Status Update #68
Added 2024-11-19 17:53:18 +0000 UTCHey there, folks! A quickie update for you today.
Today's cover image is a fitting one as I approach the finish line—the end screen for the Morning After Update, which was the final piece of art that was needed before the art side of things was officially complete.
As is obvious, I wasn't able to meet my self-imposed deadline of yesterday. There are a few reasons, one being that I've basically been in crunch mode and at certain points my body forced me to catch up on sleep, which I guess is something I should try to fit in 😉 There's also some personal stuff I won't go into.
That being said, mostly it's code and testing stuff that's holding things up. A big part of this update revolved around cleaning up code and creating new systems that will make the rest of the game easier to create. There are still remnants of old systems I tried out that need to be adapted to the current ones, otherwise they will cause issues both in this update and down the line.
And just in general, there is a ton of content that needs combed through to make sure that by fixing one problem I'm not creating another. After making everyone wait so long, I want to avoid playthroughs being marred by bugs and error screens as much as I can.
The great news is that since I'm near to the end, a lot of the pieces are firmly in place, which means I can actually play through many story paths beginning to end. Seeing the final product pulled together is a relief, and I'm pretty happy with what I made.
I'll also say that now having seen certain scenes in the full context of a playthrough, fans of a few characters in particular are going to simultaneously love me and hate me 😇
Timeline wise for the release, at this point I can't really say anything definitive, but maybe by this weekend? I'll make sure to do another status update when I feel more confident in a finish date.
There's more I'd like to discuss, but I think you all would rather I spend my time on the game instead of a way-too-long essay 😉 Back to it I go!
Comments
The update name is very literal—it covers the morning after the last part you played 🙂 It starts with you waking up in the morning and ends after Will's class. The actual content you encounter during that timeframe varies widely. There is actually a hefty amount of content, but how much of it you see is entirely based on your choices. There are story paths which kind of speed you through the first half of the update, and there are others that have lengthy scenes before you even get back to your dorm room. Your new choices affect your mood and how you interact with each character, further altering what you see and what new choices you are given. That's in part why this took so long—doing that level of reactivity on my own was a lot more work than I expected. This is the last update where I'll have so many stories intersect at once so as to avoid that in the future. As far as character focus, I tried to touch on every main character at least a little, although there's not really anything for NC17 & Mafia. Marco has the most scenes since you always cross paths with him. Matt can have a significant presence throughout, mostly at the start if you slept over at his place. Same for Evan if you spend the night with him (a new addition). Griffin, Owen, and to a lesser extent Julian have significant scenes if you spent the night with them/at their location. Riley and Dominic have special morning scenes you only see if you reached certain relationship milestones, as does Asher to a smaller degree. Since Alex and Leo ended the night with big scenes centered around them, I didn't put a ton in for them so as to give more screen time to the other characters, but they still have encounters. Tomas and Will both have pretty significant encounters in the last half of the update, but only if you want to engage with them. The Will one ends the update—he actually has the most new CGs of any one character. If you don't want to go there with Will, the ending is a little low key. If you do, it's much more exciting 😉 Lastly we have Isaiah, who has content I had to cut for the time being. I'm doing rewrites, but I don't want to hold up the release while I do that. What I already rewrote became some of my favorite romantic content in the whole update, so I definitely want to get it finished and back in by the time of the second early access release. If not that release, then the full free release. The story updates coming after this one narrow focus a bit and cover the rest of Connor's first week at school. The next story update focuses on individual "dates" with Matt & Evan. Leo can get involved as well, but how much is determined by previous choices. I already wrote some of these scenes, and I think fans of these guys will really enjoy them. The rest of the characters will get to claim focus in the story updates to follow. I'm considering doing a poll to gauge the popularity of each guy with the intent to pair the more popular guys with some of the less popular guys. That way each update can have something that'll appeal to as many players as possible without shortchanging the characters with fewer but just as invested fans. Right now the planned releases are the Morning After Update > Grind'm hookup with Trevor > Story update with a focus on Matt & Evan, plus Leo > Grind'm hookup with Parker > Story update with a focus on Riley & Dominic, plus Alex and a dorm-wide hangout. But everything past the Parker Grind'm scenario is subject to change.
Danny Nym
2024-12-04 12:00:01 +0000 UTCAlso is the coming update only covering the next day or does it go for a couple days after or how long most likely? And how much on average does it add to each character?
Hunter Poe
2024-12-04 02:01:07 +0000 UTCThe game covers two months, September and October, and ends on Halloween. It won't have any flash-forwards because I'd rather players imagine how it could happily go long term based on how they played through the story. I think the epilogues in Coming Out On Top made sense since the game ended with the PC finishing college. Connor is at the very beginning of his adult life and has four years of growth ahead of him before he reaches the same point. Coming Out On Top was also much more linear when it came to each romance, so it was likely easier for the creator to imagine what future each ending would lead to. I have some older game status updates that talk about the overall plotting of the game, and I'll probably discuss that again soon. I plan to make some adjustments to lessen the scope a bit, otherwise this story will probably end up in development for way, way too long.
