Behind the scenes: Engine work final! (Patreon)

Check this post out for the previous engine work post. ^^

It's finally finished! Days 1-15 have been nearly fixed up from the ground up, while there might not be major changes when going through these mentioned days. There is some stuff to list below.

-Expressions/dialogue are different to match each other. (compressed)
-Some new dialogue in areas. (mainly day 1-5, some in 6 & 7)
-Text typo fixes.
-New bg's have been added where possible. (compressed)
-New animation effect for changes to clothing. (farting, clothes change, diaper wet/mess, etc. When actions happen that change character sprites.)

Not the most exciting stuff as new content.. <.< But there is still day 16 & 17 which I feel will make up for the lack. Day 17 on it's own could nearly stand as 2 full days of content with the choices and events.

So? What's our final file size looking like?

As of right now, I still do have to add Rachel's new expressions in as her sprite was just finished not too long ago. But after removing her old expressions and before adding any new compressed expressions for Rachel, we're sitting at 250MB! Down from 1.13GB with update 0.10, not quite the 200MB goal I was hoping for, but heck I'll accept it! :P

This was a major thing to tackle, as it affected how exporting the game was working and bringing other issues with it. From the looks of it, this big engine adjustment was very needed for many reasons, one being to future proof the game for each month's new updates up until the end of the base game.

Another reason was to also add the set new expressions 20-24 per character, which compared to how I was handling days/sections before. It was a nightmare... The new base set amount of expressions will make their use and also help speed things up when I have to do some engine work for new content. (I hope :P )

What's left that needs done still? (top to bottom in order of priority)

-Rachel's new sprite expressions.
-Day 16 put into the engine.
-Day 17 put into the engine.
-Testing, polish and adding new details to main menu. (credits, changelog, etc)
-Replace old cg placeholder screens with sprites playing out some.

The last one I'll be honest is most likely not going to make it in time for update 0.11 >.< but it isn't a very major thing, it'll be on the list for June to do's. Speaking of June! Sadly as many will catch on, Heather's final design preview was just shared recently. Which does mean she won't be done in time for update 0.11 >.< We are taking feedback and concerns in currently, so please do vote asap!

Our sprite artist believes they'll have Heather done by June 10-15th at the latest. I personally would like to add her into the engine as part of a hotfix for update 0.11 mid way through June, but it will depend on how busy things get by then. After Heather is in the game, there is new outfits for sprites. But that's mainly it, the major sprite work is complete at that point! <3

Anyways, wrapping up this post. The next few days will be busy ones, focusing on getting Rachel into the engine later today, Day 16 & 17 added in by Thursday. Then Friday will be a big testing, polish and making sure everything is exported, playing the right way and ready to be released at midnight once it becomes May 30th. ^^