Status update Episode 10

I continued working like I did the week before, by playing through different branches and polishing scenes. So far, I've played the first ~75% of Sage, Josy & Maya, some of the Others variations, and Jill branches.

When I play this way, I ensure that the story flow is good regardless of the branch. And I'm starting to feel that it's coming together.

I've fixed many small to big parts along the way. For instance, last week, I mentioned how I worked on the non-minigame route, and this week, I did the final tasks related to it by completing the final versions of both beer pong and new brawler.

Polishing can also be something small, like re-rendering an image that didn't come out great or re-writing a section because the dialogue wasn't what I wanted. And sometimes, it's something bigger, like moving an entire scene to a different part of the episode and ensuring it doesn't break continuity. Or it's something else, like writing code or adding new animations, renders, sound effects and songs.

I returned to work on the biggest free-roam event again, as it wasn't in a playable state how I left it. It was in a state where 90% of its events were completed, but as a player, you couldn't click arrows, or buttons, start the scenes, or even continue to play the episode after. I didn't even have a good feel of how it played until now. Putting together the environment and scene code can be tricky, but after episode 9, I got more experienced with it, and planning how to achieve it is always one of the first things I do when I work on a free-roam event.

One of my biggest concerns when developing new episodes with this level of branching is that for every part of the episode you branch, it cuts playtime from the episode. Yet, with episode 10, I don't feel that when I play it. I've felt that everything is rich in content, regardless of branch. And that's a good sign that I'm on the right track.

I'm carefully considering which branches need something more. Even if it's just a small scene, it can make a huge difference and tie the knot on that branch.

Overall, there are some big differences between branches and plenty of canon content with variations to make the episode feel different, depending on your choices. Having choices matter in this way is a truckload of work, and it can be hard to keep track of all variations, but the payoff feels worthwhile, and I'm sure you will feel that too.

I've added more renders and animations to many scenes these last few weeks. The numbers are not comparable to creating a new scene, but they add up and inflate the episode some. I'm somewhere over a total of 4800 renders so far.

Now, I am working on missing art for the remaining scenes and will mostly spend the next week animating and posing static renders. I'm having a lot of fun working on it.

Last weekend, I installed the new PC, which has been rendering since with great results. The transition went smoothly. There are currently 25 animations in the render queue.

Have a nice weekend

Dr PinkCake