04/09 Patreon Devlog

Hallo! Here is this week's devlog!

Summary:

• Revised Jack's synopsis
• Worked on some UI design elements
• Finished Jack's first chapter

The Ramble:

After last week where it felt like everything under the sun was worked on and happening, this week feels way more low-key. LoL

It was another writing focused week and, so far, I haven't heard from an BG artists so there are no new BGs to show off.

Sometimes there are just weeks like this! LoL

So I'll talk, instead, about some other stuff I've worked on and contemplated (but I apologise for the lack of visual previews. I put off posting the update today in the hopes I'd get a new BG from someone. LoL

So in writing:

I ended up deciding, as I started on Jack's route, to run through his entire synopsis and revise the plot a little. This is frequently needed because as I complete routes I change up world building or just create new characters, etc. And this requires me to sometimes re-think my original ideas for the remaining plots.

Jack and Caissa's routes originally had some overlap in plot and I decided I didn't really want to do that and that I wanted to take Jack's route in a slightly different direction. There are still some overlaps but Jack's route is more focused in one area, while Caissa's is more focused in the other.

I also realised, as I was organising Jack's revised summary that I was coming up short on content. Specifically, I was 3 chapters short on content. I didn't understand how this was happening but when I looked back at Jack's original synopsis organisation it also only went up to chapter 11 (the routes are all 14 chapters, so this put Jack's route 3 chapters short)

I have no idea how that happened. LoL

So I basically had to do even more reorganising and plan out Chapters 9, 10, and 11 because there was no content for them. Fun times. @_@

That's all done now and I'm more or less happy with the new synopsis. It makes use of a new villain that I ended up creating for Caleb's route and that I expect to potentially come up in several other routes as well. 

Jack's first chapter has been interesting to write because it's quite different from the other three I've done so far. There's way less...drama really. 

In the Endgame routes, Morgan ends up where she chooses, but isn't happy about it. In Caissa's route, she ends up where she chooses but gets thrown a curve ball because she didn't have all the relevant information.

In Jack's route she ends up where she chooses and it's more or less what she expected. So there's a lot less general upset and drama going on. It's a very low-key first route compared to the others. LoL

I think that's also why Jack's original plot synopsis was fairly short compared to the others. In all the other routes, I take a couple of chapters to get Morgan situated before we start delving into the plot.

But, again, that's not really necessary in Jack's route. There's very little 'situating' to be done so I can start delving into the plot much faster. Anyway, all of that is just to say it was an interesting first chapter to write because it's different than the others - and I like that about it so far. I like when routes aren't formulaic and I'm able to kind of break away a bit from the direction the others have gone. Lance's route will be like that in some ways as well.

Anyway!

In other news….personality traits!

So I mentioned that I have been planning to have the personality traits be a bit more interactive in that they will change based on player choices. Initially I was thinking of having a little "pop up" after each choice that lets you know what kind of choice it was that you made. 

(Note: Not all choices are going to be personality relevant. Because sometimes choices just don't really align with the personality aspect. And I feel like at some point in the route, it might become sort of pointless to be shifting the personality around? Maybe around chapter 11 or 12 or so.) 

I'm thinking I might actually just label the choices themselves. I was initially hesitant to do it because I couldn't come up with a design I liked and I wasn't sure how to code it. But a friend has helped with the latter so I think the former is something I can probably figure out.

Because the changeable personality traits are really only related to getting "extra" points (IE ones that are not necessary to getting the best ending, but can make it easier) and unlocking specific scene variations, I think it might be best to just let players see the type of choice up front. 

It just saves players from having to roll back if it's a choice type they didn't really want. And you can make a better decision up front from weighing "the choice you want" against "the personality type you want" before you click.

(And, ultimately, the personality system isn't meant to be punishing at all so there's no reason to not make it pretty transparent).

Sneak Peeks and Previews:

This week in previews…….

There aren't any.

*sob*

Upcoming Week:

Back to the writing grind. Oof.

Hopefully we'll make good progress on this route and it won't be Caleb 2.0. =w= LoL

WE SHALL SEE.

Anyway, see you next week. I wish I had some artwork to show you this time around but sadly, I do not. ;A;

It happens sometimes!