FreshmenVN
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Status Update #71
🕑 Added 2025-01-02 19:14:12 +0000 UTCHappy New Year! Today I have 2025's first game status update.
For Freshman patrons, don't forget that you'll get access to the Morning After Update in less than a week on 7 January! Keep an eye on your inbox for the alert letting you know when it's live.
Now, let's take a look at what all I've done the past few weeks. If you missed the last status update post, I'm no longer giving any sort of guestimate about time frames for releases. Rather, I'm going to be listing exactly what components need to be finished for each update so you can follow along with development in a more practical and transparent way.
I'm gonna start out with a general overview of anything I think might be of interest, then I'll share the list of what all has been completed and what still needs done.
Art
This update's cover image is the new version of the scene Connor sees when he arrives at orientation, now updated with all the new/revised character models. I kept pushing off making this because it takes so long to create big images that feature so many different characters. This image took a full workday to set up and had to be sliced into 7 different scenes in order for my computer to be able to render it.
A fair amount of time was spent on the lighting in particular. I used a combo of "ghost" lights and the square emissive planes you can see in the above images. The invisible lights don't really reflect off surfaces like the visible lights do. Using both types made for a cleaner look, with each guy/pairing of guys getting dedicated lighting in their render while leaving the rest of the image free of clutter.
I like how the new lighting and framing turned out, and I especially like that this particular CG is finally crossed off my to-do list.
This CG also features the final model revision I did—Alex. One of the goals of this update was to try and up the quality of the original models to match the newer ones. Main characters like Alex shouldn't look worse than random side characters.
Many characters just had base model revisions that made them easier to work with while retaining the same textures. Some got a complete redo, like Dominic and Noir, while others had a little more extensive but not quite as noticeable revisions done, like Leo and Riley.
Alex falls somewhere in between those last two types of revisions. I wasn't actually planning to make any changes to him yet, but when I was running through the game and got to his new scenes, this particular sprite stuck out to me:
In the context of the game, this expression/pose/appearance threw me off to the point that just before release I replaced pretty much every one of his "smile" sprites with something else.
Alex has been the most troublesome model to work with from the beginning. It all started when I came up with Matt's design. He looked so good that he became the quality baseline all of the other characters were compared against.
The base model for Alex was the same as it is above, but his textures did not hold up to Matt's. Just before I put out the version of the game that added orientation, I replaced Alex's textures by converting those of a female character to fit his model. The textures were better, but doing that caused a few weird issues.
One is that he has permanent French tip nails, which isn't a super big deal. What was a big deal was that the lip textures do not align with the model's sculpted features, so it always looked off:
Worst of all were the eyebrows. The way the model was sculpted did not interact well with the brow asset, causing an upturn at the inside edge of each brow.
Between that and the lips, trying to make his expressions look good took forever. Most of the time I wasn't super happy with the results but needed to settle on something so I could move on. He actually had a bunch of placeholders for expressions that I gave up on creating with the intention to come back to it later, which led to him being less animated than other characters.
So going for a revision to Alex's model wasn't entirely about aesthetics. It was foremost a practical concern as I look ahead to lessening the time it takes to make each update.
It turned out that I had a newer male East Asian character model that was created by the same person who made the original Alex model and the female character I took the textures from. Both the model and textures of this new figure were a lot better than the older models, which was great since it meant I could use this new figure as a base for a revision while maintaining a similar artistic style.
Ultimately what I did was blend the original Alex model together with the newer figure to create a hybrid of the two, then applied the new textures. He has a bit more muscle definition than you may expect, but Alex always did, it just wasn't as well-sculpted or textured on the old model.
I always intended Alex to have a sort of K-pop look to him, so I also spent time looking at K-pop stars and adjusting his features to be closer to their appearance. I used a texture from a different figure to give him the American celeb-style perfectly white teeth, as well as used his original eye textures and hair. Here's the look I settled on next to the original:
Here are a few other expressions, including a "seductive" one that previously had a placeholder:
And here is a new version of the CG you see if Connor fantasizes about him after orientation:
(Before anyone points it out, he doesn't have his nipple piercings in this CG because Connor doesn't know Alex has them when he has this fantasy 🙂)
I actually remade all of his sprites as well as his intro CG, but I'm not sure yet if I'll add them to the game for the final Morning After Update release. He looks different enough that his other CGs might be jarring in contrast, and I doubt I'll have time to remake them.
