Sadie Gets a Life, 0.3.3 Dev Log
The 0.3.2 release seems to be a success, with no bugs reported. Either that or the release ended up trapping players in cyberspace and killing them all like a bad movie from the '90s.
Either way, the good news is that I'm able to move forward with 0.3.3. Here's an update of what's going on.
Vacation Time
I'm writing this post while on vacation. It's been enjoyable so far, and I've been able to schedule in some time for script writing while kicking back and doing whatever it is that I'm doing on this vacation. I don't believe this will affect the release schedule for 0.3.3, though I'll know for sure next week with the next dev log.
A Plan for Act III Part I
One of the things I did as soon as I wrapped up version 0.3.2 was to figure out the exact plan for Act III Part I (the Freistadt). As it is right now, Part I will continue through 0.3.7, though I might need a 0.3.8 in there. Each release will have a large amount of content, and I plan to focus more on adding new content versus polishing prior sections. I'll still, of course, fix any bugs or deal with big problems, but I know how much I need to knock out with each release and that's going to limit my chances to freelance quality of life updates.
Even with this in mind, I still welcome any thoughts on how to improve the game. I might have to default to putting it on the 0.3.8 (or so) backlog, but I do have a pretty good track record of getting players' suggestions in the game and I do plan on keeping it up whenever possible, especially for patrons.
Because I've pretty well defined my releases in terms of committed content (or at least content I've promised myself to include), and because I have a fairly long-standing practice of four-week sprints, there's not as much wiggle room as I normally give myself to slide things around. For plot reasons, I need to bang out the content in a specific ordering, and I really don't want to stretch into 0.3.8 if I don't have to. I'll make sure the game quality doesn't suffer, but I might have to make some tough decisions between needing a 0.3.8 release in Harmonia (versus being able to use 0.3.8 to move on to Act III Part II) or possibly having at least one release span 5 weeks instead of 4. I'm not going to commit to any specific plan of action, but I do want to warn people up-front that I might need to make that decision at some point.
State Tooltips
One quality of life update I was able to squeeze in is tooltips for the various states. The user guide (the artist formerly known as the manual) includes a breakdown of each state, but it can be tough discerning which icon means what, and there are enough states in place that I've decided to add a tooltip. Mouse over an enemy's rotating state icon and you'll see a list of all of the states affecting that enemy. Mouse over a party member's states in battle and you'll see all of the states affecting that actor. I hope that this will make it easier to think strategically in-game.
What's on the Agenda
Here's a peek at some of the content I have either already scripted out or that I'm going to write the script for this week. What I mean by scripting is that it's not actually in the game yet, but I do have the text-based script written (and checked into source control) and ready to use in order to plan out in-game events, images, and actions.
Three Adventurers' Guild missions, including one where Sadie becomes a fashion icon.
Colton's Training Corporation. This is going to introduce a new battle mechanic that I'm excited about, but I'm saving that discussion for next week.
Neemar has a new hobby. Sadie can decide to reward him for it.
The Isekai Order is back and working with Sadie again. This time, it's about a demonic manifestation.
Amerinth wants to build up Sadie's spycraft skills in two ways. First, she's going to have Sadie find clues scattered around Harmonia. Second (if Sadie didn't fail her first mission), Amerinth will have Sadie develop new contacts for the Monster Kingdom.
We'll finally learn who Jacob Saunders is and why he keeps so many sepia-toned photographs of Sadie around.
Sadie goes to the psychologist again. Did the unorthodox version of exposure therapy work? Maybe!
Sadie can go on another date with Sabrina and it will be adorable.
Sadie and Karin spend some quality time together.
And mind you, this is about half of the content I have lined up for 0.3.3. These next few releases are going to be huge in terms of character and plot development, and I hope you're as excited about it as I am.