Let's greet you guys in a friendly way. Let's all stay calm. Lots of progress has been made this week, and I think as long as we keep things moving in an ordinary fashion, he will be happy.
Oddly enough, this week has been rather productive. I started out with the longest of the cutscenes and managed to get one half of it out to render. 4K frames. I want to intercut the real-time events with visuals that add to the story, so I need to figure out how I am going to do that this week. It's a long cutscene, and I need it to have the impact that earns its place in the update.
Very nice, but what about the fun kind of animations, you say? Well, trust me, I have my share of those to work on too. I am still waiting on some VA work to come back, but once that's in, I will have everything I need to keep churning through things.
Eager? I couldn't be more eager to get this stuff done, but I still need to remember the renders and other bits that need to be done to complete the update.
Yes, that means I got some renders done as well this week. 120 isn't a bad number of renders considering the animation and scene work I had to do to get the Charlie scene underway.
One thing I thought might be important was to upgrade the location of Charlie's apartment. I have some screenshots I'll seed below that demonstrate some of the work that has gone in, but needless to say, her living quarters got a significant upgrade in environmental details and layout to help this scene come together.
Upgrade, you say? Yes, and with that, I also finally cast Charlie. I had been searching for a VA for the role for a while, and after reaching out to someone who I thought was a great fit, I can now happily say she has a voice. Despite what your feelings may be about voice acting in visual novels, I will try to push the envelope in what can be done here since I truly believe in the story I am telling, and cutscenes help bring areas of that story to life in ways stills can't for me.
More? Hmm, oh yeah, the Charlie scene is all written now, so it just leaves the Zoe scene to write, which I will get done this week, and then I just have to grind through the rest of the update.
As you may be aware, I am working hard and have been getting a lot of help from my dev friends to stay motivated. This is one of the biggest updates in terms of scope and story, and it's just a thing I need to keep plugging away at. I am working tirelessly to get things together because I cannot wait to get this update in front of people.
You guys are great, and I really appreciate the kind words and feedback. It helps me to keep pushing, so thank you.
As always, I leave you with a piece of advice. If a Frenchman asks you to take a look at his Pokémon card collection in his basement, it might be a trap.
Peace
Bat