13/03/2021 Patreon Devlog (Patreon)

Hi everyone! It is yet again time for this week's patreon devlog.

This Week's Summary:

• Finished Chapter 10
• Finished Chapter 11
• Finished Chapter 12
• Finished BG
• New BG Sketch
• Quick edit of a couple of Lance Chapters

The Ramble:

Another week of...you guessed it.

Writing.

Everyone, I am really close, though. <3 SO CLOSE.

So I have finished up to the end of Chapter Twelve. This means I have one normal-length chapter left and then the final chapter with the endings, which is always much shorter than the other chapters.

If we look at the overall completion percentage, though, it's a bit low.

As I've said, Lance's route is coming up pretty short length-wise. This is largely because I'm trying to write it *fast* so I'm not necessarily fleshing things out as much as I normally do. Fleshing out is pretty easy during editing so I'm not too worried about it.

For instance, I actually edited Lance's first chapter - just a quick fleshing out. And easily added 1000 words of non-fluff to it. I added around 500 words to Chapter Two. And, again, this isn't fluff or even description. This is fleshing out exposition, interactions, and Morgan's thought processes (such as her internal explanations for her motivations and such) as well as making sure I add relevant details to things like her injuries and the like so the player just understands fully what is happening.

A lot of times if I'm writing fast, I leave out things like Morgan's impressions of things or even her observations about the LI's behaviours and actions. I just generally keep descriptions too minimal so I can hit the major points of what's happening.

I've been particularly bad about this in Lance's potato draft because I'm trying to get it written quickly so I can move into more of an editing/coding alpha routes phase and move away from the endless writing.

Another thing I often leave out as I write is the branching for personality traits. Some of the personality traits lead to large, significant branches or open up new choice options for players. But many of them simply give small variations in Morgan's reactions to situations. If she's analytical she may figure something out for herself as opposed to being given the information by someone else. If she's emotional, she may become openly sad or angry about a situation rather than reacting in a more calm manner.

For Lance's route I glossed over some of these opportunities and will add them in on editing.

The TLDR of this is that Lance's will need a lot of fleshing out for sure. But I don't find that too difficult and am not really worried about it. I have way more trouble having to cut content than having to add it during editing. LoL!

Anyway, I'll be starting Chapter 13 next. This  is, of course, the climax chapter. Usually these take a little more time than other chapters because they're more difficult to "choreograph" if you will. (There's a lot going on and a lot of characters to juggle). But it would be...magical...if I was somehow able to finish Lance's route in the next week or week and a half.

Absolutely *magical.*

Lance's climax, like the rest of his route, is a bit more lowkey and character focused as opposed to action focused. The route starts out with Morgan trying to figure out how to get home and ends with her desperately trying to orchestrate things so she can stay. It starts with Lance being reluctant to get involved in things and ends with him inserting himself back into world events for Morgan's sake.

I was originally going to have a much more action oriented moment but a lot of the other routes end in a Big Fight (™) so I wanted Lance's route to end differently. There is a fight but, like Magnus' route, the physical altercation happens off screen and the climax focuses on the character and plot resolutions instead.

Hopefully it'll be a nice change of pace for the player.

Anyway….on to sneak peeks!

Sneak Peeks and Previews:

A tunnel! So I actually had done this BG myself but felt it turned out a little too "painterly" compared to the style of the rest of the background art.

I ended up deciding to get this BG re-done so it's a little more flexible in how I can use it.

And the new sketch! It is……..a hallway. Rofl. Okay, We have a lot of hallways but I swear I needed ONE MORE.

Most of the hallways are designed to match the building they're in so it's difficult to re-use them. This one, at least, I should be able to use for several different scenes across multiple routes. So it'll be of use to me for more than just a single moment.

And a couple of snippets for you from early in Lance's route! Why is Morgan so badly injured when Lance's route starts? Well...Jack's poor car. OnO

"Everything happened at once."

"An echoing boom sounded at the same time it felt like something struck the back of the small car, sending me spinning out of control."

"I screamed and yanked the steering wheel the opposite direction, instinctively hitting the brakes."

"The car was tipping sideways and in what felt simultaneously fast and slow, the world went sideways, upside down, then sideways again."

