Sunday, July 5, 2020

Nocturnal Affair Release


Nocturnal Affair landing page

Nocturnal Affair is finally released!
Two days ago saw the release of Nocturnal Affair's full version! This five-week worth of work is done and is available for download at my itch.io page. It's such an achievement to have this project drawn to a close. 

Game's final branching results

Using Twine had been an interesting and enriching experience in the end. Although for sure, I'll be using more of it for future story-centred projects, rather than for ADV. Unfortunately, for this type of game to work with additional media ( i.e. BGM, images etc.) the folder containing these assets must be included in the release. They are basically accessible to players, so if one intends to use this engine with a commercial game in mind, attention for copyright usage should be kept closely in mind. 

Another thing I acquired during these past weeks is the importance of keeping meticulous notes to keep track of where everything is left in the event of long-term hiatus (three years in this case), and what the story's central core is. Fortunately, I had managed to save notes and find the first branching draft for NA. This made it easier to determine where the additional four endings could be placed from the starting four to accommodate Natalie's last-minute story arc. 

Title of NA's possible endings

A particular issue I encountered, besides the bugs, had been keeping track of the points system within the game. A typical issue for a visual novel that relies on affection points other than flags. In the end, I couldn't be sure if the tentative estimate will work as intended. Hopefully, players will be able to successfully unlock all endings. 

With Nocturnal Affair out of the way, I'll be taking a rest for a few days. After which I'll return my focus back on that secret project I've been working on since May. Once I'm confident enough that it's ready and close to release, expect me to write about it here. In the meantime, you can see a sneak peek video of it over at my ko-fi.

That said, thank you for reading this far and stay safe out there. 😄