Published: June 26th 2023, 7:24:42 am
Hello everyone! I'm making this just to keep you all up to date on what's going on in the world of the developer. Well, with the release of Chapter 7 now behind me, I've been able to take a little time to think about how it went and where I can improve. My biggest concern is how long C7 took. That is simply unacceptable to me.
So, what does that mean? Well, to put it simply, I'm going to structure things a bit differently moving forward. And by that, I mean I'm going to actually introduce some structure into my process. So, here's my planning outline for Chapter 8:
First two weeks:
I will be spending the first two weeks planning the chapter and writing the first couple scenes. Graphical work will be limited only to building new environments, creating C7 gallery renders, and starting work on the evolving main menu animations. I will not do a single actual game render during this time.
Each week after that:
I will will structure things so that each day, I will do six hours of posing work in Daz. No more, no less. I will also actually be taking two days off per week. In addition to that, I'll spend 2-3 hours on writing and creative work. The goal will be to get the writing for the chapter done within 7-8 weeks of C7's release. This will provide the translators with more than enough time to get their files done and back in my hands, as well as the beta testers being able to tell me how wrong I am about everything.
I am going to target five renders per hour, making 30 per day. This will fluctuate with the need for animations of course. But overall, I want to hit a MINIMUM of 150 renders per week. This would give me 1,200 renders over an eight week period. Minimum.
Okay, so what does that mean?
Well, it means that I'm setting a target date of September 15th as a release date for C8. That is 12 weeks after C7 release. So long as I am able to stick to this scheduling, I'll be able to get C8 out in less than three months! I will aim to have C8 final beta testing started no later than September 1st, and in the hands of supporters within a week of that.
In addition, assuming this works, I would then repeat this process for Chapter 9. That would put Chapter 10 out on December 8th!
Speaking of Chapter 10, I do need to say something. Since I started working on Between Two Worlds, my goal has always been 12 chapters. But as the story moves forward, I'm starting to have some struggles in terms of providing worthwhile story content. I will not artificially extend the length of the game purely for the sake of hitting the 12 chapter goal. I want everyone to know that there is a chance that Chapter 10 could be the final chapter.
Something to remember is that the final chapter will be MASSIVE. There are four major possible endings, with several smaller variations within each. Each ending will be getting the attention it deserves. If 10 ends up being the final chapter, then it won't release until at LEAST January, possibly February, so that I can do it justice.
So what does that mean for the future?
I'm glad you asked that, other me! As some of you already know, I've started planning on a project that I've only referred to as "0.5". Well, this is going to be a sort of prequel to Between Two Worlds. It will tell the story of Euchora, and how it came to be in the current situation, in more detail. This game will DIRECTLY tie into BTW, and some references have already been put into the main game. They just don't make sense yet because 0.5 has not yet been made.
0.5 will be a bit more linear than BTW is. Yes, you'll have choices, various LIs, actions, etc. But none of those choices will impact where the story ends. They will be purely for flavor and enjoyment. The idea is to create a bunch of "Oh! Shit! That makes sense now!" type moments. It will be quite a bit shorter than BTW as well. I expect that a playthrough will take the average player about 4-5 hours. I also hope to make it a bit sexier than BTW is.
That all being said, you can consider this the first Dev Log of Chapter 8. I will post updates weekly from now on, and keep you all in the loop. If you ever have any questions, you know I'm always available. Just reach out!
If you made it this far, you don't need glasses. No wait, that's not right. If you made it this far, thank you so much for taking the time to read it, and thank you for your support!
-Droosk