REC/REW update #10 - finalized M1

Well, this took me a bit more than I expected.

Target release date: last Sunday Jan 22nd

Actual release date: today - Thursday Jan 26th

Yeah, I'm late.

Drats.

In my defense I might say that my problem was, the more stuff I added, the more stuff I wanted to add. They say, one thing led to another...

Painfully true.

No kidding, I've still got a bunch of ideas on how the first chapter of my Visual Novel could be improved. Certain scene would benefit from dedicate pics rather than the present "generic bg + random sprites" combo. Still, I had to set a goal for myself otherwise I would still be working on this "graphics update" of mine. That "finalized M1" tag on the title is laughable, I'm surely going to toy with it in the future. It's just... right now it's not a priority anymore.

So yeah, I just picked a few scenes where - I believe - a rework would dramatically improve the overall feel of my Visual Novel, and focused on them. That's how we got to REC/REW version M1.5 "Uruguay" (ver. 0.1.5 for those unfamiliar with Milan's subway - by the way "Uruguay" is not referring to the actual South-American nation but rather to a subway station, as usual - and yeah, there's a subway station called "Uruguay" in Milan).

I must say I'm particulary satisfied by how the "date" in Parco Sempione turned out; the final fight too was a lot of fun to improve - I think it now looks a bit more "gross", as I honestly feel it should be.

Changing subject, I'm going to join yet another jam. Ubik game jam. I just hope I'll get some valuable feedback from this new jam. The ones I've joined so far helped with my lack of self - confidence, and I also had a few nice ideas worth further development.

For those of you who don't know what "Ubik" is: it's a fantastic novel (not visual =P) by Philiph Dick. And it's definitely worth a try.

Lately I've been noticing that my love for Philiph Dick has started seeping into my Visual Novel. Right now is little more than a wink, however if I consider the bunch of material I've written for the next chapters, well... yeah, pshychosis and the inability to tell what's real from what's not is definitely going to be a key background theme for the entire project.

As for the usual roadmap I put at the end of my posts: right now my target for next update is to finally put a "M2" on the version's tag. Seeing I'm actually starting to release chunks of the second chapter of my VN would be a nice boost to my morale. In the meantime there's a couple things I'd love to try out. If they work out the way I want, I'm going to have a LOT of work to do.

But - hey, it's going to be fun!

ps. I should really update the screens of my game. You know, add one of the kiss scenes and some neat stuff. Make them a bit more catchy, and less generic... yeah, I definitely have to add it to my to-do list...