Shilling For My Fellow Devs - r/GoodAdultGaming itch Bundle

Just a quick announcement to say I've joined another bundle, this one to help support the launch of a new subreddit as well as a bunch of smaller devs like myself. 

Most of the games already have a free version, but the bundle does include one paid game. The bundle itself is free and is mostly visual novels, so if you're interested, you can find it here.

If you want to follow the work of these devs, in addition to any links you might find within itch and on their creator pages, you can also join the subreddit r/GoodAdultGaming.

Maids & Masters (& (Slowly) Starting Work On v0.10.1)

I'm mostly caught up on everything I was falling behind on, but life being life, it's taking some time to get back into the swing of things. In no small part thanks to a sudden influx in targeted negativity, but that's been my life lately. Just more punches to roll with.

I have gotten some things done, though. Loads of bugfixes and minor changes. The changelog is already over a dozen items long before counting all of the scene reworks, of which 5 are already complete and implemented. Another 15 animations have already been made and edited, but haven't been implemented yet. Some of these scenes are also getting re-written as I go.

That's about all there is to share for this week, though. And for the sake of my mental health, I think continuing to take it slow is in my best interest, so the updates for the next week or two are probably going to be fairly sparse as well. Work will continue, but I need to take a little more time for myself and my family before I hit a point where work can't continue.

Maids & Masters (& Following Up On v0.10)

I can't lie - it feels really, really good to have (most of) the remaster done and out in the world. What's more, it's already the single most financially successful update - a massive thank you to everyone that's purchased early access through itch and to all of my Patrons. I still have a long way to go towards financial independence, but it's such a relief to see some growth after the past couple months of stagnation.

As far as the game itself - there are quite a few bugs that snuck through playtesting, but they're largely either very late in the game, unlikely for the average user to encounter, or smaller glitches that don't have any affect on gameplay. For more information on existing bugs (and to get your hands on patches for the things that might break your game) you can head over to the changelog post on itch. That post will also get updated with any more significant bugs that are found between now and v0.10.1's release.

Speaking of itch, following the switch from pay-per-update early access to single-purchase-own-forever early access, Patreon integration has finally been set up. My understanding is that you'll automatically get an early access key through itch's system if you pledge more than $15 all at once to my Patreon (and you have your itch account connected to your Patreon account), but my intention is to also provide keys to anyone who has a lifetime pledge total over $15. If you're a Patron and think your total is over $15 but you don't have a key, feel free to send me a message and I'll check for you. If you should be eligible for a key based on lifetime support and you don't have one, I'll make one for you.

Other than that, while work on v0.10.1 has started, I'm going to hold off on any progress updates for this week. Life is stressful, and I could use a week to take things slow and catch up with things that aren't Maids & Masters. Work definitely isn't stopping - I'm still doing my best to respond to all the Patron messages I'm getting and resolve bugs as they get reported - I just don't want to set some ridiculous goal I'm not going to meet just to keep myself working. I'm going to rest, get caught up on my freelance work, spend some time with friends and family, then set some ridiculous goal I'm not going to meet just to keep myself working.

In the mean time, I hope you're enjoying v0.10. You stay classy out there.

Maids & Masters v0.10 Release

Here it is. The remaster.

There are bits and pieces of this that are still undergoing testing due to the sheer amount of content there is to test, but everything up through the first Freeze should be working as intended without any issues. If you do encounter any issues, please let me know.

I've been rambling on about this for months now, so I'll let the changelog speak for itself. Early access will be going up on itch later today, and it's available to Patrons right now.

