Progress Update - New CGs, Interactive Backgrounds and Music! (Patreon)

Hi everyone! We're getting close to the update! I've been polishing and expanding a lot of things, new BGs, sprites, and even music! But more on that below.

First of all, the less interesting stuff. I've polished some of the older BGs and put a lot more care into them. Now practically all of them have complete lineart, much better resolution, and more consistency.

I've also updated more of the old CGs from the beginning of the game.

But most importantly, I've expanded the beginning secuence quite a bit, both in exploration and interactivity. Right from the start, the player will have choices that will affect the story.

I did this to introduce players to the world of Android LIFE and its very particular future, while also making the introduction of the world's lore more fun and organic without being overwhelming.

And that's not all. I've also expanded the opening sequences, adding multiple NPCs to the backgrounds and even making some of them interactive, like in this entrance scene.

And there's also this one here. Seeing the classroom full of students is something that makes me really proud, and something I've wanted to do for a long time. Besides, the classroom BG itself is much more detailed now, with full lineart on all the desks and chairs (which took a lot of work). I was also able to fill it with characters to make it look like a real classroom! What do you think?

Lastly, I'm also planning to replace the game's royalty-free music with AI-generated music made specifically for the game. I hope you can overlook the ethical side of this, since I can't afford to hire artists for it, and honestly, music isn't something I consider super important for the game (I know people generally play with the sound muted). This is more something for myself, because if I have to listen to another Kevin MacLeod song I will unalive myself in minecraft. This is just a test, what do you think?

If the game's revenue ever increases, I'd like to replace these AI songs with music made by a real artist. For now, they work as placeholders and help me figure out exactly what I want, while also helping me keep my sanity.

I'm still on schedule. There's a lot left to review, but not that much left to actually make, so I think I'll be able to have the update ready by the end of the month. I'm really happy with the quality, and this is finally a version of the game that I'm not embarrassed to promote. Something I'm confident is a good product and that I'm proud to have made.

Android LIFE is currently going through a remastering process, but not every update from now on will take this long. For this relaunch of version 0.1, I had to remake practically all the CGs, sprites, backgrounds, and animations. I added a lot of things and changed others, but that work is already done, and for the next update I'll have a solid foundation to work from. It'll be much faster since there's less to remake, and the one after that will be even faster, since I don't actually plan to remake ALL the CGs in the entire game, only the most outdated ones from the beginning. After that, it'll mostly be touch-ups and updates to the gameplay and minigames, which should take a couple of months at most. So I really appreciate the patience you've had, and please know that the next updates won't take nearly as long.

The game's revenue has dropped quite a bit (which is understandable considering how long it's taking me to release updates), so I've been thinking about offering commissions to supplement my income. Honestly, I have no idea what to offer or how much to charge, so I wanted to ask those of you who usually commission artwork... how much do you think my work is worth considering my skills? I was planning to offer around 3 slots per month, and it would really help me to know how much I could charge for a full-quality CG of two characters "wrestling". If you have any idea, please let me know in the comments or send me a DM. Having some references would be really helpful. I've been working full-time on AL and haven't made much progress on Flat Injustice, so this would help me supplement my income a bit.

Well, now that's really all for now. I'm really excited to show you this new version of Android LIFE. I hope to have the update ready in a couple of weeks. Bye!