r3.4 Progress Report #12 - Dec 11 @ 09:00 UTC (Task List)
Oh, hey, didn't see you there... What, the update you ask?
FUCKING DONE BOOOOIII!
Well, okay, not done-done, more like medium-done. Video editing (to make them into loops) is next up on the block, probably another hour or so there. Then I'm off to sleep (yes, I still need to do that as much as it pains me). Then tomorrow the first pass QC process starts!
You might be wondering why not just release it with no testing, and I say to anyone that asks that. No.
Or, more rationally, you might ask, how much left to do? And how quickly it can be completed so that you can jump into the update as soon as possible.
Well first pass is the slowest. It's the "Huh, the game didn't even load, I wonder what I fucked up" pass. Missing images, bad text, broken code, that's this pass. Renpy will let me know if any code is actually fucked up, so hopefully that will be pretty fast to fix (unless it's all fucked up...), but display errors are more time consuming (and harder to find (wait, is Summer missing both her arms again?! WTF SUMMER!)).
Usually, this is the step I do the following day after implementing a scene, to make sure it works. But since all scenes are in, it sort of becomes a hodgepodge of other steps. So I'll stuff in extra text, images, additional options, that kind of stuff in this step Because it's the first time I'm "playing" the content in full, I can see how it actually flows, and what I feel I need to change. That usually slows it down as I have to stop, make art, or write dialog, stuff like that. And there is some stuff I know I for sure want to try and slip in (that's what she said). So, yeah, I do expect first pass to take the majority of the day.
Once I get all the way to the end, then it is second pass. Again, this would normally have it's own day so that I could come in fresh, but no time for that! The goal of pass 2 is to play it without changing anything (HAHAHA, sorry, I couldn't type that with a straight face). Once I can get through the new content without modification (or errors) I consider it completed and we move into the next step. Building.
This is where I make all the versions for release. The patch file is usually done first, as I've been making it along the way and just need to slot in the final content. Plus, it's faster to upload/download, so I try to focus it. Then I get to play it all again, three times. Patch. Full release (Windows). And finally android (which gets a cursory, does it load? can I skip to the end of all the new content? good enough).
And if all of that doesn't crumble, then I'll have a release. Fingers crossed.
r; Break your releases into two parts. Unity release and NightMirror Release. Everyone gets what they want, your get breathing room and those that appreciate the effort you put in wait for the content they want.
