The Polish Pass & v0.8.0 Roadmap! | Development Update #14 (Patreon)

Hello everyone!

Once again, I'm dropping by to update you all on what I've been doing and how things have been progressing behind the scenes.

🎵 Sound System

Ren'Py's native sound system uses a few different audio channels, and you typically can't play more than one sound on the same channel at the same time - the newest sound interrupts the older one. That's fine for music, ambiance, and even voices, but it doesn't work great for creating a layered soundscape for sex scenes.

To fix this, I've had to create custom channels for each category of sound (sliding sounds, slaps, gurgles, climax effects etc). But if we have three or more channels for each category, tracking which channel is free to play the next sound becomes incredibly complex to do manually. Furthermore, if I only have a single sound effect for something like a slap, hearing it repeatedly over an entire scene gets tedious. We need multiple variants for each action to keep things dynamic.

Basically, I had to create a system that pulls a random variant from a pool of sounds and intelligently alternates which channel is playing it, ensuring we can overlay audio without interrupting anything. This was the big task that I had been dreading, which is a huge reason why it took me this long to implement sound.

But I'm very excited to say... it's pretty much done! After a lot of trial and error, I managed to create a robust set of functions that seamlessly handle music, ambiance, sex sounds, and voices. I have already populated practically the whole game with these updates. If you replay the game's intro or Verity's affinity scenes, you'll notice they feel incredibly lively, with fresh sound effects and hand-picked music.

The final step is adding audio feedback to the game's UI (button clicks, opening the inventory, etc.). But at this point, the sound system is 95% complete! From here on out, any new sex scenes or narrative sequences will feature sound and music right from the get-go.

📅 Dating System Expansion

With the sound system done, I'll be going back to the last couple of tasks left for the Dating System Expansion. As I mentioned in the last devlog, I just need to expand Verity's date activities to give them more depth and variety. Since this is purely a writing task, it shouldn't take me too long to wrap up.

🛠️ The Polish Pass & v0.8.0 Roadmap

Alright, now for some slight bad news. I am officially calling v0.8.0 the "Polish Pass". The main focus is to add the final bits of polish that I believe are currently holding the game back. Because there are quite a few tasks I want to tackle in this pass, I have decided that the implementation of the Vagina-Having MC will have to wait a bit longer, likely until v0.9.0 so it can get the dedicated attention it deserves.

However, trust me when I say that v0.8.0 is still going to be absolutely beefy. For the first time, I'm going to break down my entire internal roadmap so you all know exactly what "minor" additions to expect!

Character Backgrounds: I am adding a system to the character creation screen where you can select specific "skills" for your MC (like dancing experience or pub games) that will actively influence events like dates. If you have prior experience as a dancer, dancing dates with Verity will automatically go smoother. This will obviously apply for future love interests as well!

Massive UI Streamlining: I have been reading your feedback! I am overhauling the menus to make them far less cumbersome. This includes turning LI free-roam sprites into clickable "talk" buttons, merging redundant menus, converting the HUD to use visual icons, adding hotkeys, fixing notification pop-ups so they stack instead of overriding each other, and generally requiring fewer clicks to navigate the map.

Sex Scene UI Upgrades: I am adding a new visual tracker for the MC's hands and mouth during intimacy so you know exactly when they are occupied. I am also cleaning up the undressing menus and making the "Control Arousal" button visually clearer.

Verity Activity Expansion: I am adding more casual free-roam activities for Verity! You will be able to grab a meal at the cafeteria, watch a movie, get drinks at the dive bar, or go dancing. If her stats are high enough, some of these hangouts might seamlessly branch into a sexual encounter.

Intimacy Tolerance System: When a Love Interest runs out of climaxes, the scene won't end immediately. There will now be a "tolerance window" allowing you to continue for a bit longer, which scales based on their Kink and Affinity stats.

Expanded Masturbation Events: I am adding an "ass-only" toggle for dildo use, and a new system where LI's will text to ask for your permission before masturbating in their room, giving you the option to tell them no, watch them, or go join in.

Foot Action Overhaul: Adding new shoe toggles for footjobs, and new foot-related off-hand actions in Missionary and Doggystyle that will actively reduce Verity's Dominance stat (since most current foot-related actions increase Verity's Dominance).

New Relationship Paths: I am tweaking the dialogue systems to better support a purely Platonic (high affinity, low kink) route, as well as a Friends With Benefits (low affinity, high kink) route! You will be able to bypass romantic kissing and raise Kink/Dominance stats through a new "Teasing" flirt mechanic which doesn't raise affinity, and use the Mind Probe to track which specific path your relationship is currently on.

I'm hard at work to get all of this implemented and into your hands. As always, thank you for your patience and your continued support! Hope you all have a great week!

Cheers,

Mr. Crowne