DevLog #55: November 2020 (Patreon)

Hey guys, I hope you're all well and safe!

I've worked most of this month on the finalization of Light Fairytale Episode 2. Most of the difficult/costly work have been done but as some devs says, the last 5% is another 50%...

Actually I wouldn't say 50%, more like 15% but still, it does require a lot of time to finalize a game.

Also, I've been playtesting a lot and feel that the game's still not there for a public release, mostly on the battle part.

There are already more battles and possibilities than episode 1 but I want even more. Also, there are 2 playable characters right now but I want to add a 3rd - optional character that will feel a bit different.

The game might be finalized this December but it won't be a good timing for an indie game. I'm still targeting a release in mid-January on Steam early access and soon after on consoles - PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Good news: I plan on purchasing a Nintendo Switch devkit just after that, and port both Episode 1 and 2! Adding the Switch to my platform targets for all of my upcoming games!

Next, I've received the final 3D model of Doll Rachel, the lead playable character in Dark Fairytale, my next major game.

As you can see, I'm going for more standard proportions - compared to the chibi models in Light Fairytale - as I think they will feel more natural in action scenes.

Dark Fairytale is a story driven action-adventure game with shoot 'em up phases, set in a dark steampunk world. It's still at concept/prototype stage.

Next, I worked a bit on a new side project.

I can understand spoken Japanese pretty well, but when playing old Japanese games I still have trouble with kanji reading. Kanji is the biggest challenge when learning Japanese as it require years of dedication.

So, I though about making kana (kanji readings) patchs for the various Japanese retro games I play. Unlike kanji, kana can be learned in a couple of weeks, and I can read them just fine.

It's actually much easier than making a fan translation in English, as the process can be completely automated, and unlike a machine translation to English which is almost always terrible, automated kana conversions are perfect 99% of the time.

So, here's a shot of one of the games I tried to patch. This is "Cosmic Fantasy" on the NEC PC Engine CD. You can see on the left screenshot my kana patch applied, and on the right one the original text with kanji.

As of now this is mostly a proof of concept, but I will release my patchs once finalized and tested!

Next :3

If you read my recent devlogs you'd know that I like making semi-realistic 3DCG renders of my characters.

Actually I enjoy the process a lot as it feels a bit like cosplay - just with a cuter result than if I had to cosplay my girls myself :3

Here's a few shots for the new 3D model I prepared of the mysterious girl from the Light Fairytale series...

... and here's a few facial expression tests.

Finally, here's a 4K wallpaper with an actual render. Do you guys like such renders too? Please let me know in the comments!

I plan to do more renders like this one of various characters from my games, so please look forward to that!

Here's one more 4K wallpaper from the Anime of Light Fairytale. This is Hydropolis, a port city located at the edge of a huge underground lake.

This is actually a playable location planned for Episode 3, which will include the mandatory bath scene :3

Exceptional bonus, here's my cat still respecting the containment measures. Sharing a bit of love in these crazy times :3

... and that's it for this month!

Again, thank you so much for your continuous support.

Stay safe everyone and see you next time!