[Move The Chains] | S01E03 | Play Sheet #8
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Feels like it's been a super long time since I've written one of these, and it probably has been. Before I get into the meat of the Play Sheet, I'll just talk a little bit about Episode 2, its release, and some leftover thoughts.
Firstly, I'd like to mention how appreciative I am of the patience I was given in getting Episode 2 out. Especially by the people who are financially supporting the game. For those who follow these, you already know the reason why. But all the same, it took far, far longer than I wanted it to. Which was both damaging to potential growth and making supporters spend more money when they aren't getting the product they're supporting. For those supporting, and even those who are supporting in other ways (sharing, etc.), it really is appreciated. Very much so.
Secondly, I saw both a fairly massive spike in support on all three platforms (Patreon, SS, Itch.) and a 1,000+ jump in wishlists (likely due in part to the demo coming out around the same time, but I imagine the link in the game helped a good bit.). Before even going out to curators (more on that below.). It's thanks to that support that I'll likely be able to afford Storyblocks/a music platform. Something other than free/public domain stuff (which I'm starting to run low on.). So, thank you for that. A lot of what I'm making off of this is going right back into the VN, and ultimately making it a better product.
Thirdly, it was a pretty bumpy update. A lot of bugs, both avoidable and completely out of my hands. Namely the locale bug. I never really know just how broken locale was in Windows. It worked fine Windows 10/11 machines (and MacOS. AFAIK, at least. You guys tend to be pretty silent.). But with a lot of the framework already done (UI, stats, traits, etc.), most of the major issues should be out of the way. As for what I said about future Android releases, I've had a couple people reach out with their services to make an Android version. I'll be looking into rates and such and see where to go from there. A small portion of my supporters tend to be Android, so I don't know how worth it it would be at the end of the day. Typos and other grammar issues are going to be fixed soon. Will happily taken on some volunteers who want to help out (more below)
I want to do bigger things with Move The Chains. Stuff like voice-acting, outsourcing animations (or learning Blender myself and doing the animations in that), more custom music, and perhaps even some custom assets in the future. I'm not trying to build my own store or studio (which would be sick if I had the funds to bring in multiple projects and let the artists work without worrying about living, but not happening anytime soon lol.), hire 15 people (or 1), or start milking people. I just genuinely want to make the game the best version of itself. Animations aside, this is my project and I don't intend to hand anything off onto anyone. Stubborn? Sure. But I don't want to be College Kings, either.
Needless to say, stuff like that requires support. The more support Move The Chains gets, the more likely that kind of stuff is to become a reality. Anyways, onto why you're actually here:
- In the previous Play Sheet, I mentioned hitting 1000+ renders for Episode 3. Well, if you've been paying attention to the pinned E03 progress tracker, you'll see we're already a little over halfway there. The soft goal for E03 is to spend 3 months rendering (give or take a week or two for other minor renders/re-renders/etc. and other fixes), and if I keep on the current pace, it should be quite a large update.
- We're sitting at 522 renders currently for those that don't feel like looking (or are reading this on another site). With two week since the public release, I think we're in a good place pace-wise. Much better than the last update, at least.
- There's no lewd animations yet. But we have three non-NSFW animations done. Just some stuff to add some flair in between scenes.
- I've been mixing in a newer rendering style into Episode 3. Not so much in the lighting or style of characters, but more in the compositions and angles. Some are a lot tighter, more constrained. A lot of videography techniques being brought into play. A couple of the preview renders shown are in that said style. It might not be super noticeable to an untrained eye, which is a good thing.
- An On/Off toggle for the quick menu. This will only appear in Episode 3, to avoid a potential restart by inserting variables into older code. Annoying for those who requested it, but it's the best option.
- A redesigned (and likely moved, will most likely be a poll) quick menu.
- Thanks to Pierced_Freak, MrPocketRocket, and DuckDairyDip for pointing out some typos that the public missed. Especially DuckDairyDip. A 100+ item list of typos/grammar issues is insane, especially for free.
- Furthering on the above, I do intend on releasing a 2.5 update for just the typos and such. Nothing major. I'll be looking for volunteers pretty soon here. Feel free to DM and I'll write you down to send a link to. Or feel free to download the public copy and use that.
- Once the edits/proofreading are/is done, I'll be uploading it to Steam for curators. At which point, I'll be collecting wishlists until the October NextFest - which should lead into a release date.
- The Character page and Superstar Traits will be fully implemented after rendering and animations have finished.
I'm aware that this is a shorter Play Sheet compared to the novel's I typically write for them. But there's just simply not a lot to say. It's mostly been rendering thus far. Will update again soon! Make you check out the preview renders above (or below)
