Demons Within Update 8 devlog 1: Story stuff + demonic expression sheets (Patreon)

Hey hey!

It's been a while since I released expression sheets, hasn't it? I think that with the addition of the Memorium to the game, they're not as needed anymore. You can literally see all of these expressions on the sprites in the Memorium if you've unlocked the right scenes! Still, I thought it was cool, so here they are in case anyone likes to see them. :)

At any rate, let's move on to the good stuff!

Update 8 is in writing right now. I've already planned and mapped out everything that will come in it, although it is a bit hard to tell how much of all the planning will fit into this one update. I'll get the feeling of it as I go! I'll try to make it as big as possible without it causing it to take too long to come because of it.

The story

As usual, I can't talk TOO much about this because I don't want to spoil things. Some level of spoilers is inevitable as everyone that has access to the art preview tiers can already see two new characters that are being made because they're coming in the future: one that has been mentioned a bunch already and one that hasn't at all. x)

The first of the two is Russel, Resnick's older brother. I won't go into details of how and why we'll see him, but we'll get a chance of learning a bit more about his brother and what he's been up to lately. Russel has always been Resnick's idol and one of the reasons he joined the Dawnbreak Order in the first place, so the young wolf has a lot to do and say when it comes to his older brother.

The second new character, a large lion that goes by the name/title of Commander Brigham, is a high-ranking member of the Order. Several ranks higher than anyone we've seen in-game so far, including the illustrous Captain Garret, so HIS presence around is also something I'll leave for the story to explain. Those of you that like older authoritarian figures (or lions) might get a kick out of it, though! Or will you? He's very different from Captain Garret, that much I can say. ;)

The story around Resnick will still follow the line it was on. After the big events that just transpired, which left the little wolf more confused and bothered than ever, we'll see how things keep developing from there with new added twists.

Other new features

As I plan Update 8, the story, events and writing, which is all solely my responsibility, keep going, but at the same time I do my best to work on all the other areas of the game that I have to coordinate and improve as well. With Update 7.5 having a guest artist with most of its artwork, it has freed Blain somewhat to work on the new Update 8 stuff earlier and, as such, we finally have a little time to invest on side stuff as well.

One such things is, as we're already seeing previews of as well, new artwork for minor characters in the game! Some characters have brief appearances that didn't warrant all the work and cost of a fully-fledged sprite and thus, unfortunately, they went by only by mention and not seen. Blain and I are trying to work on a way that lets us make simpler, more straightforward sprites for such characters that are faster to work up and therefore allow us to show them. I think that'll improve the game as a whole by adding more diversity to the cast, even when the characters' appearance is brief.

The first character that will come in such a fashion, definitely within Update 8, will be Jen the librarian! If you've done Ludwig's spare day, you know who I'm talking about. Blain is doing amazing work, as always, and I think that that by itself will make that part of the game much more charming as well. :)

If this works out well, we have a few other characters in the list to make from previous scenes! Can you guess which ones? Does anyone have any suggestions? ;)

Aside from that, Blain and I are also studying the possibility of making further interface improvements. While we've done a lot of work in that regard, it's been a while since the last time we had time for it and some parts of the game still direly need improvements on that regard, so it'd be nice to get some of that done! I'll keep you guys updated in the next devlogs if we manage to get some of that going!

Alright, I think this has gone long enough! I swear, most of you probably don't bother reading something this big, but devlogs are kinda just this. I sit down and ramble with my thoughts about the current update for a while. Sometimes I get a little too excited!

We'll keep working hard to make Update 8 as awesome as it can, as always! :D And to have it as soon as possible! Keep a lookout for more devlogs and previews!

Thank you! Cheers!