Quest Failed: Chapter Two - Dev Log #74

Hiya there, guys!

Gosh, has it been a week already? Time really flies when you're drowning in assets that need to be sorted and writing that needs to be done! Needless to say, I've been super busy this last week and have been steadily putting more scenes together. Finalizing scripts to be voiced, wrapping up h-scenes and working in a multitude of dialogue events in between--it feels like I'm working on a different aspect of the game every time I open the project up, like I can just scroll to a random moment within the script and begin to flesh things out where needed. The non-linear nature of the game really does make it a challenge to decide where to best focus my efforts at any given time--but I'm getting there!

So for this dev log, I wanted to take the time to go over what I've been working on, what I plan to work on, and what has been worked on!

First up, I'm happy to say that save for a few non-h dialogue exchanges that would flesh out their backstory a little more, I've fully implemented all of a certain sweet saintly nun's CG scenes! I admittedly ended up being a bit biased towards her scenes and ended up prioritizing the majority of them, along with getting the voicework done, but I'm really happy with how things have turned out. As you can imagine, each of her donation tiers become more and more costly--but the final tier is so very worth it and I'm sure you won't be disappointed~

I'll be including her final scene in the upcoming alpha build, though since Matt can't realistically earn that much gold so early on--you'll be able to experience it a little earlier than most players might in-game, so rejoice, my children~

Speaking of the alpha--yes, it's happening! This month! A new build! I promise! Really! D-don't look at me like that--I'm not lying this time! I have a little bit of work to do to connect all the stray scenes together and ensure nothing breaks--so will probably release it closer to the end of the month, but I really do intend to get a new build out!

Aside from fawning over the nun (which I've been doing a lot of, praise be to the Goddess~), I've also been putting together random scenes here and there which help Matt connect more with characters he's seen in the past--such as braving the beach to talk a certain mischievous mermaid again in the hopes of better understanding her and hopefully not drowning in the process. But no promises. It's been quite refreshing to write these scenes after entrenching myself in h-scene stuff for so long and I really do enjoy writing the goofier, more slice-of-life-esque exchanges between characters. Since admittedly focusing on h-scenes for so long and the rather specific, detailed writing style they require really does leave me drained. And not in the fun, lewd way either--I'm talking mentally. Since there's always the desire to want my h-scenes to be as descriptive as possible and really stimulate the senses--and I hope from what you've all read so far that they really come across that way, since I really do put my all into making them as enjoyable as possible, from everything to the dialogue, the nonverbal loops playing throughout, and the narration itself of course, where Matt somehow becomes far more eloquent in his head even though he's getting the life screwed out of him, haha.

In addition I've made a start to integrating the monster girl camp into the game and compiling up a list of events I want to happen in it--ranging from story orientated events to random ones that can happen depending on a number of different variables. (Such as if you neglect to visit them all for so long, or visit after doing certain quests to trigger new events--there'll be a lot of experimenting for sure!) These aren't necessarily important to the grand story, but will help you feel connected with the older cast even when the newer cast of characters are taking priority due to the over-arching plot.

With many scenes being finalised I've also started sending out a lot of scripts to be voiced (one of the most expensive parts alongside getting art done, haha) so it's been really exciting to see a lot of characters, both old and new, begin to come to life all over again! Some scenes are in a limbo of being written and voiced, but not quite ready to be inserted into the game yet due to the non-linear nature of it all being pieced together--but hearing and seeing them come to life is a great motivator to dedicate my time to working them all into the game, so I hope to have even more scenes good to go moving forward.

Finally--I've added something to the beginning of the game that you can experience during the tour, and when exploring Rhan itself. A certain area that I'm teasing in the screenshot attached to this post! Truthfully I've had this area and moment written up since I first finalised Ren's tour--but held off on fully implementing it into the game as I wasn't sure how well it might be received given it's a little different from most of what the game is focusing on. But I'm going to experiment and see how people in the alpha like it--and if I should keep this building (and character) in! I'll leave it to your imagination as to what this place contains--but as I say, there really is a good reason as to why I left it commented out in the script for so long, haha. But I felt in the end it was a neat little addition to help flesh the city out and give some more backstory to Matt's own gear, too! Maybe we can learn a little more about just how special the sword is that Ruby made Matt--despite its kind of crummy look!

So that about encompasses everything I'm working on and plan to work on in the immediate future! I hope it was a fun little catch-up for people wondering how development was going--but if you have any questions (based on anything you read here, or just in general really, I love to chat!) please feel free to post down below and let me know any questions or concerns you might have! Is there anything you feel I haven't covered, or you want to hear more about in the future?

Until next time~