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Good afternoon, Meridians!
I hope you all had a productive, care-free type of weekend. It’s Sunday, which means it’s time to stress about tomorrow and the number of conference calls people can jam into one day! Kidding. Unfortunately, not… but I digress. In all seriousness, it's time for our weekly update and a look at the progress being made toward 0.2.0.
Let’s talk environments
I won’t lie, last week was pure chaos. Actual, unfiltered madness at the office. The end of the year always hits hard with annual reviews, new AOP targets for 2026, the looming RTO mandates, and a whole pile of corporate... nonsense that stacks up faster than the pings on Microsoft Teams. Luckily, once the laptop finally shut each night, I managed to take some time to start building out a few of the environments you’ll come across in the next update.
This includes:
- Green’s Coffee
- Talonwright Supplies
- Crescent Touch (Come on, you didn’t think we wouldn’t have a campus massage parlor, did you?)
- C.R.E.A.M. (Gym)
- Lecture Hall
- Campus Grounds (i.e., Courtyard, Rowan Square and Curriculum Corner)
- Esoteric Parapsychology classroom
- Fine Arts classroom
- Rachel’s Apartment
I wanted each classroom to feel unique, like it actually had a personal touch from the professor and reflected the subject itself. For example, Esoteric Parapsychology is a field at MHU that studies paranormal or “psychic” phenomena, mental abilities, and magical elements. I’ve added relics, books, candles, and other oddities to really sell the idea of diving into the unknown. To capture that feeling of stepping into a space where more exists than meets the eye.
For Fine Arts, the classroom features a raised platform surrounded by easels so students can accurately capture the beauty of the object or person () on display. I’m sure you can imagine where this might lead when a model is placed in the center of a group of inspired students. Sight is often the artist’s best tool, but the aspect of touch can add a whole new dimension.
What’s life without Radiance?
I also had the opportunity to render some new pics for Radiance, including two uploads for the “sexy” category and some fresh pics for Rachel and Cora. You’ll also see new profiles appearing on your feed, such as Bryce, Jayden, and Maya over the course of 0.2.0.
I’m still fine-tuning the core aspects of Radiance, like the frequency of the MC’s uploads and connecting sponsorships to the quest journal system. The current Radiance system uses a seven-day cycle where, at the end of each cycle, a picture is posted based on the category with the most uploads (cute, sexy, and lewd). The goal was to keep the feed feeling fresh and avoid repeating the same image every time. The problem is that seven days is a long stretch. I’m considering shortening the cycle to three or four days while ensuring there are enough photos queued in each category to keep things varied.
As for sponsorships, I want them to actually matter. I don’t want them to be a simple click, upload, claim-rewards loop. Maybe a sponsor challenges you to take a pic in public, or on the local bus that travels between MHU and the heart of town. Maybe they send clothing they want you to model. The options are endless, and while everything may start from your phone, I want these sponsorships to spill out into the world of Meridian Heights to create unique scenes and choices.
What’s next
Next week, I’ll be diving deeper into the script to flesh out the scenes and keep everything on track. I’ll also be posting a handful of preview renders from the upcoming environments for the Dusklight Prospects tier and above on Wednesday.
As always, thank you for the support and for taking the time to play and invest yourself into the world of Meridia. I’m genuinely enjoying creating the story, building the world, and stepping into the shoes of the crazy characters wandering around this magical little world.
Take care. Love you all! ❤
