Game Status Update #58 (Patreon)

Hey there, friends. I hope June has been going well for you so far! I'm back with this month's second game status update.

Today's cover boy is Trevor in a variant of an Instagram promo image. I made it back when I was planning out Trevor's Grind'm hookup scenario after seeing a cam boy in a similar pose that I found very inspiring.

Let's get into what's going on with the next dev build for The Morning After Update! I mentioned last time that I have been having health issues this year that diminished energy and productivity. I was optimistic that stuff going on behind the scenes would alleviate some of these issue, and I'm happy to say they did! I've been more productive in the past few weeks alone than I was for most of the few months prior.

I'm so close to being done with the dev build that it hurts to say that, even though I've been working basically around the clock, I just straight up don't have enough hours left in the month to finish before June ends. I'm gonna go a little more-in depth below about why.

I've talked plenty of times in the past about the Morning After Update being treated as a big transition for the game. I'm using it as a way to make necessary updates to the code, improve character models, revise early art that is no longer up to my standards, and more.

It's turned out to be a much bigger hurdle than I expected (obviously). Specifically with the writing and the code; the art has become the easiest part, even with how picky I am.

Writing

Something a little frustrating about the writing aspect is how much will never be seen by many of you. From just playing, it may not seem like so much content that it warranted all this time. On my side, though, there are many different variants of each scene—thousands and thousands of words across them all—that need written.

I promised early on that choices matter in this game. I am not gonna break that promise. But I need to streamline things, so I've been rethinking (and then rethinking again) how I handle this as I go, both code-wise and when writing.

Here's an example; much of the dialogue continues on past the end of the screen to the right, and the scene cuts off before some choice menus. You may be able to read it better in the enlarged gallery image.

This whole sequence is variants of the same few lines of dialogue. This sequence will also only be seen if you (a) spent the afternoon or party with Dominic or kissed him the night before, (b) hooked up with Marco, (c) loved the experience & want tons more sex, and (d) chose that the next guy you want to get with is Dominic from a menu of guys that only includes Dominic if the conditions of (a) were met. The tone of the inner monologue is determined by Connor feeling hyperconfident after getting with Marco; other variations of this menu option are written differently.

This section isn't even all that complicated compared to one for someone like, say, Alex. But nested within it are still a bunch of different choices and interactions between those choices. So yeah, it can get pretty complicated.

And repetitive, often making it hard to know how things are flowing until a scene is coded and I can play it myself. This is part of the reason I've been working so hard to fix my code—finding ways to have several choices be addressed at once under one variable so I can write dialogue that could fit for any of them. I can still insert lines about specific events, but it'll be less writing overall.

Coding

Now my favorite subject (😒) as a semi-amateur programmer—coding all this and then testing it all! I'll break down some of what I've done/am finishing up.

Cleanup

There are over 1000 variables (choice flags) in the current release version of the game. I've been scouring the game to find, fix, add to, and consolidate these variables to help with the writing. Part of this cleanup is looking for places where choices should have been recorded but weren't. An example are a bunch of choices where Matt should have gotten hornier for you but it wasn't noted—obviously that needed addressed!

Another big part was noting details I should have been tracking all along but hadn't. A specific case is who Connor has met, who he knows about but hasn't met, and who he's seen but doesn't know their name. I also added tracking for who each guy had a preexisting relationship with, who met after the start of the game, and who have only heard about each other—and also if Connor has ever mentioned his knowledge of that relationship to both parties. Owen may have told Connor he knows Matt, for example, but Matt doesn't know Connor knows that, so if it gets brought up, I need a brief line addressing it.

Calculating relationships

This involved not just counting up the love/lust points you gained or lost with each guy for each choice, but also factors in specific choices that heavily weighted things in one direction. You have the potential to become good friends with someone, know them well enough to be considered new friends, or just know them as an acquaintance. You might also be horny for them, have a crush on them, or both, and same in reverse. There's also just how awkward you feel based on what happened so far. Riley needs to have a different reaction if you guys kissed versus if you just hung out platonically, of course.

Player-defined relationships

This is where menus come in. SO MANY menus. For every guy who you have more than a passing relationship with, I ask you if you're into him sexually, romantically, both, or just as friends, which can adjust the calculated variables set above. Depending on the situation, the relationships calculated by choices may remain the same even if you select something different, which could lead to interesting internal conflicts.

You also have situations like Julian where you may consider him the first of many sexual conquests, are wildly confused about him, or just straight up don't like him.

I try to do this organically via talking out your feelings with other guys. But it's entirely possible to skip those convos, so there's also a point where I just say, "Hey, I don't care if you're worried about being late to class again, you're gonna lay on your bed and tell me how you feel, dammit." To build that menu of choices I list options based on who you had significant interactions with, like a hookup, or lesser but still worth mentioning interactions. Each of those menu options pop up different summaries of events like I talked about above.

Determining mood

Lastly is something I only thought to do recently and that's to set a specific mood based on what you chose when defining your relationships. I was finding it a bit jarring to have Connor tearing up over feeling used by Julian and then immediately cracking wise after that block of dialogue ended.

It's a little counter to the goal of making things simpler, but I really want the flow of the story to feel consistent. This mood variable is used to change not just lines of dialogue/inner monologue, but also what expression Connor shows. Later choices can then shift your mood in another direction, but a mood generally lasts for an extended period and can cover a reaction to any number of events. It allows me to add a few extra lines of dialogue to set the tone versus me trying to reference a bunch of different choices to determine what Connor says.

All of this coding, and some stray bits of writing, are what has me in crunch mode. I'm certain a more experienced programmer could do this in a much more efficient manner, but I'm the only one working on this project, for better or worse.

I think one thing that really sets my game apart from similar games is the reactivity, so despite how much of a struggle it's been at times, laying down this foundation and creating the building blocks for more streamlined, organized writing feels like it'll be worth it in the end—an end that's finally in sight.

Anyway, that's where I'm at! This dev build for Seniors & Graduates is really for real coming soon, and then the rest of the Morning After Update can be completed. The story continuation that comes after all the menus and different early morning events is much more straightforward—and also has a lot of CGs planned that I can't wait to make.

In the meantime, I know there's been a dearth of content here on Patreon this month. But Sophomore patrons and above have this year's Pride galley to look forward to, which has a fun theme. It includes trios of guys who have never been together before. The combos should make for an interesting Bonus Gallery poll...