Game News #69 - Weekend Update

Hey, everyone!

I wanted to continue answering the question of, "what's taking so long?" by showing you what I've been working on lately.

In addition to the walkthrough, I've spent a decent amount of time trying to align the paths and balance out previous episodes, especially in setting up things for future updates. This has happened in stages, as there are multiple layers.

First, I was mostly focused on setting up this and future updates. If you didn't meet Brittany at the bar in episode 7, for example, there wasn't really an option to get on her path later. And why not? Her introduction is her throwing herself at you at the bar. Why wouldn't she also do it the next day at her house if you met her there instead? Well, now she can. Also, were you turned off by her character for the fact that she is cheating on her boyfriend with you? You'll have a third option in the new update where you don't have to.

While I did this, I noticed the same thing for Hottie Bartender. She assumes you met her at the bar scene, but again, it was optional, so for anyone who didn't go to the bar, there are multiple mentions to previous conversations they never had. So I've gone through the past 5 episodes multiple times for multiple characters, tracing things and making sure they all sync up. This includes Daphne, where previously the only way to hypnotize her was to go to Laura's house and let Laura hypnotize her.

All three of those characters will have more plot related roles going forward, so it was worth taking the time to make sure they each interact as they should.  If you played the game using the walkthrough, or are doing a replay where you already know the basic mechanics, it probably won't change much. It's more about matching all the variables for all the optional scenes.

Next, I was replaying the game to double check the walkthrough when I turned Jenn down for going over to her place. She said, "oh, no worries!" but then I found myself locked out of her route. What?

This happens throughout the game. And these issues pop up all the time. It's not just saying no to Jenn on the date and that breaking up with her without meaning to, it's all the issues you'd expect from someone's first attempt at a game. Priorities changed, and I learned what was possible and what really wasn't in the grand scheme of things.

I'll admit it, I kind of hate seeing the earlier episodes of the game. Every scene, almost every render from the first 3 episodes feels like scratching a chalkboard when I see it. So I knew once I started updating the earlier episodes, it would be difficult to stop. I've already replaced the intro three separate times, so now I avoid it. I make an effort to leave things where they are, only fixing the pieces as intended.

I kept this approach for this update as well. Don't dwell on things, don't add new scenes or rework anything, just make it work. Fix what needs fixing, and balance out the things that need it going forward.

Starting out, I didn’t anticipate how many group scenes there would be, and every variable about whether or not you’re dating one of the girls makes a scene more complicated. Doubly so for every other girl being optional. So what’s the answer? Looking back at it, I should have stuck with the main five girls all not being optional. Instead, I should have concentrated on the way the MC interacts with them.

Take Grace, for example. Even though some people didn’t like her character early on, she grew on them and now is pretty universally loved. So why make her path optional when I can make the flavor of her path optional instead? You can choose whether to treat her as your girlfriend or enemy, why not take advantage of that more where the MC can still choose to be nice or mean to her, but is still hooking up with her regardless? This would fix a lot of inconsistencies throughout.

But this is something to fix in future updates. I also want to build a gallery where you can go back and play the different sex scenes. And to do that, I want to go back and fix the shitty animations up until episode 8 when I figured out how to make them actually loop without jumping around.

I'm not doing any of that for this update, or the next one. I'll do it for the one after, and I'll release it with side endings so there's new content with it as I go back and update the first few episodes.

The game doesn't need to be perfect. In fact, it's fine if it's a visible marker of how much I've learned and approved as I've gone. But this update, more than previously, has needed a lot of going back and confirming things, checking notes and replaying the game several times to continue it correctly. I have a pretty decent memory, and I'm used to that being enough, so I'm not always as organized as I could be. But trying to remember what I'd planned three years later can be difficult.

Looking back, it's funny how I meant for Hypnosis to be my "practice" game. I honestly thought it would be something to work on for a year and use all that experience for my next project, but I let the excitement of the reaction to it with all the feedback and support turn it into something far bigger, with multiple paths and endings that skip past the point of what could ever be easily contained.

I love Hypnosis for the beautiful mess of a game it is, and all this work for the past few months has been showing that. But I hate when it takes over six months to finish a single update, and I know you guys do too.

I can't wait to work on other projects. Smaller, simpler, easier games that can be finished in six months to a year, medium sized games that can be played in a day or two, with only a few paths, a smaller cast of characters and a simpler plotline. One day!

Until then, I'll keep offering other content in the time between updates as I work to finish it all.

In the meantime, I'll get some more feedback from you guys with polls in the near future.

Next post will be about writing challenges.

TL;DR: Early on in the game, I was rushing through updates. I was ending every month in crunch mode, skipping through the checklist to get updates out in time. Now, as I look at the game in the rearview, there are a lot of wrinkles to smooth out to keep the game moving forward without collapsing in on itself. It's taken a lot of time, but I did my best not to get lost in it all and only focus on what needed fixing, not remaking it.

Although I feel like I was pretty successful, it's all taken far longer than I ever expected. Good news is, the game will be a lot better off in the long run.

Thanks, everyone!