Hi there, travelers! It has, uh...been a while, hasn't it?

So, why so silent, developer? Well, I'll tell ya! I've been sort of taking on-and-off breaks from development. Turns out, burnout is something easily accessible if you just work on making games and literally nothing else, so I've been taking some breaks here and there to do other things!

First off, I'm now a Walmart+ Champion, which means I'm one of the heads of advertisement and public relations when it comes to our Walmart's prime program "Walmart+", so I've been focused on that for the company along with being one of the front-end staff members for Customer Service.

Second, I'm a streamer (twitch.tv/officialbowtieartist), so I've got content to not only make but also edit! Fun fact...the editing is backlogged from JUNE OF 2021!

And third...just living life, you know?

ANYWAYS, you're here for the juicy stuff, right? So let's get into it!

The Road to 1.9.7 Continues

As some of you might know, I have a Trello that is updated almost the second I make a new change in the game's development. From bugs to tweaking menus, to story content to new enemies, that's where you want to go for your constant up-to-date content.

Trello Link: https://trello.com/b/W51j90Zy/dawn-of-the-new-hour-progress

Let's see...when was the last time I mentioned anything on here...July? Hoo-boy!

So what's happened between then and now?

• New shops
• Added a base lottery code
• Added the Tournament system fully into the demo
• The "Final Report" can now be read in the Gateway
• Added a taxi system to a new location
• New sfx, new music, new bgs too
• Updated some tilesets
• Updated some of the old menu files for transportation
• FINALLY changed the size of the battle log
• Finally added the ability to rest in Carrasco
• Reworked SO many locations
• Much more dialogue
• New scenes
• A new quest is included
• Added a way to rest in the Gateway
• Updated the "face" files
• Added a new Chapter End screen, which rewards the player with a Chapter Bonus
• AND SO MUCH MORE

Alright, that's all well and done. What about bug fixes?

Fixed an issue where...

• ...talking to the Carrasco Chicken would give you max units/BP.
• ...an NPC would block the walkway on J and 11th.
• ...notification timing was off in some locations.
• ...some door events were having issues.
• ...the player was moving out of bounds by entering the elevator on the third floor.
• ,,,the speaking character's face didn't show up. Er...the ones that actually HAVE faces.
• ...butter was a drop in the forest. Last time we checked, butter isn't found on the forest floor.
• ...status icons weren't positioned correctly.
• ...Goldewin brothers past the bridge would accidentally give you all recipes.
• ...playing through some scenes would crash the game.
• ...some choice menus weren't updated.
• ...some sprites were offset incorrectly.
• ...some butterflies were coded as "=1" instead of "+1".
• ...some tileset passibility was set incorrectly.
• ...after-credits scenes didn't play.
• ...last Gateway entrance scene was placed incorrectly.
• ...the tunnels would crash upon exiting.
• ...the cardkey dropped at the lightrail was the WRONG cardkey.
• ...the tournament menu was doubling itself, looping the game into a softlock.
• ...exiting a certain room would transfer you to a room that didn't exist, crashing the game.
• ...certain skills weren't activating at all.
• ...bank withdrawals weren't working properly.
• ...AND MORE.

I can't stress enough how much MORE has been worked on in this update. Please check out the Trello page for the full set of update logs.

(also, seriously, to the people who played 1.9.6, I wasn't aware of just how many bugs there were, expect in-game compensation for it all)

NOW...what's left?

I've been working on replaying the demo for myself to see just what is missing, or crashing, or needs tweaking, and I assure you there's not much left.

So far, what I have to work on is:

• rework the Tunnels dialogues.
• rework the Bookcase scene.
• make sure biography page entries aren't leaving the page
• update all teleport menu graphics (currently 3/5)
• update the New Woodbury textbox
• make a new sound effect for part entry/party exit
• double check all non-updated shading/lighting files, update what hasn't been updated
• change the music for QuikStop
• change the music for Carrasco
• change the music for Luxerion
• add music to the Nathan scene
• change the way the final scene works in the Basement
• add scene screens to Seven's first scene
• let Victoria steal from more enemies
• add ice cream to QuikStop

Now, there's some more stuff here and there, but as you can see, there's not much more to go for! The most time-consuming things on here really are the new music and the lighting/shading levels. I still have to play completely through Carrasco though, so obviously, the to-do list isn't finished, but I've finally hit the moment where I'm checking off more from the list than I am adding to it.

There's one more thing I wanted to say before I end this dev-log, and that's this:

I am dedicated to this. With how slow each update is, it might seem like my heart's not in this, but I assure you, it is. I have a story I want to tell, and while it might take some time, it'll get there. Keep in mind, while I get inspiration and ideas and suggestions from others, I am still a one-man-band. I am the only one getting on this computer and opening up all the different programs to create this. GIMP, Photoshop, WriteItNow, all the Notepad documents, PaintToolSai...I'm the only one here doing this stuff. And I'm not aiming to give you all a half-assed game. I'm aiming to give it all I've got, improve on it over and over until I can release something I am proud of. Between the 40 hour work weeks at Walmart and streaming twelve hours a week, there's not an incredible amount of time to work on this game. But when I can, I sit down, and I put my all into this. 

I hope the finished project will be entertaining. Not triple-A, not Square Enix worthy, this is no Final Fantasy...but I hope it still grabs your attention nonetheless. 

I will see you all very soon, I assure you. Specifically, early next month. Until then, if you haven't downloaded 1.9.6, please hold off until the next update.