Update - 11 July 2016

tl;dr - I'm back! And I'm bad! Or rather, I'm recovering from jet lag. Also I talk about the image above and the way I develop future projects.

This week's image - Ikow!

Before going on my trip I developed a new character model for my version of Iku's cow transformation! I've updated it further since arriving home. Previously I'd been relying on Phinn for the animal forms because he had the animal designs, not me. I decided I could try to throw versions together myself for additional pictures, and this is my first result. I don't yet know whether I'll be doing the other maids too, although I've started work on Puppiko and it should be feasible to do Fumiow, I think. I am pleased with how this one turned out, any thoughts?

When it comes to the Puppiko and Fumiow designs I want them to have the theme carried through in their clothing as well, although that's a little trickier. There seemed to be so many things that would work for a cow-girl, but dog-girls and cat-girls have less themed outfits. Obviously there's the collar and leash, but beyond that it's hard to think of anything.

By the way, I liked Ikow so much I went ahead and added an optional bonus scene to the Iku ending that will unlock if you have seen the animal totem scene in the main Iku sex scene. If you like this design then that is definitely worth seeing - it's got extra writing, an image I'm proud of, Sacci Salt voice acting and sound effects!

I've also developed a shot of Iku's cow form floating above her for the animal totem in-battle resurrection power. If I finish up the Puppiko and Fumiow designs then I'll be doing the same for them; it's a good use of the animal totems and the animal forms for the girls.

More Masami voice acting

I've received more of Masami's voice work this week. I haven't edited this yet or programmed it into the game, but I plan to work on that this week. Hopefully I'll be able to report on that in the next update.

I'm back! But I'm still recovering from jet lag...

...so I wrote a bunch of this post in advance. I wasn't sure whether I'd be up to much so soon after returning. The time difference between home and away is dramatic and I also need to get back to work on my day job, so that's pretty intense. My last jet lag recovery period was quite long because I wound up getting sick as well. I don't know how long this one's going to take me to get over.

Other, future design work

By the way, this probably goes without saying, but sometimes I spend a bit of time exploring design options for other, future projects. I've recently done some planning for future games (and some actual work on them, in fact) because that's sometimes what I feel more interested in and because once PAL is finished it will be good to be able to really leap into development at full speed on a new game. Or maybe half speed, at least.

Another thing I try to improve for future projects is my own skills - I do sometimes poke around and try to find out how to render better or how to develop in other platforms. It's a slow process, I'm an impatient student who relies more on getting a 'feel' for things rather than learning by rote, but I do think I'm getting better. In some cases just knowing what I actually need to learn is a big step.

So anyway, a little less progress this week because of the jet lag. I do, however, have a bit of a question for you, related to the image, to those of you who've played the alpha: Have you tried using an animal totem during sex? And if so did you enjoy it? Do you care at all about those scenes?