Good evening!
Somehow, a lot has happened since since last month.
Progress on Callie's route is moving in conjunction with a general visual upgrade to the game across many different areas. The proof is sort of in the pudding with a lot of what's been going on recently, but with some .gifs and some imagination, I'm sure you'll get the gist of it. I believe in you.
A woman in STEM is talking. Sit down and shut up.
The final route of the game, Callie's route, is well into the story planning stage.
The themes and overall narrative are established, with a limited number of art assets (like character outfits) being complete.
While progress is actually slightly ahead of schedule, I am still trying to take the process slowly and carefully.
Readers familiar with the game's previous route can probably assume that this next route will also centre around some very heavy themes and plot elements.
I like to keep players on their toes, though, so I wont spoil what I have planned for you to be subjected to in the coming months.
Rest assured though, it'll be mortifying!
As per usual in the downtime between routes, the game has seen a variety of changes ranging from minor to major. A lot of these changes have been planned to happen for years, and there won't be much more time left to do all this once Callie's route is complete. Let's take a look at some of what's been going on!
The title screen has been MASSIVELY overhauled. For comparison, this is what it used to look like:
Amateurish by comparison. Can you believe I let this shit fly for multiple years?
Honestly, there isn't anything particularly wrong with the old title screen. There certainly isn't anything particularly right with it, either.
Since it was originally conceptualised, DATING OF THE FUTURE has gone on to develop a very particular style that the old title screen does little to evoke.
The game's nudity censoring has been split into two new options; on allowing you to cleanly skip all sex scenes with some context to fill you in on anything important, and another option that places animated stickers over nudity. The stickers chosen even change depending on the route you're on!
Something that I observed relatively early on (and has only continued to be more obvious with time) is the idea that DATING OF THE FUTURE will have many players that do not actually care much about the porn aspect of the game.
To be frank, it has become more of a framing device for the narrative than a selling point of the game unto itself. I suppose that's perhaps a tacit admission of my changing focus as an artist, too. Either way, if you're going to play the game without nudity, you'd better believe that you get to do it with style.
The system is so fun to look at (and such a bitch to program) that I even considered making the game censor nudity by default. I decided against that when I remembered that I gave the title screen jiggle physics.
The entire character sprite system has been fundamentally redesigned under-the-hood, allowing for FAR greater flexibility in my ability to create alternate appearances and control animaton data. New outfits, updated artwork, fancier animations, and plenty more are coming to the character sprites. Callie alone now has FIVE distinct outfits!
Look, I don't expect you to understand this, but between the two facts of "the character sprite system has been overhauled to have more efficient and extensible code" and "Sonja gets to dress like a cowboy", the programming aspect is FAR more exciting to me personally. You would not BELIEVE the Python magic I've been making work over the past few months.
The options menu has had a radical expansion; fitting in a bevy (yes, one whole bevy) of new options and features. These include the ability to change certain visual effects that may cause eye strain in some users(i.e. the game's text box animation and Mel's hair animations).
In general, much of the game's art is getting something of a stylistic makeover. My illustration skills have significantly improved over the past few years, after all. I wouldn't be surprised if all of the sex scenes end up getting touched up in some way by the end of development.
You know what I'm thinking about? What I'm going to do when the game is finally done.
There are a few important things to be discussed in this regard. For a start, the final game's relationship with the Patreon builds is something I've found sort of questionable for a while.
To be frank, I've never liked making builds public. Allowing people access to incomplete versions of a half-finished game always felt quintessentially embarrassing. It's such a tactile way to experience something that, by necessity, can never totally justify its existence on its own merits.
On account of these sort of considerations, I will likely not be releasing Callie's route as an independent demo to Patreon once it is done. Even without the issue of it being one huge spoiler for the final release, it's so close to the finished product that it will be little more than an inferior reflection of it. I just wouldn't feel right releasing something like that.
I am also considering removing the currently uploaded builds nearer to the game's release. This is primarily because the more time goes on, the more inaccurate and shitty they seem relative to the final product. If there's anything you've been meaning to download, do it as soon as you can!
Obviously these decisions are hard to make; particularly when the game's public builds are an important record of my history as an artist. I wouldn't be so certain about this had I not made sure to keep my own personal record of in-development builds from across the years.
On a related note, I have also been thinking about ways to reward Patrons for their dedication to the game's development... But you'll have to stay tuned for whatever that ends up being.
There's a list of tasks and considerations that I have spent the last few years pushing off thinking about until later. There's something relieving about finally getting to come back to those and take them on.
At every stage of development I have feared what might happen if I suddenly drop dead or, worse, lose interest in the project. I know that I never would, but I've seen people start and drop big projects enough to know that this sort of thing is hardly certain. Even though I have been quite secure for a while now in the knowledge that this project is not one that I will simply tire of, it's still a relief to see that many aspects of it are coming full-circle.
I will not forgive myself if I die before the game is done.
In the meantime, I really should get the plot outline for Callie's route finalised. I want to get to drawing backgrounds already, goddammit.
You can continue standing up and talking now, by the way.
-Marina