Quest Failed: Chapter Two - Dev Log #137

Heya there, everyone!

First off--a big apology for how delayed this dev log is! I usually do strive to have at least some kind of post up weekly, be it an art piece, or otherwise, but things escaped me as I got lost in a maze of writing and didn't want to risk my hot streak, and the days just kept ticking away. So, apologies again, and I hope I haven't given anyone cause for concern! In most cases, when the development logs are delayed, that's usually a good sign for Chapter 2's development as I'm barrelling ahead with the script, haha.

Though to give an update on development, as I believe I mentioned before, I've decided on the h-scenes I want to include in the coming build, alongside the large chunk of main story stuff that I'll be tackling for the grand finale of Chapter 2. Whether I manage writing all of this big battle in one go, or have to split it across two builds, I'll still be giving it my all--and am incredibly excited to finally see what I've been planning for so long come to life!

This grand finale will feature a large mix of both story related CGs, and even a h-scene worked into the mix, striking the balance between a tense battle and something a little more lewd, just like Chapter 1 did for its ending. Several important variables will come into play here too and change how the scene ends, depending on how you treated a certain somebody in the interactions you had beforehand with them. And this in turn will trickle over to Chapter 3, where the story will really start to diverge!

So, expect lots of flashy battles and something a little more special as everything comes crashing together.

I'm also going to be experimenting in how I approach developing these builds. Usually I compartmentalise everything, and do it one step at a time as it's finished. (I.e, write everything that will be included in the build, implement it into the script, do the scripting for transitions, sprite expressions, etc.) Since I usually do this in a more linear fashion, but problems can arise if I hit a particularly nasty mental block for a day or so. So, instead, I'll be splitting things up into scenes, and once I've written a scene, I'll go right back through it and add all the necessary scripting, and CG where applicable. My hopes of doing it this way, rather than stretching each role out, is that everything will come together in a faster manner and ensure that I can get alpha 0.13 out as fast as humanly possible!

As of right now, I just finished writing up a fun little scene with Anna that serves as a bridge between a couple more disjointed moments that may not have made as much sense without this part. And while it was simple enough to write, it was more complex to implement, as it can potentially unfold at the start of any given day, depending on when certain variables are met. So I've had to go to the start of each in-game day in the script and implement the check where it makes sense, so things can transition over to this event without feeling too clunky, while also ensuring if it's an important day that Matt can't afford to be sidetracked, it'll wait until the next potential day before triggering. There's lots of small, nuanced moments like this that really start to stack up in the script, and it's become quite a job to ensure nothing clashes, doubles up, or runs over where it shouldn't. That's my nightmare whenever I launch a new build of the game, and I always pray that I didn't forget to block or insert a check into somewhere, ahhhh.

So, with this new development style in mind, I hope not to run into as many dead ends as I used to before--and that the general process of making the game doesn't feel as disjointed as it might have done before.

I think people will be quite happy with the h-scenes chosen for the new build, too, as it strikes a fun balance between characters and ways that poor Matt is teased and toyed with.

And so, as this dev log comes to a close, I want to finish things up with a few questions for you, the wonderful readers! Is there a character you're hoping to see more of in QF? Is there a character you'd like to be explore more in a dev log? I'm always looking for ways to make these dev logs more interesting for you guys, so don't hesitate to reach out!

Until next time~