Developer log - Technical changes (Patreon)

Hey all, hope you are all doing well. Apologies (again) for the long radio silence on here as I did not really find anything to post about. This post today will be delving into the technical aspects of the update, what's changed and improved. I'm mainly addressing this since the status update I posted months ago doesn't reflect these changes and makes it seem like work isn't being done on the game.

AI USAGE

Firstly I'd like to touch on the use of AI in the game again which has broadened and is now also clearly stated in the game itself. The game now has an artificially generated media setting which includes both images and videos.

Videos are generated using my hand-made art as input and are only meant to be additive to the story, not change it.

Images are enhanced versions of my hand-made art and only replace certain renders, they do not add any content. I also never intend to use this to change the look of a character. I have only used this to improve a character touching something on their body or someone else's, since this is difficult to pull off well in Daz3D. These are very likely to remain a small portion of the images in the game as I'm only going to use it in specific use cases where it makes sense to use.

Note: Videos and images will remain hand-made, AI generated media will simply be added on top.

CONFIGURABLE MEDIA CODECS

This has partially been touched upon in the earlier developer log for this update, but it has been extended for videos, images and audio, to hopefully allow certain devices to play the game without issues. The game should also auto adjust these for you (hopefully).

Note: The 4K video option has been removed since it does not offer much benefit at all with the improved compression of the videos.Credit to thelordofcorruption for assisting with this system (https://thelordofcorruption.itch.io/)

GAME LAUNCHER CHANGES

The 0.3 update introduced a new way of launching the game, which opened a terminal window and shortly after your main browser on your system. In 0.4 this will once again see a change, by default opening in an app-like window similar to 0.2 without having to be installed. The game will now also allow you to change the browser in which you're opening it in and the app-like window should be available for the Built-in, Edge and Chrome options, anything else will essentially show the same way as in 0.3 currently (without the terminal window).

On top of this, the launcher has also decreased 90% in size compared to 0.3.

Note: This might be different depending on operating system.

COMPACT VARIATION VIEWER

The variation viewer now has a compact mode included, allowing you to more efficiently switch between variations of a scene by just using your movement keys, no more scrolling the horizontal gallery at the bottom of your screen (though it's still included if you prefer it).

Credit to VinPara for assisting with the design.

STATS

Still a work in progress for the most part but the next update will also add stats of your character, allowing you certain ways to level it up and unlocking rewards unique to each skill. Some statistics are planned to have an effect on specific scenes in the game, as well.

REPLAY SYSTEM

This feature is also somewhat of a work in progress still, but 0.4 will feature a replay system included in the chapters view, allowing you to replay any scene from the game that you've unlocked. With this, scenes are configurable, so you'll be able to select exactly how you want it to play out. (as long as you've played it before)

SAVE EDITOR

The game will also feature a built in save editor, mostly meant for myself but can be used by anyone wanting to add items, money, change story paths and so on.

OTHER TECHNICAL CHANGES

Obviously I cannot list every technical change, so instead I'll post screenshots below of the current in-game change log (without the content changes for spoiler reasons).

PATREON GROUP CHATS

This isn't a technical change really, but for those that are unaware, I've created Patreon group chats that contain some fetish specific teasers and are also an easier way to communicate. They may however be difficult to find, they should be listed under the "Chats" tab on my page.

FINAL NOTES

Last but not least, while I cannot talk about it just yet in detail, there are two major additions to the game that will most likely be getting introduced after 0.4 releases, both of which I'm personally very excited for and will be posting teasers for when the time comes. I'm also mentioning this in order to be more transparent with you all and say that the recent technical work I've done hasn't only been for the 0.4 update, which I do also apologize for.

Anyway, that's it for now, I hope you are all still as excited about the update as I am. As always, much love to you all and stay safe! ❤️