PTOLEMYGAMES

Progress update

Hi

Well, things are going pretty ok. 

60 of the renders are prepared. And I'd say that 2 of the planned 6 scenes are almost done.

One note on animations. You might have noticed that animations in this and other games that I've put them in suffer from a "decoloration" and slight reduction in quality compared to the stills. That's from the codec. I've tried to just make the movies from image series without a codec, but the files are so large that they become unusable....

Plans

Hi

Took yesterday off from gamemaking(?). Thought I'd needed a break after Alexandra.

So, up next is Kelly. It will be as before, I keep you informed as to the progress and when it's ready it's ready. I feel I can do a lot better this way.

Instead of a date, I decide what I want to include, and when it's all done, I release the patch.

So, I plan on 6 scenes for this update. Across both main paths.

I expect somewhere in the range of 200 renders will be enough....

Progress update

Hi

Well, almost done.

The inventory system is functional, as far as I can tell so far. Of course I'll keep working on it over the weekend.

But I think there's no reason why the patch won't be released early next week. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday..... I'm not sure. Also depends on RL work, and how tired I'll be during those days. But it will be released in one of those three days.

While the rest of the GUI has been prettied up, the inventory will not be. I'll do that ...

Progress report

Hi

I was hoping to say that the first side mission in finished. And well, it's mostly done. Renders are done, coding for it is done, I just haven't finished the dialogue yet.

I'll finish it tonight.

Tomorrow, I've promised to work on finishing the dialogue for Life with Mary. It's a game that I contribute to as a writer. 

But after that, it's back to Alexandra.

The only things left to do are the inventory system and the balancing. 

They're bot...

Progress update

Hi

Got home from work a couple of hours ago, and I'm dead on my feet. So I'll keep this short.

Was successful in what I was hoping to achieve by now. So the 2 new locations and the morale meter are in.

Next up is the side mission. 

Unfortunately I have to work tomorrow, but I have renders prepared, and it shouldn't delay me. 

Will have the side mission done on Monday or Tuesday. 

So, I hope the patch will be ready next weekend.

This...

Progress update

Hi

Sorry for not being able to do one of these yesterday. But the story mission ended up being 128 renders long, rather than the hoped for 100.

For newer patrons, that happens to me. Stories grow in the telling. 

But I can say that the first story mission is finished. Still waiting on a few renders for finish. But I'm free to work on something else.

So, going back to our list

1) New GUI (done)

2) Combat system (done)

3) Inventory  syst...

Progress update

Hi

Well, with Easter coming up, I haven't been able to get a great deal of work done. You guys know how it is. Family obligations, last minute work etc...

But I can say that the renders for the story mission are almost done. About 90 of them so far.Hope to finish them up by Monday. 

And the 2 new locations of the planned 4, are finished also. 

That will mean that about 2/3 of the renders I have planned will be finished. 

Meaning that going forw...

Progress update

Hi.

Well, I've started work on the Alexandra patch.

So far, of what I've listed. I've finished work on one of the 4 new locations. And I've started work on the first mission. 50 renders are prepared for it so far. At this rate, I expect 100, or a little over 100 till the first mission is finished. 

Due to not skimping on quality, some of the renders are taking upwards of 9h to complete. Obviously, that's absurd. So, we'll lower that time to a max of 4h.
While other render...

Plans

Hi

Well, Alexandra comes next. 

The way I'm going to do it will be a little different. In keeping with my renewed effort of emphasizing quality, and with that bad 3 day delay that IR had, I've decided to change a couple of things. 

Instead of giving a date, and doing whatever can be done by that date, I'll give what will be included, and in my usual posts, every few days, I'll keep you updated on how much has been done.

So. What will be included in the ne...

Progress update

Hi

Sorry for not getting back to you yesterday. Got caught up with work. 

Well, I hope to have all the renders finished in the next 28h. That's what we've calculated as the continuous render time to finish. Now since I'm trying to improve the quality, they still have to go through post-work. So, it will be quite late into the night when it's released. Late for me, anyway. Don't know what time zone you're in.

So, the patch will be release either tomorrow night. Quite late. ...

