Quick progress report

Hey, just a quick update to let you know I'm still busy at work on the game ^_^

I'm currently in the process of building the school environment, which is proving to be a much more cumbersome task than it really should be, mainly due to the asset pack that I used for the school - I won't explain too much, but in summary most of the issues I've been having with lighting and texture mapping have stemmed from the meshes and shader graph that comes with the pack. I will have to run through the map prior to release and replace it all, however that's for another day. And I haven't even got on to the amount of time I've had to wait for occlusion maps to bake - oh the joys of game development within Unity...

I've ironed out most of the wrinkles regarding the process of set dressing, so at the moment I'm just flying through each room and building a basic layout with some simple props, after which I'll flesh out the rooms prior to release. Many of the rooms are required for plot purposes, so there's no sense in cluttering them ahead of time.

Regarding the size of the school, it seemed almost impossible to fit all the required elements within the existing structure. As such, I've doubled the size of the school, and also introduced a central courtyard area and connecting bridge. It's a lot more extra work, however the additional space will assist greatly later on when I come to script the events. There is also a running track and grandstand, which will later be accompanied by a sports hall, swimming pool, and tennis court - as if I don't have enough to do as it is ;)

Regarding the gameplay elements, I can shave considerable time off the event rigging by using fade transitions for navigating the school, however I'd very much like to have a full exploration system set-up instead. The set dressing is incredibly tedious and eating up most of my time at the moment, however I'm still hopeful that I'll be able to get it in before the launch of the prologue.

I was trying to keep the post short, but at this point I've already failed that, so I may as well explain some more regarding room designation and what to expect in the prologue. The rooms currently designated to be built are as follows:

Building A - 'Science & Technology' Block
- Ground Floor - Toilets, *undecided*
- First Floor - Science Room, 2 classrooms
- Second Floor - Computer Room, 2 classrooms
- Third Floor - AV Room, 2 classrooms

Building B - 'Music & Arts' Block
- Ground Floor - Staff Room, Nurses Room, Toilets
- First Floor - Library, 2 classrooms
- Second Floor - Art Room, 2 classrooms
- Third Floor - Music Room, 2 classrooms

The prologue will involve the player character visiting each of the rooms listed above, and will act as both a guided tour of the game setting, as well as a method for introducing the player to different key characters within the game. That's all I can say at the moment though, save for spoiling the main plot :)

I've including some screenshots of different areas of the school. They look pretty basic at the moment, however I'll be fleshing them out prior to the first release. It'll be about another week before I post again, but hopefully by then I should have most of the school setting in a fit state, and be starting on the player character home setting - plenty for me to be getting on with ^_^

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