What's up, guys!
Let's start this post with the news everyone wanted to hear:
The version 0.4.0 is complete and is currently in testing phase.
From time to time, we usually post news about the game's development here on Steam, but if you want to stay as up to date as possible, we recommend that you access our Discord server:
https://discord.com/invite/9wnXg9vqA4
That said, there has been some progress in development since our last post.
This post is to share with you the news that has occurred since then.
Let's talk in detail by topic:
Julia Sex Scene - First Part
The highlight of this update is the wide variety of preview images attached to this topic.
In them you can see several new details, such as Julia's room, which is a new room that will be accessible from v0.5, and will also be where the Julia Sex Scene will take place.
It's also possible to finally see Julia completely nude. (Images 1 & 2)
You can also see the Main Character right after he enters the room still dressed in his bartender outfit. (Images 3 & 4)
And you can also see the characters getting ready to go into action. (Images 5, 6 & 7)
We also included some facial expressions of the characters during the dialogues. (Images 2, 4, 6 & 7)
Telling you a little more about our progress, we've already finished working on all the animations that will make up the Julia Sex Scene.
We've also created some variations using the same images, as we have done throughout the development period so far. These variations will be available to you in the next update.
Julia Sex Scene - Second Part
This is the last batch of preview images before the conclusion of Episode 4, or version 0.4, as you prefer.
To celebrate the upcoming release, we're taking advantage of the fact that this is the last set of preview
images before the release to bring you 10 animations as a preview.
This is the first time that we have added so many animations in the same topic.
These animations make up the second part of Julia's sex scene and you can see them in the images attached to this topic.
But the scene is not limited to them, as we used the same frames to create numerous variations for the scene, creating different results from the same frames, which creates a significant difference in the scene in its final state.
You'll be able to see how it turned out very soon, in a month's time.
Of all the updates we've released so far, this one is the most packed with sex scenes, all predominantly (almost entirely) composed of animations, so we believe that the final result we managed to achieve in this episode was excellent, far superior to anything we've done so far.
What's new in version 0.4.0?
In the testing phase, we take the opportunity to fix bugs we found and implement some changes that we didn't have the opportunity to implement previously, but that would have been welcome.
In short, we took the opportunity to optimize the experience as much as possible before making the new update available to the public, as we want our players' experience to be the best possible.
Let's briefly talk about everything that has been implemented so far:
Exploring the City:
From this version onwards, the player will be able to explore new locations in the city by exiting through the bar's entrance door.
At first, we only have the gym available, but in the future more locations will be accessible.
Steam Cloud Support:
We have a new feature exclusive to the Steam version, Steam Cloud support.
You can now share your save between different devices using Steam's cloud service, and you can also keep a backup of your save.
This is a feature requested by some players that, for technical reasons, had not been implemented until now, but we have overcome this limitation and made this feature available to players starting with this update.
Monochromatic Effect:
The code related to the monochromatic effect, which is used in character memories, has been optimized.
It's now possible to use this effect in animations.
Updated Achievements Requirements:
The requirements needed to earn achievements that already existed in the game have been updated to accommodate the new content available in this update.
This means that, for example, to unlock the "Detective" achievement, which consists of unlocking all Gallery Images, the player will also have to unlock the new Gallery Images that were added in this version.
Automatic New Clothes:
The code related to the implementation of renders that change the character's outfit depending on the day the game is in has been optimized.
Now, new outfits that appears in future updates will be included automatically, without the need for changes to the code.
This is a "back end" update and will not be noticed by the player during gameplay, but it'll help in the development of future versions.
Way to unlock Gallery Images updated:
One of the improvements we had previously planned to make was to distribute the Gallery Images that refer to Escort Forum (chapters related to Thomas' story) as Secret Cards throughout these same chapters, as we consider this Secret Card mechanic to be the one that players like the most.
In previous updates, we opted to, as a preliminary step, unlock all of these Gallery Images at once upon reaching the end of Thomas' story, as we did not have enough time to implement them properly in the game.
We have now implemented them as Secret Cards, according to what our team had planned.
The same was done with the 4 Gallery Images unlocked at the end of the scene The Bunny and the Kitty, which have now also been distributed as Secret Cards throughout the game.
If you want to try to find them, but have already finished the game, we recommend that you delete your save and start a new one.
Jackpot Animation:
When you hit a Jackpot in the Slot Machine Minigame, an animation is played along with the previously existing sound effect from now on.
Performance Boost:
We have optimized the use of cache memory and RAM, ensuring a significant performance gain. On the other hand, the game's RAM usage has increased and, consequently, the required specifications.
This has resulted in faster loading of game files, which can be especially noticeable in animations, which now run smoothly. You'll also notice that the game will respond more quickly to your inputs from now on.
Some users reported slow loading of animations, so we decided to work on solving the issue.
We hope that with this performance gain, animations will load immediately or, if that is not the case, at least more quickly.
Starting with this update, we recommend at least 3GB of RAM to run the PC version and 2GB of RAM to run the mobile version.
Using devices with lower specifications than this may result in the game not running properly. In practice, this may make it impossible for the game to run on really old mobile devices, but it generated a significant performance gain on the vast majority of other devices.
Committed Reader Achievement:
We've reduced the percentage of script that must be read to unlock this achievement from 95% to 90%.
This achievement was harder to unlock than we planned, so we've adjusted the requirements to make it easier for players to reach.
Diagonal Jackpots:
From now on, when you manage to line up 3 "7s" or 3 "BARs" diagonally in the Slot Machine Minigame, it'll count as a Jackpot.
We initially decided to only count a Jackpot when you lined up 3 "7s" or 3 "BARs" in the center, as we wanted this to be a hard achievement to unlock, but we felt that the difficulty was higher than we had planned.
This change should make it easier to unlock the Jackpot achievement, while still keeping it sufficiently challenging.
Bug Fixes:
We found some bugs in the previous version, v0.3.1, and took the chance to fix them before releasing v0.4.0.
The bugs we found were minor and didn't have a major impact on gameplay, with the exception of a bug where character icons would disappear during mobile conversations in specific situations.
In these rare cases, the mobile system layout would become messed up and the message would become impossible to read. This problem is now solved.
We also took the opportunity to fix even minor bugs.
Conclusion
And finally we have reached the end!
We talked a lot in this news, as there was a lot of stuff to tell you, but as we were focused on development, we ended up leaving it a little aside.
We hope you enjoy the new content and the improvements can make your gameplay even better.
Cheers! 🍻