Maids & Masters (& v0.11 & The Grow)

I found some content in the Estate that I thought I'd fixed in v0.10, but apparently didn't despite it being things that I really should have. Things like Bianca and Willow still being half-fixed from content that was created specifically for the VX Ace version being removed during the remaster. And Bianca's Freeze scene not being repeatable. So that's been taken care of. Since I was already working with Bianca and Willow, their special trophy scene (which will require both Trophy 12 and 21) is done, complete with a special Haunt version.

The wilds section is also complete now. Well, progression-wise, it's complete. There are still a few secrets and optional goodies I want to hide around, one of which will be related to the new trophy coming in v0.11.

Speaking of, the trophy will be related to the final season that didn't get included the first time around due to you being stuck in the Amaira Estate for it - the Grow. This is the season that keeps the wilds growing as aggressively as they do, which means that every section of the wilds should show some changes due to the season being in effect. That in turn means I need to go through every single wilds map and add a bunch of Grow-exclusive events to them to represent the season being active. Which is what most of this past week has been spent doing - finding ways to represent the presence of the season and adding them to all of the maps that would be affected.

Most of this will be helpful things, like new smaller growths you can cut down for Scrap Wood, or a large increase in the number of flowers along the paths that lead you to the loot that's hidden in the wilds. Some of these are going to be potentially less helpful, like blocking side paths (which may trap beasts or make it harder to avoid them). Most of the side paths are already pretty tightly designed in an attempt to keep maps small (for those of you who are still complaining about that - you really need some new material), so I can't block off too much without making maps impossible to explore, but it's still something that will happen.

Jury is still out on whether I'll add the Grow to where it should occur the first time around, since you technically can get out of the Amaira Estate to experience it. I should for continuity's sake, but I'm not sure the addition is worth the additional work. We'll see what I have time for - I think adding the larger random/seasonal events (namely, the Folk festivals) should take priority.

For the rest of v0.11, I'd say I'm about 50-60% done with the main story content, and maybe 30% done with the optional content. Based on how things have gone in the past, I think that means v0.11 will be done in about two weeks, but with the way outside work has been going lately, I can't be certain. Hopefully I'll have a more concrete time frame for next week's post.

Maids & Masters (& Starting v0.11)

I kinda forgot how much fun I have making new maps. It's been almost four months since the last time I needed to, and it feels great to be doing it again.

On that note, the region maps and the wilds maps are already almost done. There are still a few Estate maps that need to be made, but Act 2 is intended to be rather non-linear, so there may not be much need for many of those maps just yet. That might also mean v0.11 is one of the smallest updates MnM has seen in quite a long time. It's a little early to say that, though. Even if it ends up being true, I may take more time to go back and implement some of the random events that I didn't have time for in v0.10.1.

The western half of Commorance is also very different from the eastern half. Where the eastern half is almost entirely forests and swamps with disparate Estates and numerous Folk villages, the western half has far fewer of both, as Masters have consumed those resources. The wilds leading into the area aren't the only section you'll encounter, but being a much more heavily civilized area, the wilds aren't nearly as prevalent in the west. Though, to that end, neither are the Folk.

I'm enjoying the process of needing to think differently as I design these new regions and look for opportunities to start to resolve some of the character arcs I've been building since the start of the game. I'm looking forward to seeing what you think of it all yourself.

Maids & Masters v0.10.1 Release

With this, the remaster process can be called officially complete, and I can move on to Act 2.

This also means v0.10 is going public! You can download that on Patreon right now, or on itch and the Downloads page later today.

Downloads are already available on the Discord server, and will become available on the Downloads page, Patreon, and itch.io as uploads complete and pages are updated.

Here's your changelog:

v0.10.1
Reworked existing scenes to include animations, with additional changes for the following:
- Phoebe’s trophy scene has been rewritten, re-rendered, and has a unique ‘first time.’
- Deirlinn’s first scene has been rewritten and re-rendered.
- Phoebe’s first scene has been rewritten.
- Melissa’s first scene has been rewritten.
- Alice’s first scene has been rewritten.
- Jenny’s trophy scene has been rewritten.
- Jenny’s first scene has been rewritten.
- Quinn’s first scene has been rewritten.
- Willow’s first scene has been rewritten.
- Alice’s Freeze scene has been rewritten.
- Griselda’s repeatable scene has been updated with fades and sound effects.
Added a bugfix - interacting with Ivy at the Estate will correct her character bust in Estate Info.
Added a bugfix - entering the North Swamps will correct the incorrect image in Estate Info.
Added a plugin to address enemy states (buffs, debuffs, and ailments) not always being visible.
Added a plugin to allow a formation screen to be opened directly, rather than through the menu.
Added an event page to Bianca to allow her Freeze scene to be accessed outside the Freeze.
Added Melissa’s “teacup” conversation from Arrival to her possible fireside love shack chats.
Added new random Estate events for the library, Master bedroom, and Estate grounds.
Added a bugfix feature to correct the North Swamps Locations image on entering the region.
Added Setri’s first scene.
Added a spiderweb asset to indicate targets for a future trophy.
Removed an erroneous “Task Rundown” option, as this has been replaced by the Task List.
Fixed a bug where Phoebe wouldn’t appear as a follower during the first Freeze.
Fixed a bug that caused a missing image error when viewing a game save from a nomad camp.
Fixed many bugs that caused the player sprite to be temporarily incorrect.
Fixed a bug where it was possible to receive infinite Elixirs after hiding one in your clocks.
Fixed a bug where trophy 11 did not function as intended when used from the inventory.
Fixed a bug where entering the “drowned house” would transfer to Haunt maps incorrectly.
Fixed a couple of bugs where it was possible to walk on wall and ceiling tiles.
Fixed a bug where the player sprite would be the wrong costume after changing formation.
Fixed a bug where repairing bookshelves may place the player in an incorrect instance.
Fixed a bug where launching Auda’s Freeze scene would launch her first scene instead.
Fixed an image bug that could lock the game after final negotiations with Griselda.
Fixed a bug where Lalita would claim to wait outside during the Freeze and follow you anyway.
Fixed a bug where Odette’s dresses wouldn’t display images after completing her Freeze event.
Fixed a number of bugs that could prevent early progression if a save was imported from Arrival.
Fixed a bug that could prevent earning trophy 5 if a save was imported from Arrival.
Updated a gargoyle to prevent it from appearing and interrupting Griselda.
Updated several things to make the end of Baleflight Manor less likely to result in Game Over.
Updated Katrina’s room in the Servant Quarters to have descriptions like it’s Katrina’s room.
Updated the Servant’s Quarters exterior windows to better describe the room they look into.
Various other minor dialogue and event fixes and updates.

