0.5.3 update ...

Another little update to get you up to speed, but before that I wanna say another WELCOME to the new patrons that have joined over the last few days! It's so exciting to see things picking up speed a little, and hopefully that'll continue once I get 0.5.3 out!

But first, of course, the test build - which no doubt will be a little scrappy and ragged around the edges but should contain pretty much everything I want the new update to have, which will be:

• Heather's 3rd scene (this is done!)
• Jennifer's 3rd scene (this is almost done, see below for more info)
• The working gloryhole booth (done!)
• More conversations with Kevin/NPCs (again, almost there! added some, just need to add some more)
• Dance practice (this is ... TBC)

So yeah, basically I've had a super hectic work week and didn't get quite as much done as I wanted to in the game. Don't get me wrong, I have still been chipping away at it, and I've made some progress. The main thing I've been wrangling with is the switch in and out of Jennifer's scene - which (spoilers I guess) - activates the sex mini game. I don't wanna give too much more away, so you'll have the fun of playing it for the first time, but man, that's been a headache.

Basically I have a whole bunch of stuff that happens in code that changes "game state" from regular exploration/sandbox mode, to cut scene or shop or whatever. But because the sex mini game is really this whole other thing, handled differently, it's taken me a while to get that transitioning smoothing in and out from a cut scene.

In the end I've had to kind of brute force it, but whatever. It's finally working now thanks to this slightly crude block of code:

So yeah, that's the "fun" I've been having. To be honest, I do genuinely enjoy these little coding puzzles that present themselves every now and again, but I much prefer it when things are working smoothly and I can get back to focussing on the story itself!

Speaking of coding puzzles, I'm still on the fence about what to do with the "dance practice" stuff that will be active from Heather's 3rd event onwards.

If you played 0.4, then you'll know that I had that ridiculous rhythm game! Most people didn't really like it, so I don't wanna go down another huge rabbit hole, yet at the same time, I wonder if a simple hyperlink to click on and a +=1 for a 'dance practice' variable is a little ... dull. It might have to be that, at least for 0.5.3, just so I can power on with the update and not leave you guys hanging too much longer, but at the same time, I'm just wondering if there's some middle ground I can strike. A fun little mini game that isn't quite as full on and laborious as the original dance practice rhythm game?! So basically watch this space.

If you've read any of my previous posts, the ones where I make wild promises for a when this is all gone be done (and then have to apologise and say why I didn't quite hit my target), then that's the reason why I'm not saying when the 0.5.3 test build will be with you.

But rest assured that - should it hit the end of the month - and I still don't have it to share with you guys, then I'm going to feel dreadful. So that's my big deadline: get it fucking done, at least in a scrappy state, to share with you before the end of the month. If it's still kinda unfinished then it might have to be one of those 'accountability' style builds I've done - but we'll see!

Okay, that's it for now! x