Progress update

Hi

Well, good news first.

Managed to finish preparing all the renders for IR. Bad news is, that since I've used some of the techniques I started with Alexandra to try to improve the quality, they take a little longer to render. For example they're rendered in 4k, and then sampled down to 1080. There's also a lot more post work to do.

So, the patch might be delayed by a day. 

All the renders are prepared, all the dialogue is written, code too. All that's left...

Progress update

Hi

Well, I've started on the patches for both IR and Alexandra.

Probably further along with IR at this point. About 50 renders are prepared. I still haven't started on the dialogue and code, but if I had to guess, the IR patch will be the first one out.

Not that much more to say. Trying to slightly improve the renders for IR, by using the same techniques I use for Alex.

I should be able to give you an exact date in a few days.

That's about it

Plans

Hi

Well, I put up a pool about what I should do next for Alexandra. Focus on more gameplay, or get in some sexy times with the side girls.

Surprisingly, gameplay won. Not by a lot, but it won.

So, in the next Alexandra update, you'll see a lot more activities open up. Some real side missions, and maybe even the inventory. 

The good part about that is, that frees up my Gpu for more IR. So between now and the end of the month, you'll get 2 updates. One for IR a...

Progress update

Hi

Well, there's not that much to say.

Haven't run into any problems, and there's no reason why the first Alexandra patch won't be ready Sunday. So, that's the date.

Also. I've been creating some of the side girls. Not so sure about some of them. The way I see it, gangsters can have mistresses if they want them, no? And while Alexandra's character will be entirely story dependant, you will unlock her and her scenes by advancing through the main story, these "s...

Progress uptade

Hi

Will keep this short.

Spent most of this weekend coding. So far so good. Still a few bumps, but getting there.

I can say with a reasonable amount of certainty that the fist Alexandra patch will be ready at the end of next week. Probably Sunday.

Again, the focus has been on coding, not graphics. Will add that later.

So, when you tell me "Man, this stats screen looks like shit", I know :P

If everything goes well, fingers crossed, about 50 to...

Progress update and "walkthrough"

Hi

First, on the Alex game.

Spent most of the day coding. A lot of the things that I feared have been resolved, but not all.

I'll also spend most of tomorrow with the code. If I manage to get everything right, I can pretty safely say, that the first patch of the Alex game will be released at the end of the next weekend.

I need another day to know, so I'll make a post about it tomorrow.

On the walkthrough front, things I have to say, suck. Since so much of the...

Plans

Hi

This is a long one, so I hope you bear with me.

First of all, on the end of Dana. There were a few major bugs, but I've fixed them that same day. Haven't heard a bug report since. So unless I hear about some other major bug, today or tomorrow, it will hold till the final version.

I'm not sure when the final version will be. Like I said I want to redo a lot of renders, delete old code, etc.....so it will be a while. It's on the back burner. Some day, but not soon. But ...

Dreaming of Dana 0.99

Hi

Well, it's finally done.

This is the semi-final version of Dreaming of Dana. There will be one more patch, at some point in the future, that will have all the graphical bugfixes, deletion of old code, redone early renders etc......

I don't know when that will be. But it will be something I do in the background. Not a planned patch, if you understand what I mean.

It contains the Jessica ending. And the Dana solo ending. 

Almost 200 renders in to...

Patch delayed by a day

Hi

Sorry, old patrons know that I hate to do this, but I have to delay the patch by a day.

All the content is finished, but in order to implement the Dana solo ending, I'm having to go back and rewrite some code that I haven't touched in months. It's proving to be quite time consuming to make sure that all the variables trigger properly.

I don't want to release the patch with a game breaking bug that I'll have to release a fix for the next day. So to make sure, I'm d...

Progress update

Hi

Very tired from work, so I won't keep you long.

All of the renders for Dana are prepared. A lot are also rendered.

About half the dialogue has been written, but it will require a little more coding that usual patches.

All in all, barring something major, the patch will be ready sometime on Saturday.

That's it for now.

As always, I'm very grateful for your support.

Progress uptade

Hi

I'll keep this short, since I don't have that much to say.

