Hello! My goal is to focus on finishing After-Party Chemistry, so it will be one of two major projects I'll be focusing on. I took the month of October to settle in to a new routine. Not quite settled yet, but I'm taking my time. Anyway, here's an update!

WRITING

I definitely find writing to be the most challenging part of story creation. I don't think I'm very strong at writing novels, but then again, I've never really tried before. I've mostly written short stories and stuff in the past. Never anything as ambitious as this... But I'd like to try anyway. It's all a learning process.

Last month, I focused on rewriting some of Sidney's scenes. This month, my focus was Basil. I've rewritten several character interactions with him, but I'm still struggling to make everything consistent with events that occur outside of his character's specific route. I've rewritten the outline of his route a few times so that MC and Basil's character development is smoother and flows better. We'll see if I succeed at doing that though LOL.

I've also outlined Kagami's route, but I'm not quite happy about how it flows right now. I'll continue working on it. Kagami's route is very different from Basil or Sidney's routes, but I hope you'll enjoy it!

CODING

I usually program the sprites and transitions and stuff as I write because I write the script and dialogue directly in Ren'Py. This part of the process can be tedious, but it must be done in order to see everything onscreen together. c':

ART

This month, I've been continuing my work of updating old sprite art! The sprite art in Demo v.2.0 was drawn back in 2013(?). I felt it was time to give them a new look since I don't really jive with how they look anymore.

This is Carson, Sidney's best friend since childhood. When I first drew him, I wanted to downplay his handsome-ness so Sid could stand out as a love interest. We're throwing that idea out the window. Carson is a pretty boy who has his own skincare routine. He deserves to look handsome and beautiful like the blossoming kpop idol he is.

I've also worked on Matt, Lily, and Jake this past month. There's a few more sprites that'll need touch-ups: Sidney's other friends, Keahu and Chase, and the rest of Basil's math team, Sam and Thomas.

I've also been updating some CGs, updating the Title Screen art, and adding more small art assets.

CLOSING

I hope to release Demo v.3.0 soon! If you've played Demo v.2.0, I've certainly changed a lot since then, so Demo v.3.0 would be a very different experience of the game. If you haven't played yet, I'd strongly encourage you to wait for Demo v.3.0 since it's closer to what I imagined the game to be.

Thanks for reading this far! I'm excited to continue working on this project! If you'd like to receive updates like this about APC earlier along with more art WIPs/previews, illustrations, and behind-the-scenes stuff, consider supporting me on Patreon! 

Here's the link to this update for patrons! 

https://www.patreon.com/posts/apc-devlog-1-56926582?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&ut...

Mahalo nui loa,

Ari