Hey! It's the middle of July... where the FECK have I been?

This is the halftime report for Build 0.4, which (unofficially) marks the halfway point of development between the last published build and the next release. We are probably 50% of the way, but it's hard to say. It's been hella busy lately, and it doesn't look like it's letting up...

If you're a new follower, or you just missed it, I spent the month of May (after releasing AATV Build 0.3) collaborating on a one-off visual novel with ~HypoNova (creator of FVN "Blossom City") for a visual novel jam, called "Go Golf Go!" It's a comedic (and SFW) romance FVN about a professional golfer wolf, his incredulous sister, and a mysterious dragon love interest... set in a very, VERY exaggerated version of golf. Tropes, accents, and hijinks ensue. If it sounds like your thing, here's a link!

Go Golf Go! by eyematerror, HypoNova (itch.io)

Although we finished the jam in 7th place (out of 19), we were the 2nd-favorite of the jam's coordinator!! In that prestigious category we were only behind "Before You Depart," which easily won the jam & has taken the FVN fandom by storm. To be honest, BYD is an excellent little story in itself (albeit sad, so be forewarned) with a solid team of FVN creators behind it. Check that one out too!

All that hubbub means that development toward "Aaron & The Void" didn't begin until June -- and it was mid-June to be precise, since the results of the jam weren't sorted till then. However, I knew what I wanted to do for Build 0.4, and I've made great progress in these 3 weeks, so here's what's going on behind the scenes...

What will be new at 0.4?

The last two main characters yet to receive redesigns were Joel and Zeke, the blue jay bartender and the eccentric puma. Here you can see what we've got going on for them:

One of my biggest struggles as someone who's a self-trained artist is getting the shapes of animal head anatomy correct when they aren't facing forward. I'm aiming for a realistic art style that takes into account the shapes of their species. To do a better job at this, a friend of mine recommended downloading a 3D meshing program, and "molding" a 3D version of their heads. I was skeptical, but it really *did* make a difference.  For funsies, here is Zeke's 3D model:

This process involved a lot of looking at existing reference and comparing it to photographs of their species and the sprites I had already created. 

And the result? For the first time in my life, I drew a feline head and didn't hate it... LOL. Success! Both Zeke and Joel have alternate outfits, as well, so that's the lowdown on their spritework. What do you think?

What will be changed from 0.3?

You probably won't see very many changes other than the extension of Joel and Zeke's routes, and their changed sprites. We're working on adding a feature that lets you turn off the story from auto-scrolling ahead. We will also continue to work on transforming the sprites to composite images (dev talk) which cuts down on file size. 

Other than that? We eclipsed 100k words, which is a major accomplishment! We've also nearly reached 2000 downloads - an unbelievable number to have reached - considering we are maybe 1/4 through, at best... O_O

If time allows, "Zeke's SexyBook of Wordology" and the Character Sheet will be worked on for Build 0.4.

What's the road ahead look like?

After Joel and Zeke get their story extensions, at least one patch will be released to complete the sprite and music reformatting, as well as any unfinished work from the additional features. We've read your feedback and continue to make adjustments based on it. If you have any strong (or submissive... uwu) feelings on the story or its characters, I love to read them. I learned yesterday that someone has an intense hatred toward Warren, and rightfully so!

Also.... it's final: 0.4.x will be the last build for Malik. He will forever be immortalized as a character you meet at the bar, but you will no longer be able to choose him from the routes menu. Sad day, I know! But we will see if he crops up elsewhere.... 

To be frank, it is very ambitious to tell 7 individual stories, let alone 8. Cutting Malik will keep development flowing smoothly. We didn't see much interest expressed in him, whereas the other characters have repeatedly been mentioned as favorites. He was the weakest link, so he says goodbye... I'm sorry to any secret Malik fans! It's hard to sell a loveable camel.

When we get to 0.5, you will get one route extended per build (Danny is likely first cuz he is bae) but these builds should come much faster because we can focus on one character at a time and we aren't spending half of development redoing character sprites or refining story outlines. This is the 'untold' work you're not seeing that's preventing the build every 2 months, as promised.

I may post additional devlogs to break the monotony of developing to tell some stories about what it's like to go into a project like this. I've learned so many useful things that I wish I knew before jumping in.

We're also going to look for a composer! More info will be posted about this on the Furry VN discords, but if you are someone who's composed previously and are looking for a bit of extra cash this summer... hit me up.

Last things last: it sucks that Twitter's been taking a shit... it started right after we went public last November, and it must have some effect on our success. We'll be looking to Reddit and some of the Twitter alternatives soon.

That's all I've got for now. You've been so incredibly patient, and I really do appreciate it. I'm not the most expressive individual, and I tend to not "sell" myself. If people are interested in what they see, they will read it. I'm not in the business of selling them into reading my story. So if you took a chance on it, and read it, and enjoyed it... I LOVE YOU lol.

Alright. That's enough talk. Back to scripting. Later, friends :3

-eyematerror