Hello cousins!
Now that the script for Episode 5 is finished, it's a lot easier for us to give you all quantifiable progress updates, so we're switching over to a monthly cadence!
We'll include some art previews this time around, but the deeper we get into development, the more spoiler-heavy sharing art would be, so as we get closer to release, previews will stop being part of these posts.
With that out of the way, it's been three weeks since the script was finally finished, and in that time we've:
The final draft of 10 out of 45 script files have been finished. This includes any edits and extensions to script that needed to be done with those files, adding game logic and variables, and general formatting. These files don't have any assets added to them yet (backgrounds, sprites, SFX, music.)
It's worth noting that script files are not all equal in length. Some script files are several thousand lines of code (significantly longer than a given route in Slay the Princess) while others are just a few hundred lines. In general, the files that have been finished so far are on the longer side.
The recap for Episode 4 has been finished, and the recap in general has been refactored so it's easier to edit.
14 backgrounds have been fully finished (pencils, inks, colors) and another 3 are partially finished (pencils and inks.)
Two tracks of music have been finished and mastered.
The opening sequences in Episode 5 will have roughly 27 backgrounds, 140 sprites, and 4 or 5 tracks of new music. Once all of those assets are finished, that segment will be going out as an alpha build to our Patrons, who play a huge part in helping us make sure that our releases are polished and bug free by the time they hit Steam.
The upper bounds for these assets are subject to change as development goes on. Sometimes script files get scrapped entirely. Sometimes one giant file is broken down into several smaller files. Often, we wind up needing a little more art than we anticipated. BUT, sharing our estimates now seems like the best way to give you all a benchmark to see how things are coming.
And now what you've really been waiting for! Art previews...
We're really happy with how the art in Episode 5 has turned out so far — Abby's really leveled up over the years!
A desk... but whose?
Process images for another background, so you can see what the game's art looks like at different stages.
That's all we've got for you right now! If you want more ways to stay up to date and chat with other fans, don't forget to join our mailing list or visit our Discord!
All the best, and see you all next month!
Tony and Abby