I also remade all of Riley's sprites to use his new model, like the ones seen if you catch him naked in the showers before the frat party:
I used this as an opportunity to fix Riley's Day 2 outfit as well. I originally replaced the shirt textures with a different cloth shader, which had the side effect of removing details like stitching. This time I took the textures that came with the asset and adjusted the colors in GIMP. I was also pleased to see his new pose fixed the crotch area:
I did go ahead and replace all of Riley's sprites since his new model isn't so different that the CGs didn't match. Even if they did look different, though, I still would have used the new sprites—I think the difference in quality is pretty big.
I also revised a few sprites for minor characters since they didn't need many done, like Blaze:
Other miscellaneous art stuff: I created a new CG for the update that features Jordi and Wes, made a few more Trevor Grind'm profile pics, and designed a new character model for Matt's former roommate. If you're a Junior, Senior, or Graduate patron, you can get a first look at those in Sneak Peek #35.
Writing & Planning
I've been jumping around a little bit between finalizing the Morning After Update for its free release, creating the next update that'll feature Trevor's Grind'm scenario, and further plotting out the story update that follows the scenario.
The first thing I did was make revisions to the plan for Week 1, cutting content that I didn't need and using the character poll plus the natural flow of events to figure out who will be featured in each subsequent story update. What was originally 10 updates including the Morning After Update has now become 7. Here's a zoomed out view of the flow of events:
As always, this is purposefully too small to read to avoid spoilers, but hopefully you can still make out the color coding.
I already had key events plotted out for the week, so it actually wasn't too hard to figure out how each grouping of featured guys would slot into the story. The remaining story updates for Week 1 will focus on the following characters:
#1 (Red) - Matt, Evan, and Leo
#2 (Orange) - Riley, Dominic, and Alex
#3 (Yellow) - Marco, Isaiah, and Will
#4 (Green) - Owen, Julian, and Tomas
#5 (Blue) - Asher, Griffin, Mafia, and NC17
#6 (Purple) - Pretty much everyone, though there's a particular focus on Matt, Griffin, and another important character who will first appear at this point in the story
I want to reiterate that just because a guy isn't featured—meaning I don't have a big date/hangout/hookup scene for him—doesn't mean they won't appear in any given update. It would be kind of difficult to ignore Marco, for instance, especially if you decided to form anything beyond a friendly roommate relationship with him.
To handle that, I built in points in all the updates where I can slot in smaller scenes for any character, like quickies with guys you have a sexual relationship with, which will be in addition to other scenes like running across them in class, seeing them at group events, getting texts, etc. I also have a separate planning section where I've detailed all the different relationship states you can have with the guys so that I can keep them "alive" in each update based on how far along you are with them.
This is just the big overview—as I reach the creation of each update, I go much more in-depth with my flowcharts, which includes planning what CGs to make and what big choices will be involved.
I started doing that with Matt's section of the next story update. I already wrote a big scene with him (same for Leo and Evan), so that was my starting point. The scene contained one storyline variant that can happen, so what I needed was to chart it out and decide how other story paths would go. That looks like this:
You can see in the middle section that there are four paths. Originally there were five, and I may cut it down further to just two variants. The reason why is what has already been written currently includes 20 CGs dedicated just to that variant, and then another 25 CGs that will be included in all of the variants. With five variants that would be 125 CGs; with two variants, just 65.
And this is just one sequence of many that include a large number of CGs. I'm trying to be judicious in my planning to pump the breaks on my overambition while still retaining the hottest content. I don't want anymore big gaps between updates, after all.
Beyond the planning above, I also wrote a fairly big chunk of Trevor's Grind'm scenario. I got a flurry of inspiration and wrote the entire opening, 16 script pages in total. I wasn't really planning to write much until I made CGs, since for these scenarios the art tends to inform the dialogue. But this opening setup is more foundational, so it's good to have it done while saving the majority of the grunting and moaning dialogue for later 😉
Coding
Finally, I've been doing a code review of the Morning After Update to fix up as much as I can before its final release. Thank you to everyone who sent in bug reports—it's been very helpful!
