Afterparty Tech Demo 3.4.1 is released! (Patreon)

I'm happy to say that after many weeks of hard work, learning and creating new tools, features and content, the new version is available for Patrons via the launcher's Preview channel (and will be available for non-Patrons on the stable channel in 2 weeks, as usual).

Rachel's storyline moves forward a bit...

This version features a new mission that progresses Rachel's storyline, including one of the longest and most technically challenging dialogue cinematics I have created to date.

Rachel would like you to join her in the hot tub.

It's packing a bunch of bug fixes

Many bugs have also been fixed, the full list of which you can view on the changelog.

I have personally tested the new version of the game with older versions and was seamlessly able to start and complete the new mission, so if you have old saves they should work fine here. If you were in the middle of a scripted mission event in your last save game, then you may experience strange or unintended behavior but the content itself should still be able to be started/completed.

If you find that your save game is completely bugged out with the new version or doesn't work at all, please DM me on Discord with a .zip of your save game folder so I can find out why and fix it.

The easiest way to access your save game folder is by the launcher's Settings -> View Saved Games button.

It's got fidelity improvements too!

Additionally, fidelity improvements have been made for the hair shader, which covers all hairstyles, so you should find that any hairstyles that previously looked off now have an improved look. I have also added some additional hairstyles and made changes to old ones, which had the effect of changing the index order of hairs. What this means is that if you continue from a save game you may find that your character has a different hairstyle. You can fix this easily by pressing B to open the character creator in-game and reselecting your preferred hairstyle. I aim to fix this so that your hairstyle data is tied to an asset reference rather than an index number, it's just how the system was written previously.

Minor changes have been made to Rachel's appearance and major changes have been made to Emily's. As some of you may know who follow on Discord, I have fully designed and voiced a cast of characters that will be featured in major or minor storylines in future updates. I gave many of them a more unique and higher quality appearance from background/irrelevant NPCs, and as a result I felt that Emily's look was lacking and needed to be brought up to par as a major story character. To be clear, these newly designed characters are not in the game yet- they have been designed and voiced, but still need to be navmeshed and some will feature locations that have yet to be designed/propped. They will be implemented in order of story priority.

Cast of chararacters

Rachel has also been given a properly skimpy bikini for her new mission and thus the bikini she tries on at the mall has also been updated for consistency.

Rachel checking to see how much of her ass is showing.

You may also notice that the skills menu in the inventory has been removed. In a previous update we removed the traits and skills menu from the character creator for the health of the game because it was over-scoping the project, and since that no longer exists the skills menu had no purpose and thus it was removed. We plan to revisit this concept entirely in the future but the priority for now is pumping out story content, sex animations/scenes and missions.

A UX improvement has been made to the mission menu in the inventory that clearly indicates when all missions that are currently in the game have been completed. If you don't see this message, then there is still content in the game that you haven't completed yet. I am also exploring additional UX improvements to indicate how much progress you have made with specific characters, since not all game content is in the form of missions.

Some of you have also left feedback that there is some confusion as to when, where or how to start missions. My initial design choice was to have the player pick up missions by naturally walking around and speaking with NPCs, but I understand that it can be confusing since some missions require talking to NPCs more than once or at specific locations. So, I am also considering UX to inform or indicate to the player of a potential mission they haven't started yet.

Rachel showing her appreciation.

What's next:

Using the tools I've developed for cinematic dialogue, I will next be working on Emily's massage sequence. You can rest assured that this mission will have a happy ending. Also coming soon: Several new locations will be added or propped in accordance with the implementation of the new story characters. I also aim to create a wide variety of new activities for NPCs to do during the day that are in alignment with their personality, which should make the neighborhood feel much more alive and immersive. Don't forget you can also check update progress on our roadmap which we try to keep up to date but may not always be.

I will also begin sharing more development progress in the development-posts channel on Discord which is accessible to all patrons, since check-ins there have been lacking. So if you're interested in the very latest of what I'm up to be sure to check it out.

That's all from me for today. Hope everyone is having a great week, and as usual, a big thanks to supporters of this project who have been with us and seen the vision from the start. I aim to fulfill the potential and see it through to the very end.

-Dilly