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Post-release status
The release went smoothly, so I've been able to work on episode 9 this week. I will release any changes to the Interlude in the form of bug fixes and typos together with episode 9 (v0.9.0). I will release the walkthrough for the Interlude later this month.
It should come as no surprise that the development of episode 9 will take more time than the Interlude. It's going to be a full-fledged episode, and I'm unsure about the size of it.
As I've mentioned before, I'm trying to limit the episode size a tad, and I chose the episode I've been looking forward to a lot to do it with - which is a challenge.
Ever since day one of this project, I've wanted to create the Halloween episode, and I'm euphoric right now as I'm doing it. I've been going over my old notes for the episode, laughing at jokes I forgot that I wrote years ago, and smiling at events that I know will be in the episode. I'm looking forward to making this episode as grand as I've pictured it.
There are two distinct and quite lengthy areas to discuss to bring you up to speed on the progress so far. One is regarding development that is just about episode 9, and the other is about development that goes far beyond episode 9 but needs to start now.
To avoid making this post too long, I've decided to split this topic in half, talk about the first half today, and leave the second half for next week's post. Today, I'm going to talk about the episode 9 development only.
Episode 9 development
After episode 8, we've ended up with some major branches, as you can tell.
Branching is always something I enjoy creating, and it's among the trickier things to accomplish with this type of game. Everything needs to make sense, no matter which branch you're playing, and to make it interesting; the branches need to be different and show how choice can matter.
For every render, animation, line of code, and piece of content you put in a branch, you take away from the perceived episode length for all other branches. To get the feeling that you're playing a long episode, you need to put in much more effort than when you create something more linear, e.g., the Interlude.
When I started episode 9 development, the first thing I did was write the shell for it. I know how to start the episode, I know how to end the episode, and I've mapped out many key events in between.
After that, I add more and more events along the way while constantly balancing the content put into the branches I've created. For instance, Sage's branch must get approximately the same amount of unique scenes and content as Isabella or any other branch. Striving for this balance gives the best experience for every player.
After the episode shell is made, I plan the lewd events and parts of the needed animations. I need to stay efficient, so I often start working on animations early. That ensures that I utilize my PCs to the max.
As soon as animations are rendering, I start writing the episode. I start posing static renders and preparing characters for different scenes if I need a break.
That is the basic start-up flow of development for me and just about the current progress.
I've posed two animations over 1 minute long each during these last weeks. It's unfair to call them two animations because they collectively consist of 26 animations. Not only that, they have already been rendered and put in the game and synchronized to new music. I can confidently say that I've never been more proud of any animation work than both of these animations. When playing, they give a cinematic feeling, and I can't wait to show you what they are.
I've almost finished posing animations for the first lewd scene of the episode. For those who wished for more lewd scenes in the Interlude, you'll be happy to know that there will be plenty of it in episode 9. It's been tough limiting the plans in this area, but I had to draw a line somewhere.
Aside from writing and posing animations, I've been preparing close to 50-60 characters for the episode. There will be some cosmetic polls in the future, but sadly most of the Halloween costumes are planned, so I won't be able to give you the freedom to choose Halloween costumes for many girls, or it would mess up my writing and the episode story.
I've prepared the environments for the first free-roam and even rendered and processed them. Free-roams usually take the most time to create out of everything, so it feels extra good that there's a chunk of progress made here already.
I've also worked on mini-games, and this is where I will stop the status update today and leave it to be discussed in next week's post.
The progress in numbers is roughly 200 static renders and 8 animations. Moreover, I've written more dialogue and code than the Interlude has already.
My goals in the near future are to continue posing animations and writing. I want to post previews and polls for episode 9 as well.
The full-time development on episode 9 has officially started.
