Pandemonium Development

That’s right, Prototype 5-3 is now going out to patrons! Check the Prototype 5 downloads page (or your patreon inbox if you haven’t done this before) to get it, and enjoy all the hard work.

If you’re not a Patron, now’s your chance! The prototype will be released to the public on November 31st, 2018.

Note for OSX Users: Due to the recent release of Mojave, the XCode toolchain is borked and attempting to fix it tells me the software is not available on the Apple servers. It’s probably a small fix, but for the time being I don’t have an OSX release. I will patch one and release it as soon as I figure out what’s wrong. I am not the only one having this problem either, so hopefully someone else figures out a workaround that doesn’t involve Apple’s poor third-party support.

Note for Linux Users: The version provided has an executable, PandemoniumLinux, which should run. This is a 64-bit executable and will probably not work on 32-bit systems.
You can also try building it yourself, here’s a guide!

If you’re a Linux user and cannot run the executable straight out, try running it via the console:
1: Open a console, navigate to your Pandemonium install
2: type “./PandemoniumLinux” to run the program.
3: If you’re a more experience Linux developer, please let me know how I can fix this in the future so it runs with a double-click. I’m not an expert on this stuff.

As per usual, please SPOILER your bug reports on the forums. We also now have a public-visibility bug tracker on Trello. You can also join the Discord to give feedback and receive help quicker, the regulars will probably set you straight.

Other Stuff

DrDissonance has completed what I needed of the soundtrack, and it will be patched into the next non-bugfix release of Prototype 5-3. We will also be featuring a guest-post by him later (next week?) about his development process.

 

 

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Programming Stuff

I have nine days to code a bunch of variations on boss battles and a few cutscenes. I also have several other minor updates and bugfixes I want to get in. I wonder if nine days will be enough.

FIND OUT.

Artistic Stuff

The requisite concept art was pretty low for this release. Chicken thinks she can get two more transformations arted, those being Steam Droid and Darkmatter. Urimas has a few more sprites to make, otherwise we’re good to go.

Release Date

I’ll be releasing the prototype on the 31st in the most spooky manner possible: By just sort of releasing it. Mundane, and therefore terrifying!

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Budget Stuff

The October budget report is up for anyone who finds themselves curious about what I spend your money on. Hint: Art.

Programming Stuff

I am working my way towards the grand finale. I didn’t get everything I wanted into this prototype, but I got enough done to keep you busy until the rest comes out.

There’s going to be some tactical espionage action in this update. Which is to say, there’s a little combat, but it’s mostly talking and examining stuff. Different from the usual Pandemonium fare. This is possibly to make up for the fact that the part after the Gala is heavily combat oriented.

Artistic Exercises

Chickenwhite has finished the design for Raiju Christine, and patrons get to see her today! Hund has completed all his tasks for this prototype. Urimas is working on a few upgrades but is otherwise almost done. It’s all down to me.

The bad news is that Koops is unlikely to finish all her assigned art for the prototype. I will still be releasing an early version of Doll Manor to patrons, but the art will have a bunch of placeholders (stolen from Chambers of Pandemonium!) in it.

Everything Else

MarioneTTe has finished the slime story (pending edits) and will be working on the cultist story next. He also wants to finish the next story (possibly bee?) before we open it up to patrons for voting, which will take place in early November.

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There’s more than the usual number of 8’s in the date, so I can’t w8.

It is also Canadian Thanksgiving today, which means nothing to a lonely person like me.

The Let’s Play

So I tricked the sucker artists into doing a 2-hour Let’s Play of Chapter 1. They did this a while ago but I forgot to mention it last week.

If you want to listen to Koops, Chickenwhite, and Stinkehund both play the game and talk about some of the artistic decisions behind it, as well as listen to Koops try to voice act some of the lines, here you go:

Content Warning: Extremely German.

The Coding

I wrote the same cutscene 16 times.

No really, 16 times. This is because the next section of the story is a point-of-no-return sequence and it takes place at about the halfway point of Chapter 5. Which means that what you’ve seen so far is about half of Chapter 5’s story content.

After this point in the story, the sidequests you did in the first part start to affect the main story more heavily. And because there are four major subsections (Equinox, Electrosprites, Serenity, and Tellurium Mines), there are therefore 16 combinations. Each of them is unique, some have more in common with others, and the last one is totally different than all that came before it.

I’m now working on the maps I’ll need for this section, and then all the NPCs and scripting and whatnot. My objective for Prototype 5-3 was to have the next two areas completed, and I will probably start on getting the third area done but dummy it out for the prototype. I will spend the back half of the month testing and fixing bugs.