v0.10
Ported the game from the VX Ace engine to the MZ engine.
- This means native mouse support, text skip, dynamic screen size, and more!
- Plugins have allowed information to be moved into new screens, mostly to Estate Info.
- A quest log has been added; this is the Task List in the menu.
- More feature information is available in the README.
Reworked a large amount of the dialogue and narration, some of which is completely rewritten.
Reworked the trophy hint system both for flavor and to provide more/clearer information.
Reworked file organization to take advantage of sub-folders.
Reworked the funeral event; several dialogue changes and it’s now completable without combat.
Reworked some quests so they’re more compatible with the new quest log plugin.
Reworked certain events for better characterization and to be more in line with the intended tone.
Reworked many skills to be more useful, more distinct, and to have better descriptions.
Added plugins to add features and improve quality of life. Check the README for more info.
Added equipment locks to non-combat characters that were missing them.
Added a notice to the start of the game to check the README for information about mechanics.
Added options to the customization room to change your gallery statues all at once.
Added the new custom Game Over screen created for Arrival.
Added support for transferring game saves from Arrival to the main game.
Added missing credits to the README.
Added Arrival content, only accessible by importing a save from Arrival.
Added trophy 21 to the trophy room.
Added a bugfix feature that prevents the player sprite from appearing as the wrong character.
Added more trees that change when the cloth trader appears to make it more obvious he’s there.
Added a bugfix feature so missing trophies can be discovered in the Trophy Room if necessary.
Added event location commands to prevent characters from becoming misplaced.
Added sun shafts to indicate where the windows in the player Estate’s Master Bedroom are.
Added a fast travel crib to the nursery to visit Vendra, available after Celtchar is born.
Added the ability to hide Elixirs in your own clocks once the Estate is fully repaired.
Added new events to the home Estate Master bedroom to change costumes for Trophy 13.
Added an event to Griselda’s docks involving Archibald.
Added nomadic Folk that appear randomly in various wilds maps.
Added nomadic Folk camps that appear randomly in region maps.
Added randomly appearing scrap items to various wilds maps.
Added new affection dialogue levels to the check-in rooms for roughly half of the Maids.
Removed a lot of the “blank” text boxes now that text boxes can be hidden.
Removed a wait timer from the player Estate’s front gate so it operates faster.
Removed the choice to refuse Bianca during her Freeze event and related content.
Fixed a bug that prevented you from ignoring Punchinella.
Fixed a bug where the Cotton Sleeve and Pet Collar Contracts did not have investment returns.
Fixed a bug where trophy 5 wasn’t awarded correctly at Big Dick’s.
Fixed a bug that prevented Quinn’s Freeze scene from being repeated after unlocking it.
Fixed several bugs that caused the BGM to not update correctly when using fast travel.
Fixed a bug that could prevent completing Phoebe’s objective for trophy 13.
Fixed several bugs that could incorrectly count progress towards trophies 13 and 21.
Fixed a bug that caused Willow’s extra Freeze event to trigger twice on the first visit.
Fixed a bug that caused Baleflight’s Butler’s to be out of position when loading a save.
Fixed several potential continuity errors in events and dialogue surrounding Ella’s arrival.
Fixed a bug that allowed completion of the Trophy 14 quest line out of sequence.
Fixed a bug with Teely’s escort options that caused choosing Nothing to repeat the choice tree.
Fixed a bug that caused Baleflight Manor to incorrectly appear on the non-Haunt region map.
Updated the garden maze to match the new version of it in Arrival’s remaster.
Updated Melissa’s class name so it matches story events.
Updated possible equipment for all Maids and added this info to the new Estate Info screen.
Updated several Maids to better emphasize their unique traits in combat.
Updated growth curves for some Maids for better stat increases.
Updated Teely’s escort options to take advantage of the expanded choice trees.
Updated several location names to match the listed location names on saves.
Updated the game icon and title screen to custom assets.
Updated several sound effects to utilize the newly available audio assets.
Updated Butler themed accessories to be correctly categorized as Butler’s Finery equipment.
Updated trophies that don’t have a menu use to be hidden to clean up the inventory.
Updated Contracts and Writs to be hidden to clean up the inventory.
Updated custom battle sprites to match the higher resolution and added missing shadows.
Updated the Trophy Room to check for items directly rather than relying on parallel events.
Updated a few of the trophy icons to better match what the trophy is.
Updated the Clown Nose to be usable from the menu instead of only from the trophy room.
Updated Wolf Pelts and Snake Fangs to be grayed out and appear in items instead of key items.
Updated “Hi-” items to instead be “High” items.
Updated incorrect item descriptions, such as items referring to TP (Theurgy Pool) as MP.
Updated other item, weapon, and armor names and info for thematic and narrative consistency.
Updated the health values of several enemies (mostly to be lower).
Updated Emily’s shop so all supply Contracts return items according to the number purchased.
Updated the cost and returns of several of the shop supply Contracts.
Updated Emily’s shop so that purchased Contracts can be sold for the purchase price.
Updated the item names for all shop Contracts for increased clarity.
Updated the study so Phoebe can be interacted with from across the desk.
Updated the bread in Augalamh to not run out if you’ve completed the relevant quest.
Updated several older events to acknowledge newer Maids if they’re present.
Updated Viridius’ diplomacy path to include Jeannie and increase player agency.
Updated the passive poison rate of Drowned Guardian/Vaultkeeper attacks to be much lower.
Updated the Drowned Hold to better support mouse controls and to include lanterns.
Updated non-unique collectible items in Fekhacht to not have text unless they can’t be collected.
Updated the Freeze events to include followers and allow access to the inventory at all times.
Updated Freeze character instances to have separate options for exiting chat and rejoining you.
Updated fast travel points to include more options where appropriate.
Updated dialogue branches to reference completed objectives directly for better dynamic flow.
Updated the Freeze location for Trophy 3 to have reactions for all of the Maids.
Updated the Homing Stone to be a Key Item to make it easier to find in the inventory.
Updated enemies that previously had no collapse effect to use the “boss” collapse effect.
Updated the event that leads into the Freeze to place the player directly in the kitchen.
Various other minor dialogue, map, and event updates and fixes.

Maids & Masters (& A v0.10 Release Date)

After consulting with my lovely Patrons, I've solidified a plan. v0.10 will release to Patrons Friday, May 5th, as stated in previous posts. Scenes won't be reworked or animated - those will be coming in v0.10.1. Between today and Friday, all my attention will be on getting as many random events (like Folk and things around the Estate) implemented as possible. 

