Quest Failed: Chapter Two - Dev Log #141

Hi there, I'm back! How's everyone's April been going so far? Have you all had a fun Easter break? You can look forward to some bunnygirl goodness from me soon--closer to the middle of the month, as per the usual time bonus art is posted! I would have liked to have had it ready closer to Easter to be in line with when everyone else was posting their art--but I guess it can be difficult to schedule art in advance! So, hold tight, because it's coming!

Moving on to development, implementation of the scenes I wrote are going along smoothly, and I have lots of fun stuff outlined/roughed out for the next scene I want to do! Sometimes I get inspired on any given day and open up notepad in a frenzy and write down all of the dialogue and narration that comes to mind, and typically that ends up being like 50% of a scene already written! All I have to do then is paste it into the script file and begin to flesh out some of the gaps, and add in more dialogue where I see fit, and before long, a scene is born! This isn't always how I write scenes though, as it can get a bit messy if I'm skipping ahead a bit too much when writing and then have to work my way back, but it work nicely when I have the right inspiration. Other times I write a scene in a more traditional, linear fashion, line by line, which is a far more smoother process--but can take the right mindset to sit down and hammer things out, too. So, overall, I have quite a few ways I've approached writing over the years, and the Chapter 2 script has been steadily built as a result of all of these methods. For those of you who might write as well, what kinds of methods do you feel work best for you?

I've attached a fun little screenshot to this post, as I feel recent dev logs have been barren on that front, and wanted to give a little glimpse into what you can expect from this haughty alraune's new events! Despite her initial aggression to young Matt, she does start to warm up to him--but only in a way that a Queen might with her servant. (Because she isn't going to drop that royal thing, even if her domain is just a big ol' forest.) And even Matt himself finds himself getting caught up in the theatrics, doing his best to appease her, lest he shredded by those thorny vines of hers.

Bella has been a really interesting character to write for, because she's almost like the opposite to Queen Deidra. Where Deidra is kind, humble and generous to her citizens, Bella is narcissistic, violent and only acts for her own benefit. And yet...she does start to show a slightly softer side as a result of Matt's persistent insistence that she could stand to be a touch nicer, or she'll run out of human subjects to worship her, and be stuck with the squirrels instead. Which is something she wants to avoid at all cost--as they're terrible at grovelling before her.

I do have a lot of fun writing her lines, as well, and have to really stop to think sometimes. Giving each character their own unique voice has been a big challenge to me with so many of them in one game, and I try to give them all little quirks here and there, without making them too obnoxious in that regard. For instance, I sometimes worry Anna and Ruby have similar manners of talking--but hope that the fact Anna is a little more scheming with what she says, and isn't as abrasive or as aggressive makes her stand out and not just feel like a clone. And even for the cutesy, hyper characters full of life like Jilly, Marine and Ren--I've attempted to give them all different ways of portraying this, so they don't all blur into one. Jilly's almost child-like naivety for example, isn't the same as Marine's more annoying persistence in bothering people, while Ren is just...Ren. How do you guys personally feel about what I've managed with each character so far, though? Do you think they all stand out on their own? As I recall a criticism I had before was that some characters blended together a bit. And I should clarify that by 'voice' I don't mean the actual voice acting they have, but more how their dialogue is written, and all the little quirks and mannerisms that come with it. It's something I strive to always improve on as a writer, and it's one of the biggest challenges the larger a cast becomes!

Alongside finalising the last of Bella's stuff, I'm just about to send her lines to be primed for voice acting, and I'm really looking forward to hearing more of her lovely 'ohoho' from SilkyMilk, who does a fantastic job portraying her alongside Ren and Cynthia! So be excited for that~

And of course, I've been doing more prepping for the final story sequence--and have a lot of CGs prepared for that. Because gosh, a lot of things happen in this final sequence--and I hope you'll all enjoy it! I feel like it has everything. Tension, drama, action--and some h-scenes thrown in too at times, depending on your choices!

I've thrown a lot of questions at you guys in this particular dev log, but if you feel like there's something you want answered and I haven't covered it here, don't hesitate to reach out!

For the next dev log, I might do another overview on a character, too. Is there any particular character you feel might benefit from it?

Until we meet again~