30/07/2022 Patreon Devlog (Patreon)

Hi everyone! Sorry this is a little late. I've been working a lot. 💪

This Week's Summary:

• Staged the major BG and sprite changes (IE, when something new shows on the screen or goes away)
• Prepped and coded most new BG variations
• Created new variations for Morgan
• Created new variations for Quill
• Created new variations for Vale
• Created new variations and finished expressions for Locke
• Created new variations for Rory
• Coded all these new elements
• Started staging the sprite expressions - completed up to Chapter Four
• Completed new character sprite: Neel
• Started artwork for three new sprites: Vic and  Aritz
• Added a new function that opens the flowchart to the correct chapter when opened from in the game

The Ramble:

This week, now that revisions are complete and proofreading (round 1) is complete, I've started coding the assets for Quill's route.

Usually things like coding sprite expressions and doing sprite art tend to happen in tandem. I will often code up to the appearance of a new character, then pause and get all their art and variations done, then code them and do the same throughout the route, pausing the coding to do the sprite art.

That's mostly what I've been doing (except Rory - I did his new stuff first just because I wanted to.)

Morgan got three new outfits and a new hairstyle.

Quill got three new outfit variations and a new hairstyle.

Rory got two new outfits and a new hairstyle.

Locke got a new jacket and expressions (I had most of his stuff already complete).

Vale got three new outfits and I revamped their hair slightly to enhance the fade streak at the front.

And I started three additional sprites, setting up their poses and getting their basic stuff done. Neel and Aritz basically appear in the chapter I'm coding now. Vic won't appear until a little later but I figured I'd get his sprite started anyway.

I have one more side character to do after this and then some bobs. I think.

Neel, Aritz, and Vic don't really need a lot of variations - maybe just a removable jacket or something. But they don't need major hair/outfit swaps like the more important characters. So they should be a little easier. They do need full expression tables though.

The other big change is that I added a function that opens the flowcharts to the chapter you are in when you open them from within the game. This was a bit tricky to code. I knew the general principle I would need to use but was totally lost on the syntax required to connect a chapter to a flowchart screen, then have the button always take you to the correct one. I also was worried that it would need me to add a variable for each chapter. And...I mean...there are over 100 chapters in the game now, so adding this wouldn't be just five minutes of work.

I ended up getting help doing it and Shawna, the coder who helped, figured out a way to use the chapter card names to identify what chapter the game is in, that way I don't have to retroactively add over 100 variables into the correct chapters. I really appreciate Shawna, they've helped with several little coding things like this where I've understood the gist of what I needed to do and part of how to do it - but just didn't quite have the skill to make it happen on my own. They are really a lovely person to work with.

So I'm quite grateful for their help on this one too.

Sneak Peeks:

Finally, I have some proper screen caps to show you all. You can see some of Morgan's new stuff, some new characters and new locations!

Upcoming Week:

So this upcoming week, I will continue to focus on getting the sprite expressions coded and the sprite art done. I have to complete:

Aritz

Neel (art done, but needs to be coded in)

Vic

Ian

And....3....??(Maybe 4) Bobs.

So there's a fair amount of sprite art to be done still. One Bob wears a helmet. So that significantly decreases the work there. I've dubbed them "Helmet_Bob".

And, of course, just coding sprite expressions. Like Lance's route, Quill's route actually has a lot of one on one scenes. Even when Morgan isn't with Quill, she's often with just one other character. This makes it go a bit faster but...

Staging expressions is, in a word, tedious. Extremely so. My sprites change expressions every 1 - 4 lines usually. It's just really, really...really boring. There are about 6000 - 6500 expression changes per route if I base it on the other routes. That's about 430 - 470 per chapter.

And, of course, like I said - I'm stopping to do the sprite art as needed.

I do not know how far I will get next week. Sprite expressions can be a bit difficult to predict time-wise.

I will work on it until it's done. And then I'll probably code the SFX and music.

So that is my summary for this week and plan for the upcoming week. I will see you then.