The core systems for the Folk nomads already exists (and has already been partially implemented in the most recent test build), so that'll be relatively easy to implement. The random Estate events need renders, so it's not likely I'll get very many of those implemented, but I still want to try to fit in what I can. 

 

The other thing I want to call out is the systems for Setri to be the game's third potential mother being added. This is the first of several planned things intended to reward you for regularly returning to Cumhaill. Unlocking her scene works similarly to the shop, in that you're able to return after every new progression milestone (or supply cycle, to use the in-game terminology) to get a new conversation. Each conversation increases her affection score, and once the affection threshold is met, the final conversation makes her scene available.

As for what else is coming in v0.10, you can read my State of the Remaster post on Patreon for some insight, but you'll need to wait for the changelog on Friday for details. Partially because I can't say for certain exactly what I'll manage to get done between then and now, but also because the changelog for v0.10 is longer than any other changelog has been by a wide margin. If I covered even half of it here, this would be a very long post.

 

The other change I wanted to cover is that early access on itch will no longer be pay-per-update. The price will be going up accordingly, but from v0.10 onward, early access through itch will be a single purchase, and you'll have early access for the remainder of development. Not only does this feel a lot more consumer friendly, it also allows me to do something nice for my Patrons and give out early access keys to people who have supported me enough to have effectively purchased early access anyway. I haven't looked into exactly how that infrastructure works yet, but I know it's something that can be done, and I want to show my supporters some appreciation beyond just continuing to work, even if I have to create and hand out those keys manually.

So to sum up - v0.10 comes out this Friday, May 5th for Patrons, and the changelog will go up here. Unless something goes wrong, buy-once early access will go up on itch the same day. This early access will be given to Patrons as a supporter bonus after a certain threshold. v0.10 will go public when v0.10.1 releases to Patrons/early access sometime in June.

Maids & Masters (& Completing Remaster Plugin Implementation & Rewrites)

It certainly took a lot longer than I wanted it to, but as of this weekend, all of the new plugins (including the quest log) are fully implemented. There are a few smaller, fiddly things to do, and a little more testing that needs doing (there's still at least once instance where the implementation and scripting is correct, but it still results in a bug), but this was easily the largest task to complete for the remaster, so this is a great milestone to finally be hitting.

The second largest task was reworking the dialogue, which I completed in tandem with plugin implementation. There are still a handful of events that I won't have changed at all, and nearly all of the object interactions are unchanged, but there were several events that I actively wanted to rewrite and those are all now also complete. I mentioned this in a previous post, but just to reiterate - the overall message and character beats of these events is unchanged. The changes are largely due to tone or specific wording, meant to correct either specific misinterpretations or plot inconsistencies (like Cornelius being referred to as Archibald's father in one place and his grandfather in another). Otherwise, the vast majority of updates to the dialogue has been improving clarity by simplifying or removing lines or text boxes.

The third largest task is also a doozy, though, and I haven't really started on it yet - the animations and scene reworks. Individually, the scenes are pretty easy to manage, but since there are over 50 (around 70, including the love shack scenes) of them, there's a distinct possibility that I won't get them all done in time for release on May 5th. That puts me in front of something of a dilemma.

I could delay v0.10's release, but I really don't want to. A delay would mean more time to test and bugix as well as work on animations and other new content, but it's also a slippery slope into delaying further, and I might still not complete everything that I want to complete. There are pros and cons every way you could possibly look at the situation. I'll still try to get as much done as I can, starting with the start of the game and working from there, but I think it's best to also ask my Patrons what they think on Friday, when the initial test build goes out to the Gratitude tiers.

We're officially in the home stretch, though. The animations and new content are all that's left before I move on to v0.11 and Act 2. It does seem like v0.10.1 will be necessary to catch all of the content I want the remaster to include, meaning it's still another month at least before development on Act 2 starts, but I really am chomping at the bit to get there. Hopefully you're at least a little excited to get there yourself.

Maids & Masters (& Finishing Reworking Dialogue)

With the first test build out, I've started on reworking the interlude's dialogue and finishing up implementing the quest log. 

Not much is done yet, as I took the weekend to recover. I have been consistently underestimating how much work the remaster would be and trying to work longer and harder to try to make up for it, which I've been feeling in a bad way lately. I've also had some work on Lust Element to do, which is what has taken up the majority of my working hours over the past few days. I also had some real life and business things to do - taxes, paying bills, that sort of thing. With all of that done (save for some additional work on Lust Element that needs doing), this week will be spent getting dialogue reworked/rewritten for the interlude and fixing any bugs that find their way to me.

That gives me about two weeks to get animations done in time for v0.10's release on May 5th. That's a tighter time frame than I'd like it to be, but unless I run into some issues, I should be able to get at least the majority of scenes converted for animations. I hope.

That does unfortunately mean that it's likely v0.10 won't have all of the new content I want it to, like the random Estate events. It will still have some (a few are already implemented), but it won't be as complete as I'd like it to be. Though all this really means is that there will be a v0.10.1 release with all of that content and v0.11 (and Act 2) will be one more release later. It's not what I want, but it's not terrible, and it's the best I can do without further delaying releases.