Maids & Masters (& Progress on v0.9)

So, for those of you who didn't read my last post, REM Cycle is on hold until I can get v0.9 done. There are a few reasons for this (general holiday business being one of them), but the big reason is that I want to try to get v0.9 out to Patrons on the 16th. I'm not sure if I'll manage that, but I'm going to try.

 

This year's Freeze update is turning out to be a lot larger than the last one. Almost all of my development time has been spent getting just the chat options done. With each character having their own unique chat with each other character, plus another for if you don't have anyone with you, plus a few others (like the snowman, or Deirlinn, if she's in the nursery), there's something in the realm of 200 different chat options. There's also a new mechanic for the frozen pool now that it's not covered in plants that each character also has a unique reaction to. 

 

Thankfully I'm down to just one character left for dialogue. The Maids you had last year don't have any new events (just new dialogue), but I do still need 8 new events for the 8 new Maids. Of those, only one is tested, but three are complete, and one more is rendered (though not written or implemented yet). There will also be a new cosmetic trophy to unlock, same as last year - complete all the bonus objectives and you'll get a new suit. Now that the costume system is actually implemented, that'll also need an asset, rather than me being able to stop after getting all of the bonus objectives done (and I'm about halfway through those).

And that's before I get to Cumhaill. I wanted to go through Cumhaill and give all the Folk their own unique interactions based on who you had with you, but I may not have time for that, so it'll probably be more or less what it currently is, with the exception of any special events like the bonus objectives. Maybe I'll have time, but I know the first Freeze had so many new and unique mechanics that a number of things would hard lock the game, but I'd like to put more effort into playtesting this one so that isn't an issue.

Speaking of, special shout out to my playtester. They put a lot of work in for me, which I greatly appreciate. Hopefully I can get this done without the deadline being too tight for either of us.