Devlog: Programming Odyssey [5/20/24]

SPEAKEASY: LAST CALL Development Update 5/20/24

First, a massive thank you to the people out there who have left tips and chosen to buy the Companion Guide since its release last week. It is so appreciated, especially since the proceeds from Last Call sales are going toward paying for art and developing the demo for the next full-length game coming out.

PROGRESS UPDATE

Since the last update on May 6^th, the following has been completed:

• Three additional stories received final edits and were programmed
• Final story written
• Six additional backgrounds created
• Game Companion completed and released on itch.io (the offer to get a free copy for joining the email newsletter is still active! Click here to join)

There will be a few more backgrounds to create, more sprite files to wrangle, and one story that needs an expansion, but otherwise I’ll be zipping through the programming and working toward getting into the testing phase.

GENERAL DEVELOPMENT STUFF

One of my personal goals in creating this game is to experiment with new techniques and find interesting ways to tell the story visually. I didn’t program the original Speakeasy game, so this has been a great exercise in utilizing experience I have in other visual media to morph a folder full of 2D art assets into something that’s dynamic and driven just as much by what’s shown on-screen as what’s written in the script.

So, what does that entail?

• Establishing different focal points in the backgrounds to illustrate character position changes during scenes, so that there isn’t just one static image until the next background change.
• Changing the proximity of sprites to the viewer (the z-axis) when it makes sense to illustrate that based on the script.
• Incorporating sprite movement on-screen to accentuate certain moments.
• Creating images for key items described within the script (both SFW and NSFW...)
• Dramatizing the nude sprite reveals in certain scenes by dropping out the in-game menu and text box

It’s certainly made the programming more complicated, but I think the end result is 100% worth it. Here’s a look at how a couple of those bullet points are being put into practice:

That’s it for this week! Stay tuned for more updates soon.

-Aura