DevLog Update (Patreon)

So here's another exciting installment of the DevLog update to keep y'all in the loop on the coming v0.10. These are always longwinded and probably more cathartic for me than anything. So here we go...

Patreon Site Change:

I've added a quick addition to the Patreon site under the Overview tab. Normally, this is where you could download the newest public build of the game. In an effort to increase communication with the supporters without having to spam Patreon updates constantly, I added a quick progress bar to the beginning of the Overview section. I plan to try and keep this updated while I'm working on the current build as well as the future versions. Hopefully, this will be a quick (albeit unattractive) tool for you to glance at to see where things are. This basically shows the stages of development I go through for each update and fill in some of that dead space between DevLogs.

Writing Status

Current writing status is almost complete. The writing rough draft is done so I'm doing the second draft/ revisions to see any of this crap makes sense.  So, again: the usual monthly updates are around 1000 lines of code in the past. This one is close to 1.5 months and is sitting at a whopping 2600 lines right now. So yeah: biggest update yet but it'll close out Chapter 5 and it made sense to make this one a bit longer to hit the stopping point I wanted. The CG count also has added a record-breaking 132 new images with a few more last minute ones planned that I still need to finish up. Probably be a little over 140ish when I'm done. So, for those that stuck through me last month without much content, I feel like you're going to get your money's worth, hopefully. Also, a big thanks for that, too. I feel like I can never say that enough.

I tried to bust through as much as I could last week. This week I have a paper due for school so the game will get pushed to the backburner a bit. Good news is, I usually do this anyway and let things reset in my head then go back for a reread. Thus, it shouldn't affect things that much. My goal still remains to have it out around mid-August (Ugh, I hate ETAs but I'm trying it out this time).

Also, I have several CGs that need corrected because of some rendering issues. I now purchased an upgraded version of my old art program I was using that broke a few months ago. Bought that last night so that's another thing on my list. I can knock that out in an evening after class, though.

Possible Image Changes for v0.10

So for any longtime fans around here, I have purposely left the image folder open for people to browse through and look at images. I personally find it frustrating when people archive their images. While there's plenty of programs to extract those images, it's just another step. Sometimes, you just wanna see the pics for the game. For those of you who are less interested in the wordiness of Straight!? this has probably been a blessing.

So here's the potential bad news: I'm considering changing those images to a different format for v0.10. Before they were PNG files, which are pretty big when you drop hundreds of them into a game folder. At the going rate, the download for this game is getting massive. However, if I change the format, I can shrink the file size substantially and make the game much smaller. Bad news, this apparently drops the quality a bit but shouldn't notice a huge difference given that my image quality is subpar anyway. 

Good news: I still like my PNG format. So for Patreons, I'll just keep a separate zipped version of the image folder and post it after release. If you want the images in the old format, you can download them separately. Hopefully this will better accommodate some of our supporters with data restrictions on their internet usage.

Let me know your thoughts. I feel like this is a potential big deal but some may not think so.