House Cleaning

This week, I have been doing more exciting work for TOTDC 2, like fixing/improving the UI! XD It's kind of boring, but I am trying to go through all the placeholders (things like guns/shotgun/grenades icons) fix some of the quirky stuff related to how Ren'Py's logic handles screens (like clickable text in certain menus being lit as if selected, even though no such thing was happening), trying to make the UI more uniform where possible, adding more information (like showing HP and shields values in the inventory so that it's easier to decide when to use a medkit and so on).

I also did some work on Caliross, mostly based on reports: I fixed some typos, made it so you can hide/unhide the dialog box not just with CTRL but with S as well (useful because you can't rebind CTRL, and you don't have an equivalent on gamepads), added more details to one of the questlog objective (for the Dragoon quest) and so on.

I still have a bunch of posts to write for the patrons, so those are still coming, but other than that there isn't anything major to report. Thanks for your support and your patience, until next time! ^_^

April Update

 

It's been a LOOONG time but the 1.0 release is here! No jokes are necessary, people will think it's a late april's fool anyway. Get the public version here or at itch.io. Read the changelog here, and confirm once again that there is actually a 1.0 release mentioned in there.

 P.S.

Apparently, I forgot to publish this post, so apologies for the abysmal delay. 

Small Bites

 

So, the new trickle of Caliross content is coming soon! I worked on a final, repeatable scene for our favourite circus lady, and I have added a few things to the currently empty noble area. It's not a huge amount, but I got sidetracked a few times last week and I don't want to delay things much, as this isn't exactly urgent content.

I guess I'll also start writing a post for my post-mortem of Caliross and some more talks about TOTDC 2, so you guys have something to chew on.

Anyway, not much else to report, I don't think, so I'll be signing off now. Look forward to the mini-update! ^_^

Back To The Future

 This week I have been doing some basic stuff in TOTDC 2 to get things started: finding/adding some sounds, editing dialogues, fixing minor issues, that sort of thing. It's been a while since I touched TOTDC 2, so I wanted to start with the kind of things that doesn't require much thinking. I also did some boring stuff, like checking the quality difference between setting the images to lossless vs 90% quality (webp format). I honestly couldn't find much of an issue visually, and in some cases the images were 4-5 times smaller in size, so I'll probably continue doing that going forward (I already changed a good chunk of the images to the new quality setting). It might not matter right now, but I am sure it's going to be relevant in the long run, and as I said the quality seemed just fine.

This week I'll be back on Caliross to check what's left to do. I already have a couple of bugfixes (related to the Abyssal), but I do have some content left to address as well, so we'll see how that goes.

The Caliross patch should be out next week, so you can look forward to that. I might also write a bit more about TOTDC 2 next week, to paint a better picture of what the game is going to be like.

Anyway, that's all for now, stay tuned for more! ^_^

March Update

We sure came (eh) a long way... Next month 1.0* will go public (there is still a handful of things I want to address, so you can expect some very minor updates to trickle out in the following months still)! For now, enjoy 0.9.34 (or get on Patreon and support me, I won't complain XD). Get the public version here or at itch.io. Read the changelog here, and see the light at the end of the tunnel.

*It sure is weird to have a release version without a 9 somewhere in it.

Progressing Steadily

Last week I spent more time writing and figuring out if I could add more reactions from your friends at the academy, but I kept wondering if it wasn't going to be too much, so I have been holding back (I do have a couple more dialogues I'd like, so maybe I'll sneak those in if I find the time). I found some unexpected work (a scene with Charles needed a repeatable version, which now is in the game), I added one last spell you can learn from Valentine if you provide her with another magical thing to study (this works indirectly as a reward for getting the final prototype from Janet), I changed an area where the mouse transformation was used in the game, but didn't use the spell and required you to examine passage (now both approaches work), and I am in the middle of adding a couple more things (one last custom order category or event for the old man at the bazaar, like I mentioned previously, and something for the aftermath of the chess mini-quest with General Tiberius).

I am still debating if I should wrap things up quickly for the chess mini-quest or not, since it's not exactly very important, but we'll see.

No art preview on Patreon, since no new art for Caliross has been commissioned, but perhaps I'll put together a showcase for TOTDC 2, instead.

Anyway, I'll try to send the testers a build soon, and have the release during the weekend, assuming things line up, so make sure to keep an eye out for it, as I scramble to get more things finished! XD

Topsy-Turvy Tuesday

 As mentioned in my plans last time, I wrote a new scene for the game (it's the last one for getting drunk in Solina, you have seen the art in the last preview), I tweaked Yef's repeatable scene with some new alternative bits so that it flows better once you start repeating it and I started work on the magic academy. The scenes with Eloise in the shower got a similar treatment to Yef's, and now there are some slight differences once they start repeating, plus I added some dialogues with your friends at the academy (mostly some gossip).

I have more to do there, but then I'll move on to Valentine and Tiberius in the royal court, to see what's missing there and I'll try to think of something for the noble district, and then I'll check my notes again, to see what other minutia is missing from the list. I'll probably cut from my plans any fully-fledged quests, but perhaps I can add something less ambitious in the process.

Anyway, that's about it for now, and as always stay tuned for more news! ^_^