'Twas the night before Halloween and all through the house...

Done for today, I just have a little more work to do on it before I start adding pictures and descriptions. I just hope I have enough decent pics. I should be pretty much done tomorrow unless something comes up, then I'll spend a few hours on Friday sweeping for bugs. I'll give myself some contingency time and if all goes well I will upload on Saturday afternoon / evening. Fingers crossed.

Everybody's working for the weekend

I'm going to push back the deadline for this mini-project to Saturday. I could get it done for Thursday but not to the standard I would be happy with. I've got most of the actual work done, I just have a little more story to add before I populate the world and add pictures. Then I will spend a few hours bug hunting before release, there aren't a huge number of options the player can choose from but since this is meant to be far more linear than my other works everything has to be able to blend together and end up at the same ending. At one point there's nearly 20 options and most of them can cross over one another so I have to look out for unintended branches and the like. There's probably less than 5 minutes of gameplay if I'm honest but if you want to experience every route it's closer to half an hour. It's giving me a nice break from Redus and is proving to be a good learning experience.

Poor planning

Completely slipped my mind that it is half-term this week so my little sisters are home all week. I'll be working solely on this Halloween project instead. I had hoped that it would be almost done by now but the direction I was taking it made no sense so I have had to scrap most of what I had. Fortunately it is only small so it won't take long to redo the work but it is going to be a tight deadline if I want it done on Thursday. As I said last time don't get too excited about it, I just thought it would be an interesting way to add a little depth to the series. The main problem will be finding suitable pictures, what I have in my head and what is available are always very different so don't be surprised if some of them don't fit.

Leave the gun, take the cannoli

Only just got back in from a day of running errands, I'm going to have an early night tonight as well so no work. Sorry. See you all on Monday!

I've been browsing on the internet, all the live long day!

I was searching for location pics for one of my other projects and lost track of time. Had to watch my little sisters when they got back from school so I lost a couple of hours anyway from that. I did manage to find some very interesting pics though so at least that will save me time in the future. I think I may a little something for you guys as a Halloween present. It won't be scary and it won't be sexy but hopefully some of you will find it interesting. We'll see how it goes, if I can't get it done in time I may hold onto it until episode 1 is done instead to bridge the gap between the first and second games but I think you've gone long enough without anything to play with.

Why do time bombs make loud ticking sounds?

Made some decent progress today, mostly on minor tweaks to the game. I fixed a few grammatical errors I stumbled across early on in the game, moved the Golden Star code to a timer (not sure why I hadn't done that earlier) and added a few more ways to unlock them. There were a few other things I cleaned up here and there but I would be surprised if anyone noticed them. I have added a few more jokes to the game, again if you play the game right you shouldn't notice them but if you are the sort of person who just doesn't know when to quit you will at least get a giggle even if it takes you all day. There are now seven secret endings to find, I doubt anyone will find more than half of them though!

It ain't ease-ay being cheese-ay

Unrelated title but hey, it's my blog so deal with it.
It looks like the rush has calmed down and most of the people who visited the blog at the mention of an update have gone back to their respective caves leaving the rest of us to clean up after them. Ah well, easy come easy go. Got back on track with Sonia today (finally, yay) but my session was cut short as I had to go sign on. Keeping it short and sweet today because I'm too busy... being delicious.

Wohoo! Four day weekend!

Not really feeling work today, I got a few hours done but nothing like what I was hoping for. I should have the house to myself for at least four hours a day for the next few days though so I will try and make up the lost time and if I'm feeling up to it I may do a little bit tonight.
As I'm working I tend to create little lists of everything I'm working on and what I want to get done before the next update, the problem is that I have a few of these lists now so I have also taken all of those and created a master list and made it easier to edit that one than the others so I should be able to keep on top of it better now. The good news is that there is hardly any code or complicated branching left to do for this update, there is a LOT of writing to do though, possibly as much as 200 hours worth. I think after this next update I'm going to take a couple of weeks break, maybe just focus on bug fixes and typos.

