re:Dreamer Public Alpha 0.5.1 release (Patreon)
Content
0.5.1 Route Flowchart that I forgot to bundle this with the release (Imgur)
(MediaFire has been experience server issues recently, so this release is MEGA only)
re:Dreamer (0.5.1) is a bit of a housekeeping update. While it adds new story content for Zoey's first day of classes, the main focus is on two things you can't see.
Zoey Sprites
No, we sadly haven't gotten the finalized Zoey sprites back from TiltSHIFT yet. This update has a major backend change that moves Zoey's sprites from Student Transfer's custom method to Ren'Py's proprietary 'layeredimage' method. This means that these placeholder sprites were fully ripped as the raw layers from Tsuki no Kanata de Aimashou instead of being converted from flattened e-hentai gallery .pngs.
This may seem like a whole lot of redone work for the same result, but it has a number of benefits:
- Because of how Tsuki no Kanata de Aimashou stores its sprites, we now have access to mouth layers for Zoey separate from the rest of her face; additionally, we have brand-new blush and sweat drop layers that I didn't even know existed because the e-hentai gallery for this game doesn't build flattened sprites with them. This means that we've gone from 14 expressions in pose a and 15 expressions in pose bc to 1,624 possible facial combinations. While these sprites are only placeholders, the drastic increase in possible facial expressions lets me get more creative with my writing.
- When we eventually get those finalized Zoey sprites from TiltSHIFT, the process to switch them over will take minutes rather than days because all the groundwork for the transition has already been laid. I simply need to swap out the existing layers for the layers in TiltSHIFT's .clip file.
- Because I have access to the raw layers of the placeholder sprites, I was able to redo the stitch for the custom outfits for Zoey (her topless sweater outfit and her short-haired school uniform). No more nasty artifacts on her shoulder or gaps in her hair!
- Unexpectedly, 'layeredimage' sprites take far less work for Ren'Py to display compared to Student Transfer's custom sprite method. This means that the game runs smoother when there isn't a ST-style sprite on screen (the only remaining ones of these are Britney, Haze, Kohaku, Ryouichi, and Yurika).
Character Sheets
I've already gone over most of the details in the most recent Friday Update post, so I'll be brief. A lot of this development cycle has been spent on the character sheets for Rich, Zoey's mom, and Ryouichi for our artists to work from. Rich's design document is nearly done (we're basing his visuals largely off Pete Campbell from Mad Men), Zoey's mom is done, and Ryouichi is essentially going to be the same character. I've also been in contact with our artists and have confirmed they can take on the new commissions.
IMPORTANT: to unlock full functionality for the route select menu, you must input a Sustainer-only password. Normally this would be taken out of the Patreon post when it goes live, but since I messed up with making this content actually accessible, it's open to everyone as "layer" (since Zoey's sprites are now layeredimage called).
Changes to existing content:
- As stated, the method for Zoey's placeholder sprites is now completely different than what it used to be. I like to think I've been thorough with checking for bugs, but if something has slipped, let us know either here or in the #bug-reports channel of our Discord server.
- Various bugs (most of them relating to the Android build) have been fixed.