YIPPY SKIPPY I'M FINALLY WRITING UP A DEVLOG AGAIN??? That is because I'm making decent progress on the finale (to everyone's surprise) so I wanted to not only quickly chat about what I have done so far and what's still left that I need to do, but also to take this opportunity to talk a bit more about the mechanics(???) if that's the right word of the finale in general and how everything works just to give peeps who've been following this l o n g a n d w i n d i n g h e l l s c a p e a little glimpsy glimpse of what they can expect now that everything's finally coming to a close. So in the words of the great Mario Mario, STRAP YOUR BELT ON, KID, WE'RE GOIN' IN.

LET'S START WITH SOME COLD HARD DEETS. What exactly have I finished so far??? Let's see...

I have written approximately 20k words. This is the bulk of the finale from start to finish (so I've written the end of the game, basically). However, because of the presence of the routes, this is not everything. I've just written one route version to start so I could just get through to the end, but I still need to write the different scenes for the other routes, which I imagine total could add like 10k or so more words by the time I'm finished. Unsure. I'll talk more about the routes and what this means later on when I talk about the mechanics.

Omg teehee first lines or something...

I've finished the art and coding for the first half of the finale. In my head, the finale is kinda split into two parts: Bucks's part, and then the ending of the game. I've finished up through Bucks's part, so now just have the ending to do. This sounds like not a lot but I think it will be somewhat extensive as there's a lot that still needs to happen. And not only the ending but the epilogues, too, which will be mostly art-based... SO BASICALLY A LOT OF ART STILL NEEDS TO HAPPEN. But I'm happy to get the first huge chunk coded as there are a number of sequences that were quite extensive to code again, similar to 5.15. MUCH ACTION WILL HAPPEN OR SOMETHING. I'm pleased with how it's turned out so far.

The more I work on this game, the more unintelligible the code becomes...

Art-wise... I have drawn 31 CGs so far. This includes another cutscene. This feels like a lot already but will probably more than double by the time I'm finished LMAO I never know how many CGs I'll end up drawing as I just kinda decide on them either while writing or while coding (doubly more if there are cutscenes in there) so I could not tell you exactly how many more there will be. But I know there will be a lot of art for the ending and epilogues so I'm just throwing out that there's still a ton left LOLOL

C-Can you guess whose route I did first?

I've also drawn a ton more sprites because of a certain sequence that required a ton of new ones + sprite variations (honestly took longer than a lot of the CGs to be honest WEEP). Let me count them up...  well first I drew new normal sprites for both Orlam and Bucks. I did Orlam's new one first because I just haaaAAAAaaAAAte his old one. It was the first sprite I drew for the whole game, so not only is it just rough in general, but his design evolved a lot over the course of production, particularly his hair. And also my style evolved, too. So in my eyes it just looks extremely weird and off-model. BUT I NEED HIS NORMAL SPRITE AGAIN FOR THE FINALE. And I just couldn't bear to use that old one again... SO I DREW A NEW ONE. It's much better and also I then added a gajillion more expressions. A bit later I then also decided to redraw Bucks's sprite because I needed it again, too. Bucks's old sprite is not as heinous as Orlam's old one but it's still rather off-model, especially style-wise, and I just needed something that felt more consistent if I was going to be using it again... I've also updated all of Orlam's and Bucks's previous scenes to use the new sprites instead, even including some of the new expressions to add a bit more variety. (Now the only sprite tweak I need to do is to eventually fix Gidget's hair in their original sprite...)

Uhhhhh, where was I...

Oh yes I was counting up all the new sprites I've drawn LOL Lemme see... 17 completely new sprites!!! For various purposes. Whether replacing old ones, for new flashbacks, for fighting scenes, etc. Also a bajillion sprite variations, some of which probably took even longer to do than drawing a whole new sprite would tbh WEEP because when I draw sprites I don't draw a base and then put clothes on, I just draw it as-is, so if I want to change their clothes or do something different with their hair, etc., I need to like, draw new over the top, then edit the bottom in case the old clothes go beyond the outlines of the new clothes, etc... PROBABLY NOT THE BEST PROCESS????? Like turning Genzou's high school sprite into a middle school sprite took forever:

...especially because I originally drew his glasses straight onto his face. It probably didn't help that as I was working on some of the variations, I decided I didn't like some of their old expressions anymore and felt they looked strange LKDJLFAKSDFA so along the way I also made tweaks to their faces and expressions... I generally think they look much better now, so I may also replace some of the weirder ones in older flashbacks with the new expressions, too...

