Keisi
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Dev Diary #117
🕑 Added 2025-01-13 17:09:29 +0000 UTCThe holidays are over, time to get back to the routine.
Last week started weirdly. I was going to test a website that someone recommended to plan my W.I.P. + wanted to make a list of how to simplify the project's features. Well, I ended up leaving that aside and making certain decisions. Maybe they are not the right ones, or perhaps they are.
I've been pondering whether I should make an Android version of my projects myself for several years... The problem I've always seen is that it requires a lot of work, not only the process of compressing the images, videos, etc but also adapting the interface to make it comfortable to use and not be like the ‘X’ of the ads in random games (you hit the X and it takes you to the store). And not to mention that it's quite a challenge to keep the game at 1,9GB because if it's +2GB you need an external app that allows you to install big APKs, but it's no use because Renpy doesn't allow you to make +2GB APKs as far as I know.
So I was thinking, thinking... and thought: well, I could try to do something that goes against my ‘quality’ criteria but that would make it possible to make an APK of my projects myself. And so I did.
I started experimenting with the first anniversary. First I tested different resolutions to see the quality vs size. I did this with both images and videos. The result was interesting, although it took some time to find the ‘perfect’ resolution.
To give you an idea, this is the difference between the PC vs Android:
Yes, my wallpaper is a loading screen from Blade & Soul.
The difference is noticeable in terms of quality, but when I was testing on my phone, it didn't look bad at all.
The final result in terms of size is:
PC: 200MB
Android: 48MB
The change in size is quite noticeable as I managed to make it less than half the size. Not only that, but everything works as it should, because lots of times, some time ago, people came to report problems with APKs made by third parties, and the most repeated problem was that they used a .bat to compress everything and almost always the videos had a compression that many phones do not accept, so while playing, the game just crash.
But the big question is: Will I be able to make LA to be -2GB? Well... there's a lot of work to be done there, but I've been testing and to give you an example, the girls' folder in the base game is 1.15GB, I've managed to make it ~100MB. For me, that's a more than optimal result to make an approximation. My guess is that I can make the v23 be 1GB at most.
Why v23? Because I'll do all the porting after working on v23. I think is going to take several weeks of work, and I don't want to get into this right now as I want to prioritize making new content, so I can publish the EAs without the ported version and in the meantime, work on the port. All this thing is mainly intended for Itch, which has been the main source of complaints during all these years... Additionally, all this work helps me to learn how to handle Android stuff using Renpy and also to be able to offer a ‘super compressed version’ for PC.
Additionally (x2), this will allow me to support any Android problem (well, almost any problem).
Although it started a bit crazy and frustrating (messing with code without having a clue is never a good idea, although it's the best way to learn), in the end, the result has been quite satisfactory.
That said, I've finished porting the first anniversary, this week I'm gonna work on the second anniversary, publish both Android versions on Itch, and update the links in the corresponding posts to make the APK available here as well. Also, I corrected/improved some texts in both languages on both games.
On the other hand... My idea is to finish the port of the anniversaries and start experimenting with the website to put all my W.I.P of each version there, so everyone can check it at any time. After that, it will be time to fight with my inner demons and start making decisions that even if it hurts me, will be necessary. Or maybe everything will stay as it is, it's something I don't even know myself because thinking about it, gives me a headache. We'll talk about all that soon.
So... that's all for the moment. There's a lot of stuff to do, but luckily, there's plenty of time. As soon as I start working on anything interesting, I'll show it here and on X, as always.
Also, soon we'll talk about what to expect this year. With the birth of LA:M and other stuff I have in mind... it could be an interesting year. Still, I want to advance as much as possible in LA, and above all, see how far I can advance in LA:M, as at the moment, it's my excuse to disconnect from the main project. Plus, I'm looking forward to adding the things I didn't have time to add (so it can feel like a more complete "first" version).
See you soon in the next diary!
