Posted February 25, 2025 by WinteryEdge
Preface
This is the Public Version of Getting There | Black Rose DevLog.
The Backers' Version includes extra in-dev early renders & concept art for the next updates, not shown to the public.
If you want to see the extra concept art, and early renders only shown for my Backers.
You can find it here, by choosing to support me as a Backer on Patreon & Subscribestar.
Hey to my fellow Netori-Enjoyers, it's me again.
With a new Dev-Log, after not posting one for a while.
Truthfully I've been meaning to post more devlogs, but I've been a bit busy to say the least...
But now I can share with you a little on what I've been so busy with lately.
Shall we begin?
The Planning For A New Arc
Creating A Wet Skin Effect for Sachie.
To hopefully be used in a future event...
So I may have mentioned this in the last Progress Report, but I've been working heavily on the planning for the next episodes.
Which involves the routes' scripts, as well as getting the assets that will be needed for these new episodes.
Just some of the swimsuit designs made for Sachie...
There's a lot of planning involved to say the least, when it comes to the making of these updates.
As I don't want to just churn out 'content' for the sake of having a new update.
I want each episode to be as special as I can make them.
Where quality is the focus, not quantity.
That said, there is a downside to my current approach.
And that is...The Wait Times (Or more specifically, the long gaps between each release).
Now I am very fortunate to have most of my backers & supporters, be quite patient.
Understanding that development takes time.
Still...
A part of me does feel bad, for the long waits between every update.
Especially when there's devs who are able to consistently push out monthly updates for their games.
So I've been rethinking my current approach to releasing updates.
And this has played a role into how I plan for the new episodes too.
One of those ways, is that I'm aiming to make longer episodes for Arc 2.
My Pursuit of Longer Episodes
Now I should start this off by saying to you, that this could all change.
As I'm still experimenting with this approach.
But I've finished writing the re-draft for Sachie's Episode 5, and it is a long one...
Much longer than any of the previous episodes.
So let me tell you about my approach to writing the Episodes so far.
Generally, I've written the episodes in a very tight way, consistent structure, and about an hour long in length.
The good thing about this approach, was it allowed me to hyper-focus on the most necessary story beats.
And no episode would ever overstay it's welcome.
I believe that this was the right approach, for the first four episodes.
As these were the earliest impression that the player would have with the game, so the game needed to make it's case for existing.
It's a formula that has served me well so far.
But now, that was about to change...
I was going to make Episodes much longer in length.
Where an Episode would usually have ended before, would now continue on...
This is great, because now I'll be able to further flesh out an episode's story.
Allowing for more time to be spent, exploring the relationship with the heroine & protagonist.
And the inclusion of more scenes that could have been axed, due to previous limitations.
But all of this required a careful consideration of what makes a Black Rose episode work.
To ensure the episode wouldn't become a dragged out, confused follow up.
After what's been built up so far, by the first 4 episodes.
It would be a shame to ruin all of that, through a lack of care.
So what was it that lead me to go for longer episodes...?
Well that leads onto my next point.
Pursuing Consistent Updates
So you remember what I was saying earlier, about wanting to be able to have a relatively consistent release schedule?
But how I couldn't achieve that, without sacrificing the quality of an update...
Well, here's how the longer episodes should fix that problem.
The general idea is, I extend what would usually be a 60 minute episode.
To something like 90-100 minutes (excluding the different route specific scenarios in Sachie & Sanae's routes).
And then, I'll release the episode in parts (around 2-4 weeks from each other).
I know this may sound controversial for some of you, who have grown accustomed to the entire episode being released at once.
But the unfortunate reality is, I don't think that's viable for me to do in the long term.
So the bad news, is that the old update approach is no more.
And the updates will likely be shorter.
The Good News, there will be more updates, longer episodes, and with more content!
So I think this new approach will be more of a net positive for us.
Reducing the drought periods between releases, and having juicier episodes that can just DO more now than ever before.
Developing Smarter
So yes, as I've said before.
The development of a single episode takes a lot of time & energy from myself.
This was usually because of several underlying factors, that lead to them taking so long to finish.
Namely, I was spending a lot of time making original assets.
Now, I'm not ashamed of this.
I'm quite proud of what I've been able to make with my own skills.
But there's a reason a lot of games in this space tend to use the same familiar assets we've all seen before.
And that is because the time spent designing & making those assets, could be spent on getting another update done & ready for release.
Artistically unoriginal, but development wise it makes sense.
What I realized whilst making Episode 4, was having a good half of that episode take place in the protagonist's home (for both routes).
Alleviated some of the stresses, away from having to make some of the most ambitious scenes I've ever had to put together.
Re-using the same environment, props, and in most cases lighting (except for Sachie & Sanae's ero-scenes at the end).
Really did help me get through what was the heaviest workload for an update's renders.
And now that I'm making longer episodes, it's got me thinking...
Thinking about how I'm gonna pull this one off.
Taking what I've learnt from 0.4's development, I want to find easier ways to produce more rendered scenes.
Lightening the workload with good time-saving techniques.
In a more traditional video game, they tend to reuse assets in many different ways.
Like going back to a familiar environment, for different missions.
Or reusing animations for NPCs.
Maybe it was because of space limitations as well, but it's a clever approach to development I think that many resourceful devs make use of.
Now, being the nature of my game...it's a little different.
But the general idea is still the same.
When I make a scene for one character's route, I now think about how I could reuse the environment & lighting from that scene for another character's route.
But modify the scenario, to where it doesn't feel like a lazy rehash.
Maybe reuse animations for less important scenes (like a montage moment), and so on.
But also, another factor as to why they could take so long would be their complexity.
Episode 4 had quite a few complex scenes, for a first timer to pull off.
Because I really wanted to see how far I could push myself, to see what I could achieve.
And I think it was a good stress test, to see where my limits were.
But if I were to develop EVERY episode like that, I would honestly go insane.
It was a great way to round off the arc, with scenes unlike the previous episodes.
But the focus now, should probably be on refining what I've got.
Closing Statement
So that about rounds today's devlog off.
Hope that you've enjoyed my rambling, as I take on this new arc.
If you want to support the game, you can become my Patron, my Subscribestar Member, or by buying the exclusive edition on Itchio.
And if you want to keep up to date on the game's development, follow me on Itchio, Patreon, Subscribestar, or join my Discord Server.
Feel free to let me know what you thought of this devlog below.
-Arc 2- Progress Report #1 (Click Here)
-0.4- The Making of Black Rose: Continuing A Comeback (Part 1)
Black Rose -A Backer's Survey- [Limited Time] (Click Here For More)
Husband & Wife Bathtime Bonding - Exclusive Wallpaper (Click Here)