Okay, my computer is now up and running again!
There was a problem with my backup drive. I should be able to revert to the last backup "snapshot" it took (on Thursday), but that feature has failed. This means all my data is safe, but I need to now manually update my operating system, rebuild my folders, redownload all my apps, etc.
I'm expecting this to take up most of the weekend, so the next dev day is likely to be Monday. Apologies for the setback.
(One upside is that my computer is run...
2019-10-18 15:13:10 +0000 UTC
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My hard drive crashed. I make regular backups, so this shouldn't be too serious, but - the first backup failed for some reason. 😬
I'm now attempting to restore from an earlier backup. Each attempt takes the computer a few hours, so it's possible my machine will be out of action for part of tomorrow (or longer).
All the really valuable stuff (source code, artwork) is backed up in the cloud anyway, so the worst case scenario is that I will spend time unfucking this situation instead of actually working on the game.
B...
2019-10-16 22:17:57 +0000 UTC
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Hey guys! Today we upgraded the Trello board, and it now supports public voting and comments. Please check it out, and vote for and comment on the features you like. Your feedback will help us understand the goals and priorities of the community.
I plan to keep adding suggestions and planned features to the Trello. My aim is for it to become the definitive "product backlog" for Female Agent.<...
2019-10-16 16:59:01 +0000 UTC
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Another day, another 8 writing pomodoros complete. Eight is about all I can do in a day before my ancient brain grinds to a halt.
I wanted to start and finish the creätive stuff early today, to give me some time this evening to catch up on admin and correspondence, but I had a hard time firing up my engines this morning.
So I'm going to try again to get an early night tonight and an early, all guns blazing start tomorrow, a...
2019-10-15 18:53:37 +0000 UTC
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My main aim for today was to get eight pomodoros of writing done today. I had to deal with a few distractions, but have just finished pomo #8. Yay me! :-)
The prototype feels like it's really taking shape. It's about 33% written now, so there's a lot more to do, but I'm confident that the result is going to be worth the wait.
It's ironic, but I think that the sex scenes are currently the least sexy part of Fem...
2019-10-14 18:38:07 +0000 UTC
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We've set up and started populating a new Trello board for keeping track of general development tasks.
This is mainly an internal tool, but I'm sharing it because I think it could become a useful window into the development of the game. You can check it out here.
We'll be adding more content over the coming days and weeks. For now only a few people can edit the board directly, so talk to us here or on Discord if you want to ...
2019-10-13 16:31:45 +0000 UTC
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Guys, this is going great! I have to keep this report quick (I'm late for a thing), but I've had a really good day writing for the prototype.
The section I'm working on now is exciting because it's so much more dynamic and interactive than anything that's been in the game before. If we can get this right, the sex scenes are going to feel like interactive erotica instead of the click-click-click experience they currently are. I can't wait to get your feedback.
In terms of productivity we're also...
2019-10-11 18:36:17 +0000 UTC
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I'm back to writing, and it feels great!
Tommygun and I are trying out a new working approach to see if it's faster. During this prototype sprint we're experimenting a little, to see if we can increase the development speed. 🤞🏻
I'm currently working on the next chunk of content, and will continue on the next dev day, which is tomorrow. See you then!
2019-10-10 17:36:25 +0000 UTC
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I want this blog to be something you can rely on to be an accurate window into what's going on between releases. That means that, as well as reporting progress, it's important to report to you honestly when there's a lack of progress.
As most of you know – thanks to the support of our amazing Patrons – I'm leaving my real job so I can work full time on Female Agent. I'm actively working towards my exit, and expect my replacement to be appointed in around five weeks.
Unfortunately that's left me w...
2019-10-09 17:42:44 +0000 UTC
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Hi guys! More writing today. I finished another section of the prototype, which involved specifying some new avatar art.
One cool thing about writing more interactive sex scenes is that I can write in some more intricate events. To support this sex scene, we've creäted five new states that the agent's dress can be in, one new avatar pose, and the thing today which is hard to explain without spoiling the scene. :-)
I'll keep writing on the next dev day, which is tomorrow. See you the...
