Dev Blog #95 - It'll Be An Infestation Sensation!

Greetings everyone!

It is Thursday, right? I mean, it's gotta be latish in the week, probably... Hm... Let's talk about bugs!

Bells and Whistles

The most important bugs, obviously, are the tarantula and the peacock butterfly. Since I was lucky enough to finally procure and plant a plethora of black mums I'll no longer need to experience minor heart palpitation when I mistime my downward net swings. Huzzah for progress!

Now let's talk about The Company's bugs.

As I'm sitting here looking through the issue tracker, I'm seeing 50 reporting problems since the release of Public Build 3.2.3 one week ago. That's not too terrible, especially considering the same issues being reported by multiple people, and I'm starting to thing that losing my grip on how time actually passes is influencing the amount of stress I'm allotting various things. That's not to downplay the issues, of course, just a nice reminder for myself that even though it feels like two months has passed in the last seven days, that doesn't mean they actually have... Right? Right, probably. Before I address the actually reported issues, I wanted to take a minute to talk about how I actually approach bug squashing.

• Dev Builds
  • Dev Builds are the builds released to those in the Administrative Assistant tier and up
  • These are work-in-progress builds released during the actual development of a new update
  • These are RIDDLED with bugs, incomplete content, and general weirdness, and are used to address most issues brought about from recent developments
  • Best case scenario is that all new bugs are caught in this stage prior to Backer Build release
• Backer Build
  • Backers receive the new update prior to the general public
  • This generally results in an influx of issue reports due to the wider player base
  • Game-breaking issues are fixed ASAP and released as hotfixes
  • Minor issues that don't directly hinder gameplay are fixed in code and set to release in the Public Build
• Public Build
  • This is the build that everyone eventually gets
  • Any non-critical issues reported in the backer build are fixed and released in this build
  • Any game-breaking issues reported in the Public Build are fixed ASAP and released as hotfixes
  • Any non-critical issues are addressed during the development process for the next update

And the cycle repeats. My hope is that the above outline will give everyone an idea of when they can expect to see reported issues getting a resolution, as well as answer any "Why haven't you fixed this yet!?" questions. That said, I wanted to provide an update on commonly reported issues from the recent Update 3.2.3.

• Missing Images
  • This one basically boils down to inconsistencies between the image manifest js files (imgTasha.js, etc.) and the in-game code
  • It's frustrating, I know, but keep reporting them. All missing images should be fixed in the next update
• Incorrect Anatomy References
  • "I got Chanel pregnant but I'm like a Barbie down there!?"
  • Sometimes the logic knots get a little tight and things like this can happen. It's not working as intended and all reported cases of this should be fixed in the next update
  • Until then, have fun with the absurdity
• <<TFCheck>> Errors
  • I goofed on the Downloads page and didn't link the correct image pack for the Public Update 3.2.2 release, then I goofed again and didn't include the fixes in Image Pack Update 18
  • You can grab Image Pack Update v17a from the Downloads page to fix the issue
  • Or just click HERE to grab it directly
• Trait Unlock Issues
  • Some of the Traits aren't unlocking correctly
  • As there's no impact to gameplay and Traits only have a barely meaningful effect during interactions with Penny, they're being "evaluated"
    • Much in the same way that Old Yeller was "evaluated"
• Various Reported Issues
  • Various spelling / grammar errors
    • Keep 'em coming, they really do help!
  • "John doesn't stop being when you bring him a beer"
    • Usually takes about 3 for me to calm down
  • "</span> tag showing at Company HQ"
    • It's being "evaluated"
  • "walkthrough is missing"
    • It was "evaluated" a long time ago
  • "When using the debug menu I cannot get the changes to save..."
    • What did Saya tell you?
  • "At night you can call Chanel infinitely"
    • Dormamu, I've come to bargain
  • "game stops"
    • Don't play it on mopoga?
  • "...So much attention was paid into adding piles of dumb shit to the game, while the central engine of this machine looks to be a pile of trash that was assembled into some form of functionality by sheer luck. It genuinely sounds like someone gave keyboards linked to a programming software to one hundred monkeys and then tried their hand at making a game by editing down the senseless mumbo jumbo which came out of them hitting the keys."
    • Not an error

So that should give everyone a pretty good idea of what's being focused on in terms of issue resolution. Of course, this is all being worked on in parallel with actual content which I guess I should probably touch on...

Coming in Update 3.2.4

The April Update will be focusing on fleshing out two of John's new routes, specifically his Physical Transformation route that's "not" Chanel, as well as his Submissive route. Each of these routes will be content-complete through the MCS-2 tier of content, much like Penny's new branching serum paths.

In this update, here's what you'll be able to expect:

• New dose scenes
• New lab scenes with John
• Establish John's "Dollification" route
  • Dollification is an endpoint, right now think of it more like modification
  • Hope you're happy with what you've done to poor John
  • You monster
  • New oral focused ISS in bathroom!
• Establish John's "Submissive" route
  • The opposite of his Dom route, obvs
  • You'll get a shot at some sweet bathroom vengeance
  • Opportunity to invite John out, and over!
  • New oral focused ISS in bathroom!
  • New full service ISS in bedroom!
• Extend John's base mental transformation route
  • John's base route that eventually splits into Friendly and Submissive routes is getting a small extension
  • You'll find him a little nicer to everyone, especially Tasha
  • He might even help you out in the lab a little!
  • Will provide setup (but not content) for John's Friendship/Romance route
• New random events
  • John and random dude!
  • John and Tasha!
  • John and random dudes!
  • John and random dudes and you!?
• New conversations to tie some events together
• New images
• New content for M/M seekers
• New image pack support for generic action images

Lot's to look forward to! Assuming no further catastrophes, which isn't necessarily a safe assumption these days, we're aiming for an April 30th release for the Backer Build.

Oh yeah, expect an artwork update in the not-too-distant future!

That's it for this week, I'm gonna go hang up a calendar or something... As always, thank you all for your feedback and support. Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay home!