Weekly Update 2019-02-23

Teaser Scene

This week’s teaser is actually a refactored version of one we had done previously. This one has been updated with our new image layer processes and benefits from improved detail, lighting and composition. You can check out the original version here and compare for yourself.

Weekly Progress

A lot has been happening this week. You can find all the details below.

Story Progress: Still hard at work on the next Nanami chapter. This one has kind of gotten away from us in the second draft. By which I mean this installment was originally a lot smaller but continues to grow as the final draft is coming around. We’ve taken great efforts to strengthen the dialogue and plot, as well as the sex scenes themselves (of which there are two possible, both of which can be attainable on a single playthrough).

Redundancy and VCS: We’ve been so hardcore with trying to push up development that we back slid on some basic development fundamentals. So we spent part of this week correcting those oversights. We’ve now implemented a full offsite backup process that updates automatically and daily.

This way if the worst happens and our system catches fire and nothing is recoverable, we can have the project back up and running within 48 hours in another location. It’s a feature we hope we never need but worth the time and money to have in place.

We also spent some time going back and cleaning up our git branches. For those who don’t know, Git is a version control system that keeps the development processes clean and efficient. To that end, we did a little rebasing and merging as well as clearing out old commits and centralizing all of the independent indexes into a single location. So now all work is being pushed and fetched from a single server which will help keep me and Fecal on the same page.

Back peddling:  Amanda’s last chapter revealed a few possible complications and instabilities with the layering system and the way we were using it. The short list of problems is incorrect layers mixing, imperfect blending, and position off setting.

One of the original goals of the layering system was the decrease in file size. And an increase in visual options and variety. But recent policy changes on our end have made us rethink how we’re going to handle layers going forward.

As we were putting together the short Amanda update we realized that it is absurd that by the time we put it together, players are going to have to re-download half a gig’s worth of game just to see a few dozen megs worth of content. And with all the tools available to crack open a renpy game and get at the guts, it just started making less and less sense to archive and hide files in the game.

So going forward, we’re going to release the game unarchived. Patrons can download the entire game, compiled and ready to play. Or, they will have the option to download only the new content (a considerably smaller file) and merge it with the version they already have on their local machine.

We will continue to use the webp format because that does save a considerable amount of size. But layers will be larger and rendered out at the full resolution. On the backend, this means we can save a few hours each week not having to slice images and configure the x,y coordinates in renpy. We can just swap whole layers at the origin and save a few hours each week.

Having the whole layer also means we avoid blending issues and layers peeking out from behind other layers. It will make for a much cleaner visual experience. And while it will re-inflate the file size a bit, patrons being able to download just the new content, means you still have a net gain where reduced download time is concerned.

Streaming Poll:

It looks like we’ve settled on Jane for next Wednesday’s stream. So we’ll be dropping another 48 hour poll here in a bit to determine a setting. After that we’ll be ready to go.

What’s Next

We continue to work. We have a lot left to do on Nanami’s update. A lot of images to build and render and a few animations to build out. This next update should be a real crowd pleaser.

Some of the things you can look forward to in the next update are:

• Forward movement in the Nanami/Roger/Arthur plot
• Strip Clubs
• Prostitutes
• Hand jobs
• Blow jobs
• Intercourse
• Anal
• Foot play
• Rimming
• Public Sex
• Transgender Sex (This can be turned off entirely!)

I’d estimate we’re about a third of the way through development, but it’s hands down the largest update we’ve put together yet. So we’re begging for a little patience.

We’re already over 1000 lines of code, and that’s just dialogue and choices. So after we build and integrate all the images and animations, it should be very sizeable indeed.

Our tentative goal is to have this ready in the next couple of weeks. But that means we have to drive hard. Till then, thank you for your continued support! We love working for you and appreciate you helping us do this kind of work!

Salute friends!