Everstone Daycare v0.10 - Demo Release

Howdy everyone!

I apologize again for the long delay and radio silence these last 2 months. I've been a bit consumed with trying to finish this demo and make it as polished as I could after realizing I wouldn't be able to get it out by last month. I didn't feel like I'd be able to face you all otherwise haha.

The main reason for the big delay after the previous announcement is that the amount of things I needed to do to properly implement the latest pieces of content kept increasing in ways I didn't expect. I had to untangle a lot of old spaghetti code and replace it with something cleaner that can support the current and any future content.

The most substantial of these was redoing the system that the game uses to decide which scene to go to next. For the Day 1 story, everything is fixed and hard-coded in:

For the sake of better and less awkward story pacing, we’ve decided to go with a new format. From Day 2 and onwards, you’ll be given a “free period” between every main story scene to do any one of the optional scenes before progressing you forward (instead of having to sneak off and do them while in the middle of a main story scene).

With the newest piece of content being an optional scene designed for Day 2, I ended up needing to figure out how to set this up and code this in as well, something I didn’t realize I would need to do. I’ll be writing the story and designing future content with this new format in mind.

I also forgot to factor in the additional time it would take to make sure all the moving parts surrounding a scene fit together and function properly (for ex. making sure it works with Chapter Select or when viewing it through the Replays gallery.) I definitely have to adjust my estimate for how long it takes to implement a new scene from here on.

But now for the actual content news. I've mentioned earlier that I've partnered with a guest-writer who has generously offered their time to write for the game, and now that all the work for their scene is finished and implemented, I'm happy to announce who they are: LegsWithSnake!

The content is the most explicit thing we’ve included in the game so far (though nothing out-of-diaper just yet), and centers around finding a certain someone’s wand massager and the events that ensue as you try to make use of it for yourself.

This will likely be the pattern going forward, with main story scenes being more on the tamer AB side, and optional scenes having free reign to be more explicit and explore more DL and other themes. I’ll make sure to add in content warnings when necessary for these scenes in the future, for the sake of those who might not be into the content.

I will be listing an explanation below on how to access the new content in-game. I’ve also made Chapter Select available from the start in case you want to jump in and try the new content immediately. As before, you may also access the scenes through the “What’s New?” section and the Image and Replay galleries if you would rather not go through the trouble.

I am also planning on re-doing the Stealth system. It feels a bit half-baked currently, with not much of the game world interacting with or supporting it. I’m not very satisfied with the current iteration and likely won’t support this version of the Stealth system for much longer. I’m currently brainstorming ways to make a similar system that's "fun" despite the limiting environment of being in a point-and-click/escape-the-room type game.

For now, I’ve not included it in Day 2 and significantly lowered the rate at which the bar fills up to make it less punishing during the sections where it is present.

I’ve also finally added a Credits page that I've been wanting to implement for a while, though it currently only lists myself, Spooky, Tennet, and our new guest writer.

I made a post in the past about listing out Patron names in a credits section to thank everyone for supporting this project, but wanted to brainstorm further about how I wanted to tackle doing so. After some discussion with the others, I’ve decided to make the inclusion an opt-in process to protect the privacy of anyone who might not want their name publicly displayed in-game. I’ll be setting up how I want to handle accepting opt-in/out requests soon, and will likely make a post about it specifically in the future.

Going back to the new story format, having it all set up means I might be able to release something that I’ve been wanting to for the past few months: A free public demo. It’s been a while since I’ve released any work publicly, so this would be a great opportunity to show off what I’ve been working on and hopefully generate more support for the project.

I’ve been debating how much content should be available in a theoretical public demo and I think I’ve come to a decision. I’ll be releasing the entirety of Day 1, with it acting as an extended tutorial and introduction to the characters/setting. This will not include any of the optional scenes (Meeting with Trubbish and both Robo Hands scenes), which will now require you to be on Day 2 to access. I’m hoping this will be a good split of content between what’s publicly available and what is exclusive to all you Patrons.

But before I go through with it, I’d love to hear any opinions, if there are any, on this course of action first!