"I smashed into the interior wall of the vehicle, the restraints not doing much to keep me in place."

"I was airborne, but it only lasted a second before the car slammed back into the ground, skidding across the pavement."

"Pain jolted through my body as metal screamed and twisted. Everything went black."

"..."

"..."

"I had no idea how long I was out - seconds probably."

"When light faded back in, there was just pain and the smell of smoke."

"The little car had come to rest perpendicular to the ground against one of the walls. The door was smashed, broken, and partially open."

"I shoved against it weakly, biting back a cry at the pain intense pain. My shoulder..."

"There was a coppery taste..."

"I was bleeding. From my head, I thought. Or, hell, maybe from more than one place. There was so much of it, I couldn't tell."

"But pain or not, I had to get out. I had to get away."

"Somewhere, I heard the heavy sound of mechanical footsteps coming closer."

"Metal crunched against broken glass and debris. There was the smell of glass, crackling of fire..."

"And part of me wanted to just lie there."

"Finding the strength somehow, I pulled myself half out of the vehicle, trying to locate the source of the footsteps through blurred vision."

"I couldn't see it. There was smoke everywhere..."

"But the machine was definitely there. A dark, threatening presence in my mind and all around me."

"(If I could just...get...out...get away.)"

"If there was a way to hide. A place I could rest..."

"Tears stung my eyes, mingling with the blood running down my face."

"I reached...ahead. Clawing at the ground to drag myself forward as those footsteps neared."

"Time felt like it was dragging out. I felt outward with my mind."

"It was an alien feeling. Like searching outward with a spotlight that zeroed in on a hiding spot."

"And like before, an image came to mind. A cool place - dark, isolated. "

"The footsteps stopped less than a meter away. There was a soft hum. A weapon."

And...

"There wasn't really much to look at. It was a tunnel. Rounded walls, round floor and ceiling. Almost like a drainage pipe?"

"There was a thin trail of water trickling down the middle - mossy walls. And very little light."

"There were places like this beneath the dome rims and roadways. I had probably teleported myself to one since it was secluded and safe."

"I had no idea how far I was from the crash site, though."

"But if I was gauging based on previous jumps with Ari, that hadn't been a short one. I assumed I'd gone at least a few kilometers away..."

Morgan: "Well...this escape has gone really well."

"(Jack, wherever you are, sorry about your car.)"

Morgan: "If you'd been a little more trustworthy, maybe I wouldn't have taken it."

"Yes. It was definitely his fault."

"And Caleb. I needed to blame him for sure."

"I let out a soft groan, tipping my head back to rest against the wall."

"I should have just gone with them."

Morgan: "I'm an idiot."

And again...

"It felt like the place where, in a movie or book, the heroine would think something stupid like 'Ah, this isn't so bad.'"

"But the truth was..."

"It really sucked."

"I covered my eyes with my good hand, letting out a sob."

"Why had it turned out this way?"

"It wasn't fair."

"Rancid anger swirled in my gut but what could I even do about it?"

"The people responsible for all this would never know."

"I wanted to scream."

"To hit something..."

"Wiping away the tears, I stared at the landscape that had become an orange and brown blur." 

"Darkness was already creeping into the corners of my vision."

"I didn't want to die but..."

"There was no energy left. No matter how much I willed my body to move, I just sat there crying."

"Outside the pipe, there was the sound of movement. At first, I thought it was just the wind brushing some some scraggly weeds against the pipe or something."

"But no. Footsteps."

"I heard them distinctly before everything went echoey and dim. My consciousness was already fading when I saw a dark shadow pass in front of the light."

"My final thought before everything faded completely was that it was a person - not that damned robot again."

Upcoming Week:

Wouldn't it be amazing if this was the last time (FOR A WHILE) that I say I will be spending the week writing?

I cannot express how ready I am to be done with this phase of the writing. Yes, I know I have the KS love interests still. But to be done with the base game...it's a dreaaaaaam.

(I know I said "early April" last week but I've been moving pretty fast. So I have hopes it'll be...sooner. Before the end of the month. Maybe even this up coming week?? =OO That would be incredible!)

Anyway! See you all next time!