CheekyGimp
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Dev update 23rd March: Re-do update
🕑 Added 2023-03-23 19:51:56 +0000 UTCHey All,
Just following on from my Monica post, I wanted to provide a general overview of re-do progress and try to answer some general re-do questions that have been posed.
Q. I gave myself 2 months to work on the re-do. Is that enough time? And how is it going?
A. It's going slowly but I'm happy with the progress. And 2 months is nowehere near enough time but we didn't just start from scratch on the re-do last month. It's something that me and Cell have been talking about (and doing samples, sampling assets, etc.) for many months. After putting in our shifts on actual WTHI episodes, we sometimes played around with re-do ideas so we had covered a lot of preliminary stuff before we actually got started in earnest last month. The two months in question just meant that we would be "dedicated" to re-do work only for that two months.
And it's going slowly because as we get through it, we are adding a lot more art/animations than we initially planned. And I am adding more script updates than initially planned too. Plus we are both being very nit-picky with our quality bar because the re-do is our chance to get everything right.
Q. Sounds like the re-do won't be ready by mid-April. Does that mean that getting back to work on EP24 will be pushed out even further?
A. Absolutely not. Regardless of re-do progress/readiness, we will be back focusing on EP24 in the latter half of next month. And only this week...I actually did a tiny bit of EP24 work. Just because I was waiting on some re-do artwork from Cell before continuing writing so I jumped onto EP24 just so I don't forget about it completely. :) As there are different backlogs across EP24 (backlog is writing) and re-do (backlog is art), it made sense for me to spend a couple of days on EP24 writing this week while Cell battled through some artwork challenges on the re-do. I have been doing some artwork for the re-do but Cell is doing the majority of it.
Q. Will any of the original (early episode) artwork be kept in the re-do? Will the re-do just consist of a frame-by-frame upgrade of previous art?
A. All original artwork (definitely episode 1-10 and possibly more) will be scrapped as it isn't up to scratch. A lot of re-do scenes will have frame-by-frame upgrades but they will also get new art to fill in some gaps in the original, e.g. an original scene that consisted of 30 images may end up as having 50 images plus an animation. There will also be completely new scenes (in most cases small ones as we don't want to change the whole format.) and some scenes will be extended/tweaked (quite a few) while others will be shortened/ removed (but not many).
Q. Will there be major changes to plot or will character personalities get an overhaul?
A. No. The essence of the game and characters will remain very much the same with one or two very minor tweaks (i.e. more options to refuse a character in the early games - whereas previously some characters were pushed on the player even if not interested). The only change that I feel will be controversial is around Monica's drinking. Although alcohol still plays a part in some of the early Monica scenes, I have changed the how/why and Monica's relationship with alcohol is definitely healthier and is different from the original scenes. I feel this change improves her character. hopefully, most of you will agree when you give it a whirl.
Q. Are all characters looks getting an overhaul for the re-do?
A. In short - No. Based on the latest iterations of our characters (episodes 18-23) by and large there will be NO changes to the base character looks. We covered Monica in my last post (Summary: Episode 18-23 Monica will be the same Monica as the re-do Monica), but what about everyone else?
Just to ease some concerns, let me state that no characters will be upgraded for the re-do based on their episode 18-23 models, i.e. similarly to Monica, all other girls (as they were seen in episode 18-23) will stay the same for the re-do.
Some characters (Jenna, Debbie, Lily, Bella) got minor upgrades sometime around episodes 17-19 and since then, these are the models we have been using and we haven't changed anything further. A lot of these changes wouldn't be noticeable to the player, they just made the characters easier to render (improved skin tone/reflection, etc.) and we also updated their skeletons (to allow improved posing/clothing.).
Zarah got a major upgrade in episode 18 and we haven't changed anything since.
And Katie got an initial upgrade in episode 8 (Natasha's party) and then another tiny tweak around episode 17 and since then we have only improved her skin a tad (so her legs/torso come out less speckly under certain lighting).
No other characters were changed during the course of episode 1-23. (Cell or any eagle-eyed players, Let me know if I missed someone.)
Some characters might look like they have changed from their initial entrance up to episode 23 (e.g. Elaine, Angel, Natasha, etc.) but this is because of the improved artwork /rendering techniques, not because of any model changes.
We are currently happy with the latest models we have (especially when the environments, assets, lighting and render settings have been improved) so they will not be changed for the re-do. The only exception to this is "pale" Jenna. As you know...Jenna got a tan as her character progressed throughout the game. So the latest version of Jenna (Episode 23) will be the same model that makes it into the re-do, but only for the later episodes in the re-do (when she gets an in-game tan).
It wouldn't make sense to drop this version of her into episode 1 of the re-do (before she was tanned and was worried about her pale skin). But we also couldn't keep the original version for obvious reasons...
So "pale" Jenna will be getting an upgrade for the re-do, so she now looks like this....
Which is basically the same as our EP18-23 version but just a little paler.
So she is still pale but doesn't look like something out of a zombie flick. And then once she gets her tan, she will be the same as our episode 18-23 Jenna.
The re-do will consist of swapping out the EP1-17 models for the EP18-23 characters for characters that have changed. And even where characters haven't changed, we will still be re-doing art because we have learned a LOT about DAZ/artwork since we first got started so we will obviously be applying these learnings. One example would be this image (which is the exact same models in the exact same outfits in the exact same location..but just using different lighting/render settings). Note the second image isn't a finalized re-do image, just something I've been playing around with.
Original:
Re-do attempt 1(Still more to improve but you get the idea)
We have also updated a LOT of the locations, especially Monica's house where most locations have been changed. This is because the original assets were old/dated (and cheap). You already saw the new door/hallway from my previous post and Jenna's room (sample images above) but we have also changed the kitchen....
The stairway:
Monica's room:
MC's room:
Pool area (now has a hot tub...):
Plus many more...
These two posts took me longer than expected so I need to get back to WTHI work. Hope this was insightful. Questions and comments below, please.
Thanks,
CG
Comments
CheekyGimp
The re-do has not been completed yet. We are still working on it. The samples above are just samples from the forthcoming re-do.
MrSchmanty .
Where i get this re-do game. I already installed latest APK version, but there still old animations. I start new game but still old ones.
PFC Jamesthe13
Love the idea of a polish man, but can I suggest that much like the luxury car experience in real life. It is better to get the basic model out the door first, let people enjoy it, and see it's flaws. That way you can make the punters pay twice as much when the refined model becomes available. Finish the story and the game first man, do not give in to the ADHD, stay on the path.
