Remaster Progress Update: Arc 5.1 is done!

FIRST OFF AS ALWAYS, HAVE YOU WISHLISTED OUR WONDERLAND ON STEAM YET????

It's getting close to 900 wishlists! Although I feel like I'm starting to reach a plateau LOL I only have so many outlets for trying to get the word out and not only am I getting Tired And Spent from daily updates on 50 gajillion platforms but nothing I try seems as effective anymore for trying to gather interest, most likely because I just don't really have any more outlets as a small solo dev with zero connections and a niche narrative game with a weird art style. I already got ghosted by literally every press I reached out to and trying in larger communities outside of narrative-focused spheres only gets me downvotes (and people telling me to off myself LOL). Ahhhhh... alas. Well, I keep trying. I'm hopeful I can at least get into one festival or something (even though the one I was really hoping for I got rejected from because Steam didn't approve my game page in time because they made me get the whole build approved... hashtag depression)

At any rate, it would mean a lot if you'd help me share and get the word out, too! The dev struggle is real el oh el.

And now on to the progress!!

As you can see in the title of this post, I have finished up through Arc 5.1. What is 5.1? Well, if you were around when the game was still in active initial production, you'll remember that I divided Arc 5 up up into 3 parts because the thing became so goshdarn long. And each of those 3 parts is around the same length and amount of work that went into each of the prior individual arcs. So they're pretty hefty! The first third of Arc 5 goes up through Gidget's part, the second third goes up through Orlam's part, and the finale is everything starting from the cabin to the end. Arc 5.1 is the first third!

What new challenges awaited me in this fabled first third?

Sprite Work

The Iggy sprite, ofc, makes up the bulk of the work. And he had a couple of new variations I had to make this time around. One of which being one of my favorites in a very self-indulgent way...

AhhhHHHHhhhHHHHHH he looks soooooooo sweeeeeeet... ;-----;

I really love the extra emotion and immersive his sprite brings to this scene. I think having the sprite just really adds so much, especially to important convos. And I've always loved this scene in general. When I first wrote it, I wasn't planning to write half the stuff that happened, it kinda just... happened. Like I started writing the conversation and they both just took it away from me and it got all intense without my even meaning it to. It feels very raw to me for that reason. Anyway, seeing Iggy's cute sprite makes me really happy.

Aaaaaand I also had to give me a bandage that he'll wear for the rest of Arc 5:

Though all in all, there wasn't a whole lot of new stuff I had to make for the sprite (besides some new expressions every once in a while).

There wasn't a whole lot regarding other sprites either. I had already done Genzou's new sprites for the apartment scene way back when, so that was already done. And none of the other sprites needed to be completely redone, it was mostly only small tweaks. Like adding some eye positioning, maybe redrawing a nose or two, and of course the basic size and positioning tweaks that I do as I work through the script.

For instance, you can see in this screenshot how the size tweaks make Genzou look even smaller now in this scene LOL But also that I gave Gidget's Arc 5 sprite some different eye positions, because it helps a lot with immersion when they're actually looking at the right character when they're speaking LOL I've done a lot of that throughout the whole game, basically just touching up stuff like that to help scenes feel better, as in the original game, I almost never moved the eyes except for a few specific places it was absolutely necessary. I think it'll come across a lot better in the remaster when it comes to multiple characters and where they're looking or placed (or sized).

The Iggy sprite also adds a lot during some of the more intense action scenes, too, I feel. Although it was sometimes very manual and painstaking to animate all his movements and coming and going and to make sure everything melds well with the current animations and movements already in each scene.

CG Work

CG-wise, it was as I thought -- Arc 5 requires a lot less work! Which I'm incredibly thankful for. It's part of the reason why I'm getting through it a lot faster, too. Arcs 1 and 2 notwithstanding, even Arcs 3 and 4 still took me more time when it came to CGs, as I still ended up redrawing a few completely from scratch, drawing a few new ones, and doing more thorough tweaks. With Arc 5 though, I haven't needed to completely redraw any because the foundation of each CG has been pretty much fine. That's not to say I'm not doing anything, because I still do a lot of tweaks and updates. It's mostly the faces, as I mentioned -- the way I draw faces has just changed a bit over the years, particularly with the eyes and noses. And so even some of the Arc 5 CGs look a bit weird to me in that regard. So I've still been doing quite a bit of that, either redrawing faces completely or at least redrawing a nose or tweaking the eyes.

In this CG, for instance, Genzou got his nose and mouth redrawn and I tweaked his eyes a bit. It was already a very cute CG and one of my favorites, but the tweaks make it even cuter SOB

In this one, I completely redrew both of their faces and bangs. What I do is I just make a layer over the top and fill it in completely over the entire front of the face and then just redraw it from scratch on top LOL Iggy in particular sometimes would have some wonky bang stuff going on that would make the rest of his face look weird. And with Genzou, I've changed the way I draw his bangs over the top of his hat (plus the little devil horn pieces LMAO), so I often need to redraw that part even if I don't do much else.