2019-10-08 16:52:56 +0000 UTC
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Hey guys! My weekend kind of ran away from me because a few personal things came up, so I wasn't able to get in a writing day as I'd planned to do. Sorry.
I did spend some time handling some game admin tasks – updating the project list, talking with team members, catching up on DMs, that kind of thing. We have a few cool minor features on the way, which we'll announce soon.
I have meetings at my real job tomorrow, but the rest of my week is pretty clear, so I'll get back to writing content on Tues...
2019-10-06 17:17:39 +0000 UTC
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Hey guys! I worked on the new sex engine prototype today, and got in a good day's writing.
I'm starting to get a bit faster at writing in the new format. About 27% of the passages are testable now.
I'll get in another writing day either tomorrow or Sunday. I need to write on one day, and do some admin on the other day (a mix of personal stuff like buy some food, but also catching up on some game-related messages and organisational tasks for the week ahead). I'll decide based on whether I feel more like ...
2019-10-04 17:03:44 +0000 UTC
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Hi guys! I was planning to do a dev day today and a day of work in my real job tomorrow, but I had to head into my real job at lunchtime to fix a problem.
The good news is that, while I was there, I managed to get everything done today that I intended to do tomorrow, so I can do a full dev day tomorrow instead of going into my real job.
Sorry for changing the plan. I'm in the process of leaving my real job in order to work full time on Female Agent, but the project...
2019-10-03 17:54:53 +0000 UTC
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Hey guys! After several boring days working on avatar suntans, it felt great to get back to writing new content.
I resumed writing work on the Sex Engine v2 prototype today. Initially I found it a little tricky to get back into my groove – I think because I worked until late last night – but by the early afternoon I had my mojo back. That said, I deliberately finished early today, so I'll be fresh for tomorrow morning.
Today I also uploaded v1.5 to Newgrounds, so the fans there can play with the new ava...
2019-10-02 17:20:01 +0000 UTC
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I thought I would get this done on Friday and it's now 2211 on Tuesday, but...
The new improved suntans are in the game and playable. I've uploaded version 1.5.1.06 to the free and Patron-only links. Let me know what you think!
...
2019-10-01 21:20:35 +0000 UTC
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I'm sorry to report that the tan overhaul still isn't finished.
It's taken longer than I expected because I'm using a new art technique. It looks better, but has meant I've had to redraw more artwork than I realised.
So far I've redrawn and uploaded the:
- Abs
- Breasts
- Eyes
- Feet
- Jaw
- Mouths
- Noses
- Sideboobs (the rear view of the breasts)
Only the body remains, but there's a problem with the transparency layers that is going to...
2019-09-30 19:00:29 +0000 UTC
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Hey everybody! Today I nearly but not quite finished the 983 art files required for the suntan skin tone overhaul.
I'm busy with family stuff tomorrow (Sunday) but I will finish the suntans and get an update out before I sleep on Monday. Normal dev will resume on Tuesday.
Have a great Sunday everybody, see you on Monday.
2019-09-28 23:38:18 +0000 UTC
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I've subconsciously resisted fixing the suntans. Today, when I forced myself to work on them, I realised why: I need to tweak and reüpload 983 fucking art files to change the agent's look from Hannibal Lecter's supper to bronzed backpacking babe.
But it's important work. It's the look your agent will have in Bangkok, and it needs to be fixed before I can address a few other artwork tasks – namely, adding the Alexandra D'Addario, Olivia Wilde and Piper Perabo faces to the game, and also ...
2019-09-27 18:38:57 +0000 UTC
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Hi guys! More writing work today.
I finished the branch I was working on yesterday, so the prototype is now roughly 11% testable. Progress is slower than I'd like, but progress is always slower than I'd like.
Moar work on the next dev day, which is tomorrow! I'd like to keep writing, but it's probably better to do a polishing day and try to implement the suntan fix you voted on last week. I'll decide in the morning if I can face a whole 'nother all-day Illustrator session; I can't say I'm l...
2019-09-26 17:48:27 +0000 UTC
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Hey guys! I had a good day writing content for the new prototype. Today I worked on a few more passages and implemented some new dress art:
- A version of the red minidress that has ridden up around the agent's thighs. This is for a scene I'm working on, where the agent is straddling her partner on the bed. It could be adapted to represent minor wardrobe malfunctions in the future (e.g. if the agent dances or sits down in a dress, it could ride up. No problem with a knee length dress riding up an inch ...
