🔧 Dev Log 2 – Votes, Visuals & Variable Messiness

Hey everyone! Zak here 👋

This week’s dev log is split into 3 parts as it is kinda big: a quick comment on the latest poll, some spicy visual updates, and of course, juicy content updates. Let’s go:

────────────────────────────────────────────

📊 Poll Results – Early Favorites

The poll results are in (for now), and the top 3 most voted characters are:
Matt, Harry, and Diego, in that order.
At the bottom? Adrian and Lissandra.

I know we’re still at the beginning of the story, but this already reveals a possible trend in what you’re connecting with.
So, I’ve trimmed down some of the content I had planned for Adrian and Lissandra, and shifted focus toward the characters that got more love.

New polls will come in the future, and this might shift again! But for now... the dev spotlight is on the favs.

────────────────────────────────────────────

🎨 Visual Updates – Polishing the Boys

This week I made several visual upgrades for the most voted characters as well as for new ones.
I focused on improving sprite quality and adjusting a few proportions.
(Not those proportions, you pervs <.<)

• Matt Sprite Update – He’s finally wearing pants, just like in his intro artwork.
  No more shorts in the nightclub, thank god.
  

• Diego Update (Finished) – Continued last week’s improvements.
  Refined sprite quality and added a few more polished expressions.
  

• Harry Update – Cleaned up his sprite quality and started experimenting creating sober Harry sprites.
  Yep. Less "barely standing", more "still got some dignity" energy 😅
  

• 2 new characters, 2 new sprite sets. –
  On top of Viktor (from last week), two more characters have now had their visuals created and added to the game: Lina, and… let’s just call the other one J for now <.<

Expect Lina’s sprite to be revealed later this week, and J’s next week.
(Yes, both of them are already being teased on the Itch.io page.
Don’t tell the others it’s them 👀)

New Scenes + CG –
Two new image scenes have been made and added to the game (Beerpong tables in a nightclub, yay!)
And there’s also one new CG: this one isn’t focused on a character, but on the world of Trueclash itself. It’s designed to help set the atmosphere and deepen immersion.

────────────────────────────────────────────

📝 Content Update – Dialogue Trees & Beerpong Branches

Pre-Beerpong

I wrapped up Diego’s content that was still pending (and that I suspect most players won’t even see unless they dig into Adrian’s route).
Altogether, that content clocks in at +2,000 words.
Yep. For a path that’s easy to miss. Worth it.

Beerpong

This scene has a lot of variables and that slows down development, since I want the writing to adapt to your choices and reflect them in small but meaningful ways.

I tried to write an explanation of the logic, but honestly… it got complex and I fear you may not be here to hear about complex stuff.

So here’s the TL;DR:

• There are 2 main paths (one is nearly finished).

• There are 2 different possible endings, yes, the game can end during this scene.

• On the near-complete path, there are minor variants, changes in behavior, dialogue, or tone based on your decisions so far.

All in all, there are currently 12 past actions that influence this scene. Math being done, it’s around 36 light variations of how this scene can play out.
With a simpler design, I could probably develop faster but one of my goals for Trueclash is to make choices matter. Even small ones. As it currently stands:

I’m really happy with the result ^^

────────────────────────────────────────────

That’s it for this week! Thank you so much for reading and for supporting the game.
Let’s keep pushing to make this one of the most meaningful, choice-driven visual novels out there 💥

– Zak