Dev-Diary 7

Greetings everyone!

I've been silent here for too long. Which should by no means be interpreted as me not working my butt off! The very opposite is true! Let's dive into a few topics, cause I have a few things to talk about:

Release: We're getting close to finishing up Update 2. Patron-Release will be in 1-2 weeks, that should still be doable, even though I constantly add more stuff to the list.

Assistants: I'm saying "we", because some of my very talented patrons offered (and provided already) help by submitting story-snippets or whole written out scenes. Those feature a new side character (Akari) and show Gina in every-day situations, showcasing her current strength from Level 1 to 3. All in all, the town of Burlingfort is now more lively and Gina gains a bit more depth. Inspired by those those snippets I had to write two new exploration events and some joint-training scenes were influenced by those too.

Submitted-Content: The idea of implementing content from external sources goes even deeper. While the provided scenes were all great in their original form, implementing them into Renpys structure and my style of story-telling, as well as using and maybe creating art for it takes quite some time on my end. However, there is a new concept I want to try and it will already be in Update 2. The idea is to let players write their own scenes, using my characters, their OCs or any combination of it and put it into a dream-scene. With the introduction of Esmeralda in this update and her ability to do guided meditation, those scenes are then featured in a kind of "library-style" within her dialogue. The great part is, that it doesn't divert my ressources, because those scene do not need to be canon or get animated by me. And I already received one story by Silva and it is damn good, so here's hoping many more will come.

Original-Content: The update 2 is all about finishing up Act1. It is about putting all my pieces on the board, getting ready for the big events coming up. It should feel complete in it's own, without any pesky "not-ready-yet"-signs everywhere.

Combat is working fine at this point. It gives further sense to Ginas ambition to grow stronger and stop the mafia. The main story is partely progressed there as well, as information both on the mafia and the story of Ginas dad can be obtained by the beaten bosses.

Esmeralda(girl in silk dress) is finally introduced after having her "Soon be backl"-sign on her door for months now. She will be able to increase Ginas stats by guided meditation and be my "librarian" for user-created stories.

Akari(pink-haired girl, still concept art for now) will be joining the crew with her own little shop in the mall. In her Dragon’s Kiss - Parlor Gina can reduce exhaustion and buy useful items for combat.

The town got expanded with 2 new exploration events, meeting both Bobby and Jade. Those require a certain story-progress or certain strength-level to discover.

The gym gets a lot more lively in this update too, as Jade, Stella and Aline all get a chance to train together with Gina now. The girls all have their own written out introduction-event and will be further on available on certain days for joint-training, giving some extra bonuses to Gina too. And they are properly dressing, as seen above on the pictures. Not everyone has the confidence to run around town in a bikini-top all the time.

Those were the things I've been working on the last 1-2 weeks and they're mostly done. Well, apart from Akari. Nun-Dream is finished too, so content-wise it's all coming together.

Art-Style: Here's a bit of a hick-up. The models and renders I was using till now are slowly showing their age and not always harmonize super-well with the loras to get my girls bigger then. So I've been experimenting a lot with different models by now, combining working on pixai, PS and SD, to create a style this more modern and flexible, but still close to the original art-style of the game. The image of Gina above is an example of that. Still not 100% happy with it, but I will get this done somehow. I'm also in contact with some very talented creators, so maybe they can help too. I'm still a fledgling at AI-art after all. As always, feel free to voice your opinions.

Guess that's all for today. I vow to write again in a week and tell you all about my progress then. Also I'm available on my Discord most of the time, a lot of discussion happening there as well.

Have a lovely week all, and till next time.