Dev Update (Patreon)

Hi All,

Some minor spoilers about Ep19 below, so if you haven't played Ep19 yet, please don't read.  Also some overview on Ep20 so if you don't want to know what scenes are planned, please don't read.

Just a quick update on Ep20.   Had a really productive week this week so happy with progress although we still have a lot to do.  As per my previous post, I'm not going to give an estimated release date until we're much closer to completion (we get it wrong too many times and always under-estimate how long the proofing, branching, error checking takes).

All I'll say is, looking like a March release at this stage.

The Dogboy, Roger, Natasha scenes first drafts are done (art & script done including a couple of anims).   I call it a first draft but Ace is probably sick of my meddling at this stage and he  would consider it 4th or 5th draft.  :)

The Jenna, Jolina scene also going well.  Script-wise, I have the full outline mapped out but nowhere near what I would call a first draft.    Lots of art done but no anims yet.  Art is looking fantastic.  Once I get into writing the meat of this scene, progress will be quick as the art is exactly what I was looking for and I'm happy with the planned branching / outline.

Elaine scene - Still working on the outline but no art started yet and script has just started.

The morning after scene at the beach house -  Art is done (no anims planned for this scene) and a lot of dialog done but still lots to do.   The aim of this scene is to wrap up a lot of the threads from the previous night and to set some clear paths for the future of the three girls.    Prior to this point in the game, players taking the "man-whore" route have had a relatively easy path of balancing multiple women without too many difficult overlaps.... Obviously, after last night, the paths of the 3 girls have met so there will have to be some big decisions to make for the player in this scene.

I'm happy with the progress in this beach house scene but the script is taking a LOT of time.  Because we have so many paths/branches (solo options x 3, 3some, 4some, no interest in a girl, tried sabotage, kicked out, friends with benefits, casual dating, serious about a girl, etc.), plus need to consider what each girl knows about MC's relationship with other girls,  it takes a lot of writing just to get a few lines of dialog into the game - Need to write different dialog for  each branch/path - So a  few hundred lines written works out as a only a small number of dialog lines in the specific branch you are playing.  Other than epilogues, game ending, etc. I think from a branching perspective this scene will be the most difficult to manage, track and complete all branches for. 

I'm started to see why some Devs have a much less focus on branching /tracking, etc. (where Main characters and NPC seem to get amnesia and forget any events that have happened previously :) because it's a nightmare to write.   However I do think it is also one of the strengths of our game where every character remembers and reacts to every previous conversation and decision and is also conscious of other NPCs.   But with this deep "memory", it takes a lot of effort.  Next game, we might take some of the amnesia, every day is a blank slate approach!  :) :)

As always, please let me know if you have any questions, inputs, comments, etc.  either in the comments below, or send me a DM or join the chat on our discord:

https://discord.gg/8YpmWjv