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Development Update Sticky

A topic by Dr.Muramasa created 22 hours ago Views: 4,725 Replies: 37
Viewing posts 1 to 25
(+17)(-6)

Hello there,

 First of all, sorry for the away time and not much information outside the fact the game is still being worked on. Anyways, moving along.

 Development efforts have continued steadily across both of our active titles. The majority of recent development time has been dedicated to Starmaker 1.9, the largest update in the project's history (comparable in development scope to the original 1.0 release). The update is currently approximately 70% complete.

Starmaker 1.9 Feature Breakdown (What is completed thus far)

1. Reworked CGs

Complete overhaul of every CG in the game (over 1,000 in total).

Integration of dynamic lighting matching background environments to seamlessly integrate character models into scenes.

2. New Content & Expansions

Introduction of brand-new locations alongside new events integrated into existing areas.

Narrative additions featuring Alice, Norah, the Canyon, and more cryptid-hunting content with Emma.

Significant reworks for existing characters, including a new bust and design for Leilani, as well as a visual overhaul and new scenes for Nurse Nina.

3. New Endings System

Endings are now dynamically tied to player progression and choices rather than a static presentation.

Players can select one of four residences (forest home, beach house, skyscraper apartment, or mansion) to initiate the ending sequence.

Characters romanced or befriended throughout the game can be invited to move in, resulting in over 1,000 unique combination variations featuring custom dialogue and slides. (Do have in mind is not a just anyone with anyone).

4. Minigame Overhauls

Tower Defense: Expanded significantly, featuring over 10 new towers with dual upgrade paths (totaling over 70 tower variants) and over 20 new enemy types (swapping insect enemies for bean-based adversaries).

Reward Integration: Most minigames now award Love Points, which can be exchanged at Tasha’s store for special items.

Most minigames have also received quality-of-life and structural reworks.

5. Technical Updates (Shaders)

Character shaders have been updated to react to surrounding environmental lighting, creating a pseudo-2D global illumination effect.

Plans are underway to open-source the shader system later this year for people that would like to use it.

Thank you for your continued support. Additional updates will be shared. Here are some sneak peaks of the content to come, changes done and views of the tower defense. Though there's plenty more in 1.9 we are leaving for you to find.

(+10)(-11)

Adding realistic lighting to pixel art is like putting silk stockings on a prosthetic leg.

(1 edit) (+4)(-8)

Just shut up bro. Shit looks beautiful

(+10)

Yeah, it feels a bit off. It has that typical AI-generated look, with overly perfect lighting and shadows that you see everywhere. I actually prefer the original's imperfections.

Since the portrait shown in-game is so small, it should be kept simple and straightforward, more like a comic panel. That style conveys emotion much better than adding dramatic lighting and intricate details that make it look like an epic illustration.

That said, some of them do look good, like the image on the left. But I don't like how the excessive amount of detail ends up overshadowing the impact of the scene, unlike the one on the right.

(+3)

++++1
The images on the left really do look sharper you can see the character better, and it also gets rid of that washed-out skin tone lol, its almost like it a bit too much.

Wouldn't you put stockings on your inflatable doll? What I'm saying is, it's just an inflatable doll, that's something you can't change. Why not decorate it to better serve you?

Ermm.... "A prosthetic leg is an artificial device that replaces a missing lower limb to help a person walk, balance, and move safely."

(+5)(-3)

the wait has been absurd and frustrating, but with this new update i can tell that Kal is straight up cooking, this is definitely gonna be worth the wait 

(2 edits)

Hell yeah, please add more demon ladies like the suggested bloody marry on mirror and more scenes with the vampire lady from the haunted house

(+11)

Your implementation of dynamic lighting that matches the background environment makes the overall image look noticeably darker. In particular, the areas that are supposed to be the visual focal point—such as the genitals—are usually located near the bottom of the image, where there's naturally less light, causing them to lose emphasis.

I don't really like that approach. The CGs in the game are already fairly small, so I don't think it's necessary to make the characters blend so seamlessly into the background. I think it's more important to preserve the scene's visual impact than to pursue perfectly realistic lighting.

(1 edit) (-1)

Firstly, I just want to say that you've gotten a lot better with these dev updates. They are professional and gives information to those without access to Discord. Please keep doing them!

I will not lie, my heart sinks a little hearing that "additional [dev] updates will be shared". I was really hoping this would be the final "work in progress" update. It sounds like that isn't the case, especially if the 1.9 update is 70% to completion.


Some questions to help gauge expectations, answer only what you are comfortable sharing:

1: Does the 70% completion rate factor in bug testing time, or is development 70% of the way to a version that would still need additional testing?

2: You were comfortable answering this question before, so I will ask it again: Do you believe the 1.9 update will be released in a matter of days, weeks, or months?

Thank you again for the development update. The wait time is disappointing and frustrating, but the content looks really great (so excited for Alice and Norah content!) Excited to see more.

Hello there,

70% as to content. I don't expect months, hopefuly and no more feature creep hits us, but we shall see.

The wait is long and will be longer still. However it does look really good!

(+5)

I guess, I still don’t understand why the mini game had to be reworked. All that effort put into the mini game could’ve been put into expanding the story, a gallery or something else, I don’t think people play this game for the tower defense game lol 

(-2)

That’s not true; a good H-game can’t be good just because it has good scenes, it has to be engaging in terms of gameplay, especially if they offer a spicy reward u know.

