Maids & Masters (& v0.9.2 & The Love Shack)

So, I know I've mentioned the love shack a number of times now, but I haven't really talked about what exactly the love shack is. The short version is that it's a way to get to know your Maids better. You can either talk to them outside and sit by the fire, or talk to them inside and... do exactly what you think you'd do given what the associated trophy is.

For the long version, the love shack slowly became something much, much, much larger than originally intended. What started as a neat thing to find if you decided to go poking around at the edges of the maps became an opportunity to raise Maids' affection scores. From there, I kept floundering on how exactly to implement the "affection grind" mechanic in a way that wouldn't be a boring grind.

That eventually led me to what the love shack is now becoming. The love shack has already been reworked in the dev build so that you can't invite anyone until after it's finished (once you have the trophy), and scenes have been split up into two types.

Outside, sitting by the fire will start a conversation. Each Maid will have a unique "introductory" conversation, and a number of other conversations that will trigger at random each time you sit down to enjoy the fire. It's likely that, at launch, the only available conversations will be the original and an alternate version of it that will repeat. As the game updates more and I find more time to write more conversations, the available conversations will expand. Some of these conversations will be choice driven, meaning that if you get the same conversation multiple times, you can make a different choice, which will lead to a completely different set of dialogue. Once the first round of these is implemented, that will mean a 50% chance of getting the alternate original conversation, and a 50% chance of getting your choice of 4 different conversations, for a total of 5 different dialogue scenes. Those odds will change as more get added, and you get an affection increase regardless of the choices made, so chances are you'll hit a wall on increasing affection before you'll run out of dialogue.

Inside, you'll have the normal "Service" option, but the scene itself won't be normal. Eventually, anyway. At launch, these scenes will just be a normal scene focused on what the girl wants. What the scene will be will depend on what the girl likes (which should also let me add a little extra variety). Once that Maid's affection score passes certain thresholds, the scene will evolve to become a little bit more than what it started as. This won't work the exact same way for every Maid (don't expect Ella to ask you to break out the whips and chains), but if nothing else, it should be a little bit different from what I've done elsewhere so far.

The main obstacle to having all of this done sooner has been time. With the upcoming remaster and my current focus on reaching an "end state" for the VX Ace version of the game, the love shack is the last thing that's really left, as it's the last piece of promised content that isn't in the game yet. While there are definitely other things I could give some additional attention to - that's what the remaster is for. So most of v0.9.2 is going to be new renders (at roughly 8 renders per scene, and 2 scenes each for 18 characters, I've got a bit of work ahead of me). The good news is that these scenes are coming along at a reasonable pace, so I should have a release date for you in three weeks, give or take.

And one last note for the remaster - polls are opening up on my Patreon! If you're interested in getting involved and helping guide development for the remaster, please consider supporting me on Patreon. The first poll is already up, the second poll goes up Friday, and there are already two more planned with more likely to come. If you have an opinion on what you'd like to see changed or improved during the remaster, I'd be thrilled to hear from you.

Maids & Masters v0.9.1 Release

This weekend got here quick! Still managed to get basically everything done that I wanted to, though. Now all that's left is addressing the Love Shack, which is likely to be the last straw that pushes the game's total size over 1GB.

Another reminder that this is the first update that won't go public until the next release. If you can't (or simply don't want to) wait, please consider supporting me either through Patreon or itch.

And if you aren't already aware - I'm remastering the game in RPG Maker MZ. I'll be opening things up to the public to ask what you'd like to see in the remaster, but feedback I receive from my Patrons is much more likely to be included. If that sounds like something you want to be a part of, again, please consider supporting me through Patreon. You'll get access to all those polls, my invite-only Discord server, early access to game builds, and more.

With that out of the way, here's your changelog:

v0.9.1

Added the dinner event to end the Freeze.

Added a “recover all” to the start of the Freeze so the Maids aren’t at half health all season.

Added a repeatable version of Willow’s event in the Cumhaill cemetery.

Added multiple small events and special interactions for all of the Maids in Cumhaill.

Added new events for trophies 5, 7, 8, and 20 to Big Dick’s Estate.

Added a time manipulation feature to the post-game after the Freeze.

Added five new books to the library for Trophy 9’s additional library functionality.

Updated the frozen pool to stop the walking animation while skating across it.

Updated Quinn’s Freeze event to respect how you choose to dress yourself.

