Monday Update #97 | Progress and a Mistake

Two weeks ago I announced the end of October as the release date for version 0.3, this week I sadly have to push that date back into early November. I apologize for the delay and want to explain why this is happening. Apart from that I got a massive amount of work done that I want to share with you.

Everything new:

• Renders: I finalized almost every single render for this update. Only the sex scenes are left to be completed.
• Writing: I did another pass on the writing to ensure the quality is right, adding a bunch of sound effects and fine tuning the timings. Here too, only the sex scenes are left.
• Shop mini game: I adjusted the shop mini game previously introduced in v0.2. I added much more visible buttons, added a better explanation for what exactly to do. Reduced the amount of items in the shop and increased the amount of customer stories, while reducing the amount of satisfied customers needed to get the +3 on Affinity. The mini game is now more about about listening to the customers story and selecting the fitting item, than about asking Enna for advice and memorizing the correct answers. More puzzle, less memorization.
• Fishing mini game: I also added the next mini game that will be introduced with this new update. It's a fishing mini game that uses the same basic mechanic as the one in MIST did, only with a little more fine tuning. Right now it's still pretty simple and could potentially be expanded in future updates. After the last mini game didn't work out as intended, I decided to hold back on adding more complexity and first see your feedback.
• Accessibility: I added a brightness slider to the menu for those who had problems with the images being too dark. Sadly, in Ren'Py it's not that easy to adjust brightness and there is no way to control gamma, but it's better than nothing and can help those who have darker monitors or play with stronger outside light.
• Map: This next update also brings the over-world into the game for the first time, so you can now travel between places. Right now there aren't that many places to explore, but there will be more in the future.
• Secret System: I also coded and made some tests with a new system that will be introduced soon. I can't say exactly what it is yet as it's possible that I'll have to push it back to the release of the next version, but I'm trying to get it done in time.

Now to the delay:

I really hate having to write this, but there's no way around it. I've mulled it over in my head time and time again and I simple can't find a schedule that would allow me to publish the update in time without having to completely overwork myself. Here's what happened.

After coming back from my vacation at the end of August, I struggled to get my head back in the game. With other IRL responsibilities piling up I was able to keep my usual work hours, but the quality of my work wasn't the same as usual. I did a bunch of work, that I ended up scrapping as it wasn't up to par with my quality standards. This cost me a lot of time. Paired with a week lost to hardware failures and a week lost to sickness, I'm now coming to the realization that I need a little bit more time. I apologize about this delay.

For some this might just be a standard thing, it's not like it's my first delay, but this one hits me pretty hard. I'm not gonna go into too much detail as I don't want to make any empty promises, but I plan to let this delay be a lesson for me and to increase my output in the next months and in 2024. An update every 3-4 months is too few for me. Children of Morn is a very complex game that naturally needs more time to make than MIST, due to the increase in renders and custom 3D Models, but I can still do this quicker than I'm doing it now.

But, that's for the future. I plan to proof my words with actions. That's gonna take quite some time, but I think I can do it. You'll hear from me soon and I wish everyone a great start to the week, please be patient with me : D