Dev Log Update (January 2023)

Hi all! I recently returned from a much-needed vacation to Fuerteventura. Since Christmas, I've been taking some time for myself and taking care of my mental health. In my absence I asked my good friend and co-creator for Hollow, to write up a Devlog for me :) I'm back home now, and hard at work on content. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years <3

Over to Adam :D

Hi folks!

While Blayke’s been busy sipping Pornstar Martinis on a beach somewhere, here's my very first ever attempt at a Developer Log! Bear with me if I do a bad job lol.

It's also the first devlog for Hollow - along with all the other projects being worked on at Apollo Studios.

Going to try to break this down into manageable & logical sections - let's see how well I succeed!

Hollow:

Demo: We have been blown away by the response to our demo. More than 5,000 downloads as of last count! It's beyond our wildest expectations, and we can't thank you enough! We appreciate everyone who's taken the time to review us, chat with us, tweet us, and share your thoughts about the story. We're so excited to already have such an enthusiastic community to support this game going forward!

Moving into Production: So, where are we now in the production process?

Short answer: building & refining.

Longer answer:

Writing: we've been working on developing the overall flow of the game narrative, finalizing some of the subplots, working on our character development, and have begun the work on script writing for Chapter 1. Progress on all fronts big and small!

Production: LOTS happening here. Since the demo released, we've been able to step back and from a production standpoint and look at what worked, what didn't, and what we need going forward.

That includes some further refinement on our characters, fixing little issues with existing sets, figuring out what sets we need going forward and how those need to be built/customized, etc.

One great (and visible) example of this so far is the introduction of Kai. We have posted his bio and promo images on Twitter. He exists in the demo as the guy in the bar who's on his phone.

We were attached to that character for sentimental reasons (for more about that listen to our recorded Q&A), but realized he needed to be refined before full production. He got quite a

makeover and will be debuting in his current form when chapter 1 releases.

Hollow Shorts:

So that's actually a good segue into the Hollow Shorts! (If you haven't checked those out, the first one just got released - The Locker Room).

These came about for a few reasons. One, because we love this world and the characters, and liked the idea of having some extra opportunities to build on it. But the second reason, and more relevant to this Dev Log, is that they provide us with opportunities to experiment on the production side of things in a lower-risk environment.

This particular short, the locker room, actually came about as a result of some of the production testing I was mentioning before. I was beginning the process of scouting locker room sets for future scenes we plan to have down the line with Tyler. As part of that, I was having to load figures into these sets anyways to see what camera angles would look like, how they would flow with various shots, etc. 

So the thought occurred to me, if I'm going to be lining up sample shots anyways, why not have some fun with it! As a result of this round of testing, I was able to eliminate one of the locker room sets from future use. The first draft of these shots was in a completely different locker environment that had some major textural issues upon rendering. Due to the way it was constructed, fixing those would have been more complicated and time consuming than it was worth. 

I winked at that with the dialogue when they talked about all the locker room renovations happening on campus.

Other valuable production progress that happened from this single short: I was able to line up some future props for use, experimented with a completely new lighting scheme that will be very helpful in different scenarios in the future, got some good experience working with wet skin shells and wet hair products, and got some further experience with our nude design products. All of that will come into play going forward into the game.

(Bonus bit of trivia: Myles was the first Original Character I ever designed, before Blayke and I even began work on Hollow. Having him become a background character / teammate for Ty's soccer team is a fun little cameo for me)

Timeline:

"So when is the next game update going to be published?"

TBD

I know that you all would love a great firm date that tells you when we'll have the next instalment put out (I'd love it too haha), but we're not there yet. As I said though, scriptwriting has already begun, and we've begun some of the initial shooting for the very first scenes in the game.

Now that the holidays are behind us, hoping to make some good progress in getting this thing going full steam ahead.

New Hope:

Blayke threw a bunch of statistics at me that I had to somehow make sense of before he jetted across the world. Here goes nothing:

New Hope has currently received over 60k downloads, which is kind of insane. You guys are really showing up for the supernatural gays huh?

V0.5 Development: 

The detailed plan is completed, with 2 scenes fully written and proofed. Those scenes have also been fully rendered and coded into the game. The writing for the remaining scenes is almost complete and is expected to be finished in the coming weeks. The progress bar breakdown will be updated this weekend with more accurate statistics that will be updated in real-time as progress is made. 

Patreon Content: 

Rewards will be back on track for 2023 now that life isn't as crazy. 

Short stories will return - double chapter post incoming Sunday 16th January. 

Human Biology comic has been shifted in medium. Comic production takes up too much time with very little content actually given in the end result. Human Biology has been revised as a Short Story which will be released early Feb. 

The teaser trailer for New Hope is in works. No fixed date yet, Blayke is still trying to decide on how much to tease. 

New Hope Q&A is in the pipeline! Everyone really enjoyed the Hollow Q&A, so I'll be interviewing Blayke on your guy's behalf and asking him all the hot questions!  

And finally, a Blind Date short is in the works as a downloadable game. Blayke mentioned this previously, but I can confirm that it's a continuation of Simon & Dylan's story that also has some spicy scenes. 

Closing words:

I am so excited for this journey and the opportunity to work on Hollow. So grateful for everyone along for the ride with us, and looking forward to everything 2023 will bring!

Sincerely,

Your prone to rambling (ADHD) loveable Hollow co-creator,

Adam