Weekly dev blog: Incremental Improvements (Patreon)

This week I ended up working on many small things, as I eagerly wait for feedback on chapter 6. For Caliross, I introduced a series of additions to your mansion in Golden Leaf. Now you can move to the pocket dimension from there (if you buy a new mirror from the pocket dimension book) and as a result you can now move between the two houses through the pocket dimension (this will need some testing, because I am worried about the trigger for certain events, but I believe it *should* be fine). You can also see the scenes for the latex outfit and the babydoll from the wardrobe in the mansion and if you expanded the second floor, you can use the study there to progress to a new chapter.

I should add the possibility to move Jin and Lea to the mansion soon, although these will require a little more work (because of how some of the events trigger, and because of certain cutscenes). I am also slightly troubled by the fact that right now they'd have to take the only guest room. It's not a big problem, but it seems a bit silly, and I don't have the space to add another room.

In other news, I also improved a couple of maps in Tarkas  (the city gates and the exterior to the Queen of Hearts). As always,  keep an eye out for issues (in this case, there a couple of known  "resets", the drunkards outside the pub and secret passage behind the  abandoned shop will go back to their original state, but these aren't  going to break anything, so I figure it's fine). I also added the  possibility to decide what to do about Erica's book, and talking about  it with your dad (I also added a questlog entry for this whole thing).  Because of the way the questlog works, if you already started chapter 5  you'll have to talk to your dad about the book or to Alec's master, to  get the questlog entry.

For TOTDC 2, I think I am finally satisfied with all the major UI designs. I simplified a few things from my plans, I cobbled together a few assets (I even created some basic elements myself), and then I ironed out any issues I could find. I also improved a few things in elements I had previously deemed fine, tested a few visual effects, re-arranged a few elements and so on. There are still some placeholders, and things I am not sure how I should tackle: in maps, the simplest way is to have text as buttons, but that looks basic, and using downsized images from the areas (while still using text for the names) makes me wonder if it's worth the effort, and also if the buttons don't become just too big. Anyway, on the whole, I think it's test-worthy, so now I just have to make sure there is enough content for testers to get a good idea of what the game is going to be like, so I can send it to them for feedback.

Speaking of TOTDC, I'll need to update TOTDC 1 in order to add the ability to copy/paste the variables from the first to the second game. I was also planning to add some minor content to it, to celebrate the sequel's arrival and possibly have a little extra for any returning players, but would you guys be interested in such a thing? Maybe I can just do the basic update and focus on TOTDC 2, instead.

Let me know what you think. In any case, This week I might use another day for TOTDC 2 at most, but I'll mostly focus on more improvements and writing for the ending in Caliross. We'll also get the usual art preview and polls, so stay tuned for those.  This all for now! Until next time! ^_^