Okay, I think those are enough details! Let's look at the to-do list I shared in Status Update #70 to see what's been completed and what remains.
Completed Components
🟢 GENERAL 🟢
Revised Models
Alex, full revision
NC17, tweaks
Trevor, tweaks
New Model
Henri (Matt's former roommate)
🟢 MORNING AFTER UPDATE 🟢
Revised CGs
Orientation Entrance CG to replace all the revised models as well as raise the overall quality level
Skinema Performance CGs 1a, 1b, 2, 3, and 5 to replace the models for Noir, Mafia, and NC17
Asher Day 2 Hangout CG 3 to replace the model for Noir
Alex Intro CG to replace the model for Alex and up the quality
Alex Tease CG Day 1 to replace the model for Alex and up the quality
A Jordi & Wes Tease CG to illustrate what was previously just dialogue
Revised Sprites
New Alex Day 1, Day 2, Towel, Underwear, and Naked sprites to use his new model, a new pose, and up the quality (81 total)
New Blaze Day 2 sprites to use his new pose, adjust his outfit, and up the quality (7 total)
New Riley Day 1, Day 2, & Towel sprites to use his new model, use his new pose, and to up the quality (60 total)
New Xavier Day 2 sprites to use his new pose and up the quality (4 total)
New Backgrounds
Dorm Room Day 2 Afternoon to remove clutter since narratively Connor unpacked (2 versions)
Dorm Room Day 2 Night, same reason as above (3 versions)
Dorm Room Week 1 Morning, same reason as above (3 versions)
Coding
Code review (ongoing)
Unused/unnecessary variable removal (ongoing)
Bug fixes (ongoing)
🟢 TREVOR GRIND'M UPDATE 🟢
Art
Trevor profile pics (3 of 4 completed)
Trevor profile text (2 of 2 completed)
Cell phone sprites (3 of 7 completed)
Unlock pop-up notification sprite
Revised Grind'm menu screen
Writing
Trevor profile text (2 of 2 variations completed)
Scenario introduction
Scenario foreplay
Needed Components
This is what I still need to work on, including a few potential additions that may later be cut from the list.
🟡 MORNING AFTER UPDATE - MUST COMPLETE 🟡
Writing
Isaiah conversation (partially done)
Coding
Code review (ongoing)
Unused/unnecessary variable removal (ongoing)
Bug fixes (ongoing)
🟡 MORNING AFTER UPDATE - POTENTIAL BONUS CONTENT 🟡
Art
More teases during the shower sequence (35-39 in total, 5 completed)
More teases between the showering sequence and the end of Will's class (3 in total)
Writing/Coding
Additional reactive dialogue
Additional distraction sequences
Dialogue to accompany the shower teases (35-39 in total, 3 completed)
🟡 TREVOR GRIND'M UPDATE 🟡
Art
Trevor profile pics (1 of 4 needed)
Unlocked Grind'm CGs gallery background
Character sprites (number unknown)
Cell phone sprites (4 of 7 needed)
New backgrounds (6 of 6 needed)
Scenario intro CGs (2 of 2 needed)
Scenario foreplay CGs (28 of 28 needed)
Scenario side CGs (28 of 28 needed)
Scenario bottom CGs (29 of 29 needed)
Scenario top CGs (27 of 27 needed)
Scenario versatile CGs (3 of 3 needed)
Scenario cumming CGs (69 of 69 needed)
Scenario afterglow CGs (4 of 4 needed)
Scenario ending CGs (2 of 2 needed)
Scenario end screen CGs (3 of 3 needed)
Writing
Scenario side/oral, part 1
Scenario side/oral, part 2 (3 variations)
Scenario bottom, part 1
Scenario bottom, part 2 (3 variations)
Scenario top, part 1
Scenario top, part 2 (3 variations)
Scenario versatile
Scenario cumming (10 variations)
Scenario afterglow (2 variations)
Scenario ending (2 variations)
Scenario end screen (3 variations)
Coding
Revised Grind'm menu screen
Trevor scenario unlocks
Trevor Grind'm CGs gallery
Jordi Grind'm CGs gallery
Scenario introduction
Scenario foreplay (5 segments)
Scenario side/oral & cumming (4 segments)
Scenario bottom & cumming (4 segments)
Scenario top & cumming (4 segments)
Scenario versatile
Scenario afterglow
Scenario ending
Scenario end screens
Cut Components
Lastly, here is the content I listed previously that I've since cut. This is just potential bonus content for the final Morning After Update release that I decided I didn't have time for. Some of this will be added in a later update.
