[ENG] August 2023: Monthly Report (Patreon)

Monthly Report tl;dr --

Updated story, public version soon, minor changes, QoL updates, more assets, CG updates, new way to grab download links. We also have guides in our Discord server (yes, we're gatekeeping guides)

09022023 EDIT: Public version is updated, and it includes extra updates to the CG screen!

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Good timezone, everyone! It's been a while since I posted anything. I apologize, I have been swamped with IRL things, I got so little time to keep you guys updated.

There hasn't been many change for the project itself, but we've done quite a bunch of dev stuff in the background.

Anyway, since I need to be awake early tomorrow, I'll keep this short; here's what changed/added from previous patch:

-- Story and dev stuff --

Updated game to 0.11.30p and 0.11.30i:

This patch brings you M10 (for Patrons). M10 is the reason why this update took me so long to write, I didn't realize one simple action made by our lovely protagonist in previous update would cause the path to diverge so much in this update. The update itself is not that long, but the fact that there are about 5 different outcomes had me confused a little bit.

For Public version, you'll receive Lars Day 10 AND Lars Day 11 as part of August and September update. The schedule is a big wack right now, I'll try to find a way to balance between public and patreon version.

I want to bring attention to this: M10 was supposed to be a more expansive update; but due to time limitations and real-life issue, I had to shorten it by a LARGE margin. This particular day might be expanded in near future, so make sure you have a spare game-save of this day.

This also showcases another way of narrating the story. Hopefully it makes connecting the story easier...and for better flow and pacing as well.

Minor changes:

There are a bunch dev-side changes, and most of them aren't too game-breaking - including, but not limited to: typo fixes, sprites adjustments, error fix, term changes, etc. - I've gotten rid of typos and errors in L6, P10, M3, M8, and M9. If you find more errors, do let me know on the Discord server!

Speaking of term changes, you might have noticed one of them: I've changed English Literature teacher to Literature teacher, Indonesian to Southeast region, and so on. This is mostly because I want to disconnect the plot of this project from real-life settings. So, any connection or mention to real-life location, language and whatnot have been changed to something more ambiguous.

This might look like a bad decision, but I promise, it's not. I'm doing some world and lore building. It's important in the future.

There's also another thing I added to the VN, and it's phone call interface, you might have noticed it from previous update.

SPOILER AHEAD!! Be careful, just because the BG shows Ross' bedroom while you're on call with him, it doesn't mean he's there. I only show you the place Walter assumed where Ross is. So if Walter thinks Ross is currently in hell, the background will show hell instead LOL.

New variables added to previous day(s):

There are two new variables I've added to the VN. One being a persistent variable in M3 (won't affect anything for now.) It's when Walter gets a call from an unknown number, if you want to trigger it. The other one being a M9 variable when Walter felt disgusted at Mark's action.

The one from M9 is important, if you want to trigger it, please do it now.

More BGs, more music, more sounds (even the l e w d ones):

I won't talk about music and sounds, because it's rather self explanatory. Anyway, Vui didn't get commissioned to do new backgrounds, but we have about 10+ variations of existing backgrounds. This time, we're focusing on the moody ones. We'll bring you brand-new or update to those free - admittedly stolen from the internet - backgrounds we have been using soon.

Don't ask me why I chose to do rainy variations.

Character sheets:

Wolgen did a great job at expressions for everyone's favorite (I'm not too sure, but I like him) most sus dad. I haven't implemented it to previous days, but once we do some housekeeping at the end of the year, you'll see him being expressive.

Honestly? I think he's just a little bit misunderstood.

CG Update:

Mr Bear is feeling better now, and he didn't fail to deliver. Please, have a preview. Replay L11 if you need to!

Daddy? Sorry, daddy? I'm respectfully staring.

-- QoL Updates --

Now playing??

Have you ever wondered "Which one is this song? I can't find it in the gallery because the dev's so lazy!" when listening to the in-game music? Now you don't have to worry about it because I've (finally) added a "Now Playing" screen.

There's a problem though. It was supposed to be a part of the textbox, but I suck at coding, and I can't figure out how to attach it to the textbox. So, for now, it's a separate screen.

There are a few bugs from implementing this though:

• Some tracks are in their original language, so Android users might get random errors here and there when a certain song plays.
• Since I need to define the title and artist manually, a lot of the tracks are named "Music Name" or something like that, I'm sorry! I'll edit those from time to time.
• Currently, it's not part of the interface, so it appears on top of menus, and you can't hide it, even during CGs. I'll fix that soon.

The thing I'm trying to show you is on the upper right corner...I'll admit, they are staring at me, his two pairs of eyes 👁

It'll show as "None Playing" if there's no music playing.

What's next?

Well! That's a good question! We'll have M11 for the next update, and hopefully G10 as well. I did this to myself, so I have to at least try to work on it. I'm also planning on having our artists do another new character sprites and CG too.

I'll do a poll for that later.

So...links! Where are they?

Links are now posted on the Discord server, but you can still download it through itch.io! Check the pinned post if nothing works. Usually downloading the itch.io client on PC helps because the game will be added into your library once you integrate itch.io with Patreon.

After the increased number of pirating, I've decided to put links into our Patron-only Discord server instead. If you're not a Discord kind of guy, no worries. I update the itch.io link regularly, so make sure to integrate your account to get them.

I don't have anything against pirates, because I totally understand the notion, I really do; but on the flip side, because I have poured my blood, sweat, and tears into this project, and it contributes to more than 40% of my revenue, so I'm obligated to find a measure to stop the piracy problem.

I won't judge or reprimand you for doing that; heck, if you liked what you see from obtaining the project ~illegally~, consider liking the and following the itch.io and patreon page. It'll help me so much.

Of course, I'm forever thankful to my patrons and readers on itch.io. I know I don't engage with you guys much, but I really appreciate you all!

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Thanks for reading!