Thank you all again for your patience and support, especially now. It’s been a big learning experience for everyone working on this game so far, and thank you all for being with us through all the bumps in the road. We appreciate any comments, feedback, bug reports, and reports of typo errors we receive, as they’re a big help in making this game that much better.

I hope you all enjoy the current demo!

TLDR; Delays caused by having to re-do old systems, new story progression format for Day 2 and onwards, Stealth system nerfect and possibly being redone in the future, credits page added, possibly releasing a free public demo soon, new side content guest-written by LegsWithSnake.

How to access the new content

After the Day2-Morning1 scene, you will be returning to the Playroom with both Nurse Ursaring and Zangoose watching over you. Distract one of them to be able to leave the room.

Distracting Nurse Ursaring - Interact with Lugia and Noivern. This will give you the option “Some of us are still hungry.” when attempting to distract him.

Distracting Nurse Zangoose -  Interact with the clock in the hallway right outside the Changing Room during the Day1-Night2 sneaking sequence. This will give you the option, “Is the clock outside supposed to be broken?” when attempting to distract him.

Once outside the room, make your way to the Bedtime Room and click on the cribs towards the back of the room to find the ‘Buzzy Wand’ item. Bring the Buzzy Wand back to the Playroom and interact with Salandit to begin the optional scene.

------------------

Install Instructions

Due to the increasing size of the project, the file will now be hosted on my itch.io page for the game [password: Salandit729]

Please extract the game folder to your directory of choice, and then run the 'Everstone Daycare.exe' file within to play the  game. Enjoy!

Please note for the Mac version that this is not a signed app, so you may encounter an error  when first trying to open this program. Please follow the instructions  on this support page to work around this.

Walkthrough

If you're stuck, please refer to this document: Everstone Daycare Walkthrough

Disclaimer

Any saves carried over from previous demos might cause issues when playing through them in the current demo. In the event that any flags, variables, and other data were changed in a scene after you had completed it already in your current save file, you might not be able to access the new content. Creating a new game file is advised.

Known Issues

• Using Chapter Select to go (Day1-Morning1-NoCutsceneSkip) plays the Day theme momentarily before switching to the proper BGM track

------------------

Changelog

New Optional Scene: Ekans’ Wand. Guest-written by LegsWithSnake

New Content and Content Changes

• Updated art for the Playroom and all associated character graphics.
• Nurse Ursaring, Garchomp, and Ekans(Zonked) added to the Playroom (Nurse Ursaring currently has no ‘Bathroom’ and ‘Diaper Change’ scenes implemented.)
• Small dialogue between Nurses Ursaring and Zangoose when first interacting with them during Day2-Morning1 added.
• ‘Toy Room’ added.
• Dialogue when attempting to enter the Toy Room from the Playroom while Nurse Charmeleon, Zangoose, or Ursaring are present in the room added.
• ‘Reading Room’ added.
• Dialogue when attempting to enter the ‘Bedtime Changing Room’ from the ‘Reading Room’ during the Day 1 night sneaking section added.
• Updated sprites in scenes where they were previously missing (Ekans BAD ENDING, Nurse Charmeleon 'caught while sneaking' scene)
• Side content is no longer accessible during Day 1 (Robo hands scenario 1 and 2, Meeting with Trubbish, Ekans’ Wand)
• Positions of characters rearranged slightly in some scenes.

New Tracks

• 'A for A Schemey Themey' added.
• 'T for Trying to be Sneaky' added.

System Changes

• Chapter Select now automatically unlocked.
• Added Day2-Morning1 to Chapter Select.
• Decreased the rate at which the stealth meter fills up by about 2/3 (from 100% chance to gain 1 meter after moving 1 room to 33% chance to gain 1 meter after moving 1 room)
• Redone how interacting with characters and their dialogue is handled internally.
• Redone how time and time segments are handled internally.
• Sound effect that plays whenever the clock changes position has been removed.
• Animated transition when hiding/showing UI added.
• Name input easter eggs added.
• Location label bar animation shortened and no longer causes a delay when moving between rooms
• Textbox name bar slightly reduced in size.