Hello, dear players!
How are you doing? We're doing okay (not good, but not bad either).
Let's talk about the news that happened recently. There are a lot of them.
Let's start with the sad one: one of the outsourced artists (that drew 18+ scenes) is leaving us for six months, but she drew all the necessary artwork for that time in advance. Also, the translator has found a full time job and will no longer be working with us. This is sad, as we'll have to find a new translator, bring her/him up to speed, and try to somehow match the past type of narration. We're already in the process of looking, but we're afraid we'll delay the update because of this situation. We'll see how it goes.
Well, then, on to the good stuff!
We recently took the time to get together at the bar and discussed a lot of things. Most importantly, we finally defined the scope of the game, the lenght. There was a funny situation when the scriptwriter was sure that version 1.0 was the final version of the game, but the programmer explained that in fact you can make even 2.6 or 5.7 versions. Thanks to this understanding we decided to do this:
- Release two more Podwodje updates and finish chapter 4;
- In chapter 5 we do one big mandatory quest, 7+ personal quests for characters and go to the finale with 12+ endings;
- All this is called version 1.0, but after that we make different edits (about which further on), expand the game with content if needed. Or make DLC.
What's with the “different edits”?
First, we decided to animate not only 18+ scenes, but also 16+ (where there is 1 character, most of the time). After playing a bunch of other games of our type and talking to other developers, we realized that it is worth it. And also decided that we will add 3-5 18+ scenes retroactively, and in the new ones we will emphasize several poses in a row. In terms of text - we also realized that it is too descriptive in these scenes and will dilute it with small conversations and descriptions of sounds. The scriptwriter is mastering video editing and we want to cut scenes so that they become much more weighty.
Secondly, not counting pre-release testing, a tester goes through the game completely every six months and collects the bug file. Not to say that the file gets smaller every time, but in fact there are such amazing things that you think - “How did I not notice it before?”. There are a lot of errors and inconsistencies (just worth the treasure map on the island, which Fabian “left in the books” (no) and goes to the ship to get it, but he has it in his inventory). Everything will be fixed either as patches or attached to the regular updates.
And thirdly, the biggest thing we've agreed on is the Extra section. It's 100% coming, but closer to the finals. What's that? No, well, you probably know what it is, but what it will be for us:
- There will be an EXTRA section in the main menu (instead of Gallery or Help), which will contain subsections
- In the first subsection will be in-game achievements (which are now available only in the Steam version), for which you will receive in-game currency, points. On them you will be able to open extras - in other sections. We make it so that everything can be opened when you get all the achievements
- In the second subsection will be alternative costumes, hairstyles for the main female characters (only sprites will be changed)
- The third will be music, all promo images (which we draw for Halloween, Christmas, etc.), images not included in the game
- In the fourth will be a gallery (if it will be replaced in the menu)
Tired of reading the text? We're sure you are! But there's not much to show us, except this (it's not the finale):
One last thing: we would like to ask you to leave in the comments your wishes about costumes: for example - vampire, nurse, etc. You can even specify which character. There are only two requests - suggest only the main female characters (not Lou or Werewolf) and that the theme of the costumes is not too much out of the setting (farmer's daughter, not office worker). We've come up with 43 options so far, but you might have some great ideas.
Thanks so much for reading, everyone! All the best to you and we love you!