Update #1 - Point and click, plans for future

Hi everyone. It's going a little slow, but I am still working on Super Fuzzy Beach Dater.

Other than health issues—which could be a recurring theme with me, sorry—the big thing that's eaten my time is rewriting the engine in a different programming language, and repeatedly changing my mind as to which one. (Among other things, I was considering making the game HTML5 only, but decided against that. I want people to have their own copies of the game that they can play offline.)

Perks of the switch should include making it easier to release the game on platforms other than Windows. Losses include that nifty old-school menu bar. (I am probably more worked up about this than any of you are. I used that thing for some really nice dev tools.)

I'm taking advantage of the rewrite to change the gameplay mechanics a bit. Instead of using textual choice menus, like most visual novels, I'm thinking of having the player make choices by clicking on parts of the pictures, like an adventure game. This is demonstrated in the attached video. Please let me know what you think of this.

Other breakthroughs have included planning out more of the game's plot. I have made the dubious choice to make a dating sim despite not playing many, so this is harder than it sounds. I will likely write more about this in the future.

Also, I would like to start a Patreon for my projects,  and have been busy making plans for that. I would like to release the next demo for this game before that, though, to establish I'm competent, and to have a working version of the game that exhibits the new gameplay style to advertise.

The next demo would likely cover the same material as the current one, but converted to the new engine and gameplay style, and with miscellaneous enhancements. That may sound a bit lame, but the point-and-click gameplay will necessitate expanding the current script a lot. On a broad level, picture the current script, but now you can also examine everything in all the backgrounds, and I have to write stuff for that. I think that will enhance the game a lot, but it is work.

After that, I would like to try to get out monthly demos, but this would depend on how the Patreon goes. I will likely let patrons vote on which project I work on every month, so if another project of mine gets more votes that month, Super Fuzzy Beach Dater will get put on the back burner for a bit. (So, by donating, you could influence me to work on projects you prefer. Like this one :p )

I don't have much game dev experience, so I have no idea when and if a project this elaborate could be completed. But I hope the journey to get there can be fun enough to get people interested. I will try to post updates on its development more in this devlog—every week, hopefully.

Please let me know what you think. I hope I can live up to the quality of the first demo.