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April News Post #3 (Final)
🕑 Added 2022-04-25 16:12:15 +0000 UTCAs April draws near its end, I've got some updates to share with everyone! The highlight being that a release date is set for v0.20, unlike previous attempts for this.. I can safely say that with what I've seen in the play test build and how smoothly those seem to be turning out, that we're getting on track again with development as a whole!
One step at a time though, before we get ahead of ourselves.. ^^"
V0.20 release date ~ May 15th
It's not exactly the April 30th personal goal I had in mind earlier this month.. >.< But it's more realistic with what I've seen done first hand so far and I'd rather be safe than sorry after awkward attempts in the past on guessing when content would be ready. Either way, I hope this news will excite many and as we slowly crawl towards this date.
I'll be doing a series of hype posts and along with that, we can expect a play test build handed out by May 2nd-6th. (Originally I was going to hand out one this past week, but I think the next play build will give a good sneak preview as a whole.)
With the big news out of the way right off the bat! Let's jump into some other mentions! ^^
~April's Dev plans!~
While the focus right now for the next week or two is on v0.20 (Episode 5) content in-engine progress. I've been writing for v0.21 content that'll cover Nova, Heather and Lola's first episode of their routes! Which is very exciting with how those are coming along, not to mention the art related to those routes that you may have seen shared so far. :P
I suspect that with where v0.21 stands in the scripts, we'll end up seeing in-engine progress start up for this content right away after v0.20's release. There is a possible chance that v0.20 could be ready before our release date set and if that happens, much like v0.19.5 being released earlier than expected. We'll toss out a 24-48 hour heads up and release the content earlier if it's ready. ^^
Expect more details on v0.21 in May, but for now.. We'll keep the focus on this long awaited content for v0.20 (Should make up for how quick Episode 4 felt in comparison, not to mention the choices and outcomes from some!)
One mention before we move on... Regarding the finalized gui, which can be seen below, similar to our previous news post. We're still tweaking the font being used, along with the color scheme that'll not only fit well, but overall ensure that its ideal for reading. We'd love to hear feedback on this, even if it's based on a screencap below. ^^ (Do consider the image is shrunk down within this post, right click and open image in a new tab if possible to get a better sense of how it'll look more fully.)
(Below is how the gui looks when activating the "hide gui button" aka the X button seen on the right side of the screen. )
~Development Team!~
[~CG art~]
With all the art done for v0.21 related content. MarxeDP and AjoseMp, along with their friend Bandyrash have been starting to work on two cg art pieces.
The first one is for episode 3, which is when Heather punishes Brandon in the storage closet. This was possible due to our newly introduced support tiers that allow a supporter to look over the list of possible cg worthy moments to add. (These aren't intentionally left out of the game, but rather due to budgeting and monthly funding expected, we have to make some hard decisions.)
Of course Patreon funding can change in time and we'll adjust things if its needed. The main thing is that this cg scene is coming in v0.21! (As it won't be done in time with v0.20 content.)
The second cg art being worked on behind the scenes is related to v0.22 content, which I don't want to mention too much here to be safe. It'll be related to Bridget is all I can say for now, but much like other recent cg art that features animated frames/variants.. We can expect these to continue. :P
(If you missed the recent cg art stuff for Heather's v0.21 content, you can view them below for $5-10+ supporter tiers. Possible spoilers warning though!)
https://www.patreon.com/posts/cg-concept-v0-21-65264160
https://www.patreon.com/posts/cg-finished-v0-65393779
[~Sprite art~]
Over on the sprite art side of the team! I believe Lisa has been a bit busy lately, but if you've followed along with the previous news posts, you'll understand that there's a bit of stuff going on with that.
Even though she's been busy, we've seen this past week some previews for Brandon additions to his sprite! (While the game has us in his perspective for the most part, there's times where we'll be placed into other's perspectives to allow us to see Brandon fully.)
I'm sort of guessing here.. ^^" But we might possibly see the last addition for Brandon's sprite by the end of this month and if not, it'd probably be ready early on in May. Miki will be next in line for receiving sprite additions for May/June give or take.
I'm roughly guessing, but I'd like to see if Lisa isn't too busy as we head into June to shift gears back to tackling a kickstarter oc or two that's next in line as our Summer focus. Then maybe have Fall focus on some additions again, etc.
If you missed the Brandon sprite preview stuff last week, you can check it out below! ($5+ supporters to view)
https://www.patreon.com/posts/sprite-preview-1-65519468
[~Music~]
In the music section of our team! ComposerJF has recently supplied me with a updated preview for how Nova's Theme is coming along! I've heard a good minute and a half worth of it, but the final version is expected to be around 2 and a half to 3 minutes in length.
While I can't share the in progress music yet, I will say that I'm very happy with how it's coming along more so in this recent preview! It'll be really nice to have it featured with v0.21 content where Nova's route begins. :P
In case you missed Miki's Theme last month, you can listen to it below!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/music-preview-63853521
[~Gui~]
I've heard back from ds-sans! ^^ Very briefly granted... ^^" But I hope with the news post in May, I'll have more details to share on what the plans for the rest of the gui assets will be and how it'll roughly proceed.
For now.. My rough plans are as listed below for adding what gui is ready to be added.
v0.20 = Text box, buttons, hide ui button, new font/sizes.
v0.21 = Side image portraits added for only v0.21 content.
Following that, as we lightly fix up previous content with quality of life changes. We'll add this side image portrait stuff for episode 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. Until the game as a whole as it featured. :P
~Ending Notes~
That about sums up April! The big thing for now is the exciting confirmation of v0.20!
I know that might feel iffy for many still, as our previous history of annoucing that it'd be ready and not being ready has been very awkward to say the least.. But that's why after releasing v0.19.5 in March, I wanted to personally hold off on confirming any sort of release date for v0.20 until I had solid, physical proof of how it's looking in-engine and how smoothly that's proceeding first.
I'm very happy to say that it's been moving along fairly smoothly, minus some typical fixes here or there needed as expected. But of course, wait until we have it actually physically provided to prove ourselves. ^^
Friendly reminder, anyone who has supported us even just once at the $5+ support tier during 2021 or January/Feburary of 2022 will receive v0.20's release free of charge as our way of lightly making up for our awkward development period that we've been working hard on prepping and fixing this year. While we had a bumpy start to the year, we're looking to have the rest of this year prove to be an amazing year for quality releases!
Once again, thank you everyone for everything! It's about time we got back on track development wise! ^^
~ From all of us at Messy Studios! ~
Comments
Eyup! ^^ This is actually one of the key features as part of this finalized gui, if you take a look at the screenshot example in the post above, on the right side of the text box there's a X button. (hovering over it will turn it into a checkmark icon, clicking or tapping on it will then hide the whole textbox, buttons, everything besides that tiny X/checkmark button.) Then hovering over the checkmark while it's hiding the ui, it'll display the previous X button and of course clicking/tapping that again will bring everything back on screen again. ^^ This has been a feature we've been wanting to do for a good while, not just for pc users for more ease, but it'll help phone users greatly too! :P (Actually went ahead and added a preview in the original post above to show how it looks currently when using this feature.)
Sweatwater
I'm sure it's been brought up before, but now that you guys have the GUI locked in, have you considered a "hide GUI" button? I've seen it in the occasional other VN and it allows players to look at portions of sprites that otherwise are obscured. I personally remember in the old date scene with Nova, the majority of her dress was coated in transparent pink. Obviously not a super high priority thing, but maybe you could give it a look?
