Update Megapost (NSFW Sneak Peek, Release ETA, BtS)

Hey all! I've got a few things I wanted to share with you hence the slightly unusual title for this post.

Sneak Peek

First, a quick peek at one of the images I ran last night. While I'm actually near the end of running renders for this update, this scene happens towards the opening and is for the folks who elected to stay home instead of hook up with Connor and Seth. (Bonus image at the end of this post.) We're getting close!

Release Update

I realize I haven't given you all my usual estimates on progress with this update and that's because it's followed such an unusual route while I've been working on the SpaceCorps XXX missions. But I'm estimating I'm 80% complete with the renders, though I have about 200 in the queue for QC and post, then adding sound, playtesting, and release. But I think that's doable in the next two weeks and I'm cracking the whip to get this out to you before the holidays. (What you wind up doing on Christmas Eve is up to you but I think BBN projected on the family big screen would be a great way to deck the halls! Just a thought!)

Behind the Scenes

Not directly project related but just to give you a little glimpse behind the curtain, my life outside BBN has been unusually busy lately. The tempo at my regular job has increased with a new client and our family just purchased a cabin in the mountains, and getting that ready and in shape has been eating up my time on the weekends. 

But in addition to those real life challenges, there have been a series of technical challenges in some of making images for this update (I'm beginning to realize there always will be as long as I'm experimenting, learning and trying new things) that have slowed me down a bit. A lot of them relate to lighting in darkly lit scenes, where the rendering engine leaves areas in shadow very grainy/noisy or draws the shadows in an pixelated fashion. Unfortunately, I never see these until after the renders are run, so it requires going back into Daz, editing the images, re-running them and seeing how they turn out. 

Then, we also have a new background character coming in this update who I had a lot of fun with but, oh boy, is she high maintenance. Most scenes with all the assets including multiple characters, sets, lighting, etc., run around 2 MB to, at the high end, 8 MB. This character's hair -- just her hair -- was 800 MB. Saving and loading the scenes with her were a royal pain, and even posing the characters proved difficult, requiring me to delete her hair to adjust poses and then re-add when everything was set.

But, it's all coming together! I can't wait to get this into your hands!

Have a great day!

.... Oh, wait, I promised a bonus, didn't I? Alright, here you go... This one is actually being redone for better quality (remember what I said about darkly lit scenes), but I think it's a fun little teaser.