October 2021 progress update
Ok, we all know this is overdue. Have been trying to get to this for a week or so, and I'm currently sat waiting for 15 mins to pass after my second jab, so no excuse!
The last two months have been all about NPC content. Even though I've been keeping a strict scope-creep guard on the alpha, I still somehow arrived at 48 cutscenes in August, and through September I gave every Non-Playable Character of Autumn their path schedules - so now they'll leave the house, go to the store, visit the ranch, etc.
A lot of other goodies along the way of course, but those have been the main focus, and as much as it's been quite a grind, the end result is a far richer feel to the town. I was unsure on what to focus on for this blog given all the above, so I think I'll pick a character and go through their scenes and schedule.
Meet Brooke
Brooke is Autumn's doctor, and her house/clinic can be found in town between the tavern and the entrance to the docks.
Originally starting out her career wanting to be a vet, Brooke ended up taking an alternative path after a bad experience with an animal. Through increasing your friendship level with Brooke she’ll share some detail, and give you a quest or two that help her to fall back in love with them.
In terms of cutscenes I’ve already added, Brooke also hosts two other scenes:
Introduction to energy which serves as a tutorial for understanding your energy level
‘Player fainted’ which I created for those times where you didn’t follow her advice!
With regards to her main schedule, its a pretty simple one:
A quiet day with the Doctors being closed on Mondays - after leaving home, Brooke’ll be in the library most of the day
Tuesday you’ll find her staffing the clinic most of the day, before grabbing her evening meal at the tavern
Wednesday is also a day at the doctors, but this time Brooke is running the homeschool class for the kids, and then will go for dinner at Hal’s house
Thursday repeats Tuesday!
Friday starts off with work, and then for the evening will head out to her regular Tabletop Role Playing Game night!
Saturday starts off with hosting a regular early appointment with Thimba, then Brooke will go to the docks to see the merchant for the afternoon before a relaxed evening at home
Sunday starts off with a nice social get together in the town square, before retiring home again late afternoon
Brooke’s schedule doesn’t change massively with the weather as most things are indoors, but she will start paying the ranch a weekly visit once you’ve earned her friendship!
…and for anyone who wonders how to get this stuff figured out, I create an absurd amount of spreadsheets that look like this:
I spent most of September creating or cross-referencing those, so I’m very happy to not look at them again for quite some time!
This month I’m rattling through as much of my remaining Alpha tasks as I can, which is quit a lot to be fair, but I’m intent on cutting a version for a select few to play early November, even if there are some embarrassing gaps.
Example, yesterday I finished up consuming food for energy, and this morning I got most of the work done for the community quest board. After that I’m diving into decorating the remaining houses for the week. So all a pretty random selection!
Getting there…
