DevLog Update

Hey all,

So some of you have contacted me about the anticipated release for v0.12. Basically, this has been the update from hell and if it could go wrong--it has...multiple times. 

Bitching

So to catch everyone up. I took about  a week or so to collect myself after writing the previous update. I stated that it was a rollercoaster to write and v0.12 is no exception either. Thus, I needed that break to regroup before I dropped myself back into a emotionally-charged, dramatic pit again. The new update was originally going to have two new areas: the bar and a park area where Braden and Zack walk to the bar. Well, that changed into me wanting a third zone which is simply a generic street the bar is located on. This meant that I had to research and make new adjustments for new scenes. This also includes lighting them and just generally trying to get familiar with them. So basically, three new zones slowed me down.

As I've stated before, two of the new zones (the bar and the park) apparently have an insane amount of detail. Normally, a picture render was taking about 1.5-2 hours. But the new zones were taking between 10-12 hours per pic! The lag was so bad on the new scenes that it wasn't unusual for me to hit a key and wait up to one minute before the camera would respond and then make the change on the screen. So pictures just started to stack up and the frustration level was max. On top of that I had a ridiculous number of computer gliches and problems. Things that have worked fine for the past year were breaking. It was almost humorous if it wasn't so damn frustrating. It felt like a scene out of Final Destination--like I wasn't supposed to complete this update! For example, after 10 hours of waiting on one render, I was trying to do something else on the computer and plugged in my portable drive to transfer files, this jostled the power cord loose on the computer and shut it off. Lost the entire render and 12 hours of progress. Just shit like this for the past month on the daily.

Current State

So for those not on Patreon Lens, I posted a few early pics of the new computer system I bought with the help of the Patreon support. I'll post separately about the new computer before long but I wanted this DevLog on the books first because I know ya'll are curious. Basically, it was time and my frustration with this update was the catalyst to purchase the new system. Legit: Daz3D is the only app installed on this thing so I bought it specifically to build this game. Got the new rig on Friday and I've been furiously working my entire weekend on rendering things and getting shit caught up. Rendering times have sped up considerably: dorm scenes went from 2 hours to around 30 minutes. The 12 hour park scenes have been reduced to about 1 -1.5 hours. So time is on my side now. I just need to get caught back up. I was gone for most of Sunday visiting sick family members and came back but my batch rendering wasn't working. I think I got that worked out so hopefully things will render on their own over the next day or so and I'll be caught up.

For the most part, the writing rough draft has been done for awhile but I've been spending so much time on the renders and problem solving that I haven't gotten a chance to go back through it. I currently have about 50 renders completed with 15 more in the queue to add. Once these are completed, I can add them into the current draft and then see what holes I have left. At this point, I'm not sure how many holes I'll have. I also have another animation that I've worked my ass off on. This animation is extremely special to me because it's the first animation I've tried to build from scratch. So it's important that it works. With the new system, it should render faster but I'm not sure how long it will take--I'm still working on static images first. I imagine it will take a few days to render. I also have  9 doc office renders to fix from the last update where Zack's face is fucked up; but those should go fairly quickly so I'm not really worried about those. 

Word count-wise, this update was a little smaller than the past ones. The rough draft clocked in around 1,000 words. This is comparable to past updates but is smaller than the most recent few. That being said, I would like to expand it a bit but all the problems I had lately were taking so much of my problem solving ability, that I didn't have much creativity left. I will say, I plan to end Chapter 6 and Part 2 of the story with this update. So expect a little bit of closure this time around rather than the typical cliffhangers (Good news for those of you that hate me for the past few endings).

One major question that one supporter asked was the ETA, something most people are probably curious about. At this point, I don't know yet. I'm working my ass off on this but if I burnout, the story will suffer so bare with me. I would like to have it out by the end of the month but I'm not sure that will happen--at this point, that would surprise me but it's definitely still a goal.

Thanks

Also, I want to thank those of you who chime in on the forums, in private messages, and on the Tumblr with your stories, asks, and just general praise for the game, the writing style, and other ridiculously flattering observations. The way this month has gone, you have no idea how much it's meant. It seemed like every time I just wanted to give up and set my computer on fire in an abandoned parking lot somewhere without a strong police presence, I would get some crazy message from someone with a heart-felt thanks about the game. As stoic as I am, shit hit me in the feels and it means a lot. When v0.12 finally hits, it's gonna be because ya'll carried me through this one...

Let me know if you have more questions. I'll post some more pics before too long, too.

-Aaryn-