Serenity (C2-E2) Devlog 1 (Public) (Patreon)

Hello again everyone!

Now that we've begun our trek across the universe in Last Human, it's time to get back to a world that most of you are already familiar with. The first episode of Serenity Chapter 2 was much more successful than I expected. I received so many great comments and feedback from both new and old fans (of Serenity Chapter 1).

A word about Serenity Chapter 1: As everyone knows, I have tried to be very transparent about my learning process. I acknowledge that I am no pro at this yet, but I am getting there both in writing and in graphics. Music was a no-brainer for me since I am a musician and I love to put music to situations. That in itself is an artform, which is why I insist people turn on the sound in Serenity - for without the music, my other strengths suffer a bit. It just isn't the same experience without the music. Anyway, if you haven't played through Serenity Chapter 1, you need to do so before playing Serenity Chapter 2 because it won't make sense. They are meant to be a single story but in the interest of keeping downloads manageable for everyone, I decided to break it into chapters. These are separate installs and you do not need to keep any saves or even the chapter 1 folder in order to play chapter 2. And please do not install one over the other.

Now, Serenity Chapter 2: I am about halfway through coding/dialog. I always write everything before I start rendering because then I can correct, adjust, or add as I go. Plus, having the coding done gives me a roadmap for what I am doing with renders so I can plan how I will approach each scene. Many times, while I am rendering, I notice an opportunity to do something special in a scene. It could be something as simple as a tail swiping you across the face as one of our lovely Nekos turns away from you. Or it might even be one of our girls getting irritated at a crab in the background. Whatever the case, I try to fill scenes and add something here and there that you won't notice if you just quickly click through.

Issues: There have been various things I've seen people mention about Serenity. Let's go through a few real quick...

• You're always 'warping' from place to place. I'll answer to that now... This is Serenity. There is magic. "Fading" from place to place is how we get around Serenity. So that will never change.
• Next is: There are too many girls; some don't get enough attention: I agree with this. Going into this thing, it wasn't something I considered at the time. Yet here we are... we have a lot of girls. This is why LH will only have 5 main love interests (the android could technically count as 6 though). All I can do at this point is deal with it the best way I can. Over the episodes of Chapter 2, we'll try to spend time with each of the girls. It won't always be a lewd scene, but something that adds to the story.
• Kathryn seems to get most of the attention: Yep, she does. Why? Because MC and Kat have history. They have a special bond. I am sorry if she isn't your favorite, but please don't stress the details. When it comes down to the end of this thing, you'll get to make the only choice in Serenity that will affect the ending. For those harem fans that just had a panic attack reading that, relax. That option will ALWAYS be on the table in any project I do because I like harem AVNs.
• Problems and drama are resolved too quickly: I get this one a lot. It is probably one of the main issues with Serenity Chapter 1. And I agree 100 percent. One problem is that well, MC is a God. There isn't much he will fail at now. The girls are powerful. How can I fix that? I can't. Well, I could... But it would be nearly a complete rewrite of everything. It would be like starting a brand-new project. Do I stop everything and do that? No. I do have plans to redo Chapter 1 but not to that extent. I will probably add a bit to lengthen some issues but overall, it would take some time and in Last Human, I have enough content to keep me busy with that for at least 2 years or so.
• All the girls just instantly fall in love with MC: LMFAO! Yeah, they do. There really isn't much fight with trying to "get into their panties" is there? I mean come on, they live in a world where they live and breathe a magic energy that is also a natural aphrodisiac. Some of my most faithful followers get it. Some just don't and prefer games where they have to fight for the girl. And that's okay. Last Human might be slightly guilty of this same issue, but it won't be anything like Serenity. Some girls will be more willing than others. Anyway, in Serenity Chapter 1, at the very beginning with Trina... that whole scene is just dumb. In the rewrite of that scene, she will not come on to MC at all, and the boob flash scene will be removed also. Looking back, I thought I needed to make the game as sexy as possible and have them all love you. But as I learned I realized that is not the case. That is just an example of how I will move forward now, and a lesson I'll take into mind while writing LH. 
• Finally, this game is kinetic. I hate kinetic games! - Yeah? Well, what can I say. I can't change that. I write kinetic visual novels. It's what I do. There are enough people following to tell me that there is a fanbase for it. So, some will like it, some will not. I know my VN's aren't for everyone, and I am okay with that. I do already have plans for an actual game with choices that matter. But that is WAY down the road. 

Well enough of that. I expect to complete Serenity C2 E2 before the end of October, possibly by mid-October. Although I am focused solely on Serenity now, I am also preparing for LH's next episode by doing a little writing sometimes. Serenity is a tiny bit quicker for me to render up because I have all of the assets already. LH however is a bit more complicated in both writing and graphics. So, trying to get a head start on that can only help get it done sooner.

If you're a patron, you'll be seeing some Serenity preview images in the coming weeks. I am going through all of the characters and updating them with the better skin and making small adjustments, much the way I did with the girls in LH. And changing my graphics to match that of LH as well. This shouldn't cause a big noticeable change other than the quality may appear a bit better in ep2. I just want to have the same graphics setup for both games.

Have a great week everyone. For most of us in the US, it's a short week since today is a holiday. I'll post again soon, love you all!

...Fire