? Dev Log 6 & 7 – A Big One

Hey my friends! Zak here ?

There was no devlog last week because it was release week and two amazing persons in my life, Alex and Viv, wanted to celebrate it with a Q&A over on Instagram!
So get ready, this one’s going to be extra large as it contains mostly V0.3 updates, but some new stuff added to V0.2 as well. ?

I also want to take this opportunity to officially welcome them onboard.
They’ve been helping me since the very beginning with everything. From images, to proofreading, to social media support.

As you might’ve noticed, they’ll now be more active on our social channels as themselves, signing their posts as Viv and Alex respectively whenever something is written by them.

I’m truly grateful to these two, from the bottom of my heart.
I honestly don’t know how I could ever repay you both…

✨ Now, without further delay… let’s get into the actual devlog content!

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? TL;DR – What’s New in Dev Log 6 & 7

• ?️ v0.3 is in progress! 3.3k words already written, with a major conflict scene finished and multiple paths/resolutions prepared.

• ?️ A new CG with 3 main variations (and 10 image layers!) is done, probably my most fun to make CG yet.

• ? I’m planning a scene where Ren has breakfast with a character of your choice. Poll coming soon!

• ? Character sheets updated (Matt, Harry, Diego, Joel + 1 new character for the future).
  

• ?️ Improved animations, Decision Echo UI, and scene polish.
  

• ? Visual upgrades for Diego, Harry (including past and sober versions), and Joel (20 new expressions by Alex!).
  

• ? New sound effects and royalty-free music for post-pong scenes.
  

• ⚙️ Built internal tools to streamline coding and speed up future content creation.
  

• ? Finished revising everything in v0.1 and v0.2 (thanks Viv!), added score changes that reflect your choices, and a new hidden mechanic you’ll hear more about soon.

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? Patch 0.3 – What’s in Progress

So far, I’ve written about 3,300 words for version 0.3.
I’ve also been working hard to improve different parts of the game without affecting the total word count too much.

This content has focused especially on the conflict that unfolds at the end of version 0.2.
That entire confrontation is already written, with multiple possible ways for it to resolve. 

There’s also a choice-based moment that unlocks a new CG, which has 3 main variations, but altogether I created 10 separate image layers to pull off the final effect.
I might cut some of these variations or keep some of them out of the in-game TV screen (you’ll see what I mean) so it’s not too much at once.
But honestly, it’s one of the CGs I had the most fun creating as it pushed me to use a lot of different skills at once heheh.

I also have a new alternate ending planned, which will give you deeper insights into one of the characters...
Haven’t written it yet but it’s on my mental roadmap.

Lastly, I’d love for this update to give you a chance to spend some quality alone time with your favorite characters. I intend on asking you patreons where would you like to have breakfast as Ren… Accompanied with someone off course ?.
Let’s see if I can fit all that into v0.3 as well ?

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? Character Sheets – Behind the Scenes

I’ve been making several improvements to my character sheets, focusing mainly on Matt, Harry, and Diego. Not only because they were the top voted characters, but also because they were the first sheets I ever made.

What are the character sheets for?
They help me build each character from the ground up, what drives them, how they see the world, what defines their voice and choices. I feel they help a lot in the process of making them feel unique and alive, and so I can keep them consistent over time.

Consistency, honestly, is the thing I worry about the most as a writer.
Sometimes I fear slipping up, but hey! If I ever do, I’ll just try to do better next time ?

That said, I fully fleshed out Joel’s character sheet, and I loved how it turned out.
(I know I’m biased since I wrote it, but still!)
I also created a full new character sheet from scratch for someone new that I’m super excited about…
But I’m doing my best to hold back, because she probably won’t appear until v0.5 or latter xDDD

Unfortunately, I can’t show you these sheets, they’d ruin all the fun ?

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?️ Animation, Mechanics & UI Updates

I’ve been working on improving my animation skills (ATL) including character entrances and exits, movement, special effects, and more.
Honestly, I really enjoy making these. They’re fun and super satisfying to put together!
That said… I do have to be careful not to get too lost in them ?

I’ll show you a quick test of one of them though keep in mind it doesn’t have sound and the quality isn’t the best.

I also improved how Decision Echo choices appear (these are the ones that get unlocked based on your past decisions).
Now, they start with “(DE)” and end with a short explanation in parentheses, giving you a quick hint about why you have that option.

Eventually, I’d love for this kind of choice to be highlighted visually through the UI but I’d need to figure out how to technically implement that down the line.

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? Visual Updates

Diego

I’ve been working on improving some expressions, especially Diego’s.
There were a few things that always bugged me, so I went back to tweak them again.
I also want to share a bit of his visual evolution with you, just so you can see the progress and better understand where things started vs where they are now.

I know some of this might feel subtle or even unnoticeable at first glance, you’d probably need to open the images side by side to fully appreciate the difference.
But I’m really proud of how far it’s come. From the image sharpness, to line clarity around the body, to how the eyes are drawn... I just felt I had to share it.

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Harry

Harry’s expressions also got a quality upgrade.
Unfortunately, I lost the original versions when the game was first released. So, the only way to compare is by looking at v0.1 (which already had improved linework and cleanup) versus v0.2, where I focused on expression sharpness and proportion adjustments.

This took a lot of time, partly because Harry has a regular drunk state... and a very drunk state ?
All those little variations added up, and got me spending two full afternoons tweaking everything.
But now it’s done and I’m happy with it! (Although I confess, the differences are subtle xD)

I also started working on past-Harry sprites, since I needed a clearer idea of what he looked like a year ago.
I’m not 100% convinced of the design yet.

I’m also reworking his non-drunk version, where his body and head are no longer swaying.
I’ve already finished one version, might drop it here on Patreon too and let you tell me what you think <.<

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Joel

Last but not least, Mr. Joel got some new expressions and all the work here was done by Alex!

I didn’t give Alex any context about the character. I simply asked for a base set of expressions… and he sent me 20. Twenty.
I probably won’t use all of them, but they look amazing.
Thank you so much ?

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? Music and Sound Effects

I spent some time this week looking for new sound effects, and also added a few visual effects to enhance certain scenes but nothing too crazy, just small touches like screen shakes and similar things to add impact.

I forgot to write down every single one I added, but I’d say there are around 5 or 6 new SFX in total so far.
Things like a toilet flushing, beeping sounds, and even people grabbing each other by the clothes like they’re about to fight...
(I wonder why I needed that one <.<)

I also found a really good list of royalty free music to use that fit the after pong vibe I was aiming for !

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?️ Tools to Make My Life Easier

I’ve been creating quick-access reference files to help speed up my writing process.
Whenever I need to call an emotion, play music, change scores, trigger a sound effect, etc., I usually have to write those manually or find them in the code.

So I put together a compendium with many of those codes which should help make things much faster and smoother going forward.
Hopefully, this will help me create new content faster in the long run!

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? Specific Fixes for the release of 0.2

In addition to Viv’s amazing review work (bless her!), I also did some revision of my own.
I reviewed dialogue for several characters, tweaked expressions, and, most importantly,
I added score changes as well as a new mechanic to reflect how characters’ opinions of you shift depending on your choices. But that, will be revealed in another devlog as this one is already big enough ?

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✅ Version 0.1 Review

✅ 1000/1000 lines and comments reviewed (plus some extra adjustments on top!)

✅ Version 0.2 Review

Viv gave me fewer comments this time, hopefully because my writing’s actually improving <.<
✅ 360/360 lines reviewed

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Thank you so much for your support.