I'M UNSURE WHY I DIDN'T JUST COMPLETELY DRAW NEW SPRITES TBH maybe because despite everything I still like having some of those threads of continuity lol.

Anyway, here's some screenshots of the new sprites in action:

And..... I guess that takes us up to pretty much what I've done so far!! There's already been a ton of work as you can see but still lots to go!! I'm happy with everything so far and looking forward to diving into the ending. I've already gotten incredibly emotional at various points throughout production, both while working on Bucks's part and also while I was writing the ending. I hope I'm able to do the coding and art for the ending in a way that meets the vision of it I have in my mind lkdjfalskda

NOW THAT THE PROGRESS REPORT IS OVER. I wanted to talk a bit about the mechanics!!!!!!11!!!1!!! Why??? Because the finale is finally when all those choices you've been making throughout the course of the game come into play. And also the only major split of the game. But I want people to understand exactly what this split is perhaps so like, you better understand how it all works before going into it. Idk why. Maybe because part of me is anxious. But what else is new, am I right or am I right????

Anyway, uhhhhhh... right. The Choice. The choice of the game. One you all knew was coming eventually yeah???

Here it is lol:

This choice will determine your ending/epilogue 😛 I also add a double confirm here informing players as such so they know it's important just to make sure (DON'T WANT ANYONE CHOOSING WHAT THEY DON'T WANT, YOU KNOW???)

However there's a caveat that potentially not all of these options will be available. That's because all of your past choices influence Iggy's relationship with each of the LIs his friends. If you haven't built up enough affection for a certain char, then their option will be grayed out. So potentially if you made really poor choices for everyone throughout the entire game the only option you'll have is the last one LOL I did it this way because many of the quote-unquote "good" choices for each char throughout the game help you learn more about them and their struggles/issues so that getting their ending feels more justified and natural. Some choices in particular I can think of like, reveal quite large pieces of their stories or show connections between them and Iggy that I feel like are rather essential to understanding the character and making their ending with Iggy work LDKJFASD That doesn't mean that you won't reach the end and not have the option to choose multiple people. That is also entirely possible! And part of why I also did it this way, so that you can kinda choose what you feel are the best choices for multiple characters and be able to easily unlock multiple endings on a single playthrough rather than having to go back completely through the whole game (considering it is rather long...) Actually I'm unsure if you could unlock every single char on a single playthrough 🤔 I think you would be able to??? It's mostly starting in Arc 5 that you're given choices where you have to choose between one char or another (e.g., choosing Genzou's scene or Gidget's scene in Jerry's hideout). Maybe I need to do a lightning playthrough making every right choice and see if I can have all three options pop up once I actually code in the mechanics... STAY TUNED I GUESS.

Anyway...

WHAT EXACTLY IS DIFFERENT ABOUT EACH ROUTE????

Well the basic plot and ending of the game are still the same no matter what. Because this is at its essence a single story with a single conclusion. However, each route will have a special scene, some small differences spackled throughout the final leadup to the ending, as well as a unique epilogue. I have made this Very Excellent Diagram to illustrate what I mean:

I HOPE THIS MAKES SENSE LOL

Essentially, the main story of this game is unchanging. But I like having this option to influence the romantic(?) aspect of it a bit based on your own prefs. That and I just love all the chars so much, so I really love including the option to think about how all of the possible ships might play out. I imagine the neutral path will be the shortest and most general; however, I may or may not include a little interesting ~ connection ~ at the end kinda hinting at where I see the neutral ending sitting in the overall timeline of the OW universe 😝

So yeah, if you'll remember back when I was talking about my progress, I have written everything for what would be the Genzou route so far. And coded/done art up through like, halfway through the Path to Ending for Genzou's route. My goal is to finish art and coding up through the Ending and then I'll go back and write the special scenes/do the CGs for the other routes. Doing it this way allows me to write the Path to Ending more naturally with one char in mind so that I can identify parts that I will then change/tweak for the other routes. It's similar to how I wrote and coded Our Cinderella actually, and since it worked pretty well for that, I'm repeating the process here.

