🗞️✨ Dev Update Week 6 - Title screen, minigame, music & Progress Report!

Hi everyone!
First of all, I want to say thank you so much for your continued support. It really means the world to me and keeps this project alive! I’d love to share what I’ve been working on these past few weeks.

🔧 Code Restructure & Event System

To start, one of the biggest updates has been a major code restructure. Previously, I was using basic functions in Ren’Py to store player data, but I’ve now begun implementing a more robust event system using custom classes to handle this more efficiently. This new system gives me much more control and scalability for upcoming features.

Alongside this, I also introduced a pop-up notification system to alert players when they’ve unlocked an achievement or discovered important story info.

➡️ Here’s a quick look at these pop-ups in action:

🖼️ Unlockable Animated Title Screens

From the beginning, I mentioned wanting to make unlockable title screens that reflect your progress and completed missions. I'm happy to say this is now possible, and even better, I’ve decided to make them animated!

Each title screen will be a short video showcasing character moments or shared memories. For example, if you unlock Mason’s title screen, it will display themed clips and photos of Mason with the main character, focusing on their bond and shared vibes.

➡️ Here’s a preview of the default animated title screen:

⚙️ Visual Bug Fixes & UI Polish

I’ve also spent time fixing visual bugs and polishing the UI. One of the goals was to make sure players can navigate cleanly from the main menu to other screens like settings, files, and more.

➡️ Here’s an example of the file screen fix:

🎮 First Minigame Sneak Peek

I’ve made progress on one of the first minigames! The interaction screens for our boys are done, you’ll be able to interact with them and influence the story in your own way.

⚠️ But be careful... depending on where you click, you might unlock certain kinks 👀, which can affect how characters interact with you later on!

➡️ Take a look at this screens in action:

🎵 Custom Music Commissions

Thanks to your support, I’ve also been able to commission original music for the game! I'm excited about this step. Below in attachments you’ll find a few work-in-progress music tracks. Please keep in mind that not all of these may make it into the final version! Let us know what you think about the tracks!

📘 Upcoming Demo

Lastly, I’ve been talking with the team about releasing a reading-only demo. This version won’t include any minigames yet, but it will feature the full introduction up until the first training scene with the characters.

We're aiming to release this in one to two weeks, depending on testing and polish. I want to make sure it’s as bug-free as possible so you can enjoy the experience smoothly.

Once again, thank you so much for your patience and support. This wouldn’t be possible without you 💖

Stay tuned!