1330 views, 1 comment... not sure if 1 lonely guy or 1000 lurkers

This isn't an update or anything, I just wanted to thanks for the support, even if it is silent. A 1000% increase in visitors at the mention of a future update is pretty impressive, I guess there are a few people who care at least a little about Redus. It really does help, seriously I've wanted to give up on this thing a few times now, even before the accident. I honestly think that had I not created this blog I would've done by now for sure, don't get me wrong I want to see this thing finished more than anyone but going months without being able to show off anything is pretty disheartening. I just hope that the changes in 0.4 will be enough to keep interest in the game alive, there may be a lot of stuff there but most of it is either behind the scenes, will require a lot of work to find or will require multiple playthroughs to get to.
In summary, thanks for visiting, don't get too excited about update and don't be afraid to give me feedback on the game, even criticisms. Some of the biggest changes in 0.4 are due to comments about the playability of the game and suggestions on how to improve it and it has made a big difference.

Oh, and one more thing...

I think I'm going to take that January 1st marker and turn it into a provisional deadline. If the new version isn't ready by then I will at least have a closed beta version for then exclusively for visitors of this blog, maybe have a download limit or application only system or something. With any luck it will be ready before then in which case a closed beta version will be available sooner but either way, I will be releasing something that week if it kills me (tempting fate). It's a good job I couldn't afford GTA V or Pokémon Y because I will have my work cut out for me over the next two months.

It'll be alright on the night

It took longer than I'd hoped but not as long as I'd expected, I found the problem and have RAGS again! Back to work for me then.
(The problem was with Daemon Tools trying to read a broken file, even on startup. I fixed it by getting it to load a working ISO instead, a simple fix for a problem I did not anticipate and only found by noticing I was missing a virtual drive.)
I have since made some more progress, this time on the player examine action. Rather than a generic "You are X tall with Y this and Z that" I have a wider range of descriptions (possible thanks to the instant TF system). They may not be as all encompassing as they were before but will read more like someone actually describing you than a list of physical attributes. They are broken down into two parts, the first part covers your overall appearance and build whilst the second is mostly just your junk or lack thereof. As with many parts of the game a lot of these will be locked until all of the different TF solutions are in the game but once I'm done with this next section there will be 24 unique descriptions written with 4 variations for each of them. They're only short but I still prefer doing it this way as it offers more re-playability. I should have these done tomorrow but since I can only do a couple of hours on Fridays that will be it for this week. Next week I promise I will get back to those character reactions, honestly.

Alright then what's the good news? That was the good news.

Good News:
Checkup went fine, my arm should be back to 100% within a matter of weeks but I'm off all meds and have full use of my hands without any pain. (I have done for a few weeks but now it is official).

Bad News:
RAGS Designer isn't working. I have no idea why, it was fine yesterday and nothing has changed, I haven't updated anything or installed any new software. it just hangs on start. The designer opens but it is frozen as if loading but even after an hour made no progress. I've tried reinstalling it and rebooting my PC but run into the same problem. I will keep trying to get it working but I'm running out of ideas. I'll keep you posted however it pans out.

Another day, another box of stolen pens

Fairly satisfied with today's work, the initial TF is now complete barring any bugs including two new masturbation scenes and a small number of checks to make sure everything is as it should be (the sequence was not triggering if you were drunk, something I was lucky to catch when I did). I did a little work on Jenny trying to tidy up early interactions with her, I haven't started on her reactions to your changes yet as I'm still on Sonia but things like the initial phone call should go a bit more smoothly now.
The current version isn't far off being playable again now, there's still a lot of work to be done to get it back to the level it was at before but story progression is possible once more, I may release a closed version before the public release to catch the biggest bugs, if that sort of thing interests you watch this space. I will be making that decision over the next few weeks.
There are lots of features affected by the TF system change that I have still not even looked at including watching porn and getting your drink on, that sort of thing, so even after I get these character reactions done there will be a considerable way to go. Not only that but I want to get the date with Mark wrapped up and an alternate sex scene for Jenny at the very least. I'm making better progress now than I have in months but the horizon is still a long way off.

