Progress Report 10/13/2023 (Patreon)

Sharpen your machetes and break out the popcorn! It's Friday the 13th (and in October, no less)! Here's what I got done this week:

• Renamed the "Accessories" category to "Extras"
• Renamed the Extras" tab to "Other"
• Created a subcategory system for the "Extras" category
• Added, positioned, and tested each of the beauty mark sprites as an "Extras" subcategory; fully incorporated
• Added, positioned, and tested each of the emotion sprites as an "Extras" subcategory; some minor issues need fixing
• Fixed an issue in which the irises and pupils were showing outside of the eye whites
• Fixed an issue in which the ears behind the head weren't colorized by the skin color properly
• Made the aquatic ears colorize separately from the skin color

For starters, let's talk about this new subcategory system for the "Extras" category (formerly known as the "Accessories" category).

The subcategory system is fairy straightforward, at least from your guys' points of view. As you scroll through the different pages of the Extras, the subcategory title will change depending on what page you're on.

This'll make it far easier to find what you want from this category, which is important here because it'll be stuffed to the brim with all sorts of options! Beauty marks, emotions, accessories (hence the name change), tattoos, makeup... Not even I know what else will go in here!

Setting this up was a bit of a challenge (and rather messy), but it seems to be working at 100%, and it's very easy to use! That's for you, future modders!

Moving on, we come to what is surprisingly the most difficult task of the week: giving a single item in a category the ability to be colorized, while the rest are not!

When the game releases, if I don't see a bunch giantesses with vibrant aquatic ears, I'm gonna RIOT! But seriously, for such a small detail, this system was a pain and a half to set up. The other ears strictly use the skin color, so making a single item that deviated from that without affecting the other ears took some time and a whole 'lotta pixie dust.

Your mermaid/siren/dragon lady/creature from the black lagoon better appreciate her fancy ears! >:|

Lastly, I want to encapsulate our progress so far with a gif of fully randomized facial expressions!

("Extras" are locked here since some of the sprites are distractingly broken right now.)

It's moments like this that make the time, effort, and frustrations of game development feel so, so worth it! I couldn't be more proud of how this came out! During testing, I got face combinations that I never would have thought up myself!

Allow me to be the first to say: THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!!! I could legitimately just randomize facial expressions for hours and not get bored!

And just think, this is only the tip of the iceberg! Clothes are gonna blow this out of the water!

Before I leave off, I have an announcement to make! Next Friday, no matter what progress I've made or where the game stands (provided there are no game-breaking bugs), the next update for Run From Me will be released, including the first downloadable copy!

I can't guarantee the saves will work 100% with the updates that come later, but that's all the more reason to start now. The sooner we get any saving issues fixed, the sooner we can all rest easy knowing our giant waifus are safe.

ADDITIONALLY! The following week (October 22 - 28) will be my quarterly break. I intentionally delayed it so that I could get an update out before it. You know, an update that isn't just changes to the UI. Something actually fun!

Now then, it's time for some Taco Bell. This is gonna be a big week, and I've gotta prepare accordingly! I'll see you guys again next week!