The Final Stage of Osana's Development
Hot damn, this is an exciting point in time for the project!
We are currently in what I'd describe as the "Final Stage" of implementing Osana. As of now, Osana is fully functional, and what I’m currently doing is testing each one of her elimination methods to make sure there aren’t any problems, so I can prepare her for release. Basically, it's the "quality assurance" phase that comes immediately before Osana is released to the public.
Despite that, I feel kinda worried that this video will be received poorly; a significant portion of the video is about extremely minor changes that I’ve been making recently. It might seem a little boring to hear about such tiny adjustments...but, that’s the entire point; to communicate that, at this stage of development, the only things left for me to do are minor fixes, because all of the major stuff is complete! I hope that people will understand the message of the video.
There is one caveat to keep in mind: I really, really, REALLY want the official demo to feel like a significant upgrade from the debug sandbox. This is a huge deal to me; I absolutely do not want the official demo to feel like it's identical to a debug build, with only once difference (Osana). So, I want to update several aspects of the game before I release the demo; I want to update Unity to the latest version, update the UI, revamp the title screen, stuff like that. This has been an aspect of my vision for the official demo for a long, long time.
A few months ago, I looked at the rate of my progress on Osana, looked at the amount of remaining progress, and felt that I had enough data to accurately predict Osana's release date. I worked hard during the latest months of 2019, confident that I could hit that release date...but in the end, it just wasn't possible. The sheer amount of "quality assurance" work that needs to be done is huge; not absolutely overwhelming, but it's nothing to scoff at, either. It prevented me from hitting my release date goal for Osana. I feel bad that I couldn't hit that goal, but at the same time, I also feel filled with determination to get through this final phase of Osana's development. Despite that one setback, the release of Osana feels tangible and imminent now!
Thanks for your continued support, and thank you for following the development of Yandere Simulator!
The Final Stage of Osana's Development - Yandere Simulator January 2020 Progress Report (YouTube)
Comments (9)
I know this sounds a bit odd, but I kind of like it when you get into the weeds. It shows first off that you care enough about QC to sweat the details and deliver a superior experience. If you didn't care, you could have released a "demo" years ago, but it would have been a mess. As someone who also has a problem meeting deadlines, I'm so excited you've reached this stage! I'm a bit concerned about your desire to upgrade the engine *again*. Surely it's a good idea since newer engine usually means better efficiency, optimization, and options. Hopefully it won't be like the boondoggle that was upgrading from Unity4 back in the day (switching the coding language to C# definitely helped though). The UI should be updated. Not sure how long that would all take. Well, good things come to those with patience. Keep up the good work.
Question. Will you release videos of Osana's Befriend/Betray elimination method and her suitor?
I've been debating whether or not I want to release a video of Osana's Befriend/Betray event. It would kinda be a spoiler, but at the same time, I would love to show off my work and talk about how I designed the event around user feedback that I received in the past. I think it would make for a great video, but...it'd be a spoiler! Argh...it's tough to decide. One option is to just start the video with a message that says "Warning, this video contains spoilers, ignore it if you want to experience Osana's Befriend/Betray event for yourself." Perhaps that's what I'll do... ...as for the suitor, it wouldn't be interesting enough for a full video.
A little storytime: i was watching the vid with my big sister (who stopped following the development years ago) and she kept commenting how well-made and thoughtful these little de-janking changes are! She absolutely loved the attention of detail you've been putting into making the gameplay seem logical and as real as possible! And in the end she confessed she'd actually be interested in playing it herself when the demo comes out! - ofc I love the changes you made and and the ones you are planning on making in the future too!! And it sounds like you're having fun doing it too, which is a definite plus!
It's nice to hear that! Though, I hope she eventually returns to the game, once the demo is released.
It might sound minor to you, but we like hearing about this level of attention to detail. It shows us just how serious you are about making this game the best it can be. I look forward to the official demo. Keep up the good work.
Wonderful! As what I respect about you; your dedication and attention to detail towards the goal of a true game has been a joy to watch over the years. As for the concern of "extremely minor changes" I'm happy to hear that is what the focus of your work has been recently. In short I'm proud to see a developer with real passion for their project. Amazing work. :)
This was an amazing update! There's nothing minor about any part of this video. Attention to detail and preemptively addressing possible bugs is something a lot of major gaming companies have all but forgotten about. So don't worry about the sad sack people complaining of how much time it's taking, it's time spent with purpose. If this video doesn't illustrate that point, nothing will. Great work!
Good Job! Developing can be tedious and needs a lot of time. Please stop stressing yourself about us understanding why there are no major changes!