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Hello,
So... This is the first official Chapter 4.5 Dev log and the last Log about Chapter 4.
We'll start with some news regarding the Chapter 4 Final version.
1. Chapter 4 Final and hardware limitations.
1.1 New hardware and energy prices.
2. Chapter 1.
3. Chapter 4.5
1. Chapter 4 Final and hardware limitations.
Around five days ago, I finished creating all the renders for the final. ~580 renders for Chapter 1.
The new Chapter 1 is a little longer than the old one and features a few new events and insights. (One little Summer flashback, a hint of what happened to MC, etc.)
So... You say the final is done. Where is the update?
For the first time in a very long time, I'm outperforming my hardware again.
The last time this happened was in 2019.
SG's render queue has 320 images in it.
WiAB's has 140.
We have reached a point of hardware limitations. There's nothing I can do but wait and let it render 24/7.
This has never happened before. And certainly not to such an extent.
And it's all thanks to the little improvements I made. In early 2021, I started to work on myself. My mindset, my personal health, etc.
Little adjustments accumulated over time.
And now I created a 1500 lines (580 renders) long update in around a month. And some of those renders were extremely frustrating/challenging. (The big with tons of people.)
I will make a separate post someday about my personal improvements, etc. Normally, I'd say this is too personal. But as a solo dev, your personal state is as important as the actual creative process.
And I'd like to share some insights. I have an urge to talk about it.
1.1 New hardware and energy prices.
Oh and uh... I thought about getting some new hardware but... Germany's energy prices are the highest in the world, and now I have heard from various sources that due to the current crisis, etc.
We're looking at price increases of 75% to 300% for electricity.
The average person will then pay like 130€ instead of their usual 40-50€.
But I am already paying 300+€ a month. If the worst case happens and it actually increases by 300%, I am looking at monthly energy costs of almost 1000€.
This is devastating. And due to my current living situation, I can't declare it as a business expense.
I have to take precautions, which will result in less music and other costly assets for the next update or two.
And costly hardware is out of the question for now. I simply can't afford it under the current circumstances.
But better times will come again. (And if not, I'll create them myself by leaving the country.)
2. Chapter 1.
I will show a few more thingies from Chapter 1, as I do expect, that not everyone is going to play it.
A few renders I'd like to showcase aren't rendered yet. So this will have to do.
Old Mila's introduction
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The auditorium scene still exists, but plays out differently.
New Mila Introduction (I actually dig her old hair now.)
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Mila's talk with the MC
Old
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Mila's smoking has been removed. Mila's personal character arc has been developed in a completely different direction. Smoking is pretty much the dumbest thing a poor person could do.
New
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Maja meets the MC in front of the college.
Old
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The new version has a much more natural flow. Also, two weeks have passed since the incident with Victoria.
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This scene here has been completely removed and a new small series of events is there.
Old
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New
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Many new details have been added to the overall college life. The immersion should be on a completely different level now.
That's pretty much it with Chapter 4's Final. I will release it as soon as all renders are through the queue.
Meanwhile, work on Chapter 4.5 has started
WiAB Chapter 2 is also closing in fast on a release. It's just that WiAB's PC has not even half the power of the SG PC.
It naturally takes a little longer to render the scenes out.
3. Chapter 4.5
I'm sure you won't be surprised by the fact that Chapter 4.5 has a very high Vic & Mila focus.
I won't say too much about the update but... it will be a blessing to set up. (The DND session in Ch4 tainted me.... but also made me stronger.)
All images shown in this Log are attached in High Res.
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"Some words of truth."
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I have been looking forward to an actual Vic/Mila focused Chapter.
My two coder bois and I are also working on the phone and a few basic apps.
It's planned to release the phone with this Chapter.
One bad thing though. I did scrap the two planned cinematics for this Chapter... As I would need to delete them with the Chapter 5 steam release.
But new cinematics are already forming in my head.
Anyways, this is it for today's log.
WiAB will get a new Log soon, too. We are now back to the Bi-Weekly Log schedule.
Considering it all, I am very optimistic about the future.
- Ocean
