Dev Update - 2/13/23 (Patreon)

Hey, friends! Hope everyone's having a good week! I've been rendering all day, and the current total stands at 640. Not too shabby! Not excellent, but not shabby.

Today I finished a scene with Mason that really shouldn't have been a pain in the ass, but I kind of made it one by setting it outside (which means cars, buildings, stuff reaching to the horizon..) and then deciding it should also feature a crowd of onlookers. In addition, the scene has some action-y elements, which can be difficult to pose in a way that looks natural.

But whatever, it looks cool! Huzzah.

I'm now officially onto Gabby's big scene for the next update, where we'll see her and MC hash out their relationship -- whatever form that might take going forward. I'm pumped for that one. Gabby's always a delight to render, and her storyline is one of my favorites. I am working to optimize Barron Books a bit, to make the renders go a bit easier. But, that shouldn't be a big deal. Really hoping to have all the Gabby stuff done by week's end.

Besides that, I've mostly been writing. Writing, writing, writing. I had to drop a few things I had planned, streamlining a few scenes for the sake of expediency. This is already going to be a pretty meaty update. No need for me to make more work for myself -- despite how much I love to do so.

Oh, snap! I almost forgot. I did something silly that some of you may not have seen, if you're not on the Discord or at the $15+ tier.

I periodically receive demands/requests to excise Nicki entirely from the story of FiN, for reasons which remain a bit opaque to me. But, it's basically impossible anyways. She's a huge  part of the arrative, and the mechanics of the game. She acts as the MC's  conscience, sounding board, and exposition-delivery-system. Her story serves as the inciting incident from which the whole narrative springs. I could no more remove her from the game, than I could MC himself.

But, after a recent bad review wherein I was castigated over Nicki once again, I decided to be a bit of a troll, and created.. THE ANTI NICKI  PATCH. This patch will, when you add its contents to your game folder, create a new (and very brief..) path where you can choose to kick Nicki out in Chapter One. Just start a new game and choose the option, "Tell her to fuck off," when presented with the option to help her or not. Hopefully it gives you a chuckle.

I know that seems like a waste of time on my part, but A) it actually served as a good trial balloon for serving future chapters as patches, instead of full downloads and B) doing little projects like that, which I can knock out in an hour or two, do a lot to keep me sane. Working on a game like this means a lot of long hours in front of a PC, knowing you won't see the culmination of your work for months -- and then you get to do it again, beginning the cycle anew! So every now and then it's nice to make something that gives a little hit of instant gratification.

I missed the Wanton Weekends update since I've been so busy with the actual work of FiN (not to mention the day job, personal responsibilities, etc.) but I'm planning to do something for this upcoming weekend. Trying to decide what shape that'll take exactly..

Are there any character you folks would like a little more info about? I'm thinking it'd be fun to write a short story and pair it with some pieces of art, to give more background on a character.. That's all dependent on time of course, but I think it'd be cool.

Failing that, I can always just do a fun photoset! :D

Alright, that's it for now! Hope you folks have a great week! I should be crossing 700 renders really soon, and I'm getting closer and closer to rendering Ashe's big date. That one's going to be a lot of fun, uniting some story threads in ways people may not expect..

As always, thank you for your support, and take care of yourselves!