🔴 MORNING AFTER UPDATE 🔴
Bonus CGs
More dream sequence teases before waking up (total unknown)
More teases after Will's class (16 or so in total)
Revised CGs
Julian/Owen Day 1 Tease to use their new models and up the quality
Leo Day 1 Tease 2 to use his new model and up the quality
Leo/Matt Day 1 Tease to use their new models and up the quality
Revised Sprites
Re-render any new sprites that weren't made with the new standardized camera setup (total unknown)
Writing/Coding
Dialogue to accompany the dream teases
Dialogue to accompany the post-Will teases
The Next Two Weeks
I definitely could have completed more the past few weeks, but considering the time of year, I'll try to give myself some grace.
My primary focus this first week of January will be wrapping up everything that I can before the Morning After Update's free, public release on the 7th. This is mostly code review, but I want to fit in as much art/writing changes as I can.
Once that is released, I'll be moving to working on the Trevor Grind'm Update full time. As you can see above, there is a whole lot of art to create, and after making Trevor's profile pics and writing the opening scenes, I'm super eager to start making them!
That's all I've got for today. I hope you're getting off to a good start in the new year!
Comments
Danny Nym
Well, mutually exclusive in this case just means you can only hang out with one of those guys at that point in time in a single playthrough. There will be some semi-hidden situations for sure, though!
Jeffrey C
Thank you so much for your thorough response. That indeed makes sense. Curious about the mutually exclusive situations, I love secret/hidden things in visual novels. I have some guesses on what they may be, but I also might be stretching it a bit with my ideas lol. Looking forward to the update, and thanks for all of the hard work you put into the game. The quality has been top-notch.
Danny Nym
It can be hard to see in the timeline image I shared, but the updates overlap in certain places. It's similar to how the club/party/hangout at Matt's place overlapped, but there won't be big interactions with every single guy every single day. That's why I went from Day 1 and Day 2 to Week 1—at this point you'll jump through the week depending on what storylines you follow. The next story update will continue from where the Morning After Update leaves off. You'll have interactions with other guys aside from just Matt, Evan, and Leo to continue following up on their storyline. Marco in particular has some pretty significant stuff towards the start. The afternoon of the following day (Wednesday) will have several different paths to take. Early afternoon there are mutually exclusive encounters with Evan and Alex. Mid-afternoon are mutually exclusive hangouts/dates to choose between—one each for Matt, Dominic, Riley, and Marco (or just skip them entirely if you want). Each of those separate hangouts will be added in the update in which the guy is featured. In the evening is a group section where you'll see all the dorm guys and can interact with who you want. There will be more content for guys you've developed a relationship with. Then after that are two more mutually exclusive situations that I won't spoil. Every day beyond that is a little bit more linear but will have overlapping/mutually exclusive situations as well. And all along the way I'll include smaller scenes for the other guys, some of which will border on the guy being "featured," much like Marco will be at the start of the Matt/Evan/Leo update.
Jeffrey C
So question. I know the next story update is focusing on Evan, Matt and Leo. Will the following updates with the other guys be on the same day (timeline-wise), or will the updates have different guys on different days?
Jeffrey C
Ooh, I'm definitely looking forward to the next Guy Gallery.
Danny Nym
Happy new year 🙂
Danny Nym
Funnily enough, he happens to be featured in the next Guy Gallery. And he'll definitely be at the club next time we visit.
Danny Nym
I'm glad the new model interested you! I will say that it's currently jarring to go from his sprites to his CGs, so I'm gonna try and update them to the new model soon. I'd like everyone to get the full new Alex experience.
