MNL Progress Report #41 (Patreon)

Hey there, nudies! I know we've done a looping jiggle gif like this before, but I wanted to show off Amber's new freckle/nipple textures, plus our new dynamic shading! She looks so GOOD!

Invertex has been deep in the coding trenches trying to fix some issues that popped off. It's been difficult work, but it's finally paid off! I mentioned last post that we had issues with looping idle animations and transitioning to other animations, as well as past posts talking about layering animations on top of each other (laughing + sitting, for example). Well, not only has Invertex fixed all of those issues, he's also completely streamlined the workflow for how are cutscenes are built! We don't have to manually loop animations anymore, our layering animation set-up is a lot easier to fiddle with, and there's just much less to manage overall! It makes building cutscenes way simpler and faster! The process is more smooth than it's ever been! While it's definitely possible that another problem will come up (and if it does, we have a contingency plan for it), things are looking really good right now! We'll let you know exactly how good next week!

I also want to apologize for how long this specific section has taken us. Invertex and I didn't expect nor want to be stuck on this cutscene building phase for so long. Much of these tools we're using had to be made by Invertex himself, as there was nothing pre-made that functioned well enough to be usable. We're not programming super elaborate, highly choreographed cutscenes here or anything, which makes it even more frustrating to run into so many technical hurdles. What should have been a super simplistic cutscene to build ended up being our most complicated because it involved characters emoting while sitting. It's been a frustrating roadblock to frequently find ourselves stuck on, and we've often found ourselves flirting with the idea of scaling down and retooling (which still isn't out of the question should new issues arise). But we've persevered, we've stuck to the plan, and things really do seem to be working out now. I want to thank you all for your patience and support. We're striving to make the best cutie nudie game we possibly can, even if it takes way more time than expected to make. Thank you all so much.

But now, for something different! Amber is a fresh new arrival to Culo Culo Town, moving in to her brand new home. But what kind of stuff did Amber bring along with her? Well, let's take a look into Amber's bag and see what we got!

A camera! And a fairly retro one, at that. Despite this game taking place in the year 20XX, Amber has a love for retro analog tech. Things that are big and bulky and tactile, and there's nothing that better represents that more than a big camera that can immediately print out a picture! Amber always has her camera and loves taking pictures wherever she goes. Mostly cute lizards she finds, beautiful scenery out in the wild... even pics of herself! Luckily, this camera also stores photos digitally and can connect to a PC in case you ever need to share these pics for the world. More on that in a future post~

But that's not all! She also has her trusty Game Friend™ - "The Only Handheld Gaming Device That's Shaped Like a Friend!". Growing up in a fairly poor family, Amber couldn't really afford to keep up with modern gaming trends. But that's okay, because she's classically trained! Amber doesn't have a smartphone, so her trusty Game Friend is a good way to pass time. She's currently working through two different games right now. We don't know if you'll ever see the box art close enough to really see them, but I absolutely love what Bear made:

Were you more of an Ape Nation fan, or were you all about Fight Animals? Let us know who your favorites were!

We'll show off more as we finish up the textures! But this is probably a good stopping point for this report. Thank you all so much, and see you next week!