Update - 7 November 2016

tl;dr - Lots of good progress this week but as I explain below, I think I need to cut the next alpha update into two - one to fill in all the gaps, then one for the harem ending.

This week's image

I probably shouldn't show off another card image since they're supposed to be worth some effort to find, but I just really felt like I wanted the chance to show off this one in particular. This is basically a symbolic interpretation of the expression 'angel in white' that is sometimes applied to nurses like Ai; I made it thanks in part to some cheap new 3D assets I was able to pick up now that I've passed the $1250 goal. It wasn't all the 3D assets, of course, it also took a few skills I've picked up along the way, but those assets helped a lot.

Breaking the next update into two

I should get this point out of the way first. I know I said that the next game update would have the full harem mode, ending and victory suite but I've been working on it recently and I just don't think that's a practical schedule. If I keep it restricted to that plan then I won't have a new release available for you for too long a time period. I want to get them out reasonably regularly and there's just a lot to do to finish the harem ending and victory suite.

Therefore I've decided that the next version, 0.14.0 will not contain the harem ending or the victory suite. Instead it will include the harem code as a usable cheat but it won't lead to the harem ending (just a placeholder telling you it would have happened). This will be good because I will hopefully be able to get some feedback on whether harem mode is correctly balanced. It will also contain all the remaining loose ends like the Orb of Ecstasy responses, the 'lust fantasies' and a few other incomplete responses for the sex scenes. I'm hoping that the main game will basically be done apart from testing.

Then the harem ending and victory suite will come in v0.15.0. I've done a fair amount of work on that already but it still needs a big chunk of effort because I don't yet have any illustrations for the harem ending or the interactive epilogue sex scene. That's quite a lot of image design I need to do before that release is ready, particularly because images with a lot of characters in them take a lot more work posing all the figures and take a lot longer for my computer to render.

This all means that you won't actually have the completion of the story in v0.14.0. Sorry about that - I did intend to stick to the plan I laid out previously but I think it would be unwise in this case. I do think it was a good choice to lay out that plan because it's helped me to focus, but I would also help me to focus if my next goal isn't too overwhelming.

It's getting pretty clear that I'm not going to be getting the final version of the game out this year. I really did plan to but I guess I just underestimated the work load. Also, I've raised the standards for graphics and the amount of content throughout the design process, so that's increased the time demands considerably. I'm keen to finish the project as soon as possible because it'll allow me to move on to new things and hopefully will act as a good bit of promotion for myself, but I won't rush the final release before it's done.

Actual progress

I did actually make a fair bit of progress this week anyway, and some of it was for the harem ending, too. I have finished the night service responses one and for all (I think), because there were several that I still needed to finish. That required a few pictures and writing several scenes. I'm pleased with the results of those, so I think you'll be happy with them too.

I built the set for the harem epilogue orgy and rendered a couple of pics in it, so that's part of the work done for the ending now. Setting up the scene is an important step because it takes a while - I have to find the right 3D assets, make sure they're rendering right from various angles, get the lighting set up and put all the necessary characters into the file.

I have also re-rendered and improved all the pictures for a patron-commissioned interactive sex scene from the victory suite. I made the original pics a while ago in 3Delight and there was just a lot I could improve by moving them into Iray with changes to a bunch of the lighting and skin settings, etc, as well as improving the background a bit. I haven't programmed that scene yet but I think it will turn out well when I do.

So let me know what you think about this change below in the comments! Or talk about whatever! Did you like the picture?