February 2024 General Update Part 2

You wouldn't think enough happened in two weeks (especially since I was out of town for half of one of those weeks) that I'd have enough to talk about for a second general update, but I'm back earlier than I expected to be and plenty happened, so I'm gonna talk all of that.

First, there's barely more than a day left on the Valentine's Adult Games bundle. Go get it while you still can!

Shameless shilling out of the way, I've joined not one, but two new projects. The first I'm nearing the end of reworking the first chapter for and addressing some of the community feedback, like livening up the dialogue and making the choices matter a little more. The first chapter is already free to the public, so if you'd like to see the "before" before the rewrite goes live, you can check out that project here: https://www.patreon.com/CarnalStudio

The second project I haven't really started working on yet. The agreement is official for me to start working on it, but I want to make sure my existing work isn't delayed before I get stuck in, and that includes Maids & Masters v0.15. There's also already another writer attached to the project, so I don't have a lot to say about the project itself until after some work has been done on it and I have a better grasp on what there is to be said.

Speaking of delays and Maids & Masters v0.15, it looks like the March 8th date is going to be where the test build lands. As much as I'm back early and that does mean I have more time to work on MnM, I still haven't landed on a good way to organize how all of the challenge fight events are placed so you can interact with them once the story of the segment has concluded, and since I want everyone to have their own set of fights, that needs a lot of extra attention. And when something needs extra attention like that, it's more likely than usual to break, which means I want it to be in the test build so more people than just me can give it a spin before it gets solidified and I don't get any more bug reports until after the build has gone out to the general public.

That's not really a delay, though. I expected this to take a little more time, which is why I gave the date range that I did last week. If the thought of MnM being delayed after reading that I've picked up some new gigs filled you with some combination of dread, disappointment, or melancholy, remember: that's what the Patreon is for. I do this full time and my bills continue to refuse to pay for themselves, so I need to get that money from somewhere in order to keep doing this. If you want me to keep doing what I'm doing without needing to look for other projects to work on, go support development. Every little bit helps.

Semi-related, Precious Kouhai continues to bring in far too many views on itch. If you came in here looking for news on that, all I can really say is that more content is coming. If you want more PK, the same thing applies - go support development. PK is something I work on when I need a break from MnM and have no other work to do, so more projects means less time for PK in a very literal way. Likewise, more support means more time for PK. Even if you can't afford financial support - leave a review or share the game. Same goes for MnM. Even when it's not money, every little bit helps.

Maids & Masters (& Progress On v0.15)

Working on this bundle (have I mentioned there's a bundle? We even hit out next goal, so bundle bonus renders will be coming soon. You should check out the bundle.) has taken up more of my week than I'd have liked, but there is good news.

In terms of general progress, there's only two relatively simple maps left to make, the maps that have been made are almost entirely populated with interactions, all the new assets (both visuals, like sprites and battlers, as well as system things like new enemy types and battle configurations) are done. That means there's not a lot left to do except the writing, implementation of new mechanics, and all the usual testing.

On top of that, to keep the good news train rolling, the new mechanic is already working perfectly. It's been a long time since I had an idea, tried to implement it, tested the test case, and everything just worked. It's not a terribly complex mechanic - for these challenge fights, I simply wanted to have just one Maid be able to participate in the fights. Where that could have become challenging is the way MnM shares experience. I didn't want to remove all your other Maids from your party, both because then I'd need to add progress checks to make sure you get the right Maids added back into your party, and because I didn't want those Maids to miss out on the experience points you'd earn doing these solo challenge fights. Thankfully, limiting (and increasing again) the party size is a fairly simple process, so both issues are solved in one easy script call.

Because that was so easy to solve, it opens up a lot of opportunities for extra content in the new Estate. This is fantastic news for me, because I was ready to cut a lot of that challenge fight content in case it didn't work out the way I wanted it to. Since the whole process is incredibly simple, all of that content gets to stay in. It's maybe less fantastic news for you, because now you need to figure out how to solo a challenge fight with Maids like Ella and Alice in order to get the new trophy. Good luck with that. If it's any consolation, I will test and balance things until I'm absolutely certain it's possible without needing to cheese the fight somehow. I want that trophy, too, after all.

