Quest Failed: Chapter Two - Dev Log #153 (Patreon)

Hiya there, everyone! I hope you're doing well!

It's getting close to the end of the month, and I've been meaning to get on top of this dev log for a little while now--so let's jump into things!

As silly as it sounds, I think the slight lull in dev logs recently has largely just been because I feel like what I have to say might not be substantial enough, or make for an interesting enough read. Not because of any lack of work or anything like that--far from it--but more just a self-imposed pressure that I've been putting on myself, where I feel like an update isn't 'dev log' worthy enough, unless I have tons of visual stuff to show for it. and naturally that gets more and more difficult the closer Chapter Two gets to completion, and the less I have to show that isn't outright spoilery or will detract from the end experience. I end up getting 'paralysed', as it were, fearing that what I do have to show might be negatively received. But then obviously not showing anything can be just as bad. So I've been admittedly fretting over that a little in recent months, and want to apologise once more if I gave anyone cause for concern. I am still alive, and I am still working on things!

I could probably make more frequent dev logs if I kept them shorter and sweeter, and didn't go into as much detail per post on what I might be working on at any given time, but I wonder--what do you guys prefer? Less frequent, longer posts, or more regular ones that are more bitesize? Because ultimately I want to try and ensure you're all satisfied with the state of things, and should probably do less of worrying in my own little bubble, and more reaching out to you all to ask about these things so we reach an agreement that we're all happy with!

Anyways--rambling aside, I'll talk about the game now!

To start with, I'll be up front and say that the 13.5 update I wanted to put out didn't end up panning out as I hoped due to some voice lines not being completed yet, due to several circumstances with VAs being busy/sick and such. Most of the story lines I was looking to get done are voiced now, but there was a few key points where if I put the planned voice lines in things would have a few awkward gaps between characters and it wouldn't be as comprehensive I'd hope. But on the bright side, I've been forging ahead with writing other stuff while keeping on top of that all, and have several more h-scenes completed, along with some more crucial stuff as we inch ever closer to that wonderful end of the main scenario!

What this means, is that I'm going to be skipping over the planned 13.5 stuff and go right for a 0.14  build. And in place of honouring the 13.5 build for all current alpha 13 people, I'm going to be honouring the 0.14 build--so if anyone has played the most recent build, whether you're no longer on that tier or not, as long as you have that folder at hand, you'll also be able to play the next build that's coming out. After that, things will be back to the regularly monthly folder changing as they were before. I'm just currently keeping a freeze on things until I feel I've sufficiently caught up and given enough back to make up for some of the delays in recent months.

As for how soon this next build will come out? I've been hesitant to give out exact dates--or even general timeframes--due to how out of control things got with alpha 0.13, and my fear of repeating the same overoptimistic mistake I made before that I'm sure ended up upsetting many of you, for which I'm still pretty disappointed in myself over, if I'm being honest. BUT, I feel I should I at least give some kind of general idea--and so I'm going to be bold and say that alpha 0.14 will arrive some time in June--possibly closer to the middle or end of the month, to give myself some breathing room. Ideally it'd be sooner, but I often underestimate just how long going through everything that's been freshly written and add sprite directions to, and music cues, and voice editing and such--because I'm essentially a one person army when it comes to editing and adding all of that and often times I can get overwhelmed.

I think things should be a lot more manageable now though, as all of the really complex scenes are out of the way. Honestly, some of the stuff in build 0.13 had so much going on in certain scenes I felt like I was in the Matrix with how much stuff was just walls of code/scripting to denote certain character movements/expressions. Splitting faces into separate eyebrows/eyes/mouths seems like a good idea in theory but the extra work really does ramp up!

As for what alpha 0.14 will add--I've been aiming for quite a few fun events with characters with accompanying CGs, alongside a few new h-scenes as well. In addition to a small continuation of the main story, which will put things into a far more peaceful place--and then pave the way for the epilogue of the story which I'd fully flesh out in the build after, which would then ensure that Chapter Two can be played from start to finish with no progress-ending walls! Granted, I'll still have work to do with all of the remaining side events--but I think I'll feel a lot better once I get that credits screen rolling, and things should be a lot more manageable!

