Release 8.0 | Development Update

This update is a little different from the others.

I'm basically creating each scene with all the steps being done at the same time. The text, the programming, the dialog is being adjusted and the images are already being edited.

I decided to do it this way because with each new scene I have to go back and see how it fits in with Cody and Josh's stories, which run in parallel.

I know it's hard for many people to understand when I talk about making stories compatible... since in theory they are separate. But I'll give you an example:

In Matthew's story, he will at some point interact with Cody and the painting club. But in the dialog I need to imagine all the scenarios that the player may have chosen so far.

For example, if you've been following the game for a long time, you've probably already seen the scenes of Josh taking part in the club, so the dialog with Matthew would be thought of as him being the second “model” in the class.

In linear stories, this would be easy to do. It would be the only option.

But... for those who are just starting the game... this may not be true.

Matthew could be the first, since the painting club with Josh is optional. And that changes everything.

Because at the same time as I have to make a new scene in which Matthew is the first, I have to go back in Josh's story and make a scene in which he then becomes the second.

And I also have to redo all the dialog with Cody... since now Josh is no longer the first and so when the player goes to talk to him the dialog has to check whether or not the painting club has had a model before.

And to make matters worse, I still have to take into account whether the path chosen by the player is that of the relationship or that of the slave. That also changes the dialog. Requiring me to do the same conversation scene with Cody but with different texts to reflect the characters' current status.

That's why it's taking me a bit longer, because I need to keep doing Matthew's new scenes and checking how they impact on the existing stories... to see if I need to make any adjustments to them.

But the advantage of developing this way is that by the time I've finished Matthew's scenes, the story will already be ready, without any additional editing steps.

As for the release date, if all goes well, we'll have good news about it next week.