Build v.09! ENTER THE PLANT~! (Patreon)

OK! Got some heckin' TASTY new updates for this build!

Most evident and off the top of my head:

Plant Side quest and Sex Scene! (We do still have another surprise for this quest that isn't quite in the build yet.)

Interact UI v3.0! Now interacting with the critters is a bit more intuitive! We've just set the foundations in, so it's not 100% hooked up with everything. Particularly, we had to remove the GOSSIP feature, as the gossip 2.0 isn't ready just yet.

Dialogue UI v2.0! All portraits have been updated to now accommodate this new design. It's much more robust, allowing for individual tweaking of portraits, layering of assets (per portrait) - Triggered icon animations (We have a small taste with the current bounces) It's pretty dope! I still have a few adjustments to make with it, but the functionality is there.

Bridge Quest now has proper counters/collecting of assets! We've gone ahead and hid the assets all around.

Bunny handjob scene is back in - back where it was meant to be! 

Various polishes and fixes!

New font! Smaller, more legible, and a bit more more modern than the previous! (Not all fonts have been updated)

"New Tutorial" - Scarlett will run ya through it when ya start.

A CONGRATS screen for when you've accomplished all the things you can in this build :)

And probably some other things I'm forgetting.

Go check it out!

HEADS UP - The windows build feels pretty stable, but we haven't done any rigorous testing on Linux/Mac build. So like last time, those builds are play at your own risk. We will get to trouble shooting those once all of Act 1 is in and done.

Huge thanks for everyone being so dang patient with us! I really appreciate it! Please enjoy that plant animation! It was SUPER fun and VERY DIFFICULT to do lmao. I bit off way more than I could chew with that one, but it came out very very well. I can't complain at all haha.

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Carrot Thoughts:

Personally, I've been a bit anxious with the releases as of late. 

I was making promises earlier that were absolutely unrealistic. (I thought Act 1 could be done like, 5 months ago? HAH) Despite backtracking to revamp older systems (definitely for the better) - the amount of work that needed to be done was vastly underestimated.

Fortunately, you've all been amazing and haven't made a single complaint about delays - and for the most part, our financial support here on patreon hasn't taken any big hits (Which is HELLA, thank you <3) 

BUT, my own expectations has been something I've been needing to learn how to manage better...

Up until now, I've been a solo content creator for the past 6 years. Everything was up to me, and if I needed to get something done, I could just go super hard with some energy drinks and do what I gotta do.

With this game, not only am I relying on Vixel, but we're also jumping headfirst in a vastly different medium, and a vastly different workflow. I've learned an absolute fuck ton over the past year, but this next lesson is gonna be a tough one. There will be parts in the production where I'm pretty powerless to help things move along, and it's just how it goes. To be 100% clear, Vixel has been kicking major ass. But it's my own lack of understanding and awareness of the process, as well as unrealistic expectations, that are causing my unease.

I tend to wanna just "past time" when there's nothing much I can do, so I'll jump into a game binge for a while and disappear off the internet haha. It's really not the best way to do stuff, but thanks to that, I did binge the shit out of Persona 5 and will probably be stealing a thing or two from that game to put into ours :>

The reality is, there's plenty of other things I can be doing. We have 4 WHOLE OTHER ACTS to prepare for obviously. Lots more in terms of sound designing, or music. Even looking out of the box for advertising or possible merchandising. Or  really online presence at all. Not to mention the actual art I still owe people, or opening up for some commissions to prepare for taxes next month.

I need to be more OK with this entire process: 

Delays will absolutely happen.

Promising deadlines is a HUGE liability.

Expectations (for creators and audience) need to be managed realistically.

Life will get in the way, for me and Vixel.

Games are EVEN HARDER to make than I can possibly fathom. I shouldn't be surprised, or disappointed, when we're behind "schedule."

All of these struggles are just part of the job, and that's A-OK.

Additionally, these all have positive counterparts to them. 

The delays happen because we want an even better product than we anticipated.

Deadline promises lead to "crunch time" and liability, making us TRY to stick with a schedule.

High expectations help pave the path to what it is we want to see. What will stand out, and what will be truly special.

Life can deal us shitty cards, but we should also be living the cool cards when they present themselves.

It's the difficult things that are worth doing. And we're constantly put to the test, learning, and improving all the more so by tackling such a huge project.

If we can handle all the struggles, we'll be that much stronger afterward.

At the end of the day, these new obstacles are part of the ride. It's difficult, but it's what I wanted and it's such a solid step for my progress as an artist! Thank you all again for being a part of the journey =)