April 25 Update (Patreon)

Okay, this post is going to double as a weekly update and the version 0.8.0 progress post! There's a lot to cover - skip to the end if you just want to be involved with the key issues. UPDATED: APRIL 27 I know this isn't the best-looking game out there. I don't have the technical skills to compete with some of the amazing stuff other people are putting out, but I do think about this. Whenever I can improve something without taking time away from creating more content, I try to go for other improvements. To that end, this version I've completed a number of improvements I've been preparing/planning. Some of the most dramatic are the character revamps we've been discussing in the $10 threads: - Yarra now has custom art more befitting a succubus: http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah284/sierraleeauthor/Yarra1_zpsqvwuokvg.png - Carina has a profile appropriate for a priestess: http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah284/sierraleeauthor/Carina_zps1tmsy8jf.png - Hilstara has better emotional range: http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah284/sierraleeauthor/2md5stw.jpg_zpsgmvwvfv7.png CRITICAL TO DO LIST (what has to get done) - The newest chapter is mostly finished, but the enemies need testing/balancing. - All the sex scenes are written (ten of them!) but they haven't been edited or implemented. - I need to make more NPCs for the new phase of Ari-Yhilina. Right now only the quest-important NPCs have been given new dialogue. (DONE) - Complete playthrough for final testing. I'm holding off on this until all updates that might potentially break the game are done. IDEAL TO DO LIST (what I'd like to get done) - Prologue remake. As soon as the first Chosen dies, I want to hit players with the game's full scope and quality. To that end, I'll be remaking most of those maps using a wide variety of different tilesets. Some of the characters shown will get art upgrades. I'd also like to introduce a new character who I'd planned to leave for later, hopefully provide another hook. (50%) - Increase the icon set. I have a huge one that can handle all the sex items/skills, but when I change over it will screw up every icon in the game so far and so I'll need to edit a bunch of things. (DONE) - Make the mushroom sidequest guy take them all at once. Shouldn't be hard, it's just never been at the top of my priority list. WAITING LIST (what I'm just waiting on) - Waiting on custom title screen and some other organizational screens. - I've commissioned more emotion facesets for Yarra's new look. - The Hilstara art above is preliminary, the final version will be a little better. (DONE) - Potentially waiting on sex scene CGs (see below). WISHLIST (what I'd like but don't have a way to do yet) - You know how it tells you a character's title and affection when you talk to them in a camp? I wanted this to be a popup that appears alongside their dialogue, but after trying a bunch of systems never found one that did it well. (DONE) - Givini NPCs still use generator faces, which I don't like. I wish I could find more good quality resources for black characters, but I've had limited success so far. - It would be cool to replace the map screens with custom images. - I haven't found a script or other method to permanently change the music for an area. I'd like to change the background music for the razed farm after the attack. COMPLETED LIST (already done) - The next chapter of the plot is done and a major economic system is implemented. - The game now uses custom menus. Nothing fancy, but I think it matches the feel of the game better. - I dropped some money on new tiles, NPCs, and other resources. I want each country to have a different look and feel (as you've probably noticed, I used Mack tiles for Yhilin) and now I should be able to distinguish all of them. - Formerly generic NPCs like Ina, Lucy, Kara, and Orcent now have unique sprites and facesets. - The shade of Varia's sprite now matches her bust/faceset. - A few new facesets now match characters better (for example, succubus leaders no longer use lamia faces). - I also gave the Zirantian prostitute a proper non-generated faceset. - When traveling the map screen in Stineford, you now have a movement cursor instead of a normal sprite (this will also be used for future region maps). - Finally got a fog system figured out: maps can now have clouds, fogs, sunlight, and probably many other things. The ones I have may require some tweaking, but I think they make several areas look nicer. - Similarly, I'm making better use of VX Ace's weather effects. They don't feel appropriate for too many areas so far, but feel free to leave feedback on this. - Yarra now presides over a harem management system. Right now it doesn't have a lot of functionality, but it lets you see everyone's profile shots again and keep track of people. - Did a little remapping to areas that were bland or to make better use of my new tilesets. - We have music that is, if not custom, at least non-default. I'm not going to add what I have recklessly, since it will balloon the file size, but I'll be including new songs as they're needed for added variety. - Battle music now varies. Bosses have a different theme, there's sadder music when you're forced to fight a certain ally, etc. - One of those is a new theme song that isn't so heavily used. Hopefully everyone likes it or lets it grow on them, because I really like the feel of it. - Sex skills rebalanced so combat is slightly less grindy (basically by taking away any reason to grind for healing at the end of fights). - Shops now display more information about equipment so purchasing decisions are easier. - The text box toggles on and off when you press the Control key. This is useless right now, but maybe someday... - Robin and Hilstara's EXP in Stineford changed slightly. You can still optimize experience, but they won't be as far behind if you get them very late. - Lots of little notes. Robin/Hilstara comment more in Stineford, story dialogue changes slightly based on optional stuff, etc. - Bunch of minor cosmetic things fixed... though I've probably introduced as many new problems... There is one piece of bad news: old save files are going to be invalid. I wasted a few hours trying to get them to convert without being buggy as hell before giving up. Sorry about that, but I plan for this to be the last time I make substantial changes to the game that could result in such bugs. Some of this was inevitable, so better now than later. Now is the time to make any general requests! Once this version is out, I want to focus on creating more plot and sex content for a while. I know that's what brought people to the game in the first place, so once I reach this tier of quality I hope to devote myself to the heart of the project. That's way more fund than this stuff. -_- Now, all this leaves us with several key issues I'd like input on: RELEASE DATE: I'll probably be done on time (ready to release May 2nd), but I don't know if the art will be. This could really delay things. WISHLIST STUFF: If you know of a way to do any of the things on my list, or you have something you'd like to add, now is the time. POTENTIAL SEX CGs: This has been a major request from the beginning. Now, getting custom CGs for every scene would bring the project grinding to a halt, but I have in mind an interim concept. If each character had a single CG, it would give the majority of scenes a visual component and provide a solid base from which to work in an ideal future. Even this would slow down the release, however.* PROMOTION: I'm not done with any of it yet, but I'll be asking you all for input on really putting the game's best foot forward as this version is released. *We could do something like a backer release with finalized gameplay, then you could all see the finalized art once the public version is released.