Hi everyone! I’m back with an official devlog update. I know I recently posted a small update regarding the GUI, and I’m here with a more in-depth update on where the game is at, especially in terms of Chapter 1 and the upcoming sample release :D 

These past couple of weeks, I’ve been working a lot on art stuff. I mentioned before how I had a lot of art work to do for the release, and I’m happy to say I’ve made a lot of progress for it! I’ve worked on the GUI, completed all the sprites (including side characters), and completed CGs and BGs. Here’s a little sneak peek~

Regarding general progress for Chapter 1:

Sprites: 100% Complete | All sprites are finished YAY. I’ve done the ones for side characters and all expressions needed for Chapter 1 \o/

General Art (i.e. BG’s, CG’s, GUI, etc.): 95% Complete | BGs and CGs are complete. GUI is mostly done - if I have time to get to some extra screens I’d like to show, I’ll do my best. But all the core stuff is done, I just need to code it in appropriately c:

Script: 99% Complete | All the script is complete. I’m going over it one more time for final edits and small tinkers but that’s it!! 

Coding: 90% Complete | I’ve added in effects for dialogue to make it more immersive and have coded everything for the main game/ gameplay. The only thing left is GUI

In general, a lot of my attention has been on art. Recently, I’ve been working on the GUI and now have custom text boxes, quick menu, save/ load screens, and main menu, which is a lot more than I thought I would get done for the GUI! I have to code a lot of these, which is what’s taking up most of my time. But I’m happy with the progress I’ve made and am happy to say the GUI won’t be as scuffed as I thought it would be!

That being said, some parts will still be scuffed and/ or missing that will hopefully make it in to the next update. The preferences page will be the default one for now unless I have time to create and code it. I also wanted a personality page and codex page. Right now, I most likely won’t be able to have those included in this drop, but we’ll see! I’ll keep you all updated :D

Regarding coding, I have to code GUI stuff but I’ve completed coding for the game itself! Dialogue, choices, and personality stuff is all coded into Chapter 1. I’ll be going over the script one last time in case I want to make any small edits to the writing (i.e., flow, description, etc.), but the draft itself is finished and just has tiny edits! 

Finally, in terms of sprite and other art, I’ve completely finished all the sprites, including the side characters for Chapter 1. I also have all the BGs done and CGs. For Chapter 1 sample, there will be two CGs that you all will be able to see. I think I previously said there will be one for each character’s introduction, but I don’t know why I ever thought six CGs was possible for one chapter, especially when the full demo will include four chapters LOL. That would be like 24 CGs total in the demo? I don’t know what possessed me to say that originally. So now, I’ll be having each character have a CG for the full demo plus one more, which may be in a group or something. In terms of breakdown, there will most likely be about 2-3 CGs/ chapter for the entire demo (which still is kinda a lot but some of these CGs will be things like group pictures, action shots, etc.)

Here are some sketches of the CGs - I don’t want to show full ones or really completed previews because CGs can feel more like spoilers and are special scenes in the game. But I do want to feed you all so here you go \o/

So for now, my main concern is cleaning up the current product to make it as clean as possible and coding GUI stuff! In terms of content, it’s mainly finished and in it’s almost final form :D Over the next couple of days, I’ll be releasing character profiles so things like what they dislike/ like, powers, hobbies, etc. If any of you have anything you’d like to learn more about regarding Alaris, definitely let me know! I’m more than happy to answer questions or create more posts explaining anything about the game~

Last thing, but the itch.io page for the game officially received over 150 views recently. I know that is such a small milestone compared to other games, but I’m so happy with it since I haven’t been around long and don’t have anything playable yet!! Thank you for the support, and I hope you’re excited for the sample release :) As always, feel free to donate to my Ko-fi to support, or follow my Twitter or Tumblrto follow for any other updates! Until next time~