The Art

Chicken is back to full production after her illness. Stinkehund has completed all of the re-inking, though it will be some time before we get around to normalizing the shading. I’m psyched. Urimas is currently getting me sprites for the upcoming Sunrise Gala.

The Music

DrDissonance has completed prototypes of all the music, and is putting finishing touches on it. It will definitely be completed for Prototype 5-3.

The Stories

MarioneTTe has written most of the slime-based story that is planned for October and has started planning for the other story, which I am informed will feature cultists. But, like, sexy cultists. Probably.
Suffice is to say that the canon between the stories and the game will not align 100%, since the two mediums are not the same and tell stories differently. Consider it to be an adaptation.

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Programming Stuff

The Linux Build has been completed! That’s right, I spent some time installing Linux Mint, and then built Pandemonium on Linux. Thus Prototype 5-3 will have a Linux build when it comes out.

Not only that, I wrote a guide on how to compile it on your own Linux distribution in case yours can’t handle it. This will be released alongside Prototype 5-3.

Otherwise I’ve been writing cutscenes and dialogue.

But Wait, There’s More!

Another announcement this week is that you will be able to keep and use the Zom-forms! Right now this only refers to the Zombee form from Chapter 1. This likely won’t make it into Prototype 5-3 since it will require a lot of extra coding and I don’t know if I’ll have time for it considering how far I have to go, but if I have a few days towards the end I’ll try to cram it in.

Essentially, the Zombee form acts as a super-form usable during combat. Character damage increases by 100% and damage taken decreases by 25% for 3 turns when activated, and the form has a 10-kill cooldown (all number subject to change). But, using this form causes Mei to start to hear… voices… and new cutscenes and dialogue options may present themselves.

But Wait, There’s More!

Because I spent several days last week working on contract, Pairanormal is almost ready for release barring a bit of testing. Well, I’m going to try to get a free copy for all patrons to be released whenever Chic allows it. It’s not a transformation game but I did build the whole thing so that has to count for something.

But Wait, There’s More!

Are you a 5$ Patron? Well, notable editor and madman MarioneTTe has volunteered to write some transformation fiction which will be available for download! The stories are going to be published on Amazon for e-readers and will be purchased for a couple bucks each, while 5$ patrons for a given month receive free copies. MarioneTTe receives 50% of the proceeds while the other 50% go to the team’s development budget.

This is intended to be a proof-of-concept project. MarioneTTe wants to get back into writing smut and I’ve been trying to get him to write transformation smut for a while, so this is a nice way to get you guys even more content. If there’s enough interest this will continue into the future.

The first story has already reached draft phase and stars Mei and a voluptuous slime girl. We’re still researching the specifics on how to deploy this work so stay tuned.

But Wait, There’s More!

Actually there isn’t more. DrDiss sent us a new version of the boss theme, Chicken made some dresses, Urimas made some sprites, and Hund finalized the dialogue emotions with inking and shading.

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Programming Stuff

This week, I got some contract work for the Pairanormal project. The proceeds from this project should basically pay for the upcoming soundtrack, meaning that work I do on it technically counts as Pandemonium work. Sort of.

On a different note, I’m partway through the cutscenes for the next segment, but there’s lots to go. The segment of Chapter 5 after the LRT has some cutscenes, character building, and a brief combat section. I expect I’ll be done the contract work later this week (probably Wednesday) and then I’ll be trying to clear the cutscene work and get to the combat section by the end of the week.

Artistry

Artist Chickenwhite has gotten us the dress designs we CRAVE and will be getting us the special designs, as well as Raiju Christine, this week. The basic dialogue emotion work is complete, and I’m going to be sending her onto as much TF-sequence work afterwards as we can get done in October.

Hund believes he can get all the ink reworks done by the end of October and I think he’s got what it takes. Patrons have already seen how much better they look, it’s astounding. Last count he said there were 15 to go.

Urimas continues to exist. Spritework is up to date.

DrDiss has sent me a second batch of music for Sophie’s themes and a boss theme. It’s good stuff and I honestly don’t know if it will be ready for 5-3, but here’s hoping.

Other

There will be a relatively big announcement next week, which I would announce right now but I’m currently talking the specifics out with the team. Folks on the Discord have already heard the preliminary bits. Stay tuned!

