Update 9/26/22: Building Phase 3

Yo! Build 0.6 (and change) seem to have been a successful launch without too many gamebreaking bugs (although I've been alerted to an exploit with charity that I need to look at), so now I begin my march towards what's next.

So... what's next?

GENERAL THINGS:

New sizes for the main ladies are, of course, a top priority.  I've been sitting on BIG sprites for kui for a while, meaning that rachel, rumia, and skein (who are all essentially templated off of kui) are within spitting distance as well.  Or at least, reasonably simple to do. The pears (Nanette, Charity, and Priya) are maybe a little less developed... The apples (Bella, Jamie, and Ming) are after that---I did a BIG Bella as a test, iirc, and now I gotta fill in the missing size gaps. And because I'm a dummy, the apples have just enough differences in belly shape that'll make more work than I'd like.

After that are Sheila and Penny, who share body parts... although I might change that. Presently, Sheila's an hourglass, but she's got this big gut from the Ham... I might reclassify her, and tone down her boob/butt size in future sprites, and make Penny the only hourglass major character.

Also, Phoebe! Somehow she's fallen by the wayside. Her original conceit was she'd always be bigger than everyone else on an equivalent size tier, but with how everyone's sizes have been exaggerated, I think that might be a bit much, haha.

Also, there's the Fairy! The Fairy will be recruitable next build, along with being feedable.  I'm still debating if fattening her pre-recruitment is a requisite for said recruitment, a means of improving her future stats, or if its like an alternate route for her entirely.  As for what you'll be feeding her... I've mulled several options. Maybe she eats mercy points? Betrayal tokens? Maybe kui should also gain support points (she doesn't presently) and one can either invest them like with the other party members, or feed them to the fairy?  Or maybe she just eats cheeseburgers... Tell me what you think!

She pointedly won't be able to eat people pre-recruitment, because she's too small.

Other new NPCs! I'm currently planning on Mike, Jamie's boyfriend/crush/guy she's obsessed with to finally make an appearance! Unlike Jeff, Mike won't be a party member... I'm still working out what he'll get up to, but one idea is that he's like a key item, that'll unlock more functionality for jamie when you support/raise her stats... But if you 'use' him(i.e., Jamie eats him), she'll gain a really strong passive skill...

Susan (name pending?) is a friend of Priya's, mentioned in her support with kui. She'll be an NPC at the school with a quest, initiated by said support.

There'll be more mercs/generics to recruit -- currently planning on a Cowgirl and a Housewife.  I'd also like to implement at least one minor character, possibly Polly or Carmen.

Now.... SPOILERS!!

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Alright.  So, Phase 2 ends with the player being arrested and thrown into the Ham.  This is the first of several like, *actual* dungeons, ideally. My goal, for build 0.7, is to at minimum have this dungeon be completed. Narratively, a representative from the player's chosen faction will appear, brandishing another pardon, tailor-made for Kui (and friends), but before she can grab it, the Bulshinka sisters eat the ally and steal the pardon, daring Kui to take it back.

The dungeon is a multi-floor building, where they store inmates larger than those in block J (Sheila's old block).  There'll be inmate npcs all over, some of whom are friendly, some of whom are not, all of whom will be edible; there'll be a block-pushing puzzle, only the block is an immobile inmate, etc. If you didn't recruit Nanette, she'll also be there, and she'll offer the player an instant-skip past the boss room if the player gives her a party member to eat.

...This is all subject to change, admittedly, but these are the broad strokes of what I'm aiming for. After you beat the Bulshinkas, one of them will eat the other, maybe depending upon how you behaved in the dungeon. You waddle back out, and follow a faction NPC back to base/expa, where you'll be given an update re your primary task (eliminate GAIN/Cult/both) by your respective leader. End of build.

This seems fairly reasonable for me to aim for, but who knows what might happen in the future, haha...

Lastly, have some images! First, is the full-res artwork for the 'Neighbor' set of enemies! Currently, only the two smallest sizes have been used, but this is how she'll end up!

She was supposed to be a pear-element enemy, but um... I got distracted.

Additionally, here are the amazing technicolor-haired inmates to occupy the Ham dungeon!

The Ham may be a dehumanizing prison, but at least its inmates have nice hair.

'Till next time!