
Current esimate for Season 2 completion is end of July! I know this is a pain, but there is a LOT of work for what is in essence a two person team (with support from C3nt and our animators). We are literally owkring 7 days a week on this. I'll try to firm up this date in the next few weeks...
I have also completed this month's 4K images for the top two voted girls (Monica and Jenna), and C3nt has completed the the third place images too. The 3rd place option was the "Surprise me / one of the other girls,", so we decided to go with Elizabeth (Wanda's mom) as we haven't seen her naked yet, so let's have the first time in 4K. 'll share those 4Ks to the relevant tiers tomorrow. And then we'll do the pregnant 4K images later in the month (poll below to pick the lady).
I'll also do a second post in the next couple of days where I'll go into some details on the devlopment process and this time around I'll be talking about DAZ3D which is the application we use to create our game artwork / static images.
Speaking of which.... Although I was working on the boring stuff this week, Cell was busy (as ever) working on creating the artwork, so some teasers below....
As always, thanks so much for the support and let me know if you have any questions or if there is anything you want me to talk about in my dev updates.
Thanks,
CG
Extra teasers available for $5+ tiers
New scene - No original equivalent:
Please vote on which ladies you want to see later this month in the pregnant 4K polls.
Thanks,
CG