New Hope V0.6 Progress Update

Hi all! So I'm here with a progress update for you guys, as I know it's been requested A LOT!

I'll start by saying New Hope is a very intense project when it comes to image creation, scripting and photo editing. So, updates will never be super quick to release. I pride myself in offering quality over quantity, which is why I don't rush out updates and instead let them just take the time they need.

Apollo Studios also isn't just New Hope. Yes, it's my flagship project, but it's not the only project. Some people subscribe here for the short stories, others for Hollow and some of the other VN shorts I've released. So solely working on New Hope isn't practical when I'm catering towards a variety of different people. I've had some private messages from people stating that I should be focusing on New Hope and not the other stuff... so I'm using this post to address that. There are so many other fun projects here that those people are ignoring because they just want a New Hope update. Enjoy what's on offer because the point is that it's giving you something fun and different all year round... Not just one project with nothing in between updates.

That being said, on to the progress update!

So here's the breakdown as it stands:

Rough Draft: 100%

Scripting: 90% (There are still some choice-based scenes that need tweaking for consistency)

Image Creation: 30% (I'll go into more detail below)

Coding: 30%

Sound/SFX: 10%

The main reason this update has taken so long is that the opening scene is crazy intense, just because of the huge file sizes for each image. Each shot setup has a file size of roughly 2.5GB, and there are almost 200 of these shots. So we're looking at about 500GB worth of files that have been worked on from the ground up. Render time for each shot can be anywhere between 15 minutes to an hour - so you can imagine just how long it's taken to process these after the initial setup.

There was also an issue early on with the lowlight levels and the images turning out super grainy. That's why the Blind Date short I did last month featured heavy lowlight scenes. It was practice to ensure that it looked and felt right, to be then replicated in New Hope. Another reason why the additional projects are so important, they're catered towards a new skill/feature I want to try out before implementing in New Hope.

Thankfully, that scene is fully complete now - and the remaining scenes in this update will not be as intense. So, production for the remaining update will be quicker and smoother.

The coding and sound/SFX being so low is normal. They're the last things to do and don't take up much time. Both jobs typically take me a day to complete, so they'll stay super low percentage-wise until like a couple of days before launch (at which point it's playtest time).

But yeah, that's where we're at with the New Hope update :) Fortune Favors has just had its update release, and Hollow launched late last year, so I can assure you that New Hope will be the next VN update to be released. I anticipate there's another month's work left to do, so I'm not going to announce a release date just yet - but keep an eye out for one coming in the next couple of weeks.

Finally, I wanted to give you a choice! I know most of you have been waiting patiently, and are biting your nails to see what happens next. Well... I'm going to put something to a vote. Would you like to play the opening scene for V0.6 early? Just to be clear, it's not the full v0.6 update, so I don't want any sad faces if people download it and feel disappointed that it's not longer. Of course, the update is longer; this would just be the opening scene. (which also isn't a particularly short scene either).

Cast your votes in the poll below! This exclusive look is very dependent on how the voting goes, if it's a 50/50 split then I'll consider it not enough interest and just keep ploughing along with the full update. It will also likely be in the £10+ tiers as a thank you to those who have helped me through some tough months financially. Your continued support of my little gay projects means the absolute world to me.

I think that closes this progress update! So yeah! Thank you to everyone who's played and enjoyed New Hope! Thank you to everyone who follows me on social media, likes, and shares my stuff. A big thank you to those who have kept me sane and grounded since starting this full-time almost a year ago.

I hope you're all having a great weekend; stay gay!
-Blayke <3