Finally got to the arguments today, and boy was that fun.  Unfortunately, I ran out of time to work on both argument sections today.  So, I have to rearrange my schedule yet again.  Ughhhh, the temptation to crunch is REALLY starting to settle in.  I have only two days of playtesting (which is probably nowhere near enough, but at least its something), and I still have the rest of the game to write AND the music to add in!  I might leave sound effects out, I don't really know of any scene where they'd fit at the moment.  But next week, I'm going to add in music while I write instead of adding it all in at once on one day.  Hopefully, that will help my dev schedule.  We shall see.

It really is getting close to finishing.  I have the second argument, the dungeon stuff with possible death scenes, and the conclusion to write.  It's all so close!  Surely, I can do this!

The gang's all here!  The five days of travelling have been written, and this is the background during the last-ditch speech that begins right before the parts where characters can die.  You need at least three points per robot to let them survive, and if you sided with one or the other during the arguments but were able to regain some trust then they're at two points.  So if you pass the speech, that keeps them safe.  That's assuming you weren't already ranking up negative points the whole game by saying the wrong things.

Dungeons should go a lot faster in theory, since I don't have to manage as many variables and menu options (main variables would be whether the characters die or not, theres no more friendship tracking).  So I'm still on-track to finish up writing this week.  Didn't get any music done though, I think I'm going back to my original plan of doing that all on one day.  That day would be Saturday.  This leaves me only one day for playtesting/editing, which makes me nervous.

But, maybe I'll do that post-challenge.  I mean, there's nothing stopping me from updating my game afterwards, right?  I've not really gone back to my other games after they've been released, which isn't a very good habit.  Seems good to start with the one I'm making people pay for.

Also, I need to start a playtest save from the beginning of the game.  I lost track of which save was which.  And i need to start over anyway, make sure everything flows and the stat tracker works.

*EDIT* I also realized I could do a week-long release sale, so it'll be 20% off its first week of release.  Discounts are fun!

Its weird, getting all my dev time done while the sun is still up.

Got the start of the dungeon stuff written, as well as the first death scene (and because I wanted to test it, that means that Kalzrak did not have a nice time after this screenshot was taken).  I may have made the scene a bit too sudden and brutal, but I really didn't want to drag out Kalzrak's suffering.  He's one of my favorite characters I've ever made, so his death scene had to be handled the same way one would rip a band-aid off.  But still, I think it'll work.  Especially if people aren't predicting it.

I also finally got to see my stats tracker in action (my original playtest save was BEFORE I added it, so it wasn't showing up).  It looks the way I wanted it too, so that's a success.  I also started adding music.  I'll need to go back through and add sound effects, I was hoping I could sneak by without needing them but some scenes absolutely require SOME sort of FX.

But, as I was hoping, it seems like I'll have more time to work on stuff.  I just have to make sure I don't try to get TOO detailed.  Last night, I was wanting to write unique endings for every single alive/dead combination possible.  That's too much, but darn it you have no idea how hard it was to talk myself down.

(No picture today, but here's my Wednesday update  for the game's devlog!)

Wrote the second death scene today.  Also comes with an intro explaining why they are being potentially killed off, hopefully it is an explanation that makes sense.  This death scene wasn't as hard to write as yesterday's, and I will be honest about that.  ^^;

I'm just glad its going much faster now, I should be able to reach the end after all!

Mixing it up a bit, posting a picture of code instead of the game. 

Added even more achievements for characters living, set up the achievements/variables for a total party wipe or for everyone surviving.

And besides that, in-between cooking the turkey and watching the MST3K marathon,  I finished out the dungeon/death scenes and collected the device.  Now all that's left is the ending/endings!  Admittedly, everything is probably going to feel rushed.  Again, while I will finish, I think I mismanaged my time a bit and won't be able to go all-out like I wanted to.  Still, that's what post-release updates are for, right?  Well, that and bugfixing.  That's going to be the main focus for awhile.

Again, tomorrow I write the endings.  Saturday, I add in any remaining music or sound effects needs and do a bit of playtesting.  Monday, i playtest soe more and then finally add the game to its page.  Its almost over!

THE WRITING IS OVER (EXCEPT WHEN I PUT TOGETHER CREDITS PUT THAT DOESNT REALLY COUNT)

Holy CRAP, I rushed the ending though.  Post-jam, I may update it to make it a little more show and a little less tell, but for now this will do.  I still have  to go through the whole game, pick parts that need sound effects, and then add said sound effects.

But still, WRITING IS DONE.  I CAN RELAX MY FINGERS NOW.

And with that, it is feature complete!  All the writing, visuals, music, and sound effects are ready and raring to go!

Well, for the jam, anyway.  I already am forming a list of things I would like to do for post-jam updates.  Like I mentioned before, I want to do some post-release updates and bugfixes.  Which I've never done before, but then again pretty much everything I made is free (and the game I used to have for a price, that was done when I was still clueless).  It feels different, expecting people to pay for a game.  Like, if its free, sure okay enjoy it in its rawest format, it cost us all nothing.  But when money's on the line, I feel like I should polish it up a bit more. 

Plus, this  game has been a good test run for all sorts of new things.  Mainly Twitter marketing.  It'll be perfect for practicing post-release updates, too.

Tomorrow is my day off, but Monday I will be playtesting it at least one more time and then adding the game to the game's page.  I'm trying to hold off on submitting it to the jam until the morning of November 30th.

Well, since the game is ready and I plan on doing post-launch updates anyway, I went ahead and submitted it to the jam.  I know I was supposed to wait until tomorrow but I have a long week of teaching ahead of me so I thought it'd be better if I did it this morning.  But with that, my part in this jam is complete.

The game itself releases tomorrow at 4:30pm Central time, and it'll be at a 20% discount so be sure to grab a copy!  I'll be posting my post-mortem on that page on December 1st.

This was a great jam, I hope to see it again next year!