Update 34

tl;dr - Good progress, combat improvements, plans for the next alpha, computer update.

Has it been a week already? Well, no, because I was a day late last time. :) Anyway, here's my weekly update.

Today's image:

I was hesitant about giving too much away with this picture. After all... I haven't really shown off this nurse theme yet, have I? Well, I kind of have, because the alpha has some nurse stuff if you pursue Ai (has anyone worked out how to do that yet?) but I wanted to post this specifically to ask a question about the image. First I'll just say that this is an Iray render, I think Ai looks really nice, and I shouldn't tell you the circumstances of how this image appears in the game. I hope you like it.

Anyway, the question I have is actually about the background of the room she's in. The floor and the wall are a matching set with a low wainscotting (is that what it's called?) that matches the floor's linoleum. To my eye that creates a strange effect where I have to tell my brain where the floor ends and the wall begins. Do you have the same problem? Is it an issue I need to change?

Good progress:

This is a general point, but I just wanted to say that while I've been busy and time poor lately, and I haven't had any big bursts of progress (just my usual steady grind) I've actually been finding that the game is coming together quite fast at the moment. That's because much of the work is already done, and right now a large part of what I have to do is basically assembly of disparate parts, not creation of things out of the blue. It's less fun for me, but it's also faster.

Mostly the progress I'm making at the moment is programming, but I'm also always doing graphics, and Another Wannabe and EFon have been helping out filling in a few gaps in the sex scene writing (commands that didn't have responses).

Combat system improvements:

I decided recently that combat wasn't quite variable enough for my tastes. I wanted more variety in enemies and stuff that can happen. Anyway, in the last alpha release (IIRC) I added two new monster powers - tesla and vampiric - to mix things up a little. Well, I wanted more, so for the next alpha I've added 'enraged', 'rubber' and 'speedy' monsters, all of which will hopefully continue to mix things up and keep the combat interesting. I also now have good plans for what the final battle will be like. Oh, and I've made some other tweaks and bug fixes to the combat system, of which the most noticeable will probably be that you can now see the 'level' of the monster that you're fighting at the start of the battle. I think the combat system will be clearer and more comprehensible than it was in its earlier versions.

Plans for the next alpha:

This week I've been working a bit on implementing the Fumi sex scene. I want to get this one out of the way because a) I've got the voice acting for it already, and b) it contains a spoiler that I want to just reveal in the game so I can implement some other stuff that follows on from that spoiler.

The next alpha version should have the finished Fumi sex scene. It will also have the combat system changes I mentioned and more plot scenes. I don't know how far into the plot I will get before releasing the next alpha, but the main plot is actually getting pretty close to finished. I will not be including the climax or resolution in the next alpha, however, as that's a little complicated. Also, this is a small spoiler, but I will mention that in this game you have NOT seen the whole plot until you've seen the harem mode.

As I write this I'm in the middle of implementing a nice centrepiece scene on day 14 that I conceived to be similar to the birthday party scene in Pervert Action: Future, if you remember that. It's a day trip to the lake for the whole group, enjoying the sand and sun for a little while, which I think gives a nice tonal shift for the game before getting back to the preparations for the Rising.

Computer update:

Okay, the now-obligatory computer update. I have returned the computer to the shop for repairs again. It's a pain in the ass to keep doing this, but at least it's not costing me anything other than time. The last time nearly broke me, but I'll try to stay strong and get the damn thing fixed.

Do you have any opinion on the issue I raised about the image above? Do you like the image? Do you have opinions on the improvements I'm making and my plans for the next alpha? Please leave comments below. :)