19/02/2022 Patreon Devlog

19/02/2022

This Week's Summary:

• Removed Kauri from the UI
• Made a correction to Morgan's Profile
• Fixes to guide images/content
• Lance image on title screen
• Playtest of Ari's route
  • Made corrections
  • Checked glossary entries
  • Added SFX and animations as I go
  • Added mini-CG
  • Made content guide additions
• Playtest of Caissa's route started
• Quill Ch 3

The Ramble:

Hi everyone! So we are currently in the "checklist and testing" phase of development. There's really not going to be that much to report going forward because I'm really just ticking things off a list, and a lot of them are really minor things.

To give some examples - I removed Kauri's face from the "profiles" button on the extras screen as he is no longer an LI. I updated Lance's picture on the title screen since I've redone his hair since making that screen. I corrected Morgan's profile, which had the wrong age listed.

I have a whole list of stuff like this to fix. It's all uninteresting and minor but necessary.

I completed and implemented one of the mini-CGs.

But mostly I spent this week playtesting the game and making corrections. I'm playtesting with self voicing on. This has several benefits - including forcing me to go slow as I play. Since I'm incredibly familiar with the content, I tend to speed through it when testing but playing with the self voicing on forces me to go much slower so I'm way more likely to catch small errors.

I made numerous fixes through Ari's route - typos, sprite errors, etc. Things that are easy for testers to miss. I've been adding SFX as I go through the route and also adding BG animations to the backgrounds as I go.

I have been checking the glossary entries to make sure they are all hyper linked properly and have made a few corrections to glossary pages as well.

And, finally, have been adding to the content guide here and there.

This type of playtesting for the minor errors is kinda boring and time consuming but is of course necessary. It doesn't matter how much you test, there are always going to be typos or small sprite errors and the only way to fix them is to test, test, test, and test some more.

And that's it basically...

Nothing too exciting going on right now. Just endless fixes and testing.

I did also work on Quill's route again. I completed Chapter 3. I'm realising that my early outline for his route is a bit sparse if I'm being totally honest. I don't really know what was going on in my head when I did this planning. But, for instance, in one chapter my outline was two pages but essentially all that happened was Morgan walking through the city thinking about things then Quill joining her for a brief conversation. Then the two of them going home. It was two pages because I had detailed out some of Morgan's thoughts and the conversation. But in terms of what actually happened in the chapter...almost nothing.

To be clear - this isn't uncommon with my outlines. The reverse happens as well where I realise I have 300 things happening in a single chapter and end up having to remove content.

It's not that hard to re-plan things and fill in gaps or flesh out content. I have Morgan actually talking to another character instead of just wandering around alone and have interjected some plot into that conversation rather than Morgan being stuck in her own head.

Morgan still wanders by herself - but after that conversation.

Quill still joins her but I've extended their scene into a dinner date so I can use it to more effectively have them spend time together.

Anyway, the point is that I have been working on Quill's route. It's about ¼ of the way to the word count but that includes the summaries for the unwritten chapters.

Sneak Peeks and Previews:

Instead of a visual preview this week, I'll give you a short snippet from Quill's route. The context is that they are discussing how Morgan teleported to the city to exactly the right spot for Quill to find and help her. The theory is that Morgan unconsciously used precognition and clairvoyance to pick out where she needed to be for the best possible future for herself in that moment.

(Vale is Locke's assistant and they are a bishop so they're relatively familiar with how precognition works).

Then Quill and Morgan make fun of each other (slightly).
**

Locke: "Probably wasn't even luck. Even Vale equated it to an unconscious but precise use of theakinetics to get you to the right place at the right time for Quill to find you."

Morgan: "Vale thinks I located not just Nysa, but Quill specifically??"

Locke: "Would be a hell of a coincidence otherwise.  Seems more likely you located the safest part of the safest city for you so the safest person could find you."

Quill: "If that's true, it's a terrifying skill you have there, Morgan. That is some high level stalking - though I suppose I could see it as flattering."

Morgan: "He said you were the safest option - not the most attractive or likeable, so I'm not sure it's the compliment you're making it out to be."

Quill: "Yes. I heard that. In fact, I would worry considerably more if you unconsciously picked some random attractive person to teleport to regardless of their personality."

Upcoming Week:

More of the same, really. I'll be doing  the same play testing + fixes until the game is ready to release so unfortunately updates are going to be pretty dull.

And that is all for now.

I will see you all next week!

~Esh