LyLaD March 2025 Update

Been too long since I made one of these, but there's been a lot of work done in the past three months, and more that went undocumented in the later portions of 2024.

In rough order these things have been finished/added:
 - Virtually all combat systems except one remaining (see below). There is a unique system for enemies selecting their own attack patterns now built from the ground up, allowing behavior that wouldn't be easily possible with vanilla attack selecting. Minor but important mechanics like counterattacks, ambushes, and level drain were added.
 - The clock UI now also shows with a small flashing indicator if certain types of effects are taking place, mainly: gradual HP/MP gain or loss, changes to fullness or bloating, gradual weight gain states, or charm/hypnosis states. So for instance if Lilya is poisoned and taking health damage when time passes, or is inflicted with a constant fattening curse, an indicator on screen will tell you this instead of you needing to look at her status.
 - Stealth mechanics were finished. Lilya can enter a sneaking mode where she can attempt to avoid any encounters she might trigger via a check against her Hiding skill against the parameters of the encounter (its constituent enemies) itself. While interacting with things on a map, Lilya will attract attention that makes it harder to stay hidden. By carefully limiting time spent in enemy territory though, this increasing chance of being caught can be mitigated.
   Only while sneaking can Lilya attempt to ambush enemies, with a similar but harder check compared to hiding, except it depends on her Backstabbing skill. Enemies may also ambush Lilya if they are not detected first. Whether the ambusher is Lilya or the enemy, if the ambush fails then a 'counterambush' will be granted to the ambushed party, effectively turning the situation around completely. Ambushing thus carries a large risk if failed, but likewise enemy ambushes can be turned against them.
 - A system for random generation of traps, special events, and item containers was created.
   Any object can be defined with a chance to generate a generic trap on itself. The type of traps that can spawn are restricted to a list of pre-constructed traps, with criteria that must be met to allow them. For instance: a vine trap may only spawn in a map with plants. Similarly, potential effects are random but can be limited to fit the theming or danger level of the area. So if a dungeon has a focus on bloating, then bloating traps may spawn. If it is meant to be a relatively safe, low risk area, then drastic effects like instant weight gain or curses will not spawn. The difficulty of detecting, disabling, and evading such random traps will scale to the difficulty of the map they are spawned in, with some degree of variation.
   Events can be signaled to spawn in an area like random traps are, but are much larger ordeals composed of multiple parts. They will be intended to range from things like a chest being guarded by an enemy, to special NPCs appearing, or to more involved, multi-faceted traps. The intention is to be able to set a random, unique scene/event at any random locale where they are allowed. Similar restrictions to random traps apply, making sure the chosen event fits the theming and difficulty level of the area.
  To facilitate the above, and to help populate dungeons, there is now a system of loot tables to choose from to generate the contents of chests and other containers according to a theme or purpose, such as valuables, utility items, magic tools, etc.
 - This month, a great deal of work went into completing the groundwork for dialogue and other text scenes.
   To begin with, the mode in which text is conveyed can be changed according to the scene between ADV mode and NLV mode. ADV mode is the typical text box at the bottom of the screen, while NVL mode is a larger box with smaller font taking up the right side of the screen. NVL mode lets text scenes be more verbose and long, whereas the traditional ADV mode is great for dialogue exchanges between characters.
   For character sprites, I went through the trouble of making the game itself be able to batch images together to construct sprites out of multiple parts. This way I don't need a billion variations for every expression, pose, and weight tier Lilya has, while also not slowing the game down by having over a dozen separate images displayed at the same time just to depict her. Her current sprite is only static, but a system for inputting different expressions & poses is already in place.
  Sprite and other images can be shown in three different contexts on screen. Either their face is shown above/beside the textbox, to show who is speaking, or it is displayed behind the textbox like in a visual novel, or it can be shown in a special frame that layers over the background (though, this will probably be used more for purposes other than character sprites mainly). Fine control over where sprites are drawn, the ability to move them around, change them, etc. provides a lot of potential for constructing scenes in game.
   The ADV/NVL text modes, faceplates and frames, and the current sprite itself are shown in the images above.

The sketches above show working sprites for human NPCs and shade NPCs that will appear in the demo. These will be much easier to complete than Lilya's sprite since they only really consist of a body and different facial expression. Only Ludmila (leftmost) can get fattened in the demo, as the example NPC for that set of female side characters. The others are primarily important to the story at the moment.

As for what still needs to be done:
  - Lilya's combat sprite.
  - The basic variations for Lilya's face parts to create different expressions, standardized across the dialogue & combat sprite. Plus a way of modifying target expressions according to her parameters (things like blushing regardless of intended expression due to being embarrassed).
 - Remaining assets needed for Lilya's body across weight levels for both sprites.
 - Mini 'animations' using LIlya's sprite and poses, for things like eating (hand to her face/cheek, chewing), becoming visibly full (showing her stomach change size), changing weight level, etc.
 - NPC mechanics. Talking, changing location, disposition, services. 'Quest' tracking.
 - Standardized abnormal effects according to difficulty level of area and type: HP Damage, MP Damage, Attribute Damage, Sin Amplification, Physical/Mental States, Curses, Hypnosis, Weight Gain, Fullness/Bloat Gain.
 - Last remaining combat system: Restraints and Hypnosis.
 - Perks (called Traits in game) effects and selection menu.
 - Boons, a special neutral effect selected at the start of the game, with both positive and negative implications.

Once these are finished the demo can begin to be constructed. For a little context: Basically all of the level design and narrative scenes for the demo are set in stone so it's only a matter of making it all. And while this seems like a lot, I do want to get it done before May and believe I can. At least, all of the mechanical stuff definitely can be. The sprite art assets may be painful to work through.

With that stuff out of the way, I will want to dedicate myself fully towards creating, writing, and drawing for the demo proper throughout May and June. A working demo for playtesting in July could then be possible, with a public demo release in August.

Because things are ramping up (and I will likely also be moving out of my current place within this timeframe) I definitely won't have as much time to put out work exclusively for Patreon that isn't LyLaD related, and I'd like to keep some surprises for the demo too. I also don't have the leniency anymore to be putting breaks on payments either.
Regardless, I will be aiming towards putting out another batch of drawings before the month ends, and hopefully the Isla comic (or colored Lucy comics). I had a poll in mind for this month too, but most likely that will be pushed into April.