Danny Nym
2024-12-03 09:38:53 +0000 UTCStill excited for the next update, but not trying to add pressure. Instead I had some questions: About how far along do you envision the game plot/length wise? To clarify, do you see the game covering Connor’s entire first semester, or less or longer? Will we see epilogues of Connor’s future life (sophomore year, graduation, marriage, career)? I ask, because a part of me is a sucker for the idea of Connor meeting his future husband/ long term partner, and I loved how Coming out on Top included that feature.
DC Burns
2024-12-03 04:12:37 +0000 UTCYou're in luck because Will & Matt in particular have some of the best content in the update 🙂 I did have something small planned for Antonio (Alex's bodyguard), but I had to cut it for now. I may add it back in later. Antonio is also involved in a little Easter egg I snuck into the earlier portions of the game. I'm curious to see who spots it first.
Danny Nym
2024-12-01 22:33:05 +0000 UTCThank you so much! I have been writing professionally my entire adult life, and this is honestly one of the most rewarding projects I've worked on. It lets me flex my strengths (characterization, dialogue, & plotting) while compensating for my weaknesses (prose & description). That alone makes it something I enjoy creating, but the response I've received from players has been well above and beyond anything I got for the traditionally published books I've written. Something that surprised me early on was learning how many people became invested in the characters vs. playing primarily for the CGs. I think I originally imagined this being a much simpler story, but discovering that inspired me to push things a little further. That kind of contributed to the development snags this past year, since I went a little overboard in service of that, but now that I'm just about done with this next update, I'm feeling positive about how it came together. So you actually found the game at just the right time—you won't need to wait too much longer to continue the story!
Danny Nym
2024-12-01 22:28:04 +0000 UTCHey there, I'll have a status update post soon when I'm a little more confident on a release window. It's not far off, just took longer to get here than I expected. I'm down to the final bits.
Danny Nym
2024-12-01 22:07:28 +0000 UTCGoing pretty good, I'm just about done. Obviously took longer than I hoped, but the past few weeks I sequestered myself from the world and focused entirely on the game, which helped speed things up a little bit. I'm going to drop a status update post when I feel a little more confident on a release window, but it's not far off. This is the part in the process where I really wish I could afford to hire QA people because the volume of stuff to go through is crazy, but that's just a pipe dream for now 🙂
Danny Nym
2024-12-01 22:05:14 +0000 UTCNo, it hasn't released yet! I'll make a post everyone can see when it is.
Danny Nym
2024-12-01 22:00:39 +0000 UTCHi, I hope you're doing well. I was wondering if the latest game update has been released for Graduates and Seniors, as I am neither a Graduate nor a Senior so i haven’t received any update myself. Could you kindly confirm whether the update has been made available to any Patreons yet, or if it's still pending? I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Chetan
2024-12-01 18:12:31 +0000 UTCHow’s the update going atm?
Hunter Poe
2024-12-01 03:14:33 +0000 UTCI've only recently discovered this game, but I'm already hooked. I spent hours yesterday and today reading through all the posts here on Patreon from start to finish to understand the whole development process so far. It's super fascinating to see how the game has changed over the last 2 years and where it is now. I also found it very interesting to learn that you've been writing for a long time and have published so many books. After the first class with Will, I already had the feeling that you know a lot about writing. I was happy to learn that I wasn't wrong. I want to give you a huge compliment for the incredible work that goes into all the different components, from the writing, to the art, and yes, the programming :D I think it really shows in the quality of the game how much effort you put into it. I certainly don't know of any other gay adult visual novel that I could compare it to. Anyway, I can't wait to play the new update and I'm very excited. Take care.
mischka
2024-11-29 18:15:32 +0000 UTCHi, I hope you're doing well. I'm really excited about the upcoming update for the game! Each day, my curiosity and anticipation grow as I look forward to its release. I'm eagerly hoping for an announcement regarding the release date. Love the novel! Please take care, rest well, and keep up the great work. Good job!
Chetan
2024-11-29 17:10:29 +0000 UTCI am really excited for Riley also more excited in professor Will, Matt, Owen and also is there any chance with alex bodyguard in this update.
Chetan
2024-11-26 14:25:10 +0000 UTCI think itll likely be sometime during the week now
Hunter Poe
2024-11-24 22:56:25 +0000 UTCAny news about the update coming out?
Taken For Pomegranted
2024-11-24 20:43:41 +0000 UTCIs the release looking likely to be tomorrow or will it be pushed back a little bit more?
Hunter Poe
2024-11-24 01:40:07 +0000 UTCI know, right? I can't wait lol
Taken For Pomegranted
2024-11-23 20:41:55 +0000 UTCI'm hoping its able to come out soon!
Hunter Poe
2024-11-23 04:52:40 +0000 UTCHow’s it going? The weekend is here :)
Ty
2024-11-22 16:00:40 +0000 UTCGoing as well as it could!
