Quest Failed: Chapter Two - Dev Log #96

Hello, hello, hello! We're back, back, back! And I feel great--like bursting into a spontaneous song and face routine that seems far too elaborate for a spur of the moment thing. And why is that, you might ask? Because after a VERY long time of almost literally SLAMMING my head against the keyboard in frustration, I was able to wrap up a h-scene that had been serving as a very large mental block and obstacle in the way of consistent progress. And it feels quite liberating, ahhhh~ Of course, I'm not quite done with the alpha build yet as a few things remain in regards to editing voice clips in and finishing up a few more places--but it's safe to say the most difficult part is done with. So I've been able to continue writing at a far faster pace than before in the hopes of catching up with things!

Truthfully I try not to bring up these sorts of moments very often when I face such impassable walls in the way of progress in the fear of you guys losing faith in me and the project over all--but I feel I should try to be more honest when I struggle sometimes, since you've all be waiting so patiently for Chapter Two--the least I can do is try to give you a more accurate impression of how things are going other than "yup, don't worry, we'll be done soon! Eventually. Probably." With the entire project sitting on my shoulders alone, the pressure can sometimes get to me--but I try my best to not like it consume me and take breaks away from the scenes giving me trouble, in the hopes I can return to them with a fresh outlook. It works, usually! It just takes some time to get to that part.

But have no fear, since this wall has been shattered, the words have flowed far easier than before!

Things have been shaping up well for the next alpha build, and I think people will be quite pleased with the additions I've worked on so far, including:

- An almost fully functional shop with buying and selling of important inventory items that will lead the way to new h-scenes. (Selling rare items to get more gold for certain blessed places, for example, and then being able to buy items that characters request in an effort to appease them)

- Additional scenes in the library that help develop the character who resides there, with lots of fun book reading time.

- Slowly expanding on the monster camp, offering up some new event scenes with Ruby

- Several more events with Lucille--one a bit more innocent than the other. (Though with Lucille when is anything ever truly innocent? Kukuku~)

- A surprise h-scene with strange conditions that need to be met in order to reach it and an equally strange scenario that Matt is thrust into. He's gonna have a ruff time of things for sure.

- Extra music and SFX added in. At the moment I'm getting a lot of flashy combat effects done for use in some of the more dramatic areas of the story. I'm inspired by sound design from VNs like Fate/Stay Night--though I probably won't be able to QUITE reach their heights, even if I try. They had a crazy sound library of like 300+ effects!

In the next build I aim to flesh out Marine's story a little more (along with her mysterious sister. There's quite a fun duality between them) and get a start on the lead up to the dramatic events of the main scenario, which will feature a few flashy story based CGs of which I've commissioned sparingly, prioritizing the h-scenes above all else. But when you see the story CGs show up, that's when you KNOW things are going to get real, complete with accompanying voice acting! So at this point voice acting will show during:

- H-scenes

- Important story moments, typically when CG is involved

It's been a lot of fun to branch out with the voice acting in this regard and give the VAs more chance to shine beyond just the lewd times. And while I don't quite have the budget to voice absolutely EVERYTHING just yet--maybe future chapters will have that luxury!

These are my immediate goals after I get the next alpha out--so hopefully everything goes according to plan! I really do still want to release this before the end of 2019 or I'll be really disappointed in myself, as I'm sure you guys will be too. So let's give it our all!

Also, you probably noticed, but I've attached a cute little demon girl chibi to this post in the hopes of winning you all over and distracting you from the fact this dev log was late! Quite a lot of the cast has been chibi-fied now, in fact! Is there any one else you would like to see get hit by the chibi ray? We've got plenty of ammo to spare!