State of the Game - October 2, 2024

Hey there, everyone. Welcome to another devlog.

I'll go over the progress that's been made in just a moment, but first I need to talk about some things.

This update has been very strange to work on. The original goals for this update were making a final, definitive version of the game's rig, fix clipping, and fix the game's inventory system. But lots of unforseen things have transpired that have made this update a way more complicated than that. And without getting too deep into things, while trying to rebuild things, I feel like I've been trying so hard trying to make this update feel complete and definitive, that I've lost the plot a bit. I keep wanting to do a bunch of stuff, without thinking about the practicality of it all. And trying to balance and keep up with all these game elements and trying to make them as complete as possible all in one go is quickly starting to become overbearing.

So I think I need to dial it back a bit. I need to shrink my scope in some aspects. I need to focus on making existing elements more engaging, fixing what's broken, and maybe even taking out some elements that aren't vibing (more on that later). But with that being said, let me tell you what I plan to do.

So because of the whole model rework and the previous inventory system getting botched due to a Visual Studio conundrum, the game isn't "playable" at the moment. Links and systems have broken that need to be rebuilt and connected. Which is the main thing I'm doing now.

And since the model is being reworked, all assets need to be remade, so there's not much to customize at the moment either.

So my main goal right now is the get the game in a playable state again. A build where the main gameplay loop can be executed. I initially wanted to get the game up and running to its former state and have all the new stuff added before releasing a new update. But I think releasing a more consistent "stable alpha" build might be more practical... kinda like what I said I was going to do when 1.0 came out...


But what does "stable alpha" mean in terms of this game?

Well, given the nature of the changes being made to the game right now, next update will most likely have less cosmetics to start out with, because it will take a while to get everything remade. Immobiles might also be temporarily nerfed for a bit. They've been a challenge to tackle for this game since the beginning. Not only with production, but with gameplay as well. I don't think it's controversial to say that most of the engaging stuff in the game occurs when you citizen is mobile. Yet, it's the shortest part of the game. Nothing very engaging happens once your citizen crosses into immobility, yet it's such a headache to have to develop for. So I want to change how immobility works in the game. I'll give more details, the further along it comes, but as for now, it's possible that immobility might be temporarily disabled in the next update. 

It's also possible that the "negative" gain types might be disabled as well (the "no boobs", "no butt", and "no belly" options). I'm contemplating whether its worth it to axe them in favor of adding more body types (let me know what you think about that). Those are the three major things I can think of off the top of my head. I will let you know if anything else changes.

I can't make any guarantees, but I'm going to try to have something playable for you all by the end of the month, or early November. Not all the pieces will be there, but it will be enough to get the ball rolling again and hopefully enjoy.

I hope all of this makes sense! Apologies if it's all a bit scatterbrained.

Feel free to leave and feedback or thoughts you have on all this. And thanks again for all your support. Hope to have something ready for you soon.