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Programming Stuff

Not much fun stuff to report this week, since it’s all “Wrote a disgusting amount of dialogue and examination text.” As in, over 1000 lines of the stuff. It’s huge and it’s mentally draining, but it’s in and I’m proud of most of it.

Art Stuff

Very good news on the art front: The extra work that artist Chickenwhite was being forced to do is now over’d. No more of that. Back to real work (drawing monster girls).

Stinkehund has about 15 re-inks to go before he’s caught up, and I’ve sent him some more map work to do. Urimas has completed all the needed tiles and is going to move on to the Christine sprites and some other miscellaneous sprites.

DrDiss has been improving his craft and Serenity Crater now sounds really spooky. He’s having way too much fun with creepy themes.

All in all, this week is a “We’re just making the game” week. Nothing amazing to report.

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Programming Stuff

Good news: The electrosprite sidequest is now completed (barring a few lingering spelling errors) and has passed its first round of tests.

I am honestly not 100% satisfied with it, I think the quest needs more ‘meat’, but this will suffice for Prototype 5-3. Presently, there is one ‘level’ to the Text Adventure, and upon completing it, the sidequest is basically over. Short and sweet. I intend to add one or possibly two additional levels to make the quest flow a bit better, but that will have to be post 5-3 and based on player feedback.

Otherwise I am now working on the next area of the main quest. However, I doubt we’re going to make the September deadline for Prototype 5-3 because of art stuff.

Art Stuff

So we have bad news on two fronts. First, concept artist Koops badly burned her hand and has lost several art days as a result. I expect a full recovery soon enough, but that puts us behind schedule.

Second, artist Chickenwhite both suffered from wisdom tooth removal, putting her in a lot of pain until she got them pulled yesterday, and had to deal with problems with her employment. Let’s just say her employers had effectively quadrupled her workload and she’s only been doing art on the weekends. This is expected to end in the next week, but once again, our art is way behind where we had expected.

On the bright side, Stinkehund estimates he will have all the extra inkwork done by the end of September and will be able to finish all the maps we need for Chapter 5 as well.

Urimas, as per usual, is just doing tiles and sprites. He, somehow, is always on the ball.

DrDissonance is making music because that’s his job.

Because of the problems with the art, I am tentatively moving Prototype 5-3 back to October. This gives me some extra time to polish up the scenario work or to do extra testing, so it’s not all bad, but I’m still not happy with the delays.

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Programming Stuff

Not as much progress as I’d normally like this week. Got bogged down in family stuff. Instead of simply play with an adorable dog the entire time, I decided to write 15 pages of dialogue between 55 and Christine. I’ve also finished the scenario work needed for the Electrosprite subquest, but haven’t tested it yet. That will be done by Wednesday and hopefully everything goes perfectly on the first test with no bugs whatsoever.

Art

I have all the tiles I need for one of the two areas being developed for 5-3, and Urimas has been given the assignment to get me the other set. Koops has done more concepting work, while Chicken was largely indisposed this week. Hund will be making the map stuff later this week once he finishes some re-inking.

Music Stuff

DrDiss just sent the next wave of musics, and patrons even get to hear some of it in the bonus stuff this week.

 

This week is largely keepin’ on. At the current rate I think completing 5-3 by the end of September is doable, but I’m not going to be releasing it if it’s not been tested at least somewhat. So, watch out.

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Programming Stuff

This week, I finished all the engine coding I’ll need for Text Adventure mode! This includes what I’ll need for the Doll Manor and the Chapter 5 quest.

This system is meant to be much closer to the older Inform style but with a lot of improvements. Unlike the Classic Mode remake, this one is designed by me from the ground up and is not meant to emulate anything, so I could make it far smoother than Classic Mode while still keeping the text parser attributes.

This version is using the old graphics because the concepts made by Koops haven’t been inked yet.

With all of this done I can start on the final part of the Electrosprite subquest, as well as finishing the second half of the Doll Manor’s scenario. The first part is complete but not robust and hasn’t been extensively tested.

Art Stuff

Urimas is also finally done the other Christine form sprites and has moved on to tiles so I can get what I need for the next parts of Chapter 5’s story.

Chicken is about halfway done the dialogue portraits for 55, and should have both her and Sophie’s done this week. There are a few more portraits after that before I send her on to the rest of the forms for Chapter 5.

Hund re-did the inkwork for everything in Chapter 5 and is redoing Chapter 1’s to normalize everything. It will be subtle but everything will look more cohesive once he’s done it all.

There will also be free bonus stuff on the Patreon this week since Chicken is a real weirdo and drew a leech girl.

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