MNL Progress Report #23 (Patreon)

Hey there, nudies! Sorry for the delay, but we're here with a progress report!

Well, on the technical side of things, we managed to squash the bugs that were blocking us before - the things related to animations triggering alongside dialogue. That's all been fixed, but unfortunately, we've now run into a brand new issue with allowing time passage in-game. The issue is allowing events to progress and registering that those events HAVE progressed, remembering what you've done previously.

We've been using a program called AdventureCreator, which handles a lot of things for us - dialogue systems, the point and click interface, stuff like that. However, things get complicated when it comes to the other elements, like MNL's more free-form story progression. It's been a bit of a stumbling block as we keep finding new elements that don't work with AdventureCreator. Thankfully, Invertex HAS been able to build new solutions to make it work, being the incredibly talented guy he is. And we're pretty sure that this is the last major issue to deal with. This hasn't just been stuff related to the demo, but the game's entire core design. Being able to figure this out now would mean a smoother process for the full game, laying a foundation to make sure the thing we build can actually be supported without it all crumbling down.

We're not at a point where I want to announce a delay of the demo just yet, but it's definitely possible we may have to. We are still waiting on some important animations, and we need to get these AdventureCreator compatibility problems figured out first. Because of your patience and support for our project, I owe it to you to be as transparent as possible when it comes to the issues we face in development. And while I may report on these roadblocks, rest assured that we're doing everything we can to break through them and deliver on this project.

But hey, let's showcase some PROGRESS. Our $5+ supporters have gotten a sneak peek at a character design Leslie made for our cafe shop owner - this big guy on the left.

I'm happy to show that we now have a 3D model for him courtesy of our legendary modeler Bear Festival!

Look at how well this guy translated into 3D! Bear always manages to shock me in just how well he can adapt Leslie's art style. Just look at this guy's FEET

HAIRY LEGS AND MAN TOES, BABY! I really love this dude, and I think you're going to love him too. I'm just a sucker for big, scary-looking dudes with a heart of gold.

We've also taken the time to improve the geometry of Amber's mouth. It was a bit too low-poly before, which made the mouth look a lot more angular and square. Now it's rounder and cuter and allows for more deformation/expression. Gotta wait until AT's fooled with it before I can show that off, though.

That's it for this week! Thanks again for your support as always, and we'll see you next Friday!