Saturday Update!

Last week was a bit rough, but I got what I could done. I've started work on a new chunk of CGs for a branching scene that has a LOT of CGs [ 86 ]. And unfortunately.... the entire batch is new content and so spoilery that I can't really show anything. I'm sorry for the lack of art in this update and the next few 😅

Current Image Finalization: 595/745 - 80%

So, I figured since I can't post art, I can talk about the current game progress and the plans for what's next, now that we're getting a little closer to the end of the art phase. [ And to fill in people who may have joined my patreon later and don't know the Full Plan™ ]

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In case you didn't know, you can see a more technical chart of current progress on the YKMET:Strade page of my website [ https://www.dirtymurdergames.com/pgs/ykmetstrade.php ]

I mention that I hope to be finished and able to release the game by Spring 2025, but it may be as late as summer if future things go slowly or if real life slows me down [ I am now officially supervising an active apartment renovation, demolition started yesterday, and then I will have to move ]

I still have 20% of the art left to finish of course, but after that I have some other tasks as well.

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So far the main gameplay is fully scripted, coded, and edited/tested for the first pass by the Alpha Testers. On top of that, the endings gallery and warnings pages are complete.

There's also a brand new 'death token' system which is fully coded [ although many of the rewards to buy haven't been built yet ]. This system awards players a death token every time they reach an ending [ even the same one over and over ]. These tokens can be spent on unlocking the names of other endings, hints, or even full walkthroughs.

I thought this would be a pleasant and engaging way for people to be able to progress forward if they keep getting the same ending. Hardcore players are of course free to hoard their tokens and figure things out the old fashioned way haha!

I plan to also allow players to spend the tokens on other things, like unlocking concept art, music, maybe memelord mode and possibly other things!

Another new feature that is fully coded [ and Alpha tested, but needs to be tested more during Beta phase because it's complicated ] - Is the Screenshot Gallery.

My games in the past have had CG galleries to view full screen art in the menus, but I realized that simply won't work for this game. The sprites and CGs are not so distinguishable, and there's just too much damn art. Derek's CG Gallery in TPOF threatens older computers with loading issues and this game has MUCH more art than that.

So I've decided to leave out the CG Gallery and replace it with a screenshot gallery. I admit that I'm quite proud of it, because it was some of the most advanced coding I've ever done in Renpy. Players can hit the 'S' key on their keyboards or click a button on the dialogue box [ you have probably seen the little camera button on previous screenshots ] to take an in-game screenshot, which will appear in their screenshot gallery. This will allow players to build their own art gallery with whatever pictures make them happy. I believe my current system holds 60 screenshots and they can be deleted of course. [ I only limit it to 60 to hopefully make sure that no one's game crashes with a full gallery. I need to keep people's loading ability in mind ]. I can tweak the number later during beta testing though if it runs super smoothly for everyone at full 60.

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So that's what's built already; what's left?

The 20% art still left - of course. This alone will take a few months still, as art is by far the most labour intense part of any of this.

[ est. 15 weeks ]

A couple of menu images - I'd like to redraw the main menu art [ make it a bit more detailed, have the knife actually match the one in-game ] and I need some splash images for when the game boots up [ my DMG logo, a logo asserting that the game was made with zero AI, a general warning about the game contents with a link to the comprehensive warning table ]

[ est. 5 days ]

Concept art gallery - I have some concept art to insert already and I plan to draw a few images to celebrate the creation of the game and the beginning of the YKMET series

[ est. 2 weeks [ most of this is to draw new art ] ]

Translation Mod System - This is entirely an experiment and I haven't coded something like this, so I can't promise I'll be able to pull it off. But my concept is to give players better access to Renpy's translation file system. I need to direct would-be-translators to a translation file holding all of the default text in the game [ this is something renpy already generates automatically ], then I need to instruct them how to change the file to hold their translations, and where to put the file. Then I need to build a menu in the game that shows these files and lets players select a new language if they have one of these 3rd party translation files. If I can pull it off properly, this will allow people to simply exchange translation files made by anyone and plug them into their games. This could give players access to more languages and prevent unnecessary pirating [ since in the past, modders have had to share my entire game to give people a modded translation ]

[ est. 1 week ]

Written walkthroughs for each ending - This is easy but I left it for last in case the game gets restructured in any way. These walkthroughs will be accessed on the ending collection menu and purchasable with death tokens

[ est. 1 day ]

Character Bios - just some fun trivia to unlock about Ren and Strade

[ est. 1 day ]

Sound Design - This is the one I am the most unsure about. I only recently learned how to make music, so I am an absolute beginner. However, I am determined to create the soundscape for the game myself. I don't know how long this will take since I've never done it before, but I won't allow it to go over 2 months [ I will have to accept my music for what it is at that point LMAO ]

[ est. 2 months ]

Music Room - Once the sound design is done, I need to create a menu/room for people to be able to unlock the songs they've heard and listen to them in-game whenever they want. Another benefit to me making the songs myself is that I will have full copyright control over them and will actually be able to distribute them in an OST and make sure that youtube knows they're mine and won't be copyright struck.

[ est. 1 week ]

Memelord mode and other bonus content - This will be done dead last, possibly during or after Beta Testing. Icing has to go last!

[ est. 1 month ]

Beta Testing - I plan to end the $20 credits tier here on Patreon and replace it with a $10 Beta Testing tier with limited spaces [ not sure how many, but at least 100 and no more than 300 ]. The tier will come with Discord access to a new Beta Testing server where people can submit bugs and give me feedback on the game. In the past, this stage has lasted for 1 month. As it approaches I realize that I am definitely not over the trauma of the last discord so I am actually terrified to death of this. Ha haa...

[ est. 1 month ]

Which.... unless my math is off, equals around 9 months.

If I add another month for me having to move [ probably spread out in reality due to reno crap ], that puts the new estimated release date at 😬 August 2025. I guess I should update my website to say summer 2025 then.

I know it's still a long time but I really hope it will be worth it! I promise to keep trying my hardest on everything!

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I really can't show you any of the art I did last week but here's a crop of Strade's titties for your trouble.

OKAY THATS ENOUGH WRITING NOW

Thank you so much for your support, stay safe and have a good weekend!