 

As an extra upside, the new mechanic being easy to implement also means if we're lucky and I'm able to find enough time, I might be able to get a test build out to VIP Patrons on March 1st. It's more likely that my being out of town will limit my time a bit too much and I won't have that test build ready until March 8th, but only time will tell.

Speaking of time, because I'll be out of town, there may not be a blog post next week. There is a small amount of work I'm going to try to bring with me, but that's mostly for things that aren't my own projects and to make sure Precious Kouhai's v0.1 can get released on Friday. 

Right, I said I'd talk more about that this week. And now this week's post is already kinda long. Uhh... here's the short version:

Precious Kouhai's v0.1 is coming out faster than usual because it's the official v0.1. Surprise!

The release cadence will follow MnM after v0.1; meaning nothing will change when PKv0.2 goes into early access, then PKv0.2 will go public when PKv0.3 goes into early access, and so on.

February 2024 General Update

Last week was a busy one, and this month continues to busy as a whole with the addition of the Valentine's Adult Gaming Bundle (there's over 50 games in there, one of which is normally a paid game, completely free; click the link!), so I've gotten less development work done than I'd have really liked. That's not to say there isn't plenty to talk about, though.

For starters, if you're someone that's been around for a while (or you just pay really close attention), you already know I'm a writer for The Button by Burst Out Games. There has been some discussion of other things within BOG, but that hasn't been settled one way or the other just yet, so all I'll say right now is that I may have more news to share in the future. The news I have right now is that the chapters are written a couple of releases ahead of where the early access version of the game is, and the latest chapter is the biggest one yet. It's also in the early stages of its first draft, so more work will need to be done on it, which means it's very likely I'll need to take more dev time away from Maids & Masters and Precious Kouhai so the team can continue forward without waiting on me.

Speaking of Maids & Masters - I'm sad to say not a lot has gotten done. I've found and squished a few bugs with the help of the community, and I've done a little more behind-the-scenes work on fleshing out how I want this next segment to play out, but not a whole lot has happened inside the editor. Depending on how much time away from other work I have, I'd say the update will be ready for a test build in 3-4 weeks. That is a bit longer than I really wanted, but aside from other work needing my attention, my brother is also moving to a new state for a new job, so I'll be helping family for most of the last week of the month and won't be at home to be able to work.

To make up for the delay on MnM, I'll be putting out an update for Precious Kouhai. It'll only be one more scene so I can call it an update and return to work on MnM, but it'll also come with some new functionality in addition to being the official v0.1. PK being in Ren'Py means I can do things like create web and mobile builds with next to zero additional effort. Don't hold your breath on any of my RPGM projects getting official web or mobile support anytime soon - that's a whole different beast. Ren'Py does a lot towards streamlining the process. I've already tested the web version, and it works great on both desktop and mobile. The new scene, along with a test page for the web version (and, if I can manage it, the mobile version) will be available to Patrons this Friday, and will go public the following Friday. I feel like I've rambled on enough for one blog post, so I'll talk more about PK's v0.1 and the public release for it next week.

I do have one last thing I want to say, though. The RPG Maker festival made another new plugin set free. The last one - the action RPG set - resulted in the demo for Sacchrine Soil. The new one is the strategy RPG plugin set. 

I dunno about you, but Final Fantasy Tactics and Fire Emblem are some of my favorite games.

(you can probably expect a demo to appear in a month or two)

Valentine's Adult Games Bundle

I was going to type out this big preamble about Valentine's Day coming soon, but instead, have a logo.

The Valentine's Adult Games bundle is the latest adult game mega-bundle, and it's bigger than ever! With 51 adult games from 41 devs, whether you're looking for a fling, a lasting romance, or something in between, you're sure to find something worthwhile.

There's stretch goals, too! If 51 games isn't enough for you, as we reach goals, the devs who choose to participate will make even more for you. If that sounds like something you want to get in on, click this link: https://itch.io/b/2292/valentines-adult-games-bundle