The renders for the Jessica ending are prepared, and I've started work on the Dana solo ending.

It turned out to be over 100 rather than 80, but we're still on schedule.

If things keep up like this, there's no reason why the Dana patch shouldn't be ready next Saturday. I'd say sooner, but with every patch there are last minute adjustments to make. And I don't know if I'll be able to do that during a wee...

Progress update

Hi

I've started work on this last Dana patch.

It's gone pretty well.

I've prepared approx 50 renders for it so far, but then again, it's been the weekend. 

From the work I've done now. I expect approx 80 renders to finish the Jessica patch. And the same for the Dana solo ending.

So, I expect the patch to be somewhere in the 160 renders mark.

Not much more else to say, it's still early days.

I'll make another post in a few days.

Plans

Hi

Well, 0.35 went out to mixed reviews :P

Don't worry, the action will spike up again, and then calm down again, and then spike up. Each time reaching a new high, life waves.  :D

Next on the list is the "last" Dana patch. 0.99

I put last in quotes, because at one point I'll make another with all the excess code erased, all the dialogue corrected, all the imperfect renders replaced. But that's a background patch, that will come far in the future. Th...

Progress update

Hi

To not ramble for long. The patch will be posted on Wednesday. 

It's mostly done. All the renders are done, 151 to be exact. I've just finished with the dialogue, one hour ago. The code is done.

All that's left are the animations. Now the frames for them are done. But from frame to a workable animation that's small enough in size to be usable there's still a way to go. 

It's been a while since Katya, and I forgot how time consuming they are. And with m...

Progress update

Hi

Well, I've started my new job. It's pretty hectic right now. 

Like I said, I don't know exactly what the new program will be. So for now, I'll take it one patch at a time.

The IR patch is going well. It will contain approx 150 renders and 2 animations. The renders are mostly done. And the frames for the animations too. Just have to put them together.

Like I said, the server is now up and running, so this patch will be the first to be distributed that way.&n...

0.095

Hi

I'll keep this short because I'm still sick, and leaving mucus trails all over my house :P

It's finally done. Sorry for the slight delay.

It contains the epilogue to the Maria path. 122 renders .

And I'll repeat something I've said many times before, but it seems that it needs repeating. The game divides into 3 distinct and mutually exclusive branches, depending on who you choose to go on the getaway with. So, if you went with Andrea, to play the new conte...

Progress update

Hi

Well, most of it is done. Just one little snag. I'm sick as a dog. 

Nothing serious, just the flu. But I've been spending most of my time sleeping. 

Still, there's not a lot of work left to do.

I don't know if I'll be able to finish it tomorrow. Depends on how I'm feeling. But it will be done Monday at the latest.

In conclusion. The patch will be released either Sunday evening, or Monday afternoon.

As always...

Progress update

Hi

I'll keep this short.

Well, like I said. I'm a little behind due to the slow start. Been trying to make up for it, but haven't managed so far.

About 70 renders prepared. And I think the patch will be 100 or so renders big. 

The fastest I can get it done, is Sunday. But I'm not sure.

I'll make another post on Saturday morning, and set a definitive date.

That's it for now.

As always, I'm very grateful for your support 2018-01-24 23:15:46 +0000 UTC View Post

Progress update

Hi

Time to let you know where I'm at.

Started work on both the Dana and Kelly patches.

Sad to say, that I didn't make a lot of progress with Dana. Maybe its because the story is written, at least for me. I'm struggling to get excited about working on it. Just being honest there. So I've only prepared about 20 renders so far. Will try to make up for that in the coming days.

But I am excited about Kelly. Prepared 50 renders so far. And since most people we...

Plans

Hi

Sorry for the bugs with the patch. Like I said in my quickfix post, bonehead thinking on my part. :(

I've been thinking if I can make all the events left in Dana, in one patch.
Well, maybe. But it would mean renouncing a Kelly patch for this month, since I'd have to almost exclusively focus on Dana. And I do want a Kelly patch.

So the next Dana patch will come in two weeks. It will not be the last one. And it will finish the Maria path. This will allow me to work...