IHL Updates and other News

Well, I should have posted this a week ago, but I kept putting it off every day for many reasons.

First, Art Updates:

In May I updated the Interchapter 1.3. Already I don't remember what exactly I did there. I think the biggest change was adding more shadows to the Pecking Order lewd artwork.

But last month, September, I updated the Parish Watch Artworks... and then, after finishing the Cataphractuhrs, I looked at them again and spend another three days updating the Parish Watch because the results were not good enough. Now they should be better. I updated everything: added more details to the Exemplar, added more shadows and details to the Munificence and Authority; in the Key Art, the Ardem Watcher looked too stiff, so I gave her a happy leg (example 1); on the Classified, I added more details everywhere, including edge lights the heels, and fixed her skinny-looking ankle (example 2). I always forget to add edge lights on sharp corners because those corners are made from my lineart, but these edge lights make the art look more real.

Now about the Lore updates:

Updated the Empire of Hips and Thighs Lore that was released in May: General History, General Geography, Parish Watch, Coat of Arms. I think the biggest additions are these two paragraphs:

"In fact, every citizen, regardless of status, be they laypersons, Watcher themselves, or even Cataphractuhrs, must serve as a Living Altar for a full day at least once in their life. This is a sacramental ritual in which a person’s hips and thighs symbolize all the hips and thighs in the universe. And every worshiper of the Bottom eagerly awaits the moment when the Parish Watch will come and bind her with magenta ropes in sanctified vulgar poses, so that the neighbors can come, bury their faces deep between her thighs, and whisper their prayers."

and

"What is truly marvelous is that the Thigh Region has become the garden for the majority of the Hallow Trees – twelve, which is more than half. Beneath them, the Zemali arrange their Temples of Fertility – a less prominent but parallel religion to Thighology. It celebrates birth, growth, evolution, the procreation and continuations of all life, as well as its ultimate return to Her flesh, be it simple moss or the children of Meora. They also honour the fruits of the harvest and hunting, delicious food and cooking. This is such an ancient faith that it is believed to have been founded by the Giants themselves."

The last one was part of another Lore entry, prepared for the time when we would touch on Herquistion topic... but considering how far away that time may be, the additional information on Zemali needs to be released now.

Also, since I had a lot of time, I managed to update the grammar for everything related to the Gift of Creation. These were some of the oldest Lore entries, with many errors, and not just grammatical ones... there were several places where I used the wrong words, either because typo, or because I did not fully understand their meaning at that time. Like where it should have been "...reduced for a FRACTION..." I wrote "...reduced for a FRACTURE...", probably because I mixed them up.

I also noticed that my style changed in two years. But I think it is because I know English a bit better now and understand English grammar. Well... that's what I thought... but recently I was replaying the Metro Trilogy; whenever I found new notes, I'd switching languages back and forth and read the text twice to see the exact differences. It is then I realized I'm no longer sure which grammar is correct for which language! When I write, of course, I have a lot of time to check and correct everything, sometimes entire months. But when I speak they get mixed up in my head! I'm sure these grammar rules, that I remember, are correct, but some of them are only correct for one language and not the other! AAAA!

And now... witness this! A sneaking-peeking at the next Chapter, and the next Great Nation:

Just a heads up... It will take me another several months for me to start, let alone complete the next chapter, and you might already understand why.

Now, about why:

The game I'm working on is developing fast now. I understand how to code, and... I finally understands why some people do coding as a hobby for fun. Sometimes I just sit for six hours trying to complete a script, feeling relaxed and at peace (until, of course, something-something WHY THE FOCK IS THIS NOT WORKING!? I CHECKED FOCKING EVERYTHING... oh, wrong symbol here...). I can say that I am confident in my coding skills now... at least most of the time. Whenever I want to add something new, I quick to plan out the structure for the new script based on what I have already learned. But for now, I do not focus on it to be perfect, because there are always new approaches to learn and I am not lazy and change older scripts when necessary. I've already rewritten the script for skill buttons fifteen times, because I always find some new methods that are (hopefully) better than what I knew before. And just last week I update the scripts for Passives/Buffs/Debuffs because I found out how and why to use Dictionaries, and now half of these scripts depends on Dictionaries.

But sadly, this also made me realize that I don't enjoy drawing anymore. The way I feel now when I'm coding is what I felt ten years ago when drawing... but now I often can't simply start a new piece, and I can't finish anything for an entire day because even thinking of drawing something new is tiring. I should have finished updating the Thighology artworks already, but I still can get started. That is also why I also haven't done any concept sketches for the game units, even though I am very close to the stage where I will need to draw actual sprites. The only thing I did are these anatomy reference, a month or two ago while thinking about unit proportions.

I was trying to figure out the artsyle and anatomy of the units at different evolution Tiers, from Shortstack Minions to Big Tall Mommyons. One key principle is that since the unit spites are very small, they must be bulky and wide so they can be clearly seen at any camera zoom level... or better say, they must be thick and busty... for... for gameplay reasons... yeah... they are thicc and busty for gameplay reasons, and... yeah...

Anyway. The game is moving very fast now. The only time I get stuck is when I need to make decisions and think through the designs. Like, while drawing the Cataphracturh Artworks, I had weeks to change how unit-type bonuses work and think about the Morale and Veterancy systems. How they operate, what they provide, etc. Last week, after Finishing Chapter 20, I implemented them. In fact, all the Unit scripts related to Battle Map are completed and polished (At least I stopped noticing inconsistencies and finding bugs after thousand of tests). All that remains is to create the functionality for the start of combat, unit spawns, and end of combat... and several other details, but most of them depend on the world map, which is yet to exist. Which means, from the technical perspective, the game combat is complete.

So yeah, I am almost at the stage where I need to start working on the game's visuals and draw assets, and as I already mentioned, I haven't even started concept sketches for units yet. I will need to go into hardcore work mode for this, which means I won't be able to devote time to IHL for a while. Not even for the sketches for the next chapter.

And then I'll need to learn shaders too! I don't even know how to make them.

And then there's the sound design. I actually started learning to compose music, and this is an attempt number... I lost count, but I mixed together the best parts from previous attempts... it is supposed to be the "Forest Battle" theme...

Additionally... even if I do not want to do this... I need to start a YouTube channel. Eventually I will use it to promote the game and put trailers in there, but for now I will use it as a devlog and learn how to edit videos, so it will be easier to make trailers and stuff in the future… *sigh* I will... i will have to... I will have to make Yo... Youtube shorts... *sigh* I... he first few videos will be an introduction to the channel, where I'll show and repeat most stuff I already did here.

At this point, my plans for the game are unchanged: create a free demo which is actually a tutorial, playing as a neutral faction that is not playable in the main game -> release on steam, itch, etc. -> start working on the full game while collecting feedback and critique about existing mechanics and balance -> in couple of years (or however long it will take) release the game in Early Access with the first 4 faction, but without the endgame mechanics (because there is no endgame without the other two factions); 4 factions will be enough to experience the game and not make make players feel "is that it?", and should also give people an assurance that because of so much effort already spent, the game will not be abandoned like many other Early Accesses -> balance those four faction in the first weeks before working on the other two; with only four factions, players should be less disappointed with the balance and mechanics if they turn out to be terrible, knowing that there will be future updates and that can change what they don't like about the game; I think balancing will be the hardest part for me -> gradually add the last 2 faction, one at a time, with additional global and endgame mechanics previously absent from the game -> complete the game with whatever left to do -> release the game -> if the game is successful, add the things I put on the "That would be cool, but it is not important?" list.

I think that is it for now. Will see you... someday later.