2019-09-25 16:20:45 +0000 UTC
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Hey guys! I finished writing the first little section we were working on using the new method today and uploaded it. We're going to start work on a bigger section next.
Early impressions are favourable; it was a new way to work, so there was a little bit of adjustment time at the start, but I think it is going to speed things up once we're in the groove.
I added some new artwork today – the transition from the agent wearing a dress to not wearing a dress felt too abrupt, so we've added an intermedi...
2019-09-24 19:47:58 +0000 UTC
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Hey guys! I had a good solid day on the writing today. It started slowly, but I quickly got into my groove.
I'm excited by how it's shaping up so far. Moar to come on the next dev day, which is Tuesday (because I have a fun social event tomorrow, then a sad one on Monday). Sorry for the bare bones dev report, I worked right up to the moment I have to go out. C U Next Tuesday motherfuckers
2019-09-21 19:05:18 +0000 UTC
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Hey guys! The slowest part of Female Agent's development is waiting for me to do things, so we're experimenting with a new system of producing content for the sex scenes.
Basically – another team member (in this case dear Tommygun) creates the code for a section of the passages from the storyboard, and then I work in the skeleton they've created, writing the actual content.
We set up the new system of work today, so we'll know in a few days whether it has a big impact on eff...
2019-09-20 18:25:40 +0000 UTC
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Polishing days were an innovation we introduced during the last sprint. The idea is that, once a week, I spend time improving existing content instead of working on the next version. I quietly ditched them when the last sprint got seriously delayed, but I want to bring them back into our normal workflow.
Polishing days will ensure that the game doesn't get "stuck" between versions – we can make improvements, and add scenes and art that had to be cut from the last sprint, and you can check them out while you'...
2019-09-19 16:21:48 +0000 UTC
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Everybody hates the existing suntan shade. Here are some new shade options – which one do you like?
UPDATE: link to full-size version
2019-09-19 16:21:42 +0000 UTC
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Hey guys! We made some solid advances today:
- We set up the prototype branch so it has a start screen, pregenerated character and first story passage
- I wrote the first couple of text "snippets" in the first story passage
- We set up some new code that randomly selects which of the available snippets to display. (There's already some code in the game that does this, but the new snippets tend to be longer so we had to revisit how we do this.) This task is now moved to complete in the 2019-09-18 17:39:38 +0000 UTC
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The storyboard is finished! I marked it "done" in the Trello.
As you can see, it's a really complex scene. I'm excited about it getting it out to you for feedback.
Now the scene is fully designed, the next step is to start actually building it in the Female Age...
2019-09-17 19:08:12 +0000 UTC
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Hey guys! I had a slightly disappointing day today, due to lots of distractions, but I did get some good work done on the storyboard anyway.
Falloutbabe noted that, unlike the current scene (which has only one ending), there are now more than 20 ways the new scene can end. Different decisions you make can lead you to different endings, of course, but – excitingly – so can random factors like skill rolls and initiative rolls.
Last week, bsnick asked for more detail...
2019-09-16 21:59:51 +0000 UTC
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Hey guys! I was planning to reïnstate the polishing days tomorrow. For new agents: polishing days are dev days in which I improve existing content, instead of working on the sprint goal. They got abandoned when the schedule slipped on the last sprint, but I want to bring them back.
Almost everybody thinks the suntan shade the agent picks up in Dubai makes her look uglier, so my ambition for tomorrow was to fix the suntans. However, my mum needs a favour from me tomorrow, so I'll have to postpon...
2019-09-14 18:58:50 +0000 UTC
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Hey guys! I added lots more to the storyboard today; it's nearly done.
The initiative system – which calculates who takes the lead at various points throughout the scene – is leading to some very interesting content. The new storyboards allow the agent to be more active in the sex scenes, which makes the scenes feel more dynamic, more like an interaction of wills between two people. I'm very excited about it.
This week has been unusually challenging because I've had lots...
2019-09-13 19:03:24 +0000 UTC
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