Developer Log 09

Greeting Passengers of Flight 172!

Back on May 15th, I shared some mixed news regarding our production timeline: the original airport map simply did not meet the quality standards I want for this game. The great news is that after receiving our new, highly detailed map, I jumped straight into re-rendering all the early airport scenes.

As of today, the final re-renders are officially complete! We are now 100% caught up to where development stood before the map pivot.

Production Downtime

While waiting for the new map to arrive, time was far from wasted. Beyond the UI overhauls mentioned in our last update, I pushed ahead on off-site renders, including the full introduction scene for our loveably anxious Dani Roberts and the start of her journey within Flight 172!

Update Progress

Total Render Count: 330(+65) Total Animations: 15 (+2) Total Dialogue Word Count: 20,516 (+2,623) Total Text to Speech Words Spoken: 11,733 (+2,122)

You may notice the progress tracker has been simplified to a single "Overall" percentage rather than being split across several categories. This change is simply meant to streamline at-a-glance progress updates for everyone moving forward. And, let's be honest, those percentage numbers were mostly guesstimates anyway!

Refining the Opening Scenes

Our recent focus centered on rebuilding the sequence from the initial drop-off all the way through check-in using the upgraded environment.

Revisiting these scenes provided a great opportunity to apply new skills and polish details that were previously missed. Growth is a continuous goal for this project, and I hope the visual jump shines through in these before-and-after renders!

The upgrade also allowed for subtle narrative improvements. The original map only featured a single, basic check-in counter, whereas the new layout includes a dedicated information desk and multiple check-in lines. Adjusting the script to fit this layout allowed me to patch up a few minor plot holes that were previously forced by environment limitations.

Where do we go from here?

With the past fully caught up, we are heading straight into uncharted territory.

Next up is scene preparation for the Airport Security Gate. This is easily the largest and most complex sequence of the prologue, featuring four distinct narrative branches split across Grace, Charity, and Julia.

This section serves as a major test case for how branching path choices will be handled throughout the rest of Flight 172. I firmly believe in testing limits to see what works best for the project. Moving through this scene will help determine whether this level of multi-branching is sustainable, or if future choice trees need to be streamlined.

Thank you all for your continued patience and support while getting the foundation right. I am beyond excited to dive into brand-new content with you!

Safe Travels, Grizzlebubs