Chapter 5 - Devlog 1

Hello everyone!

It's been... already a full month since the public release of Chapter 4, so here comes the first devlog for Chapter 5!

But first, here's the link to my brand-new Discord: https://discord.gg/PRFGVqjWXV

What a year, huh?

So yeah, before listing everything I've done, I'd like to point out that Chapter 5 development is already throwing any kind of schedule I had out the window.

It's been a month since December 24th, and I spent the first week working on supporter content...

And the second week working on my new Discord.

So please keep in mind that it's been a little less than two weeks of actual work on the game for me.

What's Been Done? (Summary)

(Note: More details below)

• Image Gallery and Replay Gallery
• Added a language selector in Preferences (no translation for now)
• Added a Replay menu for Special Events
• Customized the Music Room
• Added (optional) summaries before starting new content (WIP)
• Some UI changes in the Preferences and Credits menus (color, outline, etc.)
• Added Discord to the support pages on the main menu
• Added a few minor things to the save spot
• Reorganized the Prologue's renders
• Fixed some typos (thanks to Bangyongguk97)

Finally, the Chapter 5 events draft is complete, with 24 events and 11 patch scenes planned.

The Gallery is finally here!

[Gallery presentation webm]

That was a long WIP, right? Well, both the UI and the code behind it are made and functional.

Now... I just have to find a few hours to actually fill it.

Beside the navigation buttons and UI, I also added a few things:

• Heart icon if the CG contains cultured content
• Animation icon if there is an animation
• Culture filter button, to display only the good stuff
• And obviously, I can't show it in this devlog, but the thumbnails actually change~ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[Replay Gallery presentation webm]

The Replay Gallery is mostly the same as the Image Gallery, though I added an Episode selector too.

It's useless for now, but later it'll spare you from scrolling through hundreds of events.

New Music Room

[Music Room presentation webm]

I finally customized the Music Room:

• Artists' links are clickable
• Sayuri has an idle or animated pose depending on whether a track is playing
• Or... a few renders from where the track was first heard (your choice)

Your Mom's Basement

[Special Event Replay presentation webm]

Finally, some work on the save spot!

Seasonal decorations (only winter), interactive buttons (useless for now), and the ability to replay past Special Events.

I also added a sort of summary to help you remember the story so far before jumping into the new chapter. If it works correctly, it should automatically suggest a summary of the chapters you've played. It's optional, of course.

What's next

I was saying in my last review that I planned to rework older chapter transitions... Well, I ended up focusing mostly on UI stuff and decided not to do any rework until Chapter 5 is playable.

So the actual writing is coming next... and considering the planned length, I'm really not optimistic about the development time for this chapter. Chapter 4's writing already took me a bit over three weeks in total, so this time around, I'm pretty sure it'll take about a month.

Warning

So yeah, let me warn you in advance, especially if you're a supporter or planning to be:

The schedule will be all over the place this time around, so don't hesitate to pause your subscription.

For those waiting for the Scene Scribbles to subscribe, please wait until the actual announcement is made, because it'll surely come later than in previous chapters.

ETA?!!!

One month... at the very least...

...until the next devlog.

No point in doing another one before the writing is actually completed, right?

And that's all for today!

Thank you to all my subscribers for continuing to support this project, and to everyone following and playing along!

As I mentioned in the Chapter 4 review, we actually managed to reach the very first goal, if only temporarily! And while it's not much, it's still one step toward success! So thank you again for your trust!

The next devlog probably won't be until February 21st, but don't hesitate to drop by the Discord!

Thank you for your time.

-Haptales

P.S. Join the discord here!