Dev Log — September 2024 (NSFW)

Hi everyone!

Last month has been another busy one and we're getting very close to the next update, which I expect to go out later this week!

Aside from the usual bug fixes and preparations for the PvE overhaul, the upcoming update will greatly improve onboarding and make it easier to both play and understand the game, what you can do, and how. This includes the introduction of action bars and macros for customizing your UI and making it possible to play the game without constantly having part of the game screen obscured to cast spells or use items.

The next update will also allow players to link their items in the local chat and private messages, and include embedded items, including their own inanimate form, in character bios!

I expect to release the game on itch.io before the end of the year, and before I do that there are three things I want to work on first.

You can learn more about macros from this guide on the test server: https://test.battlemageroyal.com/macros.php

1. The Website

I want to move the game to the new website at battlemageserotica.com to properly leave behind the old Battle Mage Royal name. To begin with, I "simply" want to move the API, login system, and email addresses to the new website, and have the client continue to run on the old website.

It's quite a daunting task; not because it takes a lot of time, but because even with a lot of preparation, it's difficult to be sure one has, in fact, changed every reference to the old domain, old emails, and the old database, and one mistake can cause the whole system to break down and there's no easy reverse button.

This week, before rolling out the update in time for the weekend, I plan on moving the test server, and then the live server. Hopefully, by doing it with the test server first, I will be better prepared for moving the live server and players will experience minimal downtime. Since the client, or user-facing part of the system, won't be moved, players shouldn't otherwise be able to tell anything changed, and I can even begin to develop the new client on the new server and have them both be supported at the same time, until I am ready to move entirely on from the Battle Mage Royal name and website, with the release on itch.io

The new client is required for releasing the game on itch.io and Steam. Right now, the user-facing part of the game essentially has two parts: the website where players log into the game and access external services such as profiles and the market, and the client for playing the game. But the log-in part needs to be a third separate part from the website, so players on Steam and itch.io can log into the game without it being through the game. For those with web development knowledge, what I expect to do is essentially create a launcher for the game that I will run on the website, itch.io, or in Steam using an iframe, so it will be the same implementation across all platforms.

2. The Dynamic Avatar

We have made huge progress on the dynamic avatar, and the next step will actually be to implement a test Live2D rig inside the game and try out different techniques for rigging and displaying player characters!

Getting to this point has been long underway, but I must say I was quite surprised to suddenly be in a situation where the only thing between now and having a prototype for dynamic avatars in the game, is a technical implementation. So I might just spend some time in the coming weeks to finish up a working prototype inside the game's engine!

3. The PvE Overhaul

There are a lot of subsystems required for the PvE overhaul, and one that I have recently been working on is a desire system, which will replace how sexual actions previously worked in the game. I've been playing a lot of adult games recently (for research, I swear!) to learn from how other developers emulate sexual fantasies, kinks, and interactions through in-game mechanics, and help me figure out where I might have holes or potential pitfalls in my original design for the PvE overhaul. Thankfully, I've only had to make a few changes, and one of them is the inclusion of the desire system, which contradictingly is sort of a PvP overhaul as well, since players and NPCs are beholden to the same base systems. So one of the next updates might just be an improvement to the PvP aspects of the game, but it's all part of the plan for the PvE overhaul!

---

That's all for this month's dev log! I'm sorry for repeating myself a little bit from last month, but I hope you'll bear with me! 🙏

I've noticed we've gotten quite a few new and returning backers in the past month and I'm super thankful to all of you for supporting me through the game's development. I'll continue to do my best to live up to your hopes and dreams for the game ❤️

Cheers,

Tinon