Before I go I just wanted to let you guys know that I'll be going back to the hospital tomorrow, hopefully to get the all clear on my arm. It feels pretty normal again so it should be a routine checkup, possibly another X-ray just to be safe. I'll let you know how it goes.

Not another shower scene!

For a short period of time after your initial transformation you will be able to explore your new body, I am writing a small number of scenes for this with the first that is pretty much complete now taking place in the bathroom. I could only get in a couple of hours to work on it today so that's all I got done besides a few extra bits and pieces that you likely won't notice. I'll try and get more done tomorrow.

Move along, nothing to see here

Not much done today on Redus, did a couple of hours on another project and made a few small tweaks on Redus but that's all. I'm also considering a couple of other game concepts but they will remain on paper until such a time as I am able to work on them if I decide to go through with them. Have a good weekend folks!

When I wake up in the morning and I stumble out of bed

Rewrote the initial transformation sequence today. No longer do you wake up, see your new body and then just go on about your day as if nothing has happened, now there is a reaction period where several things are changed to incorporate the transition and Sam explains his/her thought process much more clearly than before. There is much yet to do in terms of the game changing based on your appearance, something I will be focusing on in future updates, but at least the fact you turn into a woman overnight is no longer brushed off as if it never happened. As always there are a few minor interactions unlocked during this phase that provide a little comedy but are completely optional and will not impact your game if you miss them. I am going to tweak the initial meetings with some characters after this event to better reflect the gravity of the situation but that will have to wait for another time.
I have also unlocked the forest using a new mechanic, the "Think" action. In most cases it will just refer you to your notepad but I will build it up over the next few updates to add extra functionality. At the moment "thinking" during days 4 or 5 will suggest taking a trip to the peaceful woods to provide a chance to reflect on the case. When that doesn't help you decide to take a walk since you are already there. It may seem a little stale and incomplete upon the next release but I would never get it out if I do too much with it now. The new notepad functionality is the main attraction of 0.4 and should help a lot of players who grew frustrated with previous versions of the game.

Reset to zero

Didn't get anything done yesterday, not because I was busy or anything I just wasn't in the mood. I'm still so far off the next update it just feels like I'm wasting my time. Nevertheless I got a fair amount done today. I finally sorted out the issues with restarting after an ending is reached, a series of loops now resets all variables and custom properties to zero every time you restart the game (or at least they should, it will take a while to test and there are still some actions that may appear when they shouldn't). The biggest downside to this fix is that since there are now thousands of numbers being reset at once, when you start a new game it will take several seconds longer to begin depending on your machine. It shouldn't be more than 30 seconds even for old computers though and for most it should only be an extra 10-15 seconds so it isn't really an issue. I tried spreading them out a bit but then there were a number of pauses lasting several seconds each and I would prefer to get them all out of the way in one go, you have to wait for the game to load up anyway.

I also made some headway with the new player descriptions, since there are far fewer possibilities now I am using set descriptions rather than the old dynamic ones. They will feel less stale and there will be noticeable changes after each transformation rather than a few altered numbers and adjectives. Unfortunately this does mean more work but it will feel more rewarding for players who try out different combinations of things. Most of these descriptions won't be accessible immediately as the items to unlock them are not available yet but I will write them anyway so that future updates don't take as long as this one.

It's so far, so far away

Started work on Sonia today, there are still some aspects of Christie's comments that I will have to test before calling her complete but there are a lot of branches and I feel that crowd sourcing may be more effective so I will leave her until post release and post feedback. I have too much work to do to worry about every little possible outcome. (It's scenarios such as you meeting Christie after multiple transformations have occurred that I am not sure will always make sense, this will likely be the case for many characters but will only affect a small number of players.) It's difficult pressing on when I know how much work is ahead of me, fortunately I can skip some characters as they have only one or two appearances in the game or at least reduce the number of branches and the minor characters don't need major reactions since you can't develop relationships with them anyway. Jenny might care if you lose your penis but Bob won't.