I also redrew Gidget's face here, although thankfully, I now don't need to tweak their hair constantly anymore! LOL Gidget's pre-Arc 5 sprite and the majority of the pre-Arc 5 CGs all had very inconsistent hair that doesn't match how I draw it now. But it was in Arc 5 that I finally settled down on the hairstyle I wanted for them, so from now on, I shouldn't need to tweak much about their hair at all hahaha.

Realizing I just said I didn't redraw any CGs. Actually this was a bald-faced lie, I apologize LOL Because I did in fact actually redraw 3 CGs. But it wasn't because I thought they were really bad and thus required it -- it was because the composition of one of the CGs didn't work anymore. Let me explain.

This is the CG in question:

It's from the "flashes of memory" scene when Iggy's falling down the rabbit hole, and there's one for each of the LIs, but this is the particular one that doesn't work anymore. Why?

Because I drew this to be a different perspective of the Arc 2 scene. But now, I have redrawn all of Arc 2's CGs using this perspective already:

Not only that, but I changed the Arc 2 scene slightly so that Genzou isn't wearing his hat and has his coat open LOL Soooooo... this Arc 5 CG now doesn't work at all.

But while thinking about it, I couldn't figure out the best way to go with it. And also, I didn't want to only update that one CG when there were the two others, as well. Especially if I went in a completely new direction.

THUS! I decided to just redraw all three of those CGs. However, I went in a new direction with them -- they're a lot more hazy and vague and dream-like now, which I feel is more fitting, as they're just supposed to be random flashes of memories and feelings floating through Iggy's head. But I think they turned out quite nice and fit the scene well. I also feel like I want to do something more with the Iggy falling CG depending on what "choice" you make during that scene. I'm still thinking about it, but I have an idea... so we'll see. Mostly just I think it would be rather cute and add a bit more of a little something based on which choice you end up making.

Anyway, I won't spoil any of that here as I think it'll be fun to experience new once it comes out, but I did want to mention it as something I worked on!

Other Random Stuff

What else hmmm... I did update one song in Arc 5.1! Only because I found the perfect replacement for it that I couldn't resist -- as it's actually a different version of a song from a previous arc, so it just feels too perfect as a symbolic callback. I won't say anything more and you'll have to see if you notice it as you play teehee.

I also updated the Arc 5 menu screen! I'm extremely proud of this, I'll be honest.

I knew that I wanted to redo the Arc 5 menu, mostly because I felt like all five of them needed a good number of tweaks even if I did leave it the same, but also I felt like there were a few things off about it to begin with in regards to the sizing and everything. So in the end, I decided to just completely redo it. And since I've been low-key obsessed with their card motifs lately, I thought what the hey, I'll give it a go! So I designed some cards!

Really really happy with how they turned out. It was a bit tricky, and I had to study a variety of different card designs. The mirror-esque effect of the face cards in particular was a challenge. But I absolutely love them. Our Wonderland card deck merch when????? I ask as if I have any capability to make merch LOL but sob wouldn't that be lovely...

Just like in the previous version of the Arc 5 menu, this one will also update with each character after you play their part. The cards will be upside down until you unlock them and finally form the complete party hahaha. But it feels really neat and special now for the final arc of the game and I'm really jazzed about how it turned out. YEAH. I may add the cards to their character bios too (unlockable after you get them in the menu perhaps). We'll see.

Aaaaaaaand that's about it, I think!

I've already continued a bit further actually into Arc 5.15 and the chaotic mess that is the tomatoes. But that is the current plan, just keep working through it. And then once the entirety of Arc 5 is done, work on the after stories and the rest of the Steam features (I'll need to draw the little Steam achievement icons, for instance, and finish the rest of the achievement code).

The next few weeks will be a bit slower as I'll be in China staying with my partner's family. I'll still have my laptop and tablet and we'll have plenty of downtime as we really kind of just hang out and chill. So I'll continue to plug away at Arc 5 and may also start working on writing the after stories since that's something I'll just be doing on my phone. Would be nice if I could at least finish up the bulk of the Arc 5 stuff by the time I'm back and then just be able to focus on the after stories. We'll see though! Either way the progress is still going well and I'm getting more and more excited thinking about the fact that people will be able to play the complete remaster soon!

Thanks as always for supporting me through these tumultuous times. My anxiety still completely debilitates me somedays but I'm trying my best and using my renewed hope and motivation to keep me moving forward! It means so much to me that I have so many people supporting me and excited about the release!

As always, I will end with a little art piece to sign off. Cheers!