Transitioning from Alpha to Beta

I have been asked about Transfigure transitioning to a Beta version and what some of the differences will be vs its current iteration.

To me an Alpha is a functional demo. That's where we are now.  I've shown off previews of most of the characters and themes. Now it's time to get to the meat!

Eventually, when all of the design’s primary features and content are added the Alpha becomes a Beta where minor features are added and the game’s systems and content are polished to a level that justifies calling it complete. I have tried to make this process gradual and not just have a hard jump from alpha to beta to final release.  So every update I try and make the game better and not just through the addition of new content.

As I attempt to upgrade the earlier portions of the story, it has led to some ideas about how to restructure some of them a bit.

One of the main problems I (and others) have with the story is some of the paths include routes with uncomfortable topics before "cool" content appears. I think it is important that this difficult content exists but it is also equally important a lot of the content is avoidable and that the situation be accurately conveyed to the reader so that they can jump ship if they want to.

So I am adding in more bypasses and smaller variable triggers like the recent touch up to Drew’s route where a player can use a towel. Drew’s route is going to get a big overhaul to have the romantic part and the “just friends” relationship in parallel that will provide different avenues to certain end game content.

Recently I have done a few tests with mixed results but I finally managed to get the most important final feature added (the ending tracker). It sucks not being as productive as I (and others) would like but it is part of the learning process. Generally, smarter people help me with the code and then I learn to cobble it together and imitate similar features afterwards. Many of the polish features (even just simple things centered pictures) were recently added within the past year because ValidFlorian (and others) helped me. There are lots of people that have really helped up the game's game, so that's awesome and very much appreciated!

Key features in development:

Ending tracker - a tracker to figure out which of Transfigure’s 100+ upcoming endings you’ve unlocked. The first part has been successfully added. 

Route hint toggle - a switch that will turn decision hints on/off.

It will look something like this:

[[Use a transformative disguise and travel to Drew’s]] (Continue Drew's route)

[[Forego transformation and cautiously take the back streets to Drew’s place]] (Begin spy route)

Music volume adjuster- an option to control the music in the Transfigure Alternative section.

Wish list:

Scene tracker

Simple turn based combat system

Clothing system/ improved avatar system

CSS toggle for color alt color schemes - make the text dark and the background light if desired.

Option toggle to turn off pictures and media.

There were/are a number of other things to update like improved character portraits and the like as well as some media swaps and additions that should flesh things out a bit as we transition to beta. At 1.00 Alpha I will reset the designation to Beta .49 and then by the time I get to the 1.00 designation again it should be complete or very close and be about ~1 million words. Now that is still an insane amount of writing (~3 years) at current rate, but I am confident development well in hand with everything I have prepared and setup with. I will probably keep the 80085 (BOOBS) designation because it makes me giggle.

Thanks for supporting my writing habit! We’ve got a lot of work to go but the foundation has already been built.