Updated Teely’s Freeze event for consistency and to fit the new map if not already completed.

Updated Deirlinn/Torgill in Cumhaill to recognize Deirlinn’s child being born.

Updated the stuffed bear in the guest house so the new Maids react to it.

Updated the costume check to prevent potential bugs if a costume hasn’t been unlocked.

Updated the steps to getting trophy 14 to detect if Bianca was refused during her Freeze event.

Updated Deirlinn’s nursery instance to make her scene repeatable after some time has passed.

Updated the temporary Deep Wilds fast travel choice to recognize which quest step you’re on.

Updated the README to include the second Freeze in the walkthrough and newer change logs.

Fixed a bug that sent the player to the wrong instance of the Estate during Quinn’s Freeze event.

Fixed a bug that sent the player to the wrong instance of the Estate during Teely’s Freeze event.

Fixed a bug where the Estate yard statues may not have matched what they were set to.

Fixed a bug where Phoebe didn’t have chat dialogue with Quinn after Quinn’s Freeze event.

Fixed a bug that could cause issues with trying to withdraw Scrap Metal from storage.

Fixed a bug in Bianca’s Freeze event that incorrectly referenced Odette’s Freeze event.

Fixed a bug that caused the exterior door of the Tower Hold to appear prematurely.

Various minor dialogue, sprite, and event fixes and updates.

Maids & Masters (& A v0.9.1 Release Date)

January is going by much more quickly than I'd really like it to be, but things are still progressing pretty well from a development standpoint. I still haven't had nearly as much time as I'd like to work on REM Cycle, but I've gotten everything I wanted to get done for v0.9.1 done... I think.

The big things, like the dinner event, making sure the new trophy is present and the associated costume system works correctly, and adding in the extra Freeze content that wasn't finished in time for the main Freeze release are all done, as is all of the "follow up consequences" type stuff (most notably refusing Bianca).

There are still a few things that need doing, but v0.9.1 is mostly ready to move into it's final testing stages and then it'll be ready to publish, so that build should be coming out for supporters this Friday.

As an additional note for non-supporters - as stated a few months ago, releases will now be monthly across the board. What this means in practice is that supporters will get access to v0.9.1 on Friday, and v0.9.1 will go public when v0.9.2 launches. v0.9.2 will become public when v0.10 launches, and so on. Doing this will make "release days" a little easier for me to manage, since I tend to lose my entire day to making sure I did everything anyway. Doing things this way means I'm less likely to miss things, and I only lose a day or two once a month rather than losing a day or two every two weeks. That means more time for development and bugfixing and managing deadlines for other projects.

Speaking of, I've started polling Patrons on what they'd like to see as part of the remaster as the game gets ported into MZ. If you'd like to be a part of that process, consider becoming a Patron. I will eventually create threads for the community at large to participate, because I do want to know what you think regardless of whether or not you support me financially, but that will be a much broader "what do you want to see?" where suggestions might not get included. The Patron polls are much smaller, more directed questions that are much more likely to result in changes or additions being made.

Maids & Masters (& Progress on v0.9.1)

It's slow going getting back into the swing of things after the holidays, but as time marches on, so too do I.

The content that was missing from the Freeze update due to time constraints has been finished, as have a few other bits and pieces that I wanted to include. I'm not sure I'm happy with the dinner event, but if nothing else, everything is in place to end the Freeze.

The other part of the update - adding possible missed trophies to Big Dick's - is about half done. It wasn't really my original plan, but I think I'm going to try to get all of those done for v0.9.1. Whether or not I actually manage this has more to do with how well I can manage my time while meeting other deadlines, but with no real deadline for v0.9.1, I've got a little more flexibility on that front.

Something that will help with that time management is going to the public releases being a month behind. This means that once v0.9.1 goes out to supporters, it won't be available for free until v0.9.2 goes out to supporters. This lets me put all of my release and promotional work into a single day, rather than spreading it out over a day or two every two weeks. I don't think there are too many of you clamoring for the next release, so it should be a relatively smooth transition.

I'm hoping that freeing up that time will give me room to work on getting REM Cycle done in between taking steps towards getting the MZ version of things started, but we'll see what the future holds.

