Game Update #38 (Patreon)

Hey there, friends! Your belated mid-month game status update is here. Today I have two pieces of big news:

The Club Update is now out of early access and free to everyone! If you're a Freshman who hasn't played yet, visit this post for the download links and all the details. This is a public post, so feel free to share it with anyone you think would like to play.

Second, it's time to choose the next Grind'm guy! The first winner was Jordi, whose Grind'm hookup scenario is coming soon. With the decision process lasting a month and a half, it's time to get started on picking the second guy who will get an unlockable hookup in the game.

This poll is only open to Graduates, who can visit this post to vote. There are more details below, and the gallery has sexy new pics of all 18 contenders.

Now to the current release being developed.

New Connor CG Revamp

This monumental task is ongoing, and as I'm sure we all suspected, it's taking longer than the ideal situation would have been. There are nearly 300 CGs being replaced, after all. But I've made some great headway and am really happy with how these are all coming together.

I'm also using this as an opportunity to fix things I didn't like about some of the original CGs, which is contributing to the time it takes to finish each one. What can I say, I'm nitpicky about my work! Some changes are minor, and some are a little more complicated like giving Griffin a new pose in the CG of him and Connor in the alley behind the club.

I've also decided to redo a couple non-Connor CGs. Most prominent is Riley's introductory CG, which you can see a bigger version of in the gallery.

The lighting was so bad in the original that it was incredibly jarring going from the new Connor CGs to the one with Riley. I'm going to restrain myself from redoing every CG in the game, but there are some key ones like this that feel necessary to revise to up the overall game quality. I think this new version of the CG looks so much better—you can actually see Riley instead of just a white glare with a beefy ass!

Grind'm Art, Writing, & Coding

With the CG revamp ongoing, I'm still in the early days of creating the first Grind'm hookup featuring Jordi. But much has come into place, beginning with the flowchart of the whole shebang:

This layout will look similar to a certain Club Update hookup whose flowchart I shared previously. As the game moves forward, all hookups will more or less follow this format, beginning with the scenario setup, moving on to the foreplay warmup, and then branching into different sections as you choose your position preferences.

The 3rd through 5th blocks in this flowchart cover Side, Bottom, and Top. After the foreplay, you'll pick one of the three positions to start with, which is the first row in each block. Midway through, you can either continue on with the same position or switch to something new. Sticking entirely with one position will unlock extra CGs in that position while switching things up will unlock a broader selection. You control your Connor and what you want to see, and I want to make sure all three preferences get special content.

Writing-wise, this is pretty straightforward. These are fantasy non-canon scenarios, and the big conceit is that Connor is already experienced. This scenario begins with chatting up Jordi, then meeting up for some pre-hookup shenanigans. From there it's all about the art.

There are 37 unique image setups for a total of 64 CGs. Like with the hookups already in the game, many of the images are the exact same composition with some things changed up to give a sense of motion; bobbing heads, stroking hands, bouncing asses.

I haven't started these images yet since the CG revamp is still underway. When I do, the art will inform the writing, since the script is relatively simple and mostly needs, you know, creative ways to write about moaning in ecstasy.

This is the biggest hookup scene I'll have created for the game, and as such it's a lot of work. But I want these scenarios to give a full hookup experience worthy of their own game release. Just because these are to tide us over between story updates doesn't mean I'm going to skimp on the content!

With the new feature will come a new menu screen. I've explored a number of different layouts and have settled on this mockup:

When you open the page, you'll have the phone on the left with pictures for each available hookup. There will be a "discreet" version before you've unlocked the hookup and then an icon similar to the one in this image once the hookup has been unlocked. The other squares will act as blank profiles until new guys are added.

The middle section will have a bio that hints at where you can find the person whose hookup can be unlocked. Once unlocked, it'll be replaced with something similar to the mockup. The right will be where you can get a full look at the guy you're hooking up with. This isn't the final image for Jordi, by the way; I'm using a commissioned piece for the mockup.

I wasn't really planning to add a gallery for the images in the hookups, but I may change my mind on that. If I do add one, it'll be linked from the right image.

The coding for this was something I was worried I wouldn't be able to figure out since it's something distinct from how the rest of the game is coded. But Bob C., the creator of Yearning: A Gay Story and other games, shared an achievement coding template on Itch.io that is perfect for what I need to do. That's a big weight off my shoulders, since I think adapting the code to the Grind'm format will work great.

Looking Ahead

So I think it's pretty clear that the New You Update won't be going into early access before the end of the month, but it is coming together lightyears faster than the Club Update. Before the end of the month I'll also start drafting the next story update that'll follow up on all the game's choices. In the first game status update of September I'll go in-depth about the writing of the next story release and how I'll be handling carrying forward relationship statuses with each guy. I've been anticipating making this part of the game for a long, long time and I have a ton of plans that I think you guys will love. I hope the new CGs and Grind'm will keep us fed until the full meal comes—and I'm planning for a feast.

Grind'm #2 Polling

Mentioned above, I'm beginning the next round of polling for Grind'm! Since the polling comes in three phases and lasts a month and a half, I'm starting now so I can start planning guy #2's hookup scenario after wrapping up the Morning After Update.

There are 18 contenders in this first voting round, all supporting characters that have been introduced in the game as of the Club Update. Voters are able to pick multiple guys that they want to see more of, and the top 8 picks will move on to the semi-finals.

These polls are exclusively for Graduate Patreon patrons. If you're a Graduate—or would like to become one—head here to make your picks. The poll post includes brief bios of each guy and links to the Patreon posts they're featured in so you can see more of each one before you vote.

I'll be announcing the 8 semi-finalists in the first September game status update, which is when the next phase of polling will begin. Here are all 18 contenders in the first round. The formerly nameless gogo boy and the bouncer introduced in the Club Update are included, now named Oliver (Ollie) and Roman. You can see bigger versions of these images in the gallery.

On the topic of voting: If you're a Senior or Graduate who hasn't voted for this month's bonus gallery, it's become a neck-and-neck race between Matt and Riley for who'll be hooking up with Will. The poll ends at midnight PDT—click here to make your vote!

That's what I've got today! I'm so thrilled to be widely releasing the Club Update after so long, and so excited on all the new stuff coming up. I hope you are, too!