Game Update #29 (Patreon)

Hey there, everyone. It's time for April's first game status update—plus info on the images attached to this post. Let's begin there!

The New Connor

If you're a Junior, Senior, or Graduate, you may have already seen the post from a week ago about a revised model for Connor that's coming soon. Or you may have seen it hinted at on Twitter.

To sum up what was discussed in that post—I have been planning a new Connor for a little while, for a few reasons. First is because of the general comments I've seen about Connor not being as hot/cute as the other characters in game, or that he looks unintentionally awkward.

The more important reason for me is that the original Connor model was the first I made, and its rough edges are super apparent now. He's very difficult to pose/light to look good, which leads to me taking a long time on each game CG; often I have to settle for "good enough" after hours and hours of tweaking. Obviously, that's not a great trait for someone who'll be in virtually every CG in the game, and creating those CGs is often a big factor in delays I face.

So the goal is to create a new model that's higher def to be visually more in line with newer characters while maintaining the essence of who Connor is. I'm aiming for a good middle ground between cute and hot, wide-eyed and savvy, to fit whatever role he's playing at that point in the story.

The figure I shared a week ago received a lot of nice comments, and also received some comments with very valid criticisms, namely that his body was too lean/muscular and that he just looked older overall. These were fantastic notes and really helped me revise him to look more like himself—basically, I went too far in the "hot" direction and needed to pull him back towards cute and fresh-faced.

My test for if the model is working is this—does he evoke the same feeling as original Connor did in the very first CG in the game? Does he show a youthful trepidation and excitement as he enters 21CA to begin college life?

Here's how the current version of the model looks next to his original self:

I'm really happy with how it's turning out—he's more HD overall, and to me, he's now giving off the same Connor energy.

You'll also notice the CG itself is different beyond just the new model. When updating the game, I'm mostly going to be inserting the new model into a scene, make whatever minor adjustments are needed, and queue the image up to render. 

But for the earliest CGs I created, like this one, I'm going to revise them a little using all I've learned about lighting, posing, composition, camera settings, etc. in the year and a half since I first made the images.

Here's the full scene to compare to the one in-game. This image isn't final—I have some changes still to make to Connor, and there are details that are off, like Parker in the background having no hair. But I hope it gives a better sense of what I'm going for and why I'm choosing to do this.

So what's the plan with the new model? He's not going into the game until after the Club Update. It's delayed enough as it is. But I would like to use the new model in the first Grind'm scene, so I'm looking to do this full-game image update in the same release.

For the time being I'm letting the model "rest," as it were, and will do some more revisions after I've finished work on the Club Update. I'll be sure to share new images in a Sneak Peek before he's finalized—truly, the comments I received about the first version were so, so helpful.

I had a vision for Connor when I started this game that I didn't have the skills to fully realize, so I'm very excited for this refresh. I hope you are, too!

The Club Update

Alright, back to the regularly scheduled business! There's really not much to add to what I wrote in Game Update #28, so I'm not gonna make you read through a bunch of minutiae this time. Basically, I'm still working at it to get it playable as soon as I can.

I've reached a point where I've decided that the next dev build will focus on the Isaiah and Solo storylines. The Asher/Skinema stuff is taking too long to get keyed in, and I want you to have something to play! 

The aim is to get the next dev build out sometime in the next week. I will keep everyone posted on when it comes out—each dev build is a big milestone and means the final release is getting closer by the day.

That's all I've got for today! I've got a lot of work to do, and I'd best get back to it. In the meantime, if you have any thoughts on the new Connor, I'd love to hear them!