Progress Report #136 - September Summary

Hey lads!

Autumn is here, and the heat is finally over, yay! It’s been a pretty busy month for me. Since my second child was born in August, I’m still getting woken up multiple times at night, and then my first child wakes me up around 7-8 AM, ending my sleep for the day, because she won't let me... I spent two weeks attending rehabilitation with my older child because she has some issues with her legs. It’s nothing serious and can be fixed, but I need to take care of it since my wife is busy with our newborn. I also went to Warsaw for her routine check-up. She’s awaiting surgery next year, but despite being fine, she’s still not ready for it, so they’ve delayed everything by a year, with no check-ups for the next 12 months either. Time sure flies… Anyway, brace yourselves for a lengthy & chaotic update!

For the past few days (and for the next few), I’ve been focused solely on the remastered version because I’ll be releasing the character creation demo for all Patreon/SubscribeStar supporters on Monday (September 30th). It’s just a preview of the still-in-progress character creation system, so there won’t be anything else to try in it. You’ll be able to play around with customization sliders, which will be soft-locked and not scaled yet, so you can have fun breaking characters, because why not? By December, we’ll ensure that animations work properly alongside the character customization. However, we’re still uncertain about which options might be adjusted, removed, or added. Time will tell.

I’m also working on making the game compatible with 64-bit Android devices, and I’m doing my best to have it ready for the September character creation demo.

Because of this, v39a will be delayed until October. I’ll be adding two anal variants to the glory hole and possibly another sex scene somewhere. I also plan to add Steam Cloud and Steam Deck compatibility.

One of the main changes in the remastered version will be that the character art will have a more anime-like style, as my artist specializes in this. However, I don’t want it to turn into just another anime game, so we’ll experiment with other art styles. If possible, we’ll even add multiple styles, though I can’t promise anything at this point. It’s just something I want to try.

In UiTC, NPCs could appear in multiple places simultaneously for events. Now, in UiTC:R, NPCs will physically exist in specific locations around The City, with their own unique schedules. So, you won’t see Ben waiting for a taxi and then encounter him at home right after. I also plan to add some sort of schedule tracking system later (either via a map or log). Most NPC interactions will now require you to get close or click on them, instead of relying on RNG to trigger events when entering a location at the right time. Oh, and time will pass only upon taking an action or during special situations.

Instead of just choosing a Backstory, you’ll now also select a Route and a Goal. The plan is to have 1 main storyline, 6 routes, 18 backstories, and around 30 goals in-game. More will likely be added during development, but these are the numbers we’re focusing on for now. The main storyline will be the same for everyone, but there will be multiple ways to approach it, allowing for different playstyles. Routes function like main quests tied to the backstory and will only be hinted at, with no spoilers until they trigger. They’ll trigger based on the chosen backstory (each route will be shared by 3 backstories, so you can experience it through a sex-oriented playstyle or a more pure, vanilla approach, etc.).

Backstories will provide information about Jane's past, along with starting bonuses, penalties, and items, and they’ll serve as connectors between routes and goals. Goals are straightforward: they represent the reason Jane moved to The City. They can range from something easy, like losing virginity with your boyfriend, to more difficult tasks, like getting married and having multiple kids. Goal options will depend on the chosen backstory, so a non-virgin backstory won’t be able to select the 'lose virginity' goal. Rewards for completion will match the difficulty of the route/goal.

To sum up: you’ll choose 1 of 6 routes, then 1 of the 3 backstories associated with that route, and finally 1 of around 10-20 fitting goals. The main storyline will have different outcomes depending on your choices and will be time-limited. Routes can either succeed or fail, leading to permanent bonuses or penalties. Goals cannot fail and will persist until completed. The game will continue regardless of the main storyline choices and success or failure of routes or goals, unless otherwise specified in the tooltip. Fully random Route-Backstory-Goal combo will be possible as well.

Tracking everything I’ve done in a month is difficult since I don’t keep a log, but let’s recap what I worked on in September (excluding work on the old project, of course)!

So, the base for the female character in the front view is pretty much done. Of course, some adjustments will be made along the way, but the clothes work, everything animates (so far), and the hair physics are functional. From this point, we can start adding more clothes, faces, hair, and animations. However, we’ll be focusing on the male characters next, so I can finish programming core features like character customization, clothes swapping, the database, and so on, as I need both genders finished to move on. In October I’ll try to finish shaders and coloring.

In a recent Patreon poll, I asked whether you prefer eyes and eyebrows to be under (realism) or over (anime) the hair, and about 5/6 of you voted for realism, so we’ll use that as the default. If we can add a toggle to let you choose the style in-game without requiring too many workarounds, we will.

The game will also get a new soundtrack (since I no longer have contact with the previous composer) created by ICA Composers. The concept will be similar, with each main location getting its own theme, but I also want to add situational tracks, like for danger or love, to set the mood based on the situation. You can listen to a sample of the main menu theme in the MEGA folder linked above.

