v0.08 Dev Blog #6 - Stealth, Stumbles, v0.09 & More! (Patreon)

• v0.08 IS NOW ALSO AVAILABLE FOR THE $1 TIER!

Oh yeah, this thing...

In an alternate world where I was actually competent, this would have come out prior to people getting their hands on v0.08 to play for themselves. Alas, I still feel that it's been long enough since I compiled my development thoughts in a proper blog post for those who are interested. Plus, the stealth mechanic is complicated enough to warrant a bit of an explanation anyway, even if the game does walk you through it. So, yes, while v0.08 has already been released, and this information will only be new to a few of you, I will do my best to comment on all of the major additions since the ALPHA and touch a little on what the plan is now moving forward and with v0.09 finally on the horizon.

STEALTH MODE:

As I've explained before, the inspiration for this idea is partially "borrowed" from 'The Walking Dead' in which survivors will attempt to "blend in" with the hordes of undead by covering themselves in zombie blood, guts and gore... Personally, I think my version is much hotter :P

So yes, canonically, the TD girls can temporarily "camouflage" themselves by covering up in the bodily fluids of the infected. Fun little fact, a similar effect could actually be achieved if they did use blood and such just like in TWD. But our characters don't know that! And why would they? The only reason people like Lara have figured this out is because she's immune and been subject to several zombie gangbangs where she figured this out after a few hours of non-stop fucking completely by accident! So it's also kind of funny to me that they would all just assume that cum is the only option and never investigate any of the alternative bodily fluids.

Besides, I think there is actually quite a good case to be made that covering one's self in cum is actually much less gross than covering up in blood and innards. Especially when in this universe, with these hung zombies, a full head-to-toe covering is actually possible with how much seed they can produce.

So I think most of the girls would still choose to do it this way, even if they had all of the facts. ;)

Before delving any deeper into exactly how it works, lets briefly mention the items that are important for this new gameplay mechanic.

• Clean Washrag:

Needed to exit and, by gameplay proxy, enter 'Stealth Mode'. Let me explain the logic behind this.

Having Tiffany (and later her companions) cover themselves in cum is sexy and helps cater to the bukkake fetish enthusiasts, who usually get deprived of such scenes in TD in favor of creampies and cumflations. I also think that visually, "Stealth Mode" looks pretty cool and is a great little addition to the gameplay sandbox that acts as an alternative to fighting, fucking or running away. It's certainly the most chill way to progress through heavily infested locations.

And since the girls need to actually kill the zombies in order to have full control over where their cum goes, it does mean that it's a type of sex scene that rewards the players for beating zombies, rather than losing to them. Even a "non-slut" Tiffany can choose to use this method without becoming a slut for zombies. Although she won't be quite as thrilled about it and will struggle to rationalize her questionable actions all the way... ;)

Of course, it has it's own downsides, but we'll get to that later.

So you've killed a zombie that has a penis, and would like to enter "Stealth Mode" by extracting it's cum. Easy... Wait... "(Requires 'Clean Washrag')"? Huh? Why!?

Here is one of the technical limitations of these kinds of gameplay mechanics that requires a lot of different images to show up. Adding all of the extra "cum covered" variations of every necessary image, for every necessary body type is painstaking work. It certainly looks good in the end, but it takes me a very long time. Time that could certainly be spent elsewhere, preferably making altogether new images/scenes rather that making cum covered versions of existing ones.

What this means is that it isn't feasible for me to make "cum covered" variations for all, or even most of the game's images. So by extension, "Stealth Mode" needs to be a temporary state that I, as the developer, can control & toggle off whenever I need to start some kind of story scene in which Tiffany can't be covered in cum due to it not being reflected in the scene's images.

So, because I didn't want it to be too jarring, I decided the best way to ensure it made the most logical sense to me, was that Tiffany would have to be ready to clean herself off at any given moment. This is the central idea behind the 'Clean Washrag' requirement. Since I need to be able to have Tiffany cleaned up before starting a battle, story or sex scene, and thus needed some kind of in-game method by which to illustrate this.

Okay, but then why not just give her a single 'Washrag' key item that she can use infinitely, instead of designing all of these crafting and cleaning mechanics around a consumable item like the 'Clean Washrag'? Well, that's because it simply didn't feel right for a single, tiny washrag to be capable of soaking up infinite loads. So instead, the item has 2-3 uses before it becomes dirty and needs to be cleaned.

I also like the idea that there is another, smaller, cost to this highly advantageous stealth state. Apart from the other side effects that I'll touch on later.

