Strike A Pose

A nice, big update has come to Trist. While still crafted of static images, the girls themselves are no longer forced to be static! This update brings "pose switching," so each line of dialogue has been given a pose, allowing the girls to look more like they are reacting. More personality shines through. Though the code is in place, the entire update is still a work in progress. Only Izobel and Valentina have multiple poses at this point.

I also got to embarrass myself try my hand at some basic sprites for drinks. That means I can add the "hand-crafted pixel art" line to the list of features in this game!

There have also been several quality of life upgrades. A girl's level of drunkenness now means something! See higher point gains while dating a drunk girl, but also be wary of much higher point loss as well. Hunger also affects dates, determining how often you Disappoint a girl. There are still obstacles on every date, but at least these girls can feel their full stomachs and think "this date may not be going so well, but at least I got a meal out of it."

I also decided to whip out my Juicer to add some nifty little animations in various parts of the game. Want to know how many points a certain move was worth in a date? Juiced. Want to actually see where an item goes after you buy it (so maybe you'll have a chance of finding it in the inventory)? Juiced, as well!

Last, but certainly not least, the concept of unlockable alternate outfits has been added to the game. When going out on dates with Izobel, you may find that she decides to dress up for the occasion. Woo her, and you may see her wearing that outfit around all the time.

Let's get that bullet list of features out of the way:

• Swapping poses for Izobel and Valentina
• Alternate outfits for Izobel
• Updates to Valentina's sprites
• Basic art for drinks
• Animations to show items going to the inventory when bought
• Updates to hunger/drunkenness meters and mechanics
• Score popup during dates with each successful move

And it wouldn't be game development without some silly bugs. While the Breast Variety Bug featured in my last game was more devastating, this one is definitely sillier in spirit. Due to all the costuming changes, a lot of outfit swapping on the fly is required based on the current pose and outfit a girl is wearing. This was especially trying to Elizabeth, our wonderful tutorial friend. Because Elizabeth is a special kind of girl, she had a very special reaction to the outfit swapping. Namely, when engaging in intimate relations with her. Due to a small oversight on my end, Elizabeth thought it prudent to put her clothes back on just as she reached the climactic moment of the current activities. Of course, once you were finished, she would strip down once more and continue on her merry way wearing nothing at all. A little bit of tinkering here and there, and Elizabeth, and her clothes, are working the way I originally intended (sorry to disappoint).