This Is Not An Update

Here's the deal: I'm sick.  Chronically, acutely, you name it.  I've had about enough energy the past few days to feed myself and take care of my dog.  Some days barely that.  So, it might be a while before I can work on this again.  Weirdbeard out.

Eighth Week Check-In: Trouble After NaNo

I'm back from NaNoWriMo!  Unfortunately, I caught a virus in the late first week that has clung to me for close to a month now, ending my dreams of writing a novel in the month of November and hanging on long enough to stall Carnal Mysteries development.  To make matters worse, I had some home issues to deal with this week, so nothing really happened.  Looking to get some stuff done this week; we'll see how it turns out.

Seventh Week Check-In: Hiatus For NaNoWriMo

I've gotten a bit of work done this week, but not much due to continued illness and the fact that I'll be taking on NaNoWriMo this year.  Unfortunately, I only have the guff to do one of these things or the other, so this project will be placed on hold from today until the end of November, after which updates will resume as usual.  Thank you for your patience.

Sixth Week Check-In: Still Sick, And Also Sims

The virus, as it happens, is vicious.  At this point it's doing relatively little to inhibit my ability to faff around pointlessly, but actual work, as it happens, is pretty dang challenging.

Also, I got The Sims 3 this week.  Much time was invested in glorious sculpting and also playing with werewolves.

I'm feeling a bit better, though, so provided I can manage to be less of a lazy fuck, there should be some new content this week.

Fifth Week Check-In: The Captain Is Sick

Soooo, this week I caught a nasty virus that drains my energy (which is also what my depression does, so I'm kind of a wreck) and makes pain worse (which, as you might expect, makes my computer-related injuries that much harder to deal with).  So, in the interest of recovering, not much work has been done.  I did get some more written for the opening sequence, and edit some of what I already had so it flows a little better, so there's that.

Unfortunately, this means I don't have anything for you this week - no pictures or snippets of text or anything.  I feel kind of bad, so let me at least leave you with a recommendation: Undertale.  Go play it if you can.  Seriously.

Fourth Week Check-In: Sexy Dreams

The week's been kind of slow due to continued computer-related injuries, but I've added a few new autotiles (ported over from an abandoned project) and begun work on the narration for the opening sequence, where the player will define their character's physical characteristics over the course of a lurid dream.  Here's a sample for you:

At last they draw close enough to touch, and reach out toward you with splayed fingers.  Cool, smooth skin brushes your chest, and you feel a tingle, but you're suddenly uncertain what it is that they're touching.  Your body, it seems, has become as mutable as theirs - one moment you have supple, round breasts, the next, your chest is perfectly flat and smooth.

Though their touch is still pleasurable, if you're going to enjoy them properly, you need to remember what you look like.  How, exactly, is your chest shaped?

 When this is fully implemented, there will be three chest options (though only one will affect the player sprite's appearance), as well as a second branch where you can choose your genitals.

Speaking of which, now seems like a good time to explain how genitals will work in House of Carnal Mysteries.

At the start of the game, you choose between two different sets: either a clit and pussy, or a cock and balls.  You can modify which parts you have as the game progresses, with some limitations: you may only have a clit or cock, and a pussy or balls.  This isn't a gameplay limitation; it's for anatomical accuracy, which I realize is not fun for everyone, but in my game we won't have any of that weird nonsense where penises are somehow not the same basic thing as clits.

Anatomical accuracy is going to be a fairly major goal in this game.  Obviously, it won't be 100% realistic since we have silly transformations going on, but I plan on making sure to the best of my ability that testicles, hymens, and so forth work like they do IRL.  I realize this isn't a big deal for some folks, but with all the silly/inaccurate games already out there, I figured it'd be nice to have one that incorporates those details.  There'll also be optional differences in the bits - like whether one's breasts are large or small, and whether one is circumcised or not - that will allow for greater variance in sexual encounters and hopefully make the experience more immersive for our players.

These features will be available from the first playable build, which - as the astute will have noted - is going to mean that it will take longer to get to playable, and slow down the release of new scenes.  However, experience has taught me that it's better to take extra time to implement this stuff from the get-go than to make a bunch of content and have to modify it all later.  *cough*Web design*cough*

Third Week Check-In: Your Brain On Drugs

It's been a low-progress week, thanks to continued arm trouble and some new drugs I've been trying for depression treatment (that proceeded to punch me in the face and then wring me out for lulz).  I'll spare everybody the gory details, but I did make a handful of tilesets that will be used in the game.  They're not finalized yet - I'll be holding back on the final detailing work until the tileset is closer to completion - but they're ready to be implemented, and I've definitely established a consistent style for the artwork.