Amber development

[BobTheMob]

One more thing (sorry! )--that scroll @ the top-right: what is that?

I don't recall seeing it before.

[jack1974]

It's the "status screen", you can see all the recipes you know, and the inventory. In the other screen is not shown because the status screen is open (so hides it).
I thought was better if players could quickly access their recipes/inventory from anywhere in the game (except during the VN scenes). So you know which ingredients to buy, and so on.

[pahldus]

Good idea. I am getting old and hate having to constantly go back and re-do things because I can't remember or having to write things down so I have them handy when I get to the screen I want. So being able to easily flip back and forth will be a big bonus.

[jack1974]

Shops/vendors added!!
Typical dialogue in a market of Icesilia:
Merchant: "Hello dear customer. Looking to buy something?"
Amber: "Yes I'd like a few ghosts ectoplasms please"

I mean, I just wrote the code and they seem to work. Now I only have to do:
- actually implement the buying/selling buttons!
- test each shop/vendor
- implement prices randomization a bit
- implement seasonal/random events
- restock the items
and probably a few other things I'm missing. But still, another milestone!

[jack1974]

Ah before you ask, the "zeros" are because the shop doesn't have those items, but the player does. I need to implement that thing differently. In the prototype, Anima put below each item the player quantity and the shop quantity. I might use that system too, need to check the layout etc but seems a good solution

[jack1974]

OK today resumed scripting the scenes. I have around 68-70 in total, so with an average of 3-4 scenes a day, I should be done around Christmas. Then I'll resume coding the gameplay part, and with the scenes 100% scripted/tested I also can add them in the right "spots" (dates) of the story.
After that probably will need to check the various conditions, and also design the various recipes needed for the story (each character will ask Amber to craft something). Then at last, test the various endings, gallery, etc.
I'd say that probably around end of February everything should be done for the beta, but of course it's just a long-term prediction so not 100% accurate

[jack1974]

Thought to update on development. As you know if you followed / read the other threads, Aleema is scripting the game now, however the story is being reviewed/edited, so not all the romance path are available to script (currently 3-4 are still missing I think).
I am focusing on the shop-builder mini/meta game. The art is being made (there are some rooms ready) but the rooms are very detailed. Artist said he should be finished by mid-February.
Then there are the bonus pin-up CGs. So far only 2 out of 13 are colored, but believe me ARE TOTALLY WORTH THE WAIT! they'll be the best pictures to ever appear in any of my games (you'll see!).
What does this means? haha, that in practice there's still quite a lot of work to do, so the beta could still happen in Q1, but I don't think before March I'll do my best of course but if I need to wait for text/art, it's not like I can do much to speed up those things

[jack1974]

All right, I checked with writer and there are 3 scripts left to edit/proofread (Lynn, Lair and the main route). Once she sends to me they will need to be scripted by Aleema. Meanwhile I resumed working on the shop builder, since I have enough art now (all the walls/roofs/underground walls) and I can use temporary placeholder for the remaining unfinished rooms.
The biggest challenge is to find the right size for everything! I am allowing zooming in/out, since the rooms are made at super high resolution.

the black guy shadow is a spirit that will haunt Amber forever! joking, it's just an image artist is using to draw the items/keep proportions but has become a sort of a joke with some people on twitter

Also you see different room types, however I don't think I'll keep them, since some of them don't match well with the items in the foreground (they're drawn separately).

[BobTheMob]

Ya should use this for a future game, Jack; maybe a suspenseful horror-based thing. Could be really cool!!!

[jack1974]

I'm doing the test with the "real size" now. The shop can be 6x4 in dimensions, a very BIG building. I spoke with Tom (the Ren'Py developer) about the resource usage, I think the game (well, the shop builder part) might not work at all on some mobile devices because uses too much video memory. Anyway I'll make some tests once I have all the rooms finished, but I definitely don't want to sacrifice any features of the game to make it work properly on mobile. It will work fine of course in "VN Mode"
This is a view of the real thing in photoshop:

with some more rooms finished like Forge, Magic Cave, Store room

The size is 5950x3675px !! I'm using all the tricks I know in Ren'Py to make it use less resources, but... it's tough!