Maids & Masters (& A Release Date For v0.10.1?)

It's a good thing I managed to get ahead of schedule last week, because work really fell out of the sky. Which, frankly, makes for a good talking point, so before we get into updates and the release date, let's talk about that.

See, while I did manage to get myself ahead of schedule, I work with 3 separate teams on 3 additional projects in order to pay the bills. I love what I do for a living, and that includes working on the projects that aren't explicitly mine. However, since these other jobs are financially necessary, Maids & Masters needs to take a back seat when work for these other projects is sent my way. That happened with all three of those projects this last week, which didn't leave me with a lot of time to work on Maids & Masters. Not having that much time to work on my own project means things like the random Estate events get pushed back.

So, what does this mean for the next update? Nothing new, really. This is the same reason the random events haven't been implemented already, and will continue to be a reason that I prioritize the things I do for each individual update. Even minimizing my costs as much as I have, I need to make sure I meet the requirements of the people who pay me so that I don't have to worry about bills not being paid. The more important question here is this: What can be done about it?

The answer is you. Your support is what can be done about it. If you want me to be able to continue developing Maids & Masters, and continue beyond Maids & Masters to turn demos like Love/Loss and Redemption Harem into full games, I need financial stability. Financial stability lets me move away from these other jobs and put Maids & Masters on a higher priority. Even further beyond that, I can hire artists to either collaborate or commission to create assets, which further opens up multiple possibilities for both the types of games I can create and the level of production quality I can reach.

If that makes any kind of sense to you, please consider supporting me on Patreon or purchasing permanent early access to Maids & Masters through itch.io. If that sounds like too much of a commitment to you, you can still donate to me through Maids & Masters' free page on itch. Or, if you're unable to support me financially, share my links or tell people where to find me. Getting my name out there and letting people know I'm making something they might enjoy is one of the biggest hurdles any indie dev has to jump, and I'm no exception.

Now, to give that first question a proper answer - v0.10.1 will still go into early access this Friday. I don't want to keep delaying the start of Act 2 for the sake of small events, and I do want to get started on the next part of the story. I'll continue doing my best to work on events like these to add them in the coming updates, but like I've said above, the main story is my primary goal, and if that content needs to be cut due to a lack of development time, that's what will happen. There are only so many hours in a day, and it's up to you to buy those hours and tell me to spend them working on Maids & Masters.

Maids & Masters (& Progress On v0.10.1)

I would've liked to say I finished implementing the animations for this post, but I didn't quite get there. It's just the mind maze and Griselda that's left, though. The mind maze won't be that hard to implement for, but Griselda will be a little trickier because of the way that event is set up. I'll need to do some specific testing on that to make sure it all functions as intended. Same with some of the love shack events, but those are at least implemented already and only need testing and adjusting.

Based on where I am now, hitting that projected release for the 16th feels likely, and VIP Patrons can expect a test build on Friday. That doesn't leave a ton of time for testing, but for the most part, this shouldn't be hard to test, it's just testing everything to make sure I didn't miss anything like a dingus. Infrastructure for the random events has already been tested in the few that already exist in-game (like Willow's trophy scene), so it's just making sure the same event script will roll for all the different random events available, and reroll correctly for the "weighted rolls" mechanic.

And just as a heads up, thanks to better compression rates for the file type used for the video assets, the game might actually get smaller in size due to those video files replacing at least two images. I don't want anyone to panic and think things are being taken out of the game if you're the type of person to pay attention to the file size.

Another heads up, specifically for VIP Patrons - there likely won't be many random events in the test build. Work that isn't MnM is going to take up some of my time this week, so I can't dedicate as much time as I'd like to fitting those in. 

One last thing for everyone else - I'm looking at rebuilding some of my pages in the near future to increase the 'production quality' of things, including my Patreon page. I'll have a public poll go up this weekend to gauge interest in things like current and potential tier benefits, so if that's something that interests you, keep an eye out for that.