The Manbreaker, upcoming update and animations. (Patreon)

Hello Dear Patrons,

It's been about a month since our last devlog, and we have a lot to share.

Expanding Our Animation Workflow

The animated scenes we added in the first update received great feedback from you, and honestly, I had a lot of fun during the production process too. So we've decided to expand our animation workflow.

First, we thought about how to properly integrate animations into the way we build our scenes. Our goal is to have animations cover a large portion of each scene with one main loop, but multiple variations driven by facial expressions and subtle differences. Over time, you'll start seeing changes in how our scenes are built.

Going forward, we're planning to include at least 2 Live2D animated scenes in every Manbreaker update. We'll be experimenting as we make these scenes. Since Manbreaker is a shorter game, it serves as the perfect ground for both collecting feedback and evolving our scene production, we'll learn by doing. Your feedback during this process would mean a lot to us. If you have thoughts, we'd love for you to drop them in the Suggestion Box chat room here on Patreon.

Animations

We start by taking our visuals into Photoshop, where we separate them into many individual layers and parts. Then we rig those layers in Live2D. The Photoshop and Live2D rigging phase is by far the most time-consuming part of the process. Once the rig is complete, animating is both easy and enjoyable.

Progress So Far

The rig for one of the two scenes in this update (Sienna scene) is fully complete, and several of its animations are done as well. I've dropped a few gif sneak-peeks.

As for the Laurana scene, I'm currently working on its rig. I'll include a sneak peek of that one in the next update.

Story and progress

We're preparing another big update, and we're confident you're going to enjoy it. The story will expand significantly, the first ending (short ending) will be released with this update. There will also be 2 animated looping scenes and 1 scene in the style of our older work. We'll be adding content to other branches as well. So get ready for another major update coming on the 20th.

Stay tuned.

SNEAK PEEKS:

What's Coming in the Next Manbreaker Update (Sneak-peek links)