(But the dish-washing minigame sucks)

Pubes confirmed in 1.9.. "Tag grabbed" / "Secure"


Yes, I think the content of this attribute is too little.

I'm waiting patiently for the update

(+3)(-1)

So when will Adrian truly leave?

(+1)

+1

(+1)

Thank you for all the hard work! I am looking forward to the pregnancy content this update. Specifically Anna and if you can do outfit shoots in the studio while she is pregnant 🥰

Looking good, reading some of the changes, and new content additions makes me excited to see what sort of shenanigans we'll see when interacting with all of the characters, keep up the wonderful work Doc and Kal. I'll wait patiently, this looks like it will be a banger of an update!

Great job by the whole team! I can't wait to see and play Norah and Alice's patch and all its secrets. Thank you so much, especially to Kal for the effort and creation of this amazing game!

70% damm this is huge

(+1)

I agree with what others have said on here. I'm really excited for the update and for so much added content, but a bit disappointed with a lot of what is being emphasized. The mini games being reworked is small plus I guess, but isn't exactly why anyone plays this game lol. The new lighting, while impressive, I think takes away from being able to see the content as clearly. In all four example screenshots I prefer the originals. I feel like a lot of this update seems to make me think "if it ain't broke don't fix it" and would be nice if the time and energy was focused on adding more content and beefing up content for existing girls. With that said, I'm glad to see the new endings and move-in content being added. For me personally I'd love to see the pregnancy content being added soon, more lactation content, more threesome content/scenes with multiple of the girls, adding more content and variety to existing main girls like Anna, Charlotte, Samantha, etc. I think the main thing though is I'd love for there to be more dynamism in the "day-to-day" interactions with Anna (and some of the other main girls). Like right now she says the exact same thing (or one of maybe 2 or 3 things) every time you talk to her in the kitchen, living room etc. It kinda breaks the immersion and gets repetitive so it'd be cool if more passing remarks, small scenes, little interactions were added.

Anyway, that's my two cents. Love the game and excited for the update,  been playing since I think 1.3 or so. guess i'm saying is im just hoping that the majority of the update's focus is on adding more content more than the reworking of visuals etc. Cheers

+1

(+1)

tbh new CGs looks like Mario rtx meme, realism ≠ fun

(+1)

So when will version 1.9 be released? I've been looking forward to it for a long time—could you give an exact date?那么1.9版本什么时候发布呢?我期待已久,能给个确切的日期吗?

Looking forward to the tower defence rework.

New lightning looks like shit, please add an option to play with the OG. Also no one plays these game for the minigames. Why is it that every WEG-dev decides to rework their entire game when it´s 90% done??? I understand they do it for money but this game is free.

check your eyes bro

Hello there,

having an opinion is ok, calling something that someone worked for shit just because you dont like it is just rude. Many people like the new look, is it unanimous? No, but nothing ever is most of the time.

In regards to the second statement, many people also enjoy the minigames, this is not a slideshow to view nsfw images nor is a simple visual novel. As to why... really simple, Kal wanted to increase the quality of the minigames, and so he did.

ngl they cooking hard, I AM EXCITEDDD

Yeah, I can see it slipping into September, but honestly, the progress looks good. All that's left is to wait—hopefully they keep up the good work. Keep it up, Dr. Muramasa!

No mentire, la espera ha sido frustrante y bastante desgastante por la ausencia de información, pero este nuevo comentario a uno le revitalizan las ganas de esperar, dejemos a Kal Cocinar... Ya esperamos 6 meses espero que ese 70% nos haga pensar en que en octubre ya estamos con el 1.9 en la mesa... Awante SMK 

O comentário está sendo escrito propositalmente em português para que o criador tenha dimenção de até onde o projeto atinge.

Primeiramente, gostaria de parabenizar o trabalho da equipe, o jogo já era excelente e com as atualizações anteriores, foi melhorando sempre de modo crescente. Pelo que acompanhei até agora tenho uma ótima impressão de como será o resultado final previsto para a atualização 1.9.

Em segundo lugar, de fato é frustrante a espera, mas fico satisfeito de perceber o empenho da equipe em realizar um trabalho tão bem feito e fico feliz de ver que atualizações sobre o desenvolvimento do projeto são fornecidas tão regularmente.

Parabéns novamente, aguardamos a atualização 1.9 ansiosos.

Finally, after quite a long wait, it's great to see an update on the game's development.

Personally, I think this upcoming update looks very promising. The additions, such as the new ending system, new content, and the expanded mini-games, are all features I'm looking forward to.

Regarding the mini-games, I felt that in the previous update they weren't something I kept coming back to. After playing them a few times, there wasn't much reason to continue. Adding bonus points that can be exchanged for rewards, along with further improvements to the mini-games themselves, gives players a much better incentive to keep playing them. I think that's a really nice direction.

As for the shader and lighting changes, I'm a bit more mixed. Personally, I wasn't a big fan of the lighting introduced in Update 1.8E. It made some scenes feel a little too bright, which was somewhat uncomfortable for my eyes. I also personally prefer the original CG art style. That said, based on the examples you've shown, I do think some of the new CGs look really good.

Overall, I'm excited to see how this update turns out, and I appreciate all the work that's gone into developing it. I'm looking forward to playing it when it's released!