For the majority of the game’s development, every “big milestone” has usually been a new feature. Stuff like:
- Added the Rejection elimination method.
- Added a Student Council to the school.
- Added Osana and released the demo.
However, at this phase in the game’s development, the goals I’m trying to accomplish are much different in nature. Now it’s stuff like:
- Gathered player feedback and used it to improve the overall experience of the demo.
- Identified flawed game mechanics and replaced them with improved mechanics.
- Made the corpse disposal process less tedious and more fun for the player.
I can tell you when an elimination method is “finished”; it’s finished when the feature is 100% functional. However, there isn’t a clear finish line for stuff like “gathering feedback” or “improving the overall experience” or “replacing flawed mechanics.” All of these things are subjective, and every day, I identify another new thing that I’d like to improve, replace, or add. As a result, it’s difficult to predict when this phase of the game’s development will “end.”
My next goal is straightforward: I want to improve Raibaru as a game mechanic. I have a list of things that I hate about Raibaru, and I want to go down that list and fix every problem. I can already tell you the biggest challenge that I’m going to face: Raibaru needs to become “less unfair,” but at the same time, “Just run up to Osana and stab her” cannot become a valid strategy. This means that, while changing some aspects of Raibaru, I’ll also have to change some other aspects of the game to keep it balanced. So, instead of just tweaking some aspects of Raibaru, I’ll have to tweak the overall experience itself.
This is probably what my next video is going to be about: my intentions when I put Raibaru into the game, the reasons why I failed to achieve the results I wanted, and what I’ve done lately to fix Raibaru and improve Osana’s week in general.
At the same time, while I’m working on this, I will also be working on a few other things – stuff that I’d like to keep secret so that it can be a big surprise when it’s unveiled.
The adjustments I want to make to Raibaru – and the big surprises I have planned – will require me to make a series of pretty significant changes to the game. It could take a little longer than usual for the next build to come out. That’s why I wanted to release one more “Bug-Fixing Build”; if you have to wait a few weeks to get the next build, I want to make sure that the latest version of the game is as stable as possible. And for that reason, I hope that today’s update is the most stable version I’ve ever released!
Ever since the release of Osana, I’ve been featuring Osana-centric fan art in my blog posts. It was a very fun tradition, but it’s a little unfair to all of the other artists who have been drawing amazing artwork that doesn’t involve Osana! So, as of today, the Osana-only tradition will be ending.
To see a list of everything that was changed or improved in the latest build, please scroll down past this gorgeous artwork by Kodoki-san!
