09/21 Progress Report

The latest build, now available on Dropbox, features a brand new CG scene for Kate's affection system. We've also integrated a new CG animation system that significantly improves the quality of our animations, giving them a more natural and authentically pixelated style.

Encounter System

I've added a new encounter system to Chapter Two, similar to the affection-based CG nodes for Kate. This new system centers around an encounter between Rey and the Insectoid, which can lead to a possible intercourse scene as depicted in the picture. This new encounter might be triggered when the player enters an event node in Chapter Two after the first boss fight with the Insectoid. The chance of this event increases with the player's corruption stats.

I'm also planning to add more of these encounters in other chapters. They'll have a direct effect on the player's corruption or other stats, and some may even grant a new mutation.

A New CG Animation Style

This week's update is short but impactful. I've made significant improvements to our CG animations.

As you can see from pictures 1 and 2, this new CG scene is different from the others. It's not just a rigged pixel animation; it's a fully drawn and animated scene that actually changes the pixel sprites themselves. This approach makes the animations look more natural, offers more flexible variations, and gives the pixel animations a more authentic, less "rigged" feel (because it isn't). The only downside is that each animation takes more time to create, but I believe the better-quality CG scenes are well worth the extra effort.

Future Plans

For the past few weeks, I've been focused on making the CG scenes more immersive and natural by adding new systems to the game and connecting scenes with gameplay. While this approach has merit, I've concluded that the most effective way to make a CG scene feel more realistic is to simply put more effort into the artwork itself. Of course, the connection between the CG scenes and the base game will still exist in the form of the 'affection' stat.

I'll be adding a few more of these unique encounters, which will often come with unique loot and mutations, and I'll be sure to connect them to existing game mechanics. For example, they might affect Ash or Kate's HUD interface or even add a new enemy type to a battle.

This week's updates will be added shortly. This week's poll is about your preferences about the directionality of future content updates.