Chapter 5 dev update 2024-08-25

Happy Sunday! I've been quite busy with the game this week working to overhaul the gift system.

One of the things I really wanted to achieve with the 5th update of the game was an overhaul and polish of the gift/shop system in the game.

At first the gift system was designed as a way to progress faster in the relationships with the girls - meaning you'd be able to skip the generic dates and go faster to the next 'story' date.

But then I started to put a lot of effort into the generic dates. The generic dates started to be rich with content, and it felt weird to have a system that 'rewards' players by skipping content.

So now, the gift system is revamped to instead reward players with additional content.

The game will now have 6 vendors total!

With the chapter 5 update we will have a ton of extra items and gifts. You won't realistically be able to buy all the items so strategize accordingly.

Certain item categories are more expensive. Sorry Hino simps, you're gonna need to build up cash!

 For sure, it will take time to balance this system and make you have ways to earn money too. Therefore user feedback will be very valuable for ch5.

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On the technical front: My technician, Fino, has been working hard to make sure all the girls appear in the new art engine with consistent designs.

Do do this we had to generate a large dataset of images, and touch them up in photoshop with color grading and fixing. Making sure that the model is trained with high quality images.

This way we do not compromise on the designs - Make all the girls appear stylistically looking their best (and consistent!) - while also being able to use the power of an xl model.

Workflow-wise I also get the luxury to have each girl generate with a single trigger word.

This last iteration of the model has been a challenge but I so happy we decided to go this route! The Stronggirls model is truly unique and made specifically to make the art for the game. It's quite a milestone!

 (Side note: Manami's twin braids are now canon! Making the twin braids was challenging before and for many of her growth sprites, her hair just became generic long hair to simplify things. But now we do not compromise! Her specific and unique hairstyle is baked in!)

Why is Manami embarrassed?

Here is a pic of Miyu in a pose I would simply not have been able to do this well before! More diverse poses and expressions!

Those of you who played Episode Ayane have already gotten a chance to see the new art in action. If you missed the announcement, it's here:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-ayane-110252894

And if you missed last weeks post, I announced we will have playable episodes to download each month! Stay tuned.

Next on the agenda: The community model!

As work is finishing up on the Stronggirls model, Fino who's training the model will move on to work on the community model - one which will be available for all to use. Expect an announcement from him in the next week's Sunday post! Those of you who do your own AI art will love this.

I plan on posting unused episode ayane art this week, as well as a poll for future side stories.

I hope you have a great week ahead and I will see you next Sunday!