Game Projects Report 01/21/23

Howdy everyone, Saturday means that it's BáiYù with another game development report. This time we have important information regarding both Sleepy Time Jack and The Groom of Gallagher Mansion, so please be sure to read everything!

Sleepy Time Jack V 0.1.1 Changelog

• Fixed bug on Android where players could not change Jack's level of clothing
• Tested Sleep Timer function on the Steam Deck using the Linux version (it works!)
• Finalized retail price to $2.99
• Opened Patreon access to all supporters at corresponding $3 tiers

You've read that right folks— we've decided to give all Patrons access to the Sleepy Time Jack beta! If you haven't yet claimed your Patreon key, follow this link and be sure to connect your itch.io account to ensure that you don't lose access to future updates.

With this change, we're restructuring how beta access works for tiers.

Pricing Games, Tier Access, & Paying Our Teams

This week we had a meeting to discuss how much Sleepy Time Jack and The Groom of Gallagher Mansion would retail for upon public release. After talking about content expectations and industry standards, we've decided upon these prices for our current side projects:

• $2.99 - Sleepy Time Jack
• $3.99 - The Groom of Gallagher Mansion

How our new tiered beta access works:

• Patrons at the $3 Just A Taste! (or equivalent tier for series-specific projects) tier will be able to have beta access to games retailing at or below $3.
• Patrons at the $5 One Little Bite! (or equivalent tier for series-specific projects) tier will be able to have beta access to games retailing at or below $5.
• Patrons at the $12 Pick Your Poison tier or higher will be able to have beta access to all games regardless of price, as well as their name in the credits of the finalized game while they maintain an active pledge in these tiers that month of release.

We acknowledge that we had previously announced that The Groom of Gallagher Mansion would be sold for $1.99, and we deeply apologize to everyone who had anticipated that price point. Due to global inflation affecting the price of food and housing, we had to adjust the budget and development timeline we initially set for the game to account for our team members' new rates and sudden life events.

The last thing we want to do is set a dangerous precedent in which we undervalue the work of our teammates. The rush to sell games that may have taken months or literal years of a developer's life for insultingly low prices only to then discount them further at every available moment is much too prevalent in the larger indie games market; at the very least within SnaccPop Studios, we want to provide quality content for you to enjoy at a reasonable price while offering competitive pay for our freelancers.

Thank you for your understanding on this difficult matter.

The Groom of Gallagher Mansion Development Team

We have the main development team for TGoGM assembled, and there's a lot of familiar faces here you've already met!

• SgtSemiSauce (they/them) - Director, Lead Artist
• BáiYù (he/they) - Producer, Co-writer
• Auracle (they/them) - Narrative Designer
• Johan Faulstich (he/him) - Editor
• Oriana Greene (they/them) - Co-writer, Programmer
• Paxton Lee (he/him) - English Voice of Elias Gallagher
• Reece Bridger (he/him) - English Voice of Taylor Potts

I brought on two experienced developers, Johan and Oriana, to assist with the development of the game, as Johan has a keen eye for details in plot structure while Oriana has been developing games at a variety of different studios for even longer than I have! They've been doing an excellent job keeping momentum going forward on the project so far.

It is important to note however that Oriana was originally bought onto the team as the Naninovel Programmer, but due to personal circumstances, Auracle has elected to become the narrative designer instead, providing a detailed story outline for Oriana and I to follow when writing. Aura continues to contribute valuable research and input on key points in the game.

The Groom of Gallagher Mansion Progress

The working document we currently have for the script sits just above 7k words after accounting for scene direction notes and such. In total, we have 10 out of 19 scenes written and Elias' sprite complete. Here's a mockup of what we hope to achieve with Naninovel!

Taylor will receive a sprite as well, while we have projected a total of 5 CGs that we'll begin after the first draft is complete.

Here's a sneak peek at the script:

Taylor: Hey! Hey Y/N! What’s going on there? The line’s going haywire over here!

I reach up towards Elias’ hand and our knuckles brush against one another.

His touch is deathly cold.

Y/N: I do.

Taylor: I-I’m requesting a report! Do you uh, do you need backup? Y/N, answer me!

Elias: Wonderful, darling.

; screen fades to black

Elias: Now even death can’t do us part.

Going back to the change in roles, programming may take longer than initially projected as Oriana is working as a co-writer. We'll keep you updated on how that's looking as we get closer to the editing phase.

Thank you once again for your patience regarding the development of The Groom of Gallagher Mansion. I know many of you have been waiting for it ever since its initial conception, and we want to ensure that the wait is well worth it.