Act 1 Roadmap

Hello all. Chapter 4 is releasing to all my patrons tomorrow, but I wanted to go ahead and talk to you about what I have planned for October. 

Instead of doing a new chapter next month, I'm going to be doing what I call Act 1. This means that instead of adding new scenes to the game and advancing the story, I'm going to go back and fill in gaps to make the game better - Add conversations, fix images and animation, improve gameplay, and a ton of other fixes and edits that will just improve the game overall. I plan on doing this every four chapters to give me a chance to polish the stuff I've already done. 

Because this is not a full chapter, and doesn't require a lot of new images, I'm going to try to release it fairly quickly. This allows me to change up my release schedule a bit too. I've been wanting to release game updates closer to the beginning of the month, so that you guys who sign up to become Patrons to get the new chapter aren't charged when you sign up, and then almost immediately charged again when the next month starts. Trying to look out for you boo. 

Act 1 will also be the last version of the game I release for non-patrons until Act 2 comes out. Chapter updates will continue to be released every month (or so) for my patrons.

I'll be asking for your opinions on the game a lot over the next couple of weeks, as this is the perfect time for me to fix any problems that you all have with the game. So please, let me know if there's anything that you'd like to see improved.

Okay, with all that said, here are the things I'm planning to accomplish in the next few weeks. 

- Improve Navigation - This was on my list of things to do for this update, but I actually already did it and incorporated it into Chapter 4. Still putting it here, as there might be bugs that need to be worked out.

- Add a choice at work - Again, this is already implemented into Chapter 4. 

- Add conversations for characters - I'm writing 5 different conversations each for Jamie, Suzy, Lisa, Dana, and Mrs. Mills. These will be options when you call Jamie on the phone, talk to Jamie while watching TV, talk to Suzy at breakfast, talk to Lisa on the couch or eat with her, talk to Dana before work, or talk to Mrs. Mills before work.

- Get everybody's schedule cemented - I haven't done a very good job of having characters be at a specific location at certain times. It's definitely better in Chapter 4, but there's still some tweaks I need to do here.

- Help screen - Again, this is already in Chapter 4. 

- Add a Stat screen - Just a screen to show your confidence, strength, fighting, and your school grades, along with any other stats I decide to add. These stats aren't used a whole lot right now, but they will be later and I want them to be implemented early.

- Add months and dates along with a calendar - Right now the game only shows Day 20 or whatever. I want it to show September 4th. I'm also adding the Calendar that you'll access through your cell phone, which will show things like upcoming tests or important events, along with the end of the chapter, which from now on will be a set date.

- Fix images - There are a few grainy images I want to fix.

- Fix shower sex animation - This is the first animation I did for the game and it shows. I haven't gotten WAY better since then, but I have gotten a little better and I want to redo this animation to make it less jumpy and better looped. 

- Multiple script edits - I've read through a few critiques on my script and people have pointed out a lot of different errors that I'm going back and fixing.

- Different colors for character names - I'll be putting each character name as a different color, as this has been requested and will make it easier to tell who's talking at times.

- Add clothing choice for date - I plan on you being able to eventually choose from several different clothing options for dates. For this update, I'm adding a dress shirt and slacks. I'll have a preview image soon, as I've already done some renders. You'll be able to buy clothing online through your laptop.

- Fix Ms. Welch's character model - She's supposed to have piercings and tattoos and for some reason I didn't do that originally. Going to do that now while she doesn't have very many images in the game.

- Replace temporary background images - These have been an eyesore for a while (especially that Gregg's image lol). I've already got a new supermarket image made, and I replaced the Counselors Lobby in the last update, but now I'm going to try to do the rest. Either removing them from the game completely (in the case of the police station and movie theater, which aren't really necessary right now), or replacing them with something more appropriate.

- Create a Mac and Android version - I've already done a Mac version with Chapter 4, but Android is something I've been having problems with. I get errors every time I attempt to create an Android distribution. I'm going to spend some time trying to figure that out. 

- Write a walkthrough that covers all chapters - This is something that has been requested. I'm not sure how much it is needed now that there is a hint system in the game, but it wont take too long, so I'm going to spend a little bit of time doing this.

- Fix Variables - I did this with the Chapter 4 update. I'm new to all of this programming, and I messed it up pretty bad with the first three chapters. I believe I've fixed it all now though, and future updates should be much more smooth.

- Add a credits page - I haven't worried too much about this, because at this point everything is by me. However, I plan on adding music soon, and I need to credit the artist there, so I'm going to get a credits page in place now that will appear after you finish the chapter or can be accessed from the title screen. 

- Add scenes for Suzy working at Java Lava - So far, we know that Suzy works there, but she's never actually been there. It's always been Tammy. Even when Tammy is supposed to be at the gym, she's still at Java Lava. Fixing that here by putting Suzy to work, as shown in the preview image above.

- Coffee with Jamie - You'll be able to have coffee and chat with Jamie at Java Lava on weekday mornings. 

- Cellphone bill - So far you've gotten away with not having to pay for your cellphone, but I'm adding the monthly bill into the game with this update. Right now, there's not a lot of ways to spend the money you earn, but I'll be adding more as we go. 

- Create a new Title screen - Self-explanatory. The title screen is old and needs to be replaced with a new image.

- Whatever else I have time for. 

NOTE: I might not have time to do all of the things on this list. I'm going to try my best, but either way, this release is going to happen on a set date, and whatever doesn't get done will just have to wait until next time. However, I do expect to be able to finish most, if not all of this.

RELEASE

ALL - October 2nd. 

Since this is not really a new chapter with new scenes, and is more of just filling in things that need to be fixed, I'll be releasing this for everybody at the same time. This will replace the Chapter 4 public release that had been planned for Oct. 2nd. Only two weeks! 

Since this is the only release for October (Chapter 5 will be released in November) and it will be made available publicly, I'll try to do something special for my patrons. Maybe release more exclusive images? Let me know if there's anything that you might like me to do.

Okay, so that was a LOT of info. I hope you are all excited. I want to make this game fun and enjoyable for all of you. Please let me know if there's anything else you want to see in the game. I love hearing feedback and find it extremely motivating. 

 I love you all and appreciate each one of you.  Thanks so much.