The exact number of h-scenes that will be added isn't fully finalised, because for the sake of getting the new build out in June, I'm going to approach things cautiously and try not to give myself too much work at once like I did with the previous build. But I'll feel things out with how quickly this current h-scene I'm writing gets finalised, and if I think I can make it work, I'll add in another.

In addition, I'm hoping to fully implement the gallery, too--which should be quite beneficial to those that like to revisit h-scenes without keeping a million different save files. And with the way the gallery is coded, even going from build to build with the same save should ensure your gallery progress isn't erased, even if you have to start again in the main build! The main framework is done for the gallery as per my showcase before and really all that I have to do is get all the thumbnail images made, and point each gallery panel to a relevant scene. The only difficulty I foresee is when replaying a scene requires a specific variable check--which can sometimes break things if you're trying to do so without having started the main game up where the variables are initiated. But I think I know a few ways to get around that--it'll just mean some brief testing between scenes which HOPEFULLY won't eat up too much time! If I feel I can't manage it all completely though, I may just block out the gallery for this update as to avoid delaying things further and then finalise work in 0.15. But it shouldn't need to come to that.

In terms of what kind of content you can expect--and the stuff I've been working on--let's just say I've been seeing a lot of Anna lately, haha. She has six whole CG folders in the game now--and that isn't even everything yet! I've also written some cute stuff with Lucille, who I always enjoy returning back to. Beyond that, I've drafted up a bunch of stuff with everybody's favourite royal trio! Nothing too steamy for them, but I hope people will enjoy the interactions all the same! Said interactions are part of something much larger, and it's one of the rare times where people can all just sort of sit down and give a bunch of answers to the many questions poor Matt might have about the conflict he somehow finds himself thrust into the center of! Not EVERYTHING will be answered--because, hey, you've gotta have at least a LITTLE mystery--but I think it should give people plenty to think on, and those more observant will probably pick up the hints!

Well--I call them 'hints', but really they're not THAT subtle. Only poor Matt will be the one that struggles to grasp the true reality of it all. But can you blame him? His mind is often elsewhere when he has so many buxom girls dancing around him day in and day out!

While not necessarily too flashy (though those floors ARE pretty shiny!) I wanted to showcase this pretty background that was recently done of a royal banquet hall-esque place. Because not only is it REALLY gorgeous to behold, it also has the significance of being the last background necessary for Chapter Two. This will be the last new background you'll see--before the epilogue of Chapter Two comes to an end. Which, I think is quite special in itself, and really hits home just how far we've come, and that there IS an eventual end in sight!

As for the purpose of said hall--well, let's just say that after everything poor Matt has been through, it's only fair that he's given a chance to unwind and relax in style! And depending on who you've been crushing on in the game, you may be pretty surprised at what happens during the course of the party! I'll leave you to come to your own conclusions on what that might mean~

Also, because I didn't want this dev log to necessarily JUST be one background image, I'll finally acknowledge the voice samples I attached to the top of this post! Because as I say, while a couple of key voice lines aren't quite ready to be slotted in, a lot of new voicework HAS been done! In the attached sample, you can the QF veteran Venus LeMay putting in the work, with both Anna and Marine lines~ Alongside SilkyMilk's performance with Ren and Cynthia in far tenser, story-based situations! As for the general context of such lines, I'll leave that to your imagination! Just keep in mind that they're not necessarily in order! Although I guess in an odd way the Ren and Cynthia lines do kind of play off of one another, haha.

That'll about wrap up things for this dev log, and I hope it was comprehensive enough to answer any lingering questions you may have had--but if you feel I've skipped over anything, please feel free to comment or reach out and I'll get back to you if I can answer it! I want to say that I'm not fully done with the month, and that tomorrow I'll be capping things off with one last bonus art piece before May is over--so look forward to that!

It's been a long, long road...and an incredibly exhausting one at that...but thanks as always for sticking with me on this crazy journey, and here's to finally finishing this darn thing in the near future. Until next time!