Another Grain Through The Hourglass - 2022 Year In Review

Like last year, instead of talking about progress on development, I want to take this as an opportunity to look back on the year and celebrate the good that came. Like any year, there's plenty of bad, and plenty of things that could've gone better, but I think it's way more fun to look back at the good and forget about the bad (at least for a little while). I also like to do this without doing any more editing beyond checking for spelling mistakes. I've spent a lot of time on the internet, and a lot of my working life in customer service, so I'm all too familiar with how easy it is to forget that there's a person behind these words - both for me, and for you.

On that note, I'd like to start there. The people. You. 2022 brought lots of new people into my life, even if they are on the other side of whatever connection we have through work, and the vast majority of you have been very welcome additions. I still can't quite get over that double digit mark for Patrons and stay there, but my Patreon has continued to grow, and I'm exceedingly grateful for that. The same goes for those of you who support me through itch.io - it's not a lot of money, but it means the world to me that you want me to succeed enough to send that support my way.

Aside from the people who support me financially, there are still a lot of you that I'm glad to have met, even though it's only through the internet. The community of developers I'm not a part of have been constantly helpful, the people commenting on my game(s) either asking for help or reporting bugs, the people following me on Twitter, and an extra shout out to my first volunteer playtester who has been nothing short of absolutely phenomenal - thank you for being here.

Moving on to my outside projects... While The Rising Son has still seen very little progress, it has still seen some progress. If all goes well, something might actually release in 2023. I've also taken a role in two other teams, which has allowed me to bring in some actual income and ensure my bills are paid. Working the equivalent of four jobs is exhausting, to put it lightly, but having even a small amount of financial freedom again feels amazing. If I can continue to grow both my projects and the other projects I've joined, I should actually be able to reach this dream I have of doing game development as a full time job indefinitely, which makes me happy beyond words.

For my personal projects - Maids & Masters has finally reached the conclusion of Act 1. There's still so, so much work to be done to get the game done, but now that I have all of this experience under my belt, that seems less like this impossible daunting mountain of a task and more like an achievable goal. It won't be long now before I start reaching out to various communities for some in-depth feedback so I can remaster the existing game in RPG Maker MZ and eventually move into development on Act 2, following turning Arrival into a proper prequel rather than a janky tech demo.

And in addition to Maids & Masters, I've finished not one, but two new demos for potential future projects: Love/Loss and Redemption Harem. Following a vote from the beautiful, generous people that are my Patrons, Love/Loss's demo recently released to the public to (admittedly a small amount of) some very positive feedback. While the demo for Redemption Harem is a lot rougher around the edges, I'm excited to see what people will think of that when it goes out this weekend.

 

Taking one last look at the past - specifically, last year's Year In Review post - I think I mostly got where I wanted to be, even if the road was a little rocky. I didn't end up joining the team I had talked about initially, but I am working with them now, and like I said above, that financial freedom feels amazing. The stress that comes with doing this as a job has finally started to catch up with me, but it's still true that I love what I do, and there's nothing else I'd rather be doing. I'm still working the occasional 60 hour week, but I've also started taking steps to take better care of myself instead. All in all, the me from last year is overjoyed that present me is writing another Year In Review post instead of admitting defeat and looking for a regular 9-5 to crawl back to.

Looking into the future, specifically as it pertains to REM Cycle and Maids & Masters Act 2, I admit I'm a little nervous. REM Cycle really needs a dedicated artist to work the way I want it to work, which I can't currently afford to hire. I'm doing my best to at least get the general idea across, and I'm happy with what I've got so far, but despite being much more mechanically simple than Redemption Harem, it's taking a lot longer to develop because I need to figure out how to create all of these custom assets and work on them until I'm happy with them. MnM Act 2 I also want to be a little less linear than Act 1, and I'm still not quite sure how to reconcile giving those options to the player in the midst of active development. That said, the only way to do it is to do it, so I'll be jumping in and charging forward regardless. It's not like I've never made a mistake before, right? If I do it wrong, I can always go back and fix it. That's the beauty of feedback.

For the rest of what the future might bring, I hope I see the same kind of growth and success in 2023 that 2022 brought. Growing a business is definitely not the easiest thing in the world to do, but I'm making progress, and that's all I ever asked for. I get to keep doing this for at least a little longer, and with a little luck, I'll be reading this post in a year (hello 2024 me!) and quietly smiling to myself as I marvel at how far I've managed to come from that first decision to re-download that old copy of VX Ace, just like I'm doing now. And I hope I've managed to share at least a little bit of that happiness with you, dear reader. I wouldn't be here without you.

Happy New Year from The Mithril Hourglass.