Quest Complete!

The quest I was working on is finished! All I need to add is very minor stuff like the questlog entry, or the epilogue for failing (I don't think it's possible to fail this one in practice, but maybe there is a player who decided to go for my games in "ironman" mode XD).

I guess this takes us one step closer to the demo release. Once I finish adding the bells and whistles, I'll have to contact my testers, while I write the "cliffhanger" scene for the main plot (nothing mind-blowing, but it's the perfect place where to end the demo, I think).

I guess I'll also do more polishing where I can, if time permits, but I'll also have to update the Patreon page and the tiers (it's finally time to change the visual for the tiers, at the very least, and we'll see if there is anything else to change).

I am honestly not sure if updating the tiers will require people to re-sub or anything, but hopefully that's not the case (they should be functionally the same, for the most part, unless I get good ideas for something new/different). I'll probably put a copy of the Patreon Caliross page somewhere, so that it's "archived" as is (the game still has one minor update coming, and I still need to work on the walkthrough, but I assume it's going to be less relevant going forward).

I can't think of anything else to report off the top of my head, so that's all for now. Stay tuned for more news! ^_^

Hallowheeze

I got sick on friday, so things will likely be slow for a couple more days. You already know what I was busy with last week (mostly writing for my patrons), but now it's time to get back to working on TOTDC 2 and finish the quest, as well as try to get everything ready for the launch.

Since this is a short post, I'll mention how I forgot to watch a horror movie (or play a horror game) this Halloween (unless we count the latest Castlevania), which bummed me out a little in retrospect. XD

Anyway, not really much to say at this point, but I am sure I'll have plenty to share next week. Until then! ^_^

No-Nut November Denier

So, the quest is almost done, but almost isn't good enough. I could probably get there this week if I push really hard, but it's probably better if I just finish next month, so I have more time for testing, adding some more content as well as updating the page and whatnot.

As for the status of the quest, most of the important writing and logic is done, but there is some more writing + the epilogue to be written and some of the "external" logic (I want the 2 quests to be completable in any order, so I need to trigger the next steps of the main quest regardless). Some polish is also missing but that's about it (it's a simple quest, although since it's an investigation writing did take slightly more than expected, to make sure it's reasonably logical, although I assume some tweaks will be necessary after testing happens and I get some feedback.

This also means this week we'll get a bunch of patrons-only posts/content in a row, I guess, so patrons can look forward to those. See you soon! ^_^

The Art Of Running Slowly

First, a small announcement: I got reports from multiple people that the Windows 11 bug that caused crashes with Caliross has been fixed, so everyone who had issues should make sure they update Windows 11, if they haven't done so already. I also have another small change to Caliross (a new debug option) but as mentioned last week, this update will probably come out next month.

Speaking of which, the new quest for TOTDC 2 is moving forward nicely. It's still looking tight, but it's possible the demo will debut this month, although I am not going to sweat it at this point if I need that bit of extra time and we reach november instead (okay, maybe I am going to sweat it a little, but there is no point in worrying too much).

The quest is going to be a small investigation of sorts, so Celeste will have to rely on her wits, rather than her guns. Writing is the most important part as a result of this, but we'll see if I can throw in a few more interactions and/or secrets. I have a couple ideas for these extras, so I'll gladly include them if I get the right inspiration.

Sorry for being a bit late with the other Patreon posts, I'll make sure to write them at the end of the month (assuming I don't have to put all of my efforts into pushing the demo out during the last few days of October).

Anyway, that's all for today, stay tuned for more updates next week! ^_^

Chasing Monday

This is a bit too soon, considering when the previous post was, but I am trying to get back to my regular schedule, and either post on monday or tuesday at the latest.

Anyway, I have been doing some productive work on TOTDC 2 and some bugfixing/QoL stuff on Caliross (we even got some very minor fixing/editing to its walkthrough, how exciting :p).

For TOTDC 2 I made a bunch of minor improvements and polishing: implementing little icons for the extranet "hyperlinks" (so people know at a glance if they are clicking on a picture or are being re-directed to another page), improving the presentation of the extranet when closing the menu with an open image still on, further improving and finalizing UI elements for the remaining minigame, fixing some awkward issues with tooltips (Ren'py is honestly kind of hard to wrap my head around at times), fixing punctuation and typos, and finally started doing some work on the new quest I mentioned. This should be a short one, so it won't use the UI for moving from room to room like the other one, but it will have a little gimmick, so hopefully it's interesting to play through, regardless. I believe these quests are ideal in terms of showcasing both ends of the quest design that I'd like to have for TOTDC 2, which is one of the reasons why I started with them.

The idea is that you'll be able to complete this quest and the other in whichever order you prefer, and then the main story will expand with some more info. I'd like the main story reveal to be the cliffhanger for the demo, so hopefully I can get everything ready in time.

As for Caliross, I am in no hurry (the changes are small, as you would expect), so I'll do it whenever I have some free time (perhaps even next month, if things get busy).

That's all for now, see you guys next week! ^_^

Thanks A Lot, Microsoft!

As you probably know if you saw my previous post on Patreon, it seems like Caliross (and various RPG Maker games in general) have been screwed over by a windows 11 update, causing crashes and whatnot. I wasted a LOT of time trying to figure out what was going on, coming up with bizarre theories as to what might be the problem, only to learn I did nothing wrong.

I did manage to do some work on TOTDC 2 still, and at this point I think I finished working on the basics for what should be inside the ship (dialogues with your crew, some activities, room exploration and so on). There is still more I want to add to the game, but that will happen through regular development over time, it doesn't need to be included right away.

Having to work on a sequel which directly uses your choices from the previous game means there is always some extra work in the form of direct consequences or simply things to consider in the long term, plus stuff like trying to have new character arcs while keeping in mind where we left off. Piper, for example, can be your girlfriend (or not) and have become a bit more independent personality-wise (or not), and that means some changes already if you go talk to her (it's small stuff, but it has to be there). I expect things to get easier once we reach full speed and I don't have to think too hard about those things as they "solidify" in the setting.

Anyway, hopefully I don't get derailed by a big corporation this week as well (XD), and I'll see you all next time! ^_^

The Saga Continues

 The previous week I worked on a bunch of tedious stuff for TOTDC 2. Small tweaks like finding, editing and trying sounds, polishing some old dialogues, re-organizing files under the hood, comparing some dialogues in the original with the stuff I am writing nowadays to see if I got the right feeling, editing some of the expressions I already have for the characters to create some new ones (I often did this for Caliross too, but I feel like I need more nowadays, perhaps because the main cast is larger, and I think I should expand my future commissions to include some extra expressions for main characters, actually).

I was delaying the post, thinking I'd wait until I got something cooler to share, but that wasn't a great idea. I did write some new dialogues this week, at least! Things are going a bit slower than I'd like, perhaps because Ren'py is more flexible, and there are more choices around every corner (plus, some of the ease of use that comes from a visual interface like in RPG Maker is missing).

Anyway, I'll try to do as much as I can, and hopefully I can hit the release for the demo before the end of October. The fact that I haven't started working on the quest yet is a bit worrying, but it shouldn't be a very complicated quest, so I think I should be fine, but we'll see.

Thanks everyone for the support as usual, and I'll see you guys next week! ^_^