Progress Report 6/23/2023 (Patreon)

Hello again, every-... oh... oh no! BRACE YOURSELVES FOR IMPACT!!!

• Added checkboxes that toggle pupils and irises in the customizer
• Added an opacity slider for the "Wet", "Shiny", and "Transparent" categories in the customizer
• Added a color picker for the "Shiny" category in the customizer
• Made the "Shiny" sprite separate from the rest of the giantess so it remains unaffected by the "Transparency" category in the customizer
• Added a separate checkbox for toggling transparency randomization in the Options Menu in the customizer
• Added a check so that the randomize buttons can't select a locked item in the customizer
• Added a "Deactivate" button to the Outfit Sets Menu so the game can be played without any on
• Added a text box to be used for item descriptions in the customizer
• Moved the giantess's base and scaled it down a bit to make room for the text box in the customizer
• Made the giantess's feet in the customizer separate sprites so they can be switched for shoes like high heels
• Fixed an issue in which a single sprite sometimes flashed without any matches when hitting the "Randomize All" button
• Hid some of the details on the giantess (breasts, nails, etc.) in preparation for making them their own sprites
• Made the base body and (now separated) feet change colors with the "Skin Color" color button
• Fixed an issue in which the sprites became an absolute mess when they became transparent
• Made the first grid button in each category be a "none" button that hides all sprites from that category
• Made sprites create their own grid buttons instead of handling it manually
• Made the sprites create a new grid container if the previous container is full (15 grid buttons)
• Made the grid buttons' page UI disabled until there are at least 16 items in that category (just enough to warrant a second page)

I, uh... got some things done this week. ._.  I've gotta say, this 2D/3D switcharoo thing I've got going on is doing wonders for my motivation! When I get tired of one, I move back to the other feeling refreshed!

So, progress: everything here relates to Run From Me. I started off this week thinking "Alright! I'm gonna draw a bunch of outfit pieces! It's gonna be great!" I only had one thing to do programming-wise for the customizer, and that was making the feet a separate sprite on the giantess in the customizer, that way I can switch between flat shoes and high heels without affecting the rest of the body.

And I did just that! However, since I was already making modifications, I took the opportunity to separate the other parts of the body: the eyes, breasts, and nails. As such, the giantess is gonna look a little weird right now. Those parts will come back soon, though!

With everything separated and in place, I decided to make the body the first, fully-functional sprite in the customizer!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have skin color!

With that success, I was ready to tackle some drawings!

Buuuut then I was like "But what if pupils had their own category? That way you could swap between cat eyes, heart-shaped pupils, and a bunch of other fun shapes!" Sidetracked and starry eyed, I set out to make this a reality.

Sadly, it didn't end up working out; things just got too complicated in an already complicated system. However, in making the different parts of the eyes separate, I did open the way to toggling pupils and irises on and off at will!

Now you can have that blind waifu you've always wanted! You know the one.

This is a bit of a compromise, but don't worry -- I'll be sure to offer different pupil shapes among the different eye sprites. ^_^

After that, I was like "Alright, drawing time!... Although... Wet and shininess should have their own transparency values for different situations. Also, shininess should have its own color to potentially give a pearlescent look, should one choose to do so. It would be easy enough to add."

In other words, I started getting ambitious again.

But hey, I did it! I didn't stop there, either. I gave the "Transparent Body" category its own slider, too.

Yessir, everything was going smooth-...

What's that?

WHAT ARE THOSE?!

To my horror, it turns out that if two transparent things overlap... they combine. *GASP* A novel concept, I know! As someone who draws and operates with transparent layers in drawing programs all the time, there was no way I could have seen this coming!

Seriously, though. This was an issue. A big issue. Allow me to demonstrate:

Here, I've stacked some parts on top of he giantess: the brests, the top, the bottom, and the one-piece. Reasonable things to be overlapping. Right now it's fine. There's a clear order to their layering.

But throw in transparency, and it all becomes a garbled up mess. With this issue, as long as the giantess is even slightly transparent, the nipples will be visible through the shirt, the toes through the socks, the socks through the shoes... It'll look very ugly.

I sat and thought about this for a while. Several solutions popped into my head, but they were complicated and weren't guaranteed to work. That is, until I realized the solution was right in front of me -- something I've already done once before, no less!

If I'm changing the transparency of each part separately, we'll get the chaos seen above. But if we change them all at the same time... Did I ever mention how I got the previews working in the save menu?

I used some of Godot's tools to generate an image from a chunk of visible space.

What if I did the same thing here? I move the giantess and all her parts off-screen, make an image out of that, display that image real-time in the customizer, and change the transparency of that?

And you know what? It worked! No overlapping clothes, no weird ankles, and no worries! I was afraid I'd have to get rid of transparency altogether, but I'm glad that's not the case!

With my nerves calmed, I moved on to other tasks:

I made the shininess transparency separate from the body's overall transparency, which will better allow people to make a character made of glass or slime, or anything with low opacity but high reflectivity. Science! :D

Lastly (or at least the last thing I have an image of), some of you with detective instincts may have noticed a new arrow in the bottom of the customizer. I know I said no more moving menus or anything, but...

I really wanted a dialogue box! Why have a dialogue box in a character creator? All in good time, my friends. For now, I'll say that it's a good place to put item descriptions, especially to explain how to unlock a locked item. The tooltips on the mouse cursor never really sat right with me. It just seemed tacked-on.

Anyhoo, there's like a billion other things to talk about here, but I'll leave it with one last thing: I've just finished a system that has sprites create their own grid buttons on the left. Even better: they automatically create additional pages if the number of grid buttons exceeds the maximum (15 buttons, to be exact).

This is great for two reasons. One: it's less time I'll spend setting things up for each new outfit part, which means faster output! And two: it'll be even easier for people to add in their own custom parts if they want to mod the game! I'm trying to make Run From Me as mod-friendly as I can; I've even been writing instructions on how to do things like creating categories (which is still very complicated, but at least has direction now).

Now then, with this absolute monster of a post done, I'm gonna go eat some well-deserved Taco Bell. And a milkshake, dang it!

This next week *should* be when I take my quarterly week off, but... well, I didn't want to worry you guys at the time, but my last week off back in March led me to have a wee bit of an anxiety attack. I felt like I wasn't getting enough done and felt like I was going nowhere, followed by lots of irrational thoughts. It's the reason I wanted to jump into the new 3D game and put Run From Me on the backburner; I figured the 3D game would attract more people.

I am doing better now, though, so no worries! I'm just nervous that something similar may happen if I take another week off. So, with that in mind, I'm gonna make this a "work optional" week. I'll work as much or as little as I want without forcing myself either way. Hopefully this will be better for my mental health than bluntly forcing myself to not work. ^^;

Anyhoo, sorry for the shift in tone there. Next week may or may not feature much progress, but things will resume same as always afterwards. Stay tuned for more, and I'll see you guys again next week!