Stephen_H
Before the update, I had no interest in Alex, and the new Alex makes me look forward to interacting with him
Jeffrey C
Might be unpopular since he barely got any votes on one of the Grind'm polls but I hope we see more of the bouncer next time we go back to the nightclub. He is really hot, and I loved how he looked out for Connor.
Gell
Happy new year! Thank you for the update, everything looks good!
Danny Nym
Thanks! Lighting really does affect so much. Anyone reading this who wants to do 3D art, definitely take time to look into lighting photos and film cinematography. Doing that and implementing what I learned massively upgraded my own art.
maxsimmiglia
You ate with the Alex model update. The improved lighting for the character sprites works wonders on everyone.
Danny Nym
Trevor (NC17's twin) has his own Grind'm scenario coming in the next update, so you'll get to see a whole lot more of him very soon 🙂 But if you mean in the story itself, he'll definitely pop up more as the game progresses. Lachlan, the other male bartender, is a character with lesser focus. Characters like him are there to fill out the world more than to play a big role. He'll certainly appear more whenever Connor visits the club, and I can see myself following a whim to expand his character a little bit while writing. And like all the guys, I'll find an excuse to strip him down sometime—I actually already have a few ideas about when and how that could happen.
Danny Nym
The weird thing with Riley is his new body is actually less toned than the original. That was something I specifically looked for when finding a new base body model. It truly is just the combo of better skin materials, better posing, and better lighting that makes him seem more toned than the original. The new version of Riley has a naturally plump ass, for instance, whereas the original version looked like he had the rock hard glutes of a gym bro. But of course Riley has spent a lot of time working out to lose weight the past year, so I don't think a little muscle definition is against canon 😉 I'm glad the Alex redesign works for you! He doesn't really have any flaws since he's kind of purposefully buffed to a sheen (like his perfect white teeth), but I do want to "rough up" some guys to make them a little less shiny. I like flaws, too, and I think having more realistic-looking guys is something that helps my game stick out.
Briannon-Faie
Interestingly Dominic and Alex are two characters I find less intriguing(which given the stellar cast means no shame) and both were altered. Dominic's former body(especially the hairdo) was quite appealing to me, in Alex's case I have to admit that this new version could work even better. Maybe it was just me; early Riley looked a little less sportive or fit which suited his geeky nature perfectly. Regarding body types I hope a few flaws here and there might remain within the game. Quite an auspicious inception of this new year!
Andre'
Great update Danny - thank you! Yes the guys ARE just getting hotter and hotter as you progress! I'm always amazed at just how much you consider and manage to do for the story and artwork always improving and fleshing out :-) I do hope that you might have time somewhere along the journey to do some more dream sequences:-) *hugs*
ReCube
will we get to see more of the second bartender and the twin that we didn't hook up with? they're crazy hot and we barely got any info about them.
Danny Nym
They're actually a similar level of pale, it's just the skin materials on the old model react to light poorly. The new model's skin textures use shaders that reflect light much more realistically, and that is a big part of what makes any model look good.
Danny Nym
He's definitely needed some attention for awhile, I'm glad I finally had the time to do it!
Hush Puppy
The guys just keep getting hotter and hotter!
DC Burns
It’s so surprising just how pale Riley was in earlier versions compared to his new version. Our poor RA has been getting some sunlight (and perhaps will get some vitamin D in the future)
Sprinklers
New Alex is really hot!
BeMyHiro
Yay some Alex love! He's by far my favourite so it's great to see him get some well deserved attention!
DC Burns
Thanks for the update! The work you put in really shows and makes this game standout. Alex and Riley look great too! I like the subtle upgrades while still keeping their essence. Definitely excited for future story updates.
Omnia
Thanks always for such a thorough update and big compliments to the updated Alex model1 It looks great
Jeffrey C
Alex looks way better and as someone who is part Korean and been to Korea several times you definitely hit the K-Pop look (without making him look like he has tons of surgery lol). Cannot wait for you to work full time on the Trevor update. Thanks for keeping us in the loop and for all of the hard work you put into the game.
