Major Release of 'Faceless Date' + v1.0.5 update notes

Since I was very hurried for the release of 'Faceless Date' due to personal schedule, it didn't receive a DevLog unlike the normal releases of my VNs. Now, let's pretend I'm announcing a brand new game you've totally not seen before (if you haven't, then you're at the right place in this DevLog)! 🥳

So let's give a not-so-brief summary what it is. 'Faceless Date' was made for two jams:

• O2A2 VN Jam 2023 ~Queer Edition~: Limitations with Only One of Any Asset and 1000 word limit, and this is a special edition where all the participating devs are queer while the VN itself doesn't have to be centered around it. This is a 2-week jam but I missed the majority of the second week (and in that period I couldn't be involved with VN development at all).
• Blossom VN Jam 2023: this is a spring-focused jam and still on-going. Since the jams have overlapping timeslots I brainstormed on how I can use it as an inspiration to decide on the theme and aesthetics of my VN. I eventually settled on 'spring breeze' as a theme and wanted to target josei art style because my initial idea is that I've always loved how shoujo/josei mangakas draw flowers around the panels during the romantic moments. I wonder a bit how much the result actually meets with what I intended to achieve. I should go in-depth writing about it someday. 😅
• Is it related to my last year's O2A2 VN Jam entry? Funnily enough, it is in fact somewhat a companion piece, as this was born from unused ideas for 'Find My Mind'. It's probably during last year when I was working on a DevLog for that game - that definitely will never see the light for publishing since I always lose interest after staring at a draft for too long - and then I remembered: Hey, it wasn't always sci-fi, it had paranormal roots previously! (BTW, it's hardly sci-fi when electroencephalography exists, hehe)
  I can't say these two games are fully similar as in they would be enjoyed if you like one or the other:
  • 'Faceless Date' is more of a traditional VN experience, while with 'Find My Mind' I really wanted to combine the concept of hidden object game and microfiction with an overarching story into point-and-click gameplay. 
  • 'Faceless Date' has multiple endings where you figure out how to get them, while 'Find My Mind' is semi-kinetic.
  • 'Find My Mind' is quite abstract where you don't even see what characters look like. In some regards it's closer to an interactive fiction, but without the flexibility of choose-your-own-adventure with the many choice branching. There is a small roleplaying element though by the end.

The eventual tagline I've chosen for 'Faceless Date' is: wlw paranormal mystery romance: Suzanne meets 'no-profile-photo' Evelyn on a first date. 

I kind of need to stress that it isn't a really scary game or anything I would qualify as horror which again brings certain associations. It might be a bit on the spookier side though for something I label as 'cozy'. 😆

It has 5 endings, which is also why I've added a guide for it.

What's added in v1.0.5:

• Added Credits information in the "About" Screen.

• Added new screens to move all the gameplay mechanic instructions to be within the game itself:
  • Help Screen: new tab called 'Lily Mechanic'
  • Endings Screen: this is a newly added custom screen where you can find information of the endings you've seen and a guide for how you can find other endings if you're stuck. The ending guide doesn't list the ending names until you've unlocked them.
  • Notification pop-up at Reunite Ending that tells you where you can find gameplay information. Originally I didn't know where to explain things to the player when I didn't want to integrate that in the actual story as that would take up word count. Hopefully this is a sufficient alternative.

• New GUI art that are shown within the game:
  • Choice buttons (not using Ren'Py's default anymore)
  • Close button for the Mindread Screen. Previously it was using the close button from "The Snowperson" since I was short on time to find something suitable.
  • Very minor addition that Evelyn has an 'away bubble' that is used for speech when she's not visible on screen.

This is the previous 'endings guide' I drew, which was only accessible on the game page. Sorry you had to look at this. I'm reposting it here so it's not completely lost forever for viewing. 😁

Future:

Android

I plan to add an Android build as well, however when I just checked the Ren'Py mobile emulator, everything looks like a mess, while it looks fine on its tablet emulator. I don't expect it to be an actual issue, most likely that everything is configured by default to use the small screen elements, and if I spent too much time on that I would be delaying this DevLog even further. For the VNs I've made an Android build in the past, I simply set all builds to use the same layouts, when I just pick bigger text and buttons in pc build to take this into account. This will just receive the same version number v1.0.5 as I don't expect to add anything new there.

Art update in v1.1?

Currently I consider v1.0.5 to be the definitive version. I had a v1.1 in mind with art updates, however it would not consist of any major redraws because that doesn't really feel right for the jam spirit to have players see significantly different art depending if they played early build or later ones. So what I wanted to do is perhaps special title image if you reached a certain ending, different Itch.io cover, maybe some few more facial expression for Evelyn, and some more decorations for the GUI. However, right now I don't actually expect this update to come.

Postmortem DevLog?

I'm still uncertain whether I want to write a proper postmortem for 'Faceless Date'. It definitely won't be anytime soon since I want to take a bit of distance to game dev and this jam game for a while. Despite I say this, I'm less bothered doing code feature updates, since these can be relaxing activities (if you're not stuck). I've got to admit that this jam has taken a bit of a toll on me. The period when I was creating the VN and seeing what other devs have been up to was very fun, especially how supportive everyone is. I even made some new friends over it. But coming back from a trip and looking at what ratings and comments had been left behind had been a very stressful moment. For my own health I've pondered if I should simply turn ratings off, but the search index is so horrendous that you'll basically say goodbye to anyone finding and playing your game. Therefore I guess I should just live with it.