End of Month Dev Blog & Monday Milestones

Development Update: A Peek into the Next Two Months

Hello Science Team,

The team is excited to unveil our strategic plan for the upcoming two months, which will be a period of significant enhancements and improvements in the gaming experience. Community feedback is invaluable, and the team is keen on receiving input on the ongoing progress.

New Characters Coming to the Sandbox Mode

The objective is to improve the sandbox mode by integrating several more of the revealed characters, to provide variety and choices for players. The characters slated for addition includes:

• System 32
• Goddess
• Blair
• Silica
• Portal (Bonus Character Human Version)
• POTENTIALLY: Muffin (Bonus Character)
• Jellody

These additions are designed to inject more depth (hehehe) and excitement into the gameplay.

Sandbox Accessibility

Changes are in the works to enhance the accessibility of the sandbox mode. In upcoming builds, players will have the ability to launch the sandbox from any exploration section (barring dialogue interactions), eliminating the previous limitation to post-playthrough access. This adjustment is the first of many aimed at improving the user-friendliness and enjoyment of the game.

Code Cleaning and Optimization

The next two months will predominantly focus on codebase refinement. Despite the regular influx of content updates, the time has come to revisit and streamline the programming to diminish bugs and lay the groundwork for substantial future developments. The implementation of sandbox v2 and its impending updates have afforded the team the necessary bandwidth to undertake this vital maintenance. In layman’s terms, CLEANUP TIME!

Specific Areas of Focus

• Projekt Melody Sequencer (PMS) Alignment: Address discrepancies and synchronize functionalities between divergent PMS versions.
• Save System Overhaul: Consolidate saving and loading functionalities under the Game Instance (GI) for streamlined data management and function reduction.
• Object System for Versioning Refinement: Simplify the existing system to a singular event capable of managing save game version transitions.
• Camera Utilization Strategy: Evaluate and optimize the utilization of player and cinecamera, integrating NPC cameras for specific viewpoint requirements.
• Decoupling of Mission Map and PMS: Increase system independence to enhance flexibility and facilitate the integration of multiple mission graphs for varied quest lines and story arcs.
• AI System Enhancement: Migrate fail-safe mechanisms from task-level to AI-level, enabling activation via boolean toggles.
• Smart Object System Evaluation and Update: Conduct compatibility tests with version 5.3, ensuring optimal functionality for NPC ambient interactions.
• MassAI and Animation Blueprints Revision: Facilitate team autonomy in handling animation blueprints and MassAI configurations, ensuring clear segregation of variables and functional requirements.
• Loading Screen Implementation

Release Target and Sandbox Global Access

The targeted release window is mid-December, with a hard deadline set for the week preceding Christmas. The big focus will be the expanded accessibility of the sandbox mode, permitting player engagement at any gameplay juncture, inclusive of the real-world segments.

Feedback Welcome!

Community insights and feedback are, as always, of extreme importance. We encourages you, the community, to share your thoughts, suggestions, and bug-reporting. As a (Science) team, we feel that collective effort and open communication will provide the best experience for you all.

Thank you for your unwavering support, and stay tuned for more updates!

And now, on to our Monday Milestones!

• Progress on block out of system's intro
• block out 07 sequences with animations

• Remove the old save system and add in the new one. Also add in the loading screens.
• Swap out the old in-house Lovense plugin with the new official Unreal Engine plugin.
• Start moving out the Mission Map (Quest system out of the main game and make it more separated from the PMS system).

• Our lead writer is on vacation this week, so we are currently working on adapting chapter 2’s subchapters into a recordable format

• Formatting and implementing additional character audio for the sandbox overhaul mentioned at the beginning of this document (MMC and Jellody)
• Preparing vocal effort/dialogue scripts for combat sections

• Adding videos across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube! (hyperlink)
• planning phase for new trailers

• Working on Jellody blendshapes. Blendshapes are sliders of shapes/movements that create expressions.
• Starting on Witch’s outfit
• Working on preparation and optimization stuff for VLT and have plan to finish the preparation in next 2 days , and then start optimization

• Weight Goddess, System, and Blair's genitals and prep for sandbox. Weighting is applying skin to the skeleton (spooky!) so it moves properly, and preparing characters for animation.
  
  
  P.S. Keep an eye out for a SPOOKY SURPRISE tomorrow~