Danny Nym
2024-11-22 09:45:41 +0000 UTCWell, there's a side of Riley that's very sexual that he reserves only for certain people, and you can definitely explore that in this update. But if you choose to focus more on romance with him, it can build more gradually. He and Marco have sort of reverse reveals about other sides of themselves in this update, where you can see Riley's sexual confidence earned by him trusting you, and Marco's more earnest and goofy side if you make certain choices. That's part of what I meant about looking forward to seeing reactions since I do think people have Riley pegged as a little more innocent than he is, which is of course my fault for making him a little too earnest early in the game because I imagined his personality more like Evan's, which obviously changed later on 🙂
Danny Nym
2024-11-22 09:41:33 +0000 UTCHow is it going atm?
Hunter Poe
2024-11-22 03:03:24 +0000 UTCI'm never going to outright hate you at all. I, for one, really like the Riley route as a "slow walk" towards more of a "relationship" arc. I have other saved playthroughs where I'm all out slut-mode, and those are not a Riley route. He's a very "wholesome" character in my eyes, and I, for one, think it would be out of character for him to jump into bed with you this soon. I can see him, in my mind, growing a lot closer to you as a result of both being the same major and for defending him and being there for him.
Kwatee
2024-11-21 23:57:51 +0000 UTCYou have no reason to worry, Riley will feel awkward if you cuddled/kissed, but all you have to do is talk to him and things pick right up where you left off 🙂 What I meant is that it's a bit of a tease, so I hope you guys love it 'cause I think it's fun and hot, but I expect you'll also hate me for not giving the full hookup scene yet. I actually just played through the entire Riley storyline to test it out, and I really like how the all-in-on-Riley path came together . The story update following the one I'm wrapping up will focus on Matt, Evan, & Leo, but the one following that has a heavy Riley focus. After seeing the final Riley stuff in this update, I'm very motivated to get to the next part of Riley's story asap!
Danny Nym
2024-11-21 23:45:30 +0000 UTCI have to admit, I'm a little nervous now. I absolutely adore Riley, and I will fight any one of these other college dudes for my man. So when you said, "fans of a few characters in particular are going to simultaneously love me and hate me 😇" and "I'm particularly interested in seeing reactions to Riley's stuff...," you have my attention, but you have me worried that my man is going to be all weirded out by the previous events. Either way, I will still continue to support this game and the community because you are creating a stunningly beautiful game.
Kwatee
2024-11-21 21:22:32 +0000 UTCSAME! I cannot get enough Riley 🥰
Kwatee
2024-11-20 21:29:40 +0000 UTCSo excited to play the update... and see more of Riley 😍
Taken For Pomegranted
2024-11-20 20:13:20 +0000 UTCIt'll be early access here before being free for everyone. Juniors, Seniors, & Graduates get it 4 weeks early, and Sophomores get it 3 weeks early.
Danny Nym
2024-11-20 13:00:34 +0000 UTCHey, you're in luck, those five all have some good content in this. (There are a few characters with not a lot just due to the time of day this takes place.) I'm particularly interested in seeing reactions to Riley's stuff...
Danny Nym
2024-11-20 12:59:28 +0000 UTCWill this be a patron release for a bit then public or is this going straight to public?
Hunter Poe
2024-11-20 04:04:07 +0000 UTCSo looking forward to the update!
Andre'
2024-11-20 03:54:22 +0000 UTCMy birthday is this weekend, but it’ll be a great gift no matter when it comes out!
DC Burns
2024-11-19 22:58:41 +0000 UTCI got a tablet so I'm enjoying playing the android vns. I'm still working on a pc. Thought about Microsoft Surface.
Ryostorm
2024-11-19 19:49:14 +0000 UTCSleep is important! Your health is more important than a game! I'm sure we all can be patient.
Andreas
2024-11-19 19:25:39 +0000 UTCTake your time. Excited to see everything come together. Especially excited to see my top 5 Matt, Riley, Evan, Dominic & Owen. Will have to update the character tiermaker once I play the update when it comes out.
Jeffrey C
2024-11-19 18:27:43 +0000 UTCAn Android version is definitely something I want to do since I am missing out on a lot of players by not having one. I don't think it's necessarily hard to make, it'll just take too much time to learn how to do and then do it, and I don't have much time right now 😕 Hopefully I'll be able to get to it sooner than later!
Danny Nym
2024-11-19 18:02:20 +0000 UTCTake your time. Good to know the update will soon be out. I do wish you had an android port. But hey, I'll get a PC soon.
Ryostorm
2024-11-19 17:58:04 +0000 UTCNew Patron here! Thanks for everything you do, this is by far my favorite adult VN and i'm thrilled to see where it goes from here! Make sure to take care of yourself :)
L'Belle
2024-11-19 17:56:15 +0000 UTCTake your time
Max Freeman
2024-11-19 17:54:50 +0000 UTC