• Dirty Washrag:

A 'Clean Washrag' will become a 'Dirty Washrag' in your inventory after using it to clean Tiffany 2-3 times. If you have a 'Bottled Water' in your inventory, then you can combine this item with it to create a 'Clean Washrag'.

• Cloth Scraps:

Can craft 1 'Clean Washrag' from 4 scarps. Use this item to open craft prompt. Later (probably in v0.10), I will be adding some kind of crafting system to the game to streamline this and add other crafting options like ammo. Perhaps even make it skill based. It will be accessible either from the pause menu or from special benches placed around in the game world. But I am looking forward to adding something like this to help make looting unwanted items more useful.

• Bottled Water

Simply used up as a raw material in the cleaning process of a 'Dirty Washrag'. (In addition to it's existing function of quenching Tiffany's thirst.)

Outside of the inventory, there are also prompts to clean or craft a new washrag right after Tiffany's previous one becomes dirty (So long as she has the necessary materials). Even though the timing may seem a little odd, this is to ensure that the player doesn't end up with their only 'Clean Washrag' becoming dirty right before a fight triggers. And then proceed to get locked out the stealth mode option after a win, because the inventory couldn't be accessed (in order to prepare a fresh washrag) until after combat & the stealth prompt.

So yeah, the whole mechanic is kind of built on a weird mix of things that make sense lore wise & other parts where compromises had to be made for either gameplay or technical reasons. It's admittedly a little more messy under the hood than I would have liked, but I think for all intents and purposes it ends up working just fine for what we need it to be. And, of course, if the whole premise comes off as too illogical or too fiddly for your tastes/playstyle then you can ofc feel free to simply ignore it moving forward. Though for the purposes of v0.08 specifically, a lot of content was made for it so I'd recommend at least trying it out to see the new scenes and dialogue/etc.

So, some important things to keep in mind include:

• The concept of "Stealth Mode" is explained to Tiffany via a dialogue with Lara at the beginning of Day 3. As such, it is only available from Day 3 onwards.
• To activate "Stealth Mode", you first need to defeat an infected enemy in combat and possess a 'Clean Washrag' item (Tiffany will be given one when starting Day 3).
• 1 'Clean Washrag' = (1 'Dirty Washrag' + 1 'Bottled Water') OR (4 'Cloth Scraps').
• Stealth mode can be exited at any time by using the 'Clean Washrag' from your inventory.
• Any infected enemy that produces semen can be used for "cum extraction" (So essentially every enemy besides the Female Zombie). Since only 4 enemies who fit that description appear during Day 3 so far, there are only scenes for the Regular Zombie, Sewer Zombie, Bestial Zombie & Alpha Zombie. (Double Dick Zombie, Futa Zombie, Zorse & more will appear with their own scenes later in Day 3 starting from v0.11)

• When "Stealth Mode" is active, the 2D zombie sprites on the map will stop moving towards Tiffany, and instead wander around randomly. Completely ignoring Tiffany unless they stumble into her by accident.

• If Tiffany makes contact with a Zombie, "Stealth Mode" will first be deactivated via the cleaning scene, and combat will start as normal. She will have to win the fight and perform another "cum extraction" to reactive "Stealth Mode".
• If Tiffany triggers a story scene, "Stealth Mode" will first be deactivated via the cleaning scene.

Okay, but what about those other "side effects" you mentioned?

Well, after traversing the map in "Stealth Mode" for a certain number of steps, Tiffany will reach a point where it is no longer 100% safe to continue without negative side effects. Every 50 or so steps that Tiffany takes after the UI overlay turns pink, she will suffer a brief "mental attack" as the infected cum attempts to corrupt her mind. There will be 4 of these corruption attempts made until the affects of the cum (and by extension 'Stealth Mode') wears off naturally. If Tiffany is unable to resist, then she will develop an addiction to zombie cum!

While addicted to zombie cum, you will get some different dialogue and image variations during certain scenes. Right now, it's a fairly limited status effect. Though I plan on expanding upon it in the future. Being addicted to zombie cum will result in some future options being disabled during dialogue/quests. Essentially, whenever anything related to infected semen comes up during the game, an addicted Tiffany will have a different reaction, and will not be able to resist indulging. I also plan on adding further corruption stages to this, by having her inflicted with more addictions to other zombie related fetishes in a sort of tier progression thing. There will be negative penalties if Tiffany isn't able to get her daily fix. And if you want to remove Tiffany's addiction, you'll need to visit a doctor character for help. But since all of this is something that will be fleshed out in a future version, we'll discuss it more then.

