charenton

Member
Jul 30, 2017
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262
why the testing is stuck at 30% from two days??
probably because revamping and adjusting code already done takes usually more time and work than doing something from scratch, everything is connected and if you change a little bit it can alter other things. And once the update is released we'll have to wait a little before someone post it here so the patreons can play it before us the freeloaders , be patient my friend.
 

cold_arctus

Devoted Member
Sep 25, 2018
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probably because revamping and adjusting code already done takes usually more time and work than doing something from scratch, everything is connected and if you change a little bit it can alter other things. And once the update is released we'll have to wait a little before someone post it here so the patreons can play it before us the freeloaders , be patient my friend.
..maybe they are testing it conscientious ?
They are searching for bugs, then eliminate them...
What happens, if you test to less, you can see (look at MS Products o_O :unsure::poop: )

Code got a revamp too.. ;)
 
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Galin

Active Member
May 5, 2017
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Don't mean to sound pushy, and I don't expect the release until next month. But how long does testing usually take around?
According to my education at the TU Berlin (around 1984) testing should be 50 - 75 % of development-time (including BETA Testing)...


NOBODY spends so much time on testing ;)
 

Aesouh

Master Chief VNGineer
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Sep 16, 2017
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Warning, Only engine update talk below.

This testing is very big compared to other updates due to the fact that pretty much every core system has been revamped in the engine as well, that means the progression system is completely changed with the new task system that is in the game. The hint system got thrown into the bin and the task system has replaced it, but you can still get the same style of hints if you click on tasks, but under the hood it's a completely different thing to before.

Save system has also been optimized greatly, when i started the game development, to maintain save compatibility I couldn't do any big changes to it, because it would ruin the saves, but because we are adding so much stuff anyway in the earlier game, essentailly making it a whole new experience, I decided to fix this as well. It should make saving and loading faster, and the save files smaller. (not the thumbnail pic though, thats still the same).

The map has also been thrown into the garbage bin and replaced with a new map, not only is it a new map design but how it works, is completely different from before. It's much more reliable now to start scenes. It will also show in a different color when there is a scene triggered by that location.

Navigation between rooms had some loading quirks, for example going into veronikas bedroom was a bit slower due to the fact that there are multiple variations of the room depending on situation, now all of that has been redone almost completely, which means that the loading time is much faster.

There are a bunch of new locations available, and these locations unlock over time, while not all have so much content it expands the world and it also prepares us for whats to come in chapter 2.

Fixing this loading performance for the rooms also lead to the night-mode also applying faster, you won't see the daytime version for a split second in some cases (especially noticable with the phone if you open it up first time at night).

The entire way the dialogue system decides what goes into a scene has also been redone massively, to improve stability, speed, and reliability.

One of the biggest things with this is that going backwards now is a lot better than before. There were some quirks and they have been adressed. You can now also when facing a choice, choose to go back with the mouse button/q , something that was not possible before. (you cannot reverse directly after a choice though, that's what the last choice button is for).

We also added "parental protection" lock to the game for those that want, this is available from the options menu and will make it impossible to play the game without a password that you have set, on your computer user account. After seeing the loading screen you will face a completely black screen with a password field only and an exit button. You remove it again by just going into settings and leaving the password blank, just hit enter (once you are passed the password lock). Also resettable in a file if you forget your password (password is stored in hashed not in plain text, on your computer).


We have added some new dialogue effects too, to make some transitions between scenes nicer.

The jumpy dialogue panel when you are skipping, or just going into a scene has now been pretty much obliterated, so it stays where it should be.

Going from one scene to another is now seamless, no more extra click or a black screen.

The SFX slider in options was not working since some versions ago, it's now fixed. Also improved the options menu under the hood in multiple ways to make it more reliable.

When saving/loading the game you would accidentally move forward a step in the dialogue, this has also been fixed.

The dialogue history now shows the correct colors of the characters names (For those that used that feature)

There's a buunch more things that has happened, so many performance improvements. I am super proud how far this engine has gone over the course of the development, and i sure want it to feel like a proper version 1.0 not only story wise but the feel of the game as well.

The list can go on with even more things that you can't really see happening, trust me, you'll feel it when you play. :)

After all of this, we're still pretty damn close to a release, it's not just testing the engine but we also have to test the dialogue extensively, because of all the rewriting, new scenes, new features in the scenes, and so many things going on. Keep in mind that Motkeyz works hard on renders constantly, so like now, when we need more time also for writing and the engine, we got even more bonus and extended scenes than first planned, so no time is lost. We want you guys to really enjoy this.

/A
 

JKH18

Member
Jan 16, 2018
492
474
Sounds to me like this just might be the one game update with an extensive rework included that's actually well worth the wait. :) Too often when a dev decides to do a rework on anything related to the engine, it's so labor intensive that content amount drops inevitably, but judging from the devs comments this isn't the case for once. Can't wait :)
 

Aesouh

Master Chief VNGineer
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Sep 16, 2017
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Sounds to me like this just might be the one game update with an extensive rework included that's actually well worth the wait. :) Too often when a dev decides to do a rework on anything related to the engine, it's so labor intensive that content amount drops inevitably, but judging from the devs comments this isn't the case for once. Can't wait :)
Well I do engine reworks in every update, you can check the patch notes. It's a living project and it's evolved massively since the start, but some rework is just not possible in a regular release cycle so we do with what we can. People will probably understand when they play this how much work went into it. Even more so if you played the current update.

/A
 

JKH18

Member
Jan 16, 2018
492
474
Well I do engine reworks in every update, you can check the patch notes. It's a living project and it's evolved massively since the start, but some rework is just not possible in a regular release cycle so we do with what we can. People will probably understand when they play this how much work went into it. Even more so if you played the current update.

/A
Sure, lots of devs do minor reworks and adjustment to their engines on the regular, I was talking about a major, extensive rework and upgrade like you've been working on. :) But from the sound of things, this is an update to look forward to, and the one time when there's no need to worry that content quality or amount has taken a hit because of all the other work that's gone into the update. :) Looking forward to it!
 

Aesouh

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Sep 16, 2017
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Sure, lots of devs do minor reworks and adjustment to their engines on the regular, I was talking about a major, extensive rework and upgrade like you've been working on. :) But from the sound of things, this is an update to look forward to, and the one time when there's no need to worry that content quality or amount has taken a hit because of all the other work that's gone into the update. :) Looking forward to it!
I know we're not the only ones that have a dedicated programmer, but not sure how the other teams work with it, if they work fulltime coding or just mainly work on content integration or if they have split roles. I focus most of my time on just programming. If there's a solo dev they usually have to sacrifice on the coding, and then again most artists arent programmers either, it's quite recommended to be at least two people, not only for the expertise but for the time it takes to do it all.
 
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Shiva0067

Well-Known Member
Sep 3, 2017
1,219
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-FAKE- Breaking News -FAKE-

The Voices in my Head just revealed the AWESOME news about the revamp. Yes, Aesouh made MAJOR changes to the engine so we will now be playing a game with 8-bit Graphics. Such AWESOME news for all of us, we now get TRULY awesome images instead of the ones we've been forced to look at before now. :devilish:

-End of FAKE news-

This sounds like a lot of fun and I'm patiently pacing and chewing my nails while waiting. Um, would it be possible for us to get a preview pic of the new map?? Just wondering because I don't want to get lost when I start a new playthrough. :)

Just some thoughts.
 
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