As always, if you have any B U R N I N G Q U E S T I O N S about any of this or the finale in general, you can always ask, either here on or my Tumblr! Unless of course it's a major spoiler LKDJFALSKD I cannot answer questions that will completely spoil parts of the ending... I've already done so good at like, not sharing CGs that are too spoiler-y already, WHICH IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT AS I'M VERY PROUD OF SOME OF THEM BUT I MUST KEEP THEM TO MYSELF UNTIL I FINALLY GET THE REST OF THIS THING FINISHED.

SPEAKING OF, WHEN WILL I ACTUALLY HAVE THIS THING FINISHED?????????

...I cannot give you an exact date (as usual) LOL It is because I don't plan anything, so I can never tell you how many CGs I need to draw, how many sprites I need to draw, how long it will take me to code scenes, etc. Also my productive-ness differs so much from day to day already. So I tend to just chug along at my own pace figuring things out as I go until I reach the end. For that reason, I can never give estimates until I get much closer to actually finishing. HOWEVER. I will at least say that I have a personal goal to have the finale finished by May at the latest. It may be finished earlier than this. But I hope it will not take longer than this. Ofc this is barring any huge events or changes happening in my life. Because you can't exactly plan for those 😝 So yeah, that's kinda a... personal goal/estimate. But I won't be able to give any more specific estimates until I get more of this thing done!!!!!!1!1!!!!!

This is the part of the devlog where I don't really know what to write about so I just get rambly and weepy. This has been such a long journey for me so far! I can't believe I've been working on this game around 2.5 years now. It's grown far beyond what I had initially imagined for it, but I'm really happy with how it's turned out. And I'm really excited to finally bring it to a close. I just hope I can do it justice LKDJALSKDFA I have gone through many ups and downs these last 2.5 years. I suffer from bad anxiety and chronic pain in my back and arm. And sometimes it hits me so hard that I can barely function for days/weeks at a time. So I apologize for those down times where I just haven't been able to work on much. Or when I've paused main game production to just dink around with self-indulgent art  (or make unplanned self-indulgent side games LKDJAFSD). One thing I've also discovered as a result of working on this game is that I highly suspect I have AuDHD (autism + ADHD) thanks to some friends and then like a year and a half of my own research, deep thoughts, lightbulb moments, and self-discovery. It's not something officially diagnosed though so I don't want to like, officially come out and say it for sure. And I don't know if I'll ever go down the road of getting diagnosed as it would be impossible where I am now as my language skills in the country where I live are not good enough for me to go through the process. (And I don't know how I feel about remote diagnoses + they are very expensive...) But it just makes a lot of sense looking back at my life. And I think it's influenced this game in many ways, too, from its production (the fact that I have not been able to think about or focus on anything besides this game and chars for the past 2.5 years) to parts of the story/chars (mostly in the form of Iggy.............. who borrows a great deal from me......... 💦). I have learned so much about myself and worked through so many things with this game. And so it's very emotional for me to be nearing the end. And I know there are parts of the game that aren't perfect (literally at all LKJDLFAKDSA), it's perhaps as flawed as me, myself tbh. but I'm grateful and happy that there are others out there who can enjoy it and relate to it and its chars and the journeys they've taken. And I love the fact that I've met so many people through working on this, from new friends, to lots of other amazing devs, to the OW fam that can constantly make me smile and laugh, especially with all your silly asks and posts on Tumblr lkdjasdfa I really feel like I have such a wonderful family!!! And I will probably make another long weepy post when the game is finally finished, but I just wanted to say all this now because I've been filled with a lot of emotions lately and came off of a really bad anxiety month in January so I'm just really grateful idk lol.

Anyway, I should really stop typing now or I'll just go off the rails. I hope you've enjoyed this devlog!!! I will keep working hard on the finale and I hope I'll finally be able to share the full game with everyone soon! I don't know if I'll have another devlog before it's done. Maybe just when I get close enough that I can give a release date in (hopefully) a few months. We'll see. At any rate, I'll catch y'all on the other siiiIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDDEEEEEEEE.

Ok but not without sharing some of the aforementioned self-indulgent art first as a signoff LKJDALKDSF

GENZOU STOP BEING CUTE CHALLENGE (IMPOSSIBLE) SOB I LOVE HIM SO MUCH I'LL DIE.