Of course, you can always mitigate this addiction risk at any time by using the 'Clean Washrag' item from your inventory to clean Tiffany off as soon as the "safe period" is over.

Isn't Tiffany immune? Why is she being affected by this stuff? Just because she does not get transformed into a brain-dead zombie doesn't mean that she is 100% safe from every side effect of the virus. It will be fleshed out a little later in the story (as with pretty much everything else), but Lara does have some speculative thoughts on it during her initial Day 3 dialogue.

Alright, I think I've explained everything that was necessary for the new "Stealth Mode". I appreciate that this wasn't exactly a requested feature. So I get that some people may not be too thrilled that I spent so much time on it. But in the end, I was pretty adamant about introducing this concept at this particular point in the game's story. While it's fine to push back some of my experimental ideas, there are also instances like this, where I want players to have an experience that is "as close to v1.0 as possible" for your first time playing a new section.

STUMBLE EVENTS:

Speaking of experimental ideas, the concept of Tiffany struggling to adjust to her new Day 3 proportions was something requested and brought up by a number of supporters. While I didn't get to do as much with it as I would have liked, I'm happy with how well it fits in beside "Stealth Mode" and feel it served it's initial purpose well enough.

After waking up on Day 3 and being set free, Tiffany will occasionally trigger "stumble" events from time to time while traversing the maps. In these events, Tiffany will temporarily lose her balance. Then, depending on random chance, she will either stumble & fall down, or recover her balance. If Tiffany successfully recovers her balance 6 times during these events, then she will have gotten used to her new proportions. Or at least, until they potentially change again on future days...

Like I said, this is just a small feature for now, and it will come back later with Day 4 as well (potentially any time a change is made to her body, but we'll see). I would like to make more images and dialogue for this little event so that there is some more variance in what exactly can happen and her reaction. But for now I think it succeeds well enough in what it set out to do.

OTHER v0.08 THINGS:

There were a number of other things added in between the ALPHA and the Full Release, but nothing that really warrants any sort of deep explanation that can't otherwise be gleamed from the changelog. Every Day 3 enemy now has a combat sex scene with renders that match Tiffany's new proportions. Other scenes (previous and new) will of course be added in future versions. Some minor gameplay changes were added for when Tiffany's body reaches the 1st pregnant stage on Day 3. Right now it mostly affects END costs and how quickly she gets hungry/thirsty, but more changes will be made over time. Also, thanks to TheVoiceVixxen, I've replaced all of the Female/Futa zombie stock sounds I was using up until this point, with custom ones recorded by her.

I've gone from choosing between 5 possible voice sfx, to 112. And there's still some extra ones I need to cut up from the raw audio. Did I need that many? Probably not, but it certainly helps each "moan" seem more unique and less repetitive, which I think goes a long way. Still not sure if I should be applying some sort of post processing effects to make it sound even more "monstrous" and "zombie like". For those who've had a listen, what do you think of them? Hopefully they are at least more pleasing to listen to during the sex scenes. Obviously there's still a long way to go on making sound improvements across the board. It's something that will continue to be improved over time.

And yes, we're still working on recording the voice lines for Tiffany. We already have all of the combat lines recorded. And I hope to have at least the combat sex scenes, and all of the main scenes for Day 1 fully recorded and implemented for v0.10. Voices will then continue to be added as we progress through the game's main scenes. I can't currently commit to every single line being voiced, but I'll do my best with what the budget allows, and try to prioritize. I'll probably also start looking for VAs for Vanessa & Hitomi too, once I'm finished with v0.09. If things go smoothly, you might be hearing more than just Tiffany in v0.10. :)

v0.09:

So, what's next? Well, v0.09 is comparatively much simpler. It's essentially the 2 remaining story scenes that were originally supposed to be in v0.08 to conclude the Casino story line. No fancy new features or gameplay sections that are likely to take up too much dev time. I expect it to be done by the end of October.

The first scene is a confrontation with Romeo that will lead into a boss fight/sex scene with a unique zombie enemy. I've yet to design this new zombie, but it was decided some time ago that I would be attempting to give it some sort of giant penis-arm thing. I reserve the right to change this proposed design if I'm not satisfied with how it actually looks when I've put it together (But we'll know soon enough since I will be designing it next week). Tiffany and Lara will fight/fuck it together. So there will be a big three-way sex scene that supporters in the $5+ tier can still have some say on (Can't believe it's been 1 year since then. Massive cringe...).

