When Stars Collide
September Wrap-up and Devlog
Hi everyone! Time for this month's wrap up and devlog.
As you all know, I released Episode 6 a few days ago! This episode contains Chapter 8 and Chapter 9. If you haven't checked those out, please go play!
What else have I been up to development wise?
Check out the rest of the devlog below for September's update!
Summary:
- Completed Chapter 10 expressions for:
- Asher's Route
- Daaz's Route
- Kav's Route
- Noel's Route
- Started expressions for Raif's Route
- Completed one new sprite
- Made a few sprite sprite additions and corrections
- Dad's silhouette finally appears at the start of the game
Art
This month in art, I finished a new sprite that will appear briefly in Chapter 10 and appears in silhouette form at the start of the game.
His silhouette is a bit amorphous because it's just a bit more difficult read as person with his hair and clothes so I had to muddy up the edges a little to make it look better.
Now there's a grainy blob in the start-of-game flashbang. LoL
Unfortunately Elion will only appear in full-form in one of the alternate endings for the no-LI off ramp in Chapter 10. But we'll see him more later for those eager to punch, kick him, and eject him into space.
(Not saying you get to do all those things. But you will at least get to SEE him. I can guarantee that much).
Fortunately that is the only sprite that needs to be made for Chapter 10, which is good because the last episode is going to need a ton of new sprites.
Fun times.
Coding and Other
I have been focusing on getting expressions done for Chapter 10. It's going a little slower than previous chapters because there are a lot of outfit changes - which is not something I've had to contend with until now to this degree. Ha ha.
But due to where the crew is, they are going in and out of a location that involves a proper outdoors...with weather. Which means a lot of taking jackets off or putting them back on. They are going to bed (pyjamas), getting up, getting dressed, etc.
There's been a lot of moving the sprites around the screen as well as changing what they're wearing because there are a lot of instances where they are changing location or the time of day changes.
Well, and it's just a really long chapter.
I'm nearly done though. I have to finish Wil's expressions through Raif's chapter and then do both Yren and Wil in his chapter. All the rest are done already.
I did some other minor coding things I've talked about in other updates - things like making a minor change to how spicy CGs unlock for people who are playing with the spicy toggle on.
Once again changing the wording on that screen to try to find something that fits better....
And some small QOL things like that.
Upcoming Month
I will, of course, be focusing on Chapter 10 for the upcoming month. Things I hope to get done for sure include:
- Finish setting up expressions (should be done this week)
- Finish setting up the flowcharts
- Music and SFX cues
- Start on CGs
I may get some other small stuff done in there too. I have to design ending cards and some other stuff for this chapter and I always sort of pick up those small bits in between doing other stuff.
Anyway, that's all for this month. I will see you next time around.
~Esh
Comments
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Thanks for the info~
I really do appreciate the hairstyle and outfit changes in this game. It's such a "detail" for some, but definitly a game changer for me as it adds more dynamics and fits better given the context at that time. I am a big fan of all the outfits you designed so far (with a little + for Raif's :3). So, thank you for your sacrifice m(_ _)m
Same thing for the eye colour change. I cannot imagine how pointy it is to get it coded for all the changes every time.
Overall, this is such a fun concept. I went feral after discovering Gilded Shadows (which I replay sometimes to get my dose of Yuu) and I haven't had a story-based game pull me so into that I feel like I'm reading my sci-fi back in highschool (which is like, 10 years ago + at this point). It just tickles some little bone of mine, and makes me giddy. All thanks to your thoughtfullness and writing style :)
The game is still ongoing of course, but I will definitly keep following your works from now on (and hopefully when I get a stable job next year, your Patreon).
That said, I saw 1-2 little discrepancies in chapter 8 and 9 (e.g. reading dialogue and then I am called as ['Name'] for example). But from your Bug post, you have a team for that so no need to report this (if I understoof correctly).
Cheers !
Ah, yeah, the name thing happens sometimes.
It has to do with the fact that there are about 100 nicknames that can trigger one of six canon full names for the MC, which will get used by some of the characters later. (For instance, playing as Wil triggers other characters to refer to the MC as "Rishilwin" sometimes). This has caused some repeated issues with the name formatting - particularly with older saves.
It has some compatibility issues that I've been trying to fix and it keeps rearing its head (it works in my build so I can't really test or recreate it on my own).
But I'll keep tweaking and fine tuning it. <3
And thank you for the rest of the comment. I really like doing all the outfit changes. It's fun for me art-wise and I like having the characters match the in-story context when possible.
Thank you for taking the time to leave me such a lovely comment! I appreciate you. (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)