DevLog: 👀BIG NEWS! (Public Release Soon!) - 3 New Soundtracks (Listen Now!)

Quick reminder: You can follow development more closely on the Trello board

🎉 Echoes of The Cataclysm - Chapter 1 (Part 1 of 3) will be publicly available next week: June 29th! 🎉

TLDR;

• Scene 6 completely done

• Main menu soundtrack is in the works

• Plot polishing in the works

• Closed Beta is in-progress!

• 🎉 BIG NEWS: PUBLIC RELEASE IS NEXT WEEK

✅ Last Week's Progress

What I accomplished since the last update:

• Scene 6 - 3 soundtracks finished! While I'm sure it could be better, I feel more and more comfortable with writing music and getting the desired musical experience. I've also added 3 sound effects for this scene as well.
  Listen to End of Echoes of Desire, Emerald Discovery, and Tomb of Reverence on Soundcloud.

• "Update Available" - An awesome feature that I think all AVNs should have: an automatic update check! Every time Echoes of The Cataclysm is started up, it'll check to see if there's a new version available. If you're not on the latest version, a clickable link will appear on the bottom of the main menu screen that says, "Update Available".

🛠️ Current Development

What I'm working on right now:

• Main Menu Music - For some reason, this soundtrack is turning out to be more difficult than any other. I think it's because I'm trying to set the tone for the entire AVN's chapter within this piece and without much musical writing experience, it's not exactly easy to create something with such depth. All-in-all, I'm about 50% finished with creating this piece (that is, if I don't shred it up completely and start over in frustration!).
  Although, I think I have something excellent brewing!

• Plot/Writing Polishing - I'm going through the scenes, double checking against my World-Building Bible (yes, this is a thing), checking for inconsistencies and just overall polishing up things.

• Closed Beta Testing - Starting today, closed beta testing begins! This is such a milestone that feels surreal to reach. To everyone that has supported this project, whether it's through feedback, support, encouragement, or even just following along: thank you sincerely. Every bit of support, no matter how small, has been so helpful.
  This beta marks the beginning of something truly special, and while there's still a long and exciting road ahead, seeing Echoes of The Cataclysm come to life in player's hands is an amazing feeling. The adventure is just getting started, and I can't wait to share what's coming next with all of you! 🥰
  The Closed Beta testing will end June 28th!
  If you're interested in seeing the bugs, typos, and general feedback from the beta, take a look at the Trello Cards: Beta 1, Beta 2, Beta 3.

🔮 Coming Soon

What I'm planning to work on next:

• Adding a "Gallery" to the menu

• Exclusive and available for a limited time Patreon "Foundation" tiers are coming!

⚙️ Technical Corner

• New Color Accurate Monitor - Upgraded to a color-accurate display for better Blender post-processing. I can now properly color-correct, color-grade, and adjust contrast/brightness with precision, leading to higher quality renders and improved visual consistency. This is amazing because I'm able to view the preview the final image in near real-time (because of Blender's EEVEE rendering engine + Blender's compositing step included within the workflow) and I'll be able to see a very color-accurate very immediately as I am creating the scene. Expect to see continual improvements in scene quality and fidelity moving forward!

👀 Sneak Peek

• Listen to Scene 6's soundtracks: Echoes of Desire, Emerald Discovery, and Tomb of Reverence on Soundcloud

💬 Community Corner

Huge shoutout to Batman_sid, C., Terminal Resistor, Barrabass, MisterMaya, TakoYuh, and all of the other developers for their incredible ongoing support! And a HUGE, GIGANTIC shoutout to the beta testers - without their help, the release would be littered with issues!

And of course, thank you to everyone else in this amazing community. Your support means the world and makes all of this possible! Your encouragement keeps this project moving forward.

Don't forget to check out the Trello board for detailed progress updates! ❤️