Progress Report | Bring Images to Life

Hey everyone!

Sorry for the silent month! I wanted to share another progress report today to provide a new update on how things are moving along and give you all an updated sense of what to expect with the first update for Room Service!

== Art Progress ==

Since the last progress report, all of the previous art tasks have been completed! This includes the Hotel Lobby background and the updated heads-up-display (HUD) elements. As you may notice in the screenshot, the dialogue and time of day elements are quite a bit more refined now!

There is an additional art task that is in progress that wasn't originally on the list. There will be an important supporting character to Jen and the main character in Room Service. Getting her design completed now felt wise since she'll be involved starting right near the beginning of the story.

== Animating New Things ==

Something that I've been testing this month is adding animations to things that were previously still images. My hope is these additions help the game feel more alive and immersive for players.

• Clickable Characters

  • When characters like Jen are sitting or standing around on a map, they will now have some motion! These movements are very simple but add some life to the maps when interacting and exploring

• Character Busts

  • When talking to characters, each expression now has animation. Again, these are simple motions but instead of a static image, Jen feels livelier when talking to her

  • This idea does still need large scale testing before I want to fully commit to it. I want to make sure the animations don't cause loading issues for mobile devices or older hardware

  • (I have no clue how to easily make gifs. But imagine Jen is gently moving & blinking in the attached image)

== Release Window ==

Originally, I was aiming to release an update in February but as the month rapidly comes to a close, I don't believe that will be a realistic goal.

However, I am quite confident that I can have the first playable update out in March!

My priority with the first update is to just get something out for players to try. There probably won't be much to do or experience at all, but it will provide a starting point for the game. From there, each update will bring new story events and we can get into a rhythm with new content updates!

Again, my sincerest apologies for the wait. This stage of development is quite stressful because there are so many core pieces that need completing but that means it's quite uneventful for players. Luckily, we're nearing the end of this boring phase! Your patience and enthusiasm for Room Service means so much!

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That wraps up this progress report!

Thank you all so much for your support! I'll see you soon, probably with an early teaser of the new supporting character once her design is complete ;)