Greetings!
The second monthly update for Dysphoric Soymilk Lidocaine is here! I'm going to get straight to the point with this one and address some changes:
-Added two playable characters... with names!
Character 1: Dr. "Calgary" Nico
Character 2: Dr. "Yams" Perenelle
As of now, I'm planning on both of these characters to be playable from the start of the game. I don't want the player to have to unlock them. There are still plans on a third character who fills the role of the nonbinary alternative character, but this is still in the works. The chosen character doesn't currently affect the game in any way, other than cosmetics. A character selection screen is also still in the works.
I've made some fundamental changes to the gameplay to make the game seem less like a pile of mini games and more like an overarching game with minigames sprinkled in. I've been designing DSL with the intent on making the gameplay confusing, but not frustrating. I want the player to feel lost and confused, but I don't want the player to not be able to progress in the game because they don't know how to proceed. The path forward will not always make sense, but there should always be a way to progress that is clear and apparent to the player so they can continue to experience the game without frustrating backtracking. It's all a bit hard to describe with words, which is why writing about the gameplay is challenging. If what I just said doesn't make sense to you, I hope that once you play it, it will be more clear.
As for the game itself, I'm still planning on putting out a free demo. The demo will not have an official ending and will have about 40% of the content for the game included, while the full release (sometime next winter) will give the player full access to the entire game and include actual ending(s?) to the game. The demo is going to be a means of getting the game into the hands of my followers before the actual game releases so that I can sort out bugs and make changes that everyone will be happy with. It's not going to be very polished, but it will be playable.
Now, to answer some frequently asked questions:
Q: What can I play DSL on?
A: I'm going to be releasing my game to windows, mac, linux, and any other OS that I can think of. There will never be a mobile app store port for phones.
Q: Where is it going to be released to?
A: The demo will be released to itch.io when it is complete. The full release will also be released to itch.io, and will be released to Steam. If I can't put it out on steam for whatever reason, I'm going to be selling it on my website (that doesn't exist yet but will eventually).
Q: Will it be free?
A: Demo is going to be free. Full version will not be free. I'm planning on selling the full version for $3.99 USD and including the official soundtrack in that purchase.
Q: What is the soundtrack like?
A: The soundtrack consists of mainly 20-40 second loops that play throughout the game. There's something like 50 or 60 tracks in the game so far, and I'm planning on adding many more.
This concludes the second monthly update for DSL! I have a busy couple weeks coming up, but I'm going to try to work when I can and put in extra hours to have the demo ready by the end of the Summer. Thanks for reading brooo! Bye!
