Paul Visual Rework and a Map of Sihai - 8/23/20 (Patreon)

First off, let me say that I'm pleased as punch with how the reception has been going so far. This last update has accrued a nice amount of interest in the game- and here's hoping it only goes up from here! On this upcoming friday, 5 days from now, Paul's day 6 will be added to the private build of the game. 14 days after that, on September 11th, Alan's day 6 will be added. September 25th, Shen's day 6 will be added, then October 9th will be Jorge's day 6. When Jorge's day 6 gets updated, the public build will then get access to day 4! That's so close to my birthday, woah...

Next, we have "Paul's Visual Rework." I mentioned this on my discord (linked through patreon). I felt there were certain qualities that the original Paul sprite lacked- For one, his hand was weirdly blobby and awkward, and his belly didn't seem very tasteful or accurate. On top of that, his neck fluff was also weird in his undershirt sprite.

Tadaa! His hand pose has also been changed a little bit to have it hooking into his pants. Very nice! There's one more Paul sprite that'll be in day 6 (hopefully it'll be ready by Friday), and that one's gonna be... Pretty Nice ;)

Next, let's talk about Backgrounds! At the moment, I'm sure you've seen the... interesting backgrounds I have. These are all pretty generic, usually stock photos, slapped with some filters. Some are nicer than others, while some are kinda painful to look at. I can't exactly afford to get backgrounds yet, and I figured that it was more important to get the sprites and writing and stuff done, so I didn't put too much thought into it.

Aaand here's where things get a little goofy. Now that Paul's day 6 is basically ready to go, while I've been working on fixing up Alan's day 6, I figured I'd try and whip up the grounds of Sihai, where most of several routes take place.

If you've played basically any of the game and this image loaded properly, you can probably see where my issue is now. I've been writing this office dating sim with the full knowledge that this place is absolutely gigantic... as if it takes place in one, single office building instead of across a handful of buildings. From R&D to the labs to the lobby and Shen's office, it acts as if there's just simple hallways to get to and fro places. (Speaking of which, I should add a walkway between the bottom left and bottom right buildings)

So, starting about now, I'll be going through the original days and modifying things to make up for this. Sihai is a gigantic, multi-faceted company, and I really want to reflect that. Changes should be most noteable in days 1, Jehu and Shen 3, and Jehu 6.

Once I'm making enough money, I'll definitely be getting actual backgrounds made. It'll be quite the endeavor, considering how many placeholder bg files I have, but ah well. That's something to look forward to, right?

(Side note about the picture: Most of those buildings are quite tall. The one in the middle is the tallest, while the one at the top right is the shortest.)