If anyone wants to get hold of me but doesn't want it to be public, my email address is: timandhisburntfingers@gmail.com
I will reply to all emails (unless you ask me not to) although since this is not my primary account I may not get your email straight away. If you are a member at TFGamesSite then you can PM me instead and I should be able to reply within 12 hours in most cases.

It's the little things

I had two hours to myself today, didn't feel like getting into anything major because of the strict time limit so instead I worked some more on the magnifying glass replacing 50 or so of the generic "you found nothing unusual or interesting" with object specific messages. It won't impact on the game or make the magnifying glass any more useful but if are the sort of person who examines and inspects every room and object in the game then it should make your experience a little more entertaining and rewarding. Most inventory items and furniture around your office now have such messages associated with them and I will continue to add more of these when I have small gaps of free time and nothing else to do, it won't interfere with standard productivity I promise. Speaking of which, I have to go into the job centre on Tuesday so I will have less time to work on Redus then. Not a big thing but I thought I might share. This is Tim with TEDB, signing off for the night.

Not sure if good thing...

Ooh aah, just a little bit

Not much done today as I had guests, mostly just bug fixing including one curious little blighter that kept ignoring the current room group and assuming it was instead in all of the room groups at once which led to several problems. I also moved around a few exits that I disliked the placement of. General things like that. I should be able to crack on with a decent amount of work next week but once again the weekend is looking fully booked up. The game file is now up to 71MB and this is looking to be the biggest update yet, not only in terms of size but the number of little tweaks and improvements is adding up and once I have the new transformation system complete I can begin adding more of the promised new content. I may have something to show around christmas or new years but if not 0.4 will almost certainly be ready by February. 0.5 won't take nearly as long, even if I don't get a new place by then as it will mostly be endings and bulking out existing content.

I wish I could just tidy up what I have now just so I could let people play around with some of the new features but with so many core mechanics being changed there is a lot of work ahead just to make the current version playable. Trust me though, it will be worth the wait when it is done.

The trees are moving!

That's the forest done, there's nothing to do there yet except explore, I will add a few things to do soon but all 45 rooms are created each with their own image and description. I have the layout of the forest sorted as well, it will take a few runs to ensure I didn't make any stupid mistakes but assuming I didn't all should be well. I just hope it doesn't have a significant impact on loading times. My testing has suggested not but every computer is different so I won't know until post release. I will not be releasing my map of the forest, if anyone wants to make one when it comes out they are free to do so but I would rather folks experience the location with a sense of exploration.

I've reduced the image sizes and quality as much as I dare but the game file size will increase significantly as a result of this addition. I apologize if this is an inconvenience to anyone.

The Road Goes Ever On And On

A fair amount of progress today, not what I wanted to get done as I got very much sidetracked but I had fun doing it and that's what matters right? Right? Please agree with me! Well anyway, I've tweaked the magnifying glass a little, changed a few things around the office including preventing a game-breaking sequence from taking place by adding another secret ending. Then I found some pictures and began work on a new area: The Forest. It won't play a big role in the game and won't have any significant impact on the story but it was a joy to work on (I'm about quarter way done with it after just a couple of hours but now that I'm into the rhythm of it the rest should be even quicker).

So why create the Forest if it serves little purpose? Well I intend for a number of locations to be revisited in later games and thought it might be a good idea to let players learn the layout now so they know what to expect, it is a bit of a maze in there so if you can learn your way around now it will help in the future. Plus I wanted to begin work on some Golden Star rewards and thought this would be a good place for it since it will be accessible in later games. I may also add a few hidden treasures in there if I have time as well but I haven't decided what yet. I will be splitting my time over the next few days between this and the character reactions so that I have something else to work on if I get bored. Otherwise I would just end up back on Terraria.

Everyday I'm Shovelling

Sorry, no work today. Terraria just got 200% more awesomesauce so I couldn't stand idly by hearing how much everyone else is loving the new additions. I had to play it, I had no choice. I'll try and get some work done tomorrow though.