Dev Log Week 16: I am Jack’s Dependence on Routine

Starting things off with a big thank you to everyone on Discord who keeps me grounded day to day. Just hanging out in various VCs has honestly been a game changer. It keeps me focused and really supercharges my dev cycle.

Now, onto what I’ve been working on this week.

First up, I built Akari’s apartment. It took longer than expected because I struggled to find a base environment that fit. Once I settled on one, I had to customise several parts of it to suit the scenes I have planned. I’m really happy with the final result, and I think it’s going to add a lot of atmosphere and character to her path.

Once the apartment was complete, I moved on to setting up renders for the choice sequence that leads into the evening scenes with the girls. After that, I took a break from rendering to dive back into writing. I finished the script for the Charlie scene, which ended up taking a bit longer than I anticipated. The delay came from trying to secure the right environment for the scene before fully committing to the direction.

Let me tell you now: if anyone out there is a skilled PA and wants to make some real money, go build a good theme park environment. There are basically no solid options out there. I originally planned to set the scene near the water, with a pier and amusement park vibe. After hours of searching with no luck, I changed direction and found an alternative I’m actually really happy with. Charlie’s story is still very much a slow burn, so don’t expect lewds just yet, but if you’re on her path, I think this scene will be a lot of fun.

This coming week, I’m aiming to finish writing the Max scene and maybe a little more, just to set myself up for a heavy render workload. My 4090 has been running hot as it powers through the queued-up renders from the animation cycle, and I’m sure it’ll appreciate the break once I switch gears to music later in development.

At this point, I’m starting to lose sight of just how much work is left for this chapter. Animations will still take time. Music will too. But just know that I’m really excited to get this slice of the story out of the kitchen and onto your plate.

Thanks again for all the support and kind words.
Bat

Character intro (Rocky) Zoe's dog.

Advert I made for in game displays. Based on Howie's game Past Tense.