Android port and some other stuff.... (Patreon)

Android apk GoogleDrive: 1.4GB  

Android apk Mega link 1.4GB  

Android Port

 I initially wanted a smaller file size for Android(less than 1 GB) but ended up with 1.4GB. Android has a limit on APK sizes of 2GB,(it will attempt to install ones that are larger and say that it's invalid) so I really wanted to squeeze the Android version smaller but decided against that at the last minute. So just keep in mind, when another update arrives in the future that the images here will be squeezed further. It's not really noticeable unless you stare at it long enough...The RenPy creator, PyTom has expressed the 2GB limit is a pain-point for Android that he's trying to make a solution for.

This one is not very different from the recent releases for PC and Mac, but it does contain even more WIP stuff, the most noticeable one being the icons in the in-game navigation bar have been changed again(seen in the video below), this time I'm opting for a cleaner look with no colors for the icons. You'll also see a WIP Relationships screen which I'm building right now(More on this below with the video). As with the PC and Mac versions, the entire navigation bar on the top left that contains the Inventory, THreads, Character Screen(which shows the Relationship screen for now) and the Relationship screen are all not yet functional. You can click and view them but I haven't completed these for this release, They're almost done, though.

It also includes a different font for the speech bubbles which I've included for readability purposes. My plan was supposed to include user-selected fonts from different choices but I can't get it to work with Renpy styles yet so I changed the default font directly. I'll figure out how to do this and include it later. The issue now is that when I tested the game on my android phone, the text might be too small. For anyone who'll test this, let me know if it's too small.

Live2D test in renpy (Youtube Video)

Live2D stuff

I've been experimenting with Live2D and getting it into RenPy. RenPY has extensive support for it and I'm really banging my head right now for not having explored it sooner. See video above for an attempt of this and the end result being in RenPy itself.

I've learned so much on Live2D the past 2 weeks. It's very lightweight. In the sample above, there's one texture sheet that is 4mb(uncompressed) and any animation will add a mere ~10kb to the file. It's astoundingly small for what it adds. Furthermore, it's not heavy on performance either. The reason this sprite test with Lance in the video is included in this android release is because I was testing it out on my relatively mid-range and older phone(Samsung A12 from 2020) and it ran smoothly with no issues whatsoever. (If you're going test this on your phone, let me know if that portion in the video above is laggy for you.) My guess is if your phone can run any modern 3d app/game, this should be no issue. There's a lot more about Live2D that I want to discuss at another time but right now, I'm thinking of redoing that interactive sex scene with videos into live2D instead and allow player input for even more immersion during the action itself instead of just choosing what to do next. It's quite powerful and I'm really at 50/50 with the per-renderred video clip performance for now. We'll see.

September Folder with all the images above -Googledrive

The gallery above contains images which you can also download at the link from googledrive. The renders of the guys in the clouds including ones you have yet to meet was for a new banner I'm making to be used on different sites like here on patreon(I'd like to make a new one every now and then). 

I also included some very early sneak peek of chapter3 in 2 images (the very first 2 you see above). That's a new character named Eula (I know it might make you think of End User License Agreement, but "Eula" had been a popular name where I'm from and I think it's very beautiful. Anyway, she's stand offish and very smart, she thinks the MC is full of shit but she's still an optional romance if your MC is Devin.

The very first image is my testing of toon shaders to create a cartoon look. The end result above still needs work, but I'm pleased with where it's headed. I needed to paint on top of it, though. This is for chapter3 so I've left it in the back-burner for now since I haven't even finished chapter2. I just needed to make  a prototype to see what it looks like. The character icons in the relationships screen you see in the video above of the Live2D test are with the cartoon shaders.. I like the feel of it. It's often nice to see a variety of styles- especially 2D art paired with 3d in video games. You see this a lot in games like Persona, Dragon Age, and other Rpgs. Mine still needs polish, though, and I haven't really painted them because I haven't painted anything in months. 

Patreon and Itch.io

I was recently informed that you can link your Patreon account to itch and you can own the stuff here if I add them there as early access. I wanted to do this as it also makes it easier to download the game via their servers instead of from googledrive which has some limits set for number of downloads for a set amount of time. The hiccup, though, was that Itch limits file uploads to 2GB which this update(pc and mac) are over that limit. They said you can reach out to them if you need bigger file sizes and I've done that but have not gotten a reply back. I also don't want to make a smaller size for itch exclusively for patrons since that's already what this is. But another solution is to link to an external site which I'd keep as a last choice if nothing comes out of my contact with them. I'll keep yo guys posted.

Anyway, see you all soon. The next update should be the full implementation of the Threads, Inventory, Character, and Relationship screens, as well as a few side quests and big fixes.