The second & final scene for v0.09 is an epilogue that will finish up the Casino story line and set up future plot events to come. It should introduce a couple new characters in-game as well as some more familiar faces...

My development schedule for this version is quite simple. For the rest of this month, I'll be designing all of the characters and set pieces that I need for the scenes. And then I'll be writing all of the story and dialogue needed for v0.09. This way, when October starts, I should have nothing to worry about except rendering/editing images, and slapping them all into the game towards the end of the month. It should all go according to plan... Hopefully.

I don't know if there's going to be a BETA at this point. There won't be much to test this time around. It'll depend on how things are going once I'm about halfway into development. By then I'll know for sure what my plans are. But I suspect there will simply be the single release for $5+ tiers. I also don't know how many previews I'll be able to share since everything I work on is pretty much going to be story spoilers, so I may have to be even more secretive than normal with what I share... But I'll try and provide small weekly updates with at least 1 preview image until v0.09 is done.

There will of course be more polls and discussions around future content and characters as well for $5+ tiers, including a couple next week. You can always see the active polls here. And all of the discussion posts here (Though some of these are now redundant).

BONUS CONTENT:

As for getting back into bonus content. Terminal Juggs comic pages will start being posted for the Special Forces tier on a weekly basis again starting from early next week. These should continue without hiatus throughout the rest of 2020 if all things go according to plan. Excited to get back to work on these after where we last left off. :)

I will finally be finishing off that remaining DNA Valkyrie chapter (#29) that I promised to edit. It should be out next week some time. Camille is still busy on his own Patreon content among other things, but I believe the plan is to start posting more DNA there soon to get things back on track. I will keep you all informed as soon as the ball gets rolling there.

The Juggs & Debra set is still getting worked on. There's just been some delays though. In the meantime, there's been some changes. I've come up with a more official name for these types of side projects that explore brief scenes between side characters and are illustrated via 2D artists. "Terminal Quickies: Jailbreak" is the first one we're working on, though there will be more in the series. Perhaps even by different artists over time. As you know, Jailbreak is exploring a scene with Juggs, Debra & some prison inmates. But what's been decided since then is that these Terminal Quickies are actually all canon events that occurred in the timeline prior to the main story of Terminal Desires & Terminal Juggs. This is to give me a better chance to flesh out the backstories of some of the girls and show you the sorts of things they got up to in life prior to the start of the zombie apocalypse.

Jailbreak itself takes place at some point in the year leading up to the game's beginning. I've been doing a lot of background work on the world's lore lately, and in doing so am fleshing out a lot of the characters who haven't had a huge chance to shine yet. I've got some nice ideas planned out for Vanessa, Lara & Kiana already. Each Terminal Quickies set of illustrations will be accompanied by a short story written by me to help contextualize the scenes events and provide those who care with all the juicy background info. I have begun work on the story for Jailbreak, and will be updating that first post to include the first part of the story that corresponds with that image. There will also be some minor color corrections made to the initial image itself by the artist NGTV to fix some minor details that were missed the first time. Hopefully you'll all see that next week. But since these things depend more on the schedule of the artist than with me, I can't guarantee exactly when each of these will come out. With any luck there will be a couple each month.

There are a couple of other 2D comm pieces in the works. And there always will be smaller pieces from time to time. Though for now, I think the better play is to save the majority of the comms budget for deeper projects like this, as well as the 2D bonus sex scenes (Though I will wait on player feedback before determining if those scenes in particular are worth perusing further. Hopefully v0.09). Since there's only so much content you can squeeze out of the odd pinup or out of context sex scene. Anyway, hopefully you'll get a better understanding of how this will work when I update that first post sometime next week.

CONCLUSION:

I think that finally covers everything. Would love to do more podcasts and figure out how to stream them, but even where I am where covid has left us mostly alone, there's still always a roommate or two working from home most days. So still not really a great time for that sort of thing with regards to privacy on my end. Hopefully things will clear up even more soon, but I know that a lot of places are getting hit with a second/third wave atm so who knows how far we're really through this yet. Hopefully things aren't too bad in your area either.

As always, make sure to join the Discord, or follow me on Twitter so that you can stay in touch in case Patreon ever decides to yeet me off this platform and leaves me without a way to contact you all! (I also post a lot more frequently on the discord so it's extra beneficial to be on there and join the rest of the community.)

I wish to thank everybody so much for your continued support in these trying times. I hope to make v0.09 as quickly and smoothly as I possibly can for all of you. More posts soon. Stay safe!

~ Jim