You must be registered to see the links
Hello everyone! Apologies for the lack of images this week – most of what I’ve been working on is either still very early or tied to spoilers that I’d rather hold back on for now. There’s also been a fair bit of non-visual progress that doesn’t make for great screenshots.
That said, I’ll be upfront: development has slowed down, and I’ve fallen behind on the work I had planned.
Final Boss and Arena
Since the last dev log, I’ve been focusing on the final areas of the game – specifically the arena where you fight the final boss. It’s still quite rough around the edges, but functional and definitely usable for now. My current priority is getting everything to a minimum viable product (MVP) state before diving into polish.
The final boss itself has had some finishing touches added. All that’s left now are the animations and AI.
Cutscene System Updates
As mentioned before, I will also begin working on the intro and outro cutscenes for the final boss. These scenes need to account for several player-driven variables, which has led me to rework some of the internal systems for how cutscenes function. That said, this is still a work-in-progress and as these scenes are not yet prepared, I haven’t been able to effectively do much testing.
I also want the player to make a few final choices during these intro and outro scenes, so I’ll also need to build a choice system (not related to the dialogue system) into the cutscenes in a way that integrates cleanly.
Savina & Ophelia Sequences
I’ve started animating the long-awaited sex scenes with Savina and Ophelia. Each of them will have
three sequences, with around 3-4 animations per sequence – that’s 6 sequences in total (20+ animations).
Unlike the purification scenes with monsters and bosses, these scenes will not use dynamic positioning. That gives me the freedom to make use of the surrounding geometry which allow these scenes to be more unique and character driven.
If I have time, I’d like to also add an intro animation as well to further flesh out the personalities of both characters. All their lines are recorded and also include sex dialogue, which will play out similarly to how Stalkers speak during their purifications.
Something I have yet to decide on, however, is whether these scenes will play in a linear way the same as the Stalker defeats or if I should create a new sequence selector UI that will let you pick specific sequences to play. This needs to be made anyway for Free Mode, but I am considering it for these animations as well.
Cut Feature – Challenges
Now for the less fun or exciting part: I’ve decided to make some feature cuts.
Specifically, the Challenges mode seen in the Extras submenu. These challenges were basically little experimental gameplay areas that I had planned on including as an additional fun feature. Only one has been worked on and was last touched probably last year or early this year. I doubt anyone will actually miss these as they’ve been unavailable but it’s still a tough call.
Ultimately, I have my hands full already with the main game and the more desirable features (such as Free Mode) so I’m making this cut to prioritize those things. In the future, I may revisit the idea as an update.
Burnout and Next Update Plan
I’ll be honest – I’ve been running out of steam lately. I’ve been taking more breaks, getting more distracted and progress in general has slowed. There were smaller signs of this already but since the last dev log, I haven’t been operating at maximum efficiency. The same kind of slump hit near the end of
HotPW’s development too, so maybe this is just part of how it goes near the finish line – that “so close, yet so far” feeling.
To help counter that, I’ve decided to shift my approach to the next update. Originally, I wasn’t planning to release anything at the end of this month. I said I’d probably wait until next month and leave it at that. But I’ve realized that pushing things back like that – giving myself too much room for excuses – could lead to bad habits.
So, in an effort to get motivated again (and hopefully give you something to look forward to), I’ve set a short-term goal: finish the Savina scenes mentioned earlier and release an update at the
end of this month. That build will include those scenes and anything else I’ve added or changed since the last update.
Even if it’s a little rough or buggy, I’d rather release
something than fall into a cycle of silence or delays. You’ve all been incredibly patient and supportive, and I don’t want to take that for granted. This step-by-step release approach feels more manageable right now than aiming for one big, perfect update.
Quick Translation Note
Any new content in the upcoming update will not have Chinese or Russian translations. I’ll be making localization a late-stage priority. For those who reached out about translations – thank you very much. I appreciate it and will be in touch again after we hit beta.
Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you’re all doing well. See you next time!
