Feature Complete Game!

Hi!

I worked my beak off the past couple weeks and I have some news to report. I have topped off my development funds for the next few months. I have a tight budget but this will keep me going until the next stage. I have some office work to complete before Steam lets me submit but the ducks are all lining up slowly.

Even though I didn’t have a lot of spare time recently, I used every moment I could to nearly complete what I call the Transfigure blueprint. I wrote down all the areas that needed story content and filled in almost all of it! I often do my best work under pressure. These blank spots and editing are what is holding up the final chapters. I fleshed out around 30 missing paths including several endings. I also decided what I am doing with a bunch of loose ends. Combined with the raw unedited and partially complete content in my notes, all of the important bits of the Transfigure story are in place or have a destination. There is still a lot of writing and editing to be done but it is a small portion compared to what already exists within the game so it should be manageable.

I added Julie’s route to the script. The “Two Friends” branch is also nearly done.  I intend to finish all of the rest this month so that the porting stage is complete so I can refocus on being more of an artist and writer for the next portion of development. The to-do list is long but it is shrinking.

The other important thing I was able to solve recently was adding the final bugged feature for the game. Visual choice tracking is now active in the latest build! One of the biggest complaints about the game is that the story can be confusing and difficult to navigate which makes missing scenes or routes too easy. I don’t recall if I mentioned that I also upgraded the save system this spring, so that’s there too. Together with the galleries, ending and scene trackers, the new save system and visual choice display, this should make it MUCH easier for an average user and completionists to try and find all the content while keeping track of it in a logical way. Ren’Py already includes the option to skip previously read content so that’s helpful too. I am also marking dead ends with a strike to clarify under-construction areas.

Transfigure now has all of the quality-of-life features necessary to make what I consider a quality visual novel. Typing that sentence just brought me a major wave of relief! I’d always like to visually polish and add a few presentation tweaks for the UI but that’s now in the optional polish “if I have time” category. I am really happy to lose this distraction so that I can focus on other important areas.

I have been trying on and off to get the choice tracking to work for over a year so I am stoked it is in game. Hopefully, this will reduce the number of strange messages I get about people playing all of Transfigure’s content in 2-5 minutes. That’s never been possible in any build I’ve released but that leads to the most common complaint: dead ends. They are getting filled in with content and pruned where necessary so eventually there won’t be any. I’d love for the story to go on forever. I’m flattered that the biggest complaint is there is not enough content in one of the biggest interactive stories out there, but the project will end when it is complete. I’ve promised some stimulating endings and I will deliver.

The last remaining “features” will likely reference art and the final render count. I’ve been asked many times about animations specifically. Some will be in the game but it is a budget and time constraint to add a lot of them. Right now it is easier to make a good looking render than it is to make an animation so the likely middle ground will be “faux animation” like it exists on Mitch’s path. There are other premade animations I have experimented with but pairing is awkward and the render times are still very long even with a powerful workstation like I now have. If the budget increases enough I will consider adding more myself as well as hiring another artist to improve visual quality and making some of the things that would take me too long to do myself efficiently. 

I know everyone is hungry for releases so I will just say that I intend to have a preview of the complete demo for patrons this month although I can’t say for sure when. It will have all the mentioned features and a bit of new content although most of the script is gated for future releases.

After I launch the Steam page and release some public content, I’ve decided to use the remaining unused TF Corps $5 poll winners to determine which routes get updated first in the 3D game. It is a mixed bag of popular characters so that’s good. 

I have more to say but it’s time to make more words for the game itself.

Have a great day everyone!

Yours truly,
Tango, resident hummingbird storyteller.