Another feature is the scrolling floating text you know from UiTC. In addition to moans, I’ll be displaying stat/skill/rep/item increases and decreases (in green and red, respectively). I also plan to use it for NPCs and world interactions, as I’m reworking how the general concept functions. My main idea is to display text when Jane gets near NPCs (or interacts with them), instead of entering a dialogue window where they say random jokes or easter eggs. This should make the world feel more alive and immersive, while also making it easier to distinguish between 'useless' and important NPCs, reducing unnecessary clicking and saving time. Font size and display time/speed will be customizable.

Some locations will be split into layers. For example, the first layer in the Jane's home will include the bathroom, hall, and building floor, while the second layer will include the kitchen, flatmate’s room, and Jane’s room. I’m also trying to make the world feel more alive, so, from the hall, you can see what someone is doing in the bathroom or who’s at the door, and from Jane’s room, you’ll be able to see the flatmate’s room and the kitchen. I believe NTR fans will appreciate this change. This turned out to be much trickier than I thought, as I’m trying to automate the whole process. With over 100 rooms (sub-locations) in the game, I don’t want to spend hours adjusting and debugging each one. Walls/doors will change perspective based on the current room (what you can see below), and transitions between rooms (and other locations) will be instant & seamless. Originally, I planned to merge only outdoor locations, as interiors required much more effort. But since I had some spare money and my background artist didn’t get much extra work due to the remaster, I decided to give it a go. As Hayao Miyazaki, the founder of Studio Ghibli, said, 'I never want to regret not doing something. It’s better to try and fail.' So, I’m going all out with the remaster and we will see how it goes ^^ Video version attached below.

I don’t want to be one of those devs who release a bugged and unoptimized game, but at the same time, I mostly work solo, and the scope of this project is quite large compared to typical adult games. That said, I’ve already started optimizing the game and will have a few people for bug testing, so it shouldn’t be too bad. However, as you know, proper optimization and bug fixing is hard and require a large group of testers, so I’ll address the remaining issues after release.

Since Spine, with all its customization options, will be much more demanding on the CPU than the previous animation system, I’ll be adding an optional animation quality scaling feature. This will allow the animation quality to be reduced from 60 FPS to as low as 6 FPS, ensuring that even people on lower-end devices can play the game smoothly. Don’t worry, I’ll still work on optimizing the game, but this is more of a safety measure, especially for older Android devices. Video below.

I’ve implemented a trade system, so you can now buy & sell items across various NPCs. The original game concept wasn’t intended to be a big RPG, so I didn’t bother adding it earlier and used a simple dialogue system. But now’s the perfect time to introduce it.

However, don’t expect bullshit like selling tissues at a clothes shop. Some NPCs won’t be interested in buying your items, while others will only want specific things, like meds. The Shady Dealer, our beloved guy, will buy everything, even junk, but expect cutthroat prices. NPCs will have their own inventories with loot that will refresh (like in RPGs). There will be multiple traders selling various items, and their goods and prices will vary, influenced by the NPCs’ Disposition (new important stat) toward Jane, which is affected by several factors. In some cases, seducing them or flashing before trading might be a smart move.

Since I’ve mentioned Disposition, now is a good time to explain it. Instead of scripting NPCs' reactions and attitudes toward Jane based on things like reputation, stats, backstories, events, quests, etc., I’ll be using two new NPC stats - Disposition and Lust. These dynamic stats will indicate whether an NPC loves or hates Jane and how horny they currently are. There will be multiple ways to change these stats, either permanently or temporarily.

Previously, you needed a high reputation to trigger certain events. Now, Albert might lower the rent or ask Jane out if she raises his Disposition high enough by wearing revealing clothes, being nice to him during dialogues, or engaging in bonus interactions like giving him a back massage. Kevin will make moves at the diner if his Lust stat is high, which can be increased by wearing revealing clothes, flashing, or using certain perfumes. Don’t want to see events involving one of the main NPCs? Scold him, and he’ll get a Disposition debuff, likely big enough to stop him from interacting with Jane for a day.

NPCs will also have random bonuses or penalties to these two stats to spice up the gameplay. Players will be able to read about this in the NPC logs, like for example Kevin having a fight with a client, causing his Disposition to drop a bit for a day, and so on.

I’ve also been brainstorming and designing various other features, like skills, traits, mini-games, quests, and NPCs. This takes a lot of time, but I can work on it away from my PC, like when babysitting the kids, so it helps save time. For example, Rachel, the lesbian goth flatmate, will be introduced in one of the early game builds, since we already have some events and her story planned. But this is already a pretty long devlog, and I know people rarely read long walls of text, so I’ll stop here and dive into those details once they’re actually added to the game :P

Cheers!