Development update (version 0.7) (Patreon)

Well, version 0.6 has been out just over a week now. I hope you guys liked it. I wanted to give you an idea of my plans after 0.7 release and beyond.

Version 0.7 Status
Right now, I have finished coding it and will begin working on scenes/renders today with additions/edits to code here and there. As I've said, this will be the last update to this build of Serenity outside of improvements and fixes that are planned (more on that below). This final update will add right around 400 images, plus hopefully 2 animations (which will be done by my friend Cryoxxx), as well as closing up the first week. Each "build" will be one week in Serenity. So, this will essentially be "Serenity: Week 1". I'm hoping this will be a good way to keep the downloads small. There will be no need to worry about saves between builds since this is a very kinetic story (probably not so much a game). I know that fact puts some off, but as I said when I first started this thing, I needed to keep it simple for my first time. I'm a story-teller first after all.

Serenity: Week 1 improvements
After the release of 0.7, I will most likely spend the next month on updates, fixes, and improvements. Obviously, there is a lot of room for improvements, especially in earlier scenes. I learned a lot of things during this process. Top plan to start is redoing the entire first scene with Morgan (on the island) and all scenes that are outside. I thoroughly HATED the way those looked but didn't know better then how to make that 'map' look better. Plans include adding trees, palms, brush and nature... fixing the lighting so that the scenes appear 'warmer'. I would also like to fill in a bit more with music. I need to fix the "field of view" in the scenes with Trina in her office. I learned after that scene how to adjust that and just never went back and fixed it. Lighting there is also in need of major improvement. As for the few "flip-card" animations I did that some people have hammered me for... well, what can I say? I'm not planning to change that. As stupid as it may have been to some, I kind of like it. Though, I won't be doing those ever again. Finally, there is the video issues for the android version that I need to address as well. I haven't heard much from android users and I don't have an android. So, I'm not sure how it's going. One person contacted me and said it was working fine and one other said a couple were a little jittery. The few animations I did were using VP9 and I think android only supports VP8.

Story Branching (Paths)
I've told you all that Serenity has already been written. And with that said, I didn't leave much room for adding branches. It takes me some time to convert the story into code, not to mention the renders themselves. However, as I've had to edit some things about the story due to conflicts I didn't see before, I may have opened a very small door to the possibility of adding a couple of endings. But this wouldn't happen until the final build (week 4). For now, to avoid any major spoilers, we won't talk about it. But once we reach that point, I will talk more about these endings I am considering. It will take a lot longer to release updates but I think it might be worth it. If anything, it will tie up Serenity with a nice ending of your choice. Meanwhile, the 'kinetic' aspect of Serenity will continue until week 4.

Thank You!
I have to say thank you. Thank you guys so much for the support and your patience while I 'grow'. I know that I can't please everyone. But, if I can please a few, then that makes me very happy. In the short time I've been doing this, I made it to 50 patrons. That is a lot to me because I really didn't think I would have more than about 10 by now. But I guess more people like what I am doing than I previously thought would. If this growth keeps up, it could lead to me retiring quite early from my regular job and doing this full time. That would mean a LOT more content and improvements for my future planned projects. I still have quite a long way to go before I could do something that drastic, but we're definitely on the road towards that possibility! The thought of being able to concentrate 100% on this excites me. Currently, I am working on Serenity while working my regular job as a network administrator. I guess we'll see what happens because I have no intention of quitting this beyond Serenity. :)