Plans for 0.55

Hey, y'all!

With 0.54.1 now released, I just thought I'd check in with our plans for the 0.55 update so you know what we're working on.

Now, at this point in time, 0.55 could take one of several shapes depending on a few factors. Most notably is the upcoming release of Ren'Py 8.1. This engine update looks as though it will release fairly soon though there is no release date as yet. For reference, Sileo is currently built on Ren'Py 7.5.3. Ren'Py 8 has been released for a while now, however has maintained feature parity with Ren'Py 7.5. The main difference between 7.5 and 8 is the version of Python used. 7.5 is built on the antiquated Python 2 language, while Ren'Py 8 is built on the newer Ren'Py 8. In terms of how this will impact all of you, it largely won't. Ren'Py 7 has largely been compatible with Python 3 style language for quite some time despite running on Python 2, and Ren'PyScript which is the proprietary design language used when building Ren'Py games is cross compatible. This means that, in theory, most games built on Ren'Py 7 will function just fine on Ren'Py 8, and the limited testing we've done so far indicates that Sileo will transition smoothly to this new version of the engine.

The main reason we hadn't already upgraded to Ren'Py 8 is the lack of web support in that version of the engine. Rather than building Sileo from two very different versions of the engine, it made more sense to stick with Ren'Py 7.5 until web support arrived in Ren'Py 8. This is something Ren'Py 8.1 addresses, thus clearing the way for Sileo to upgrade. The web support in Ren'Py 8.1 also includes support for video playback, meaning animated sequences will function as they do on the downloadable versions in future releases of the web client.

Besides that, Ren'Py 8.1 also includes support for the AVIF image format and the AV1 video format. I have spent a fair bit of time with these formats already experimenting with them in preparation for the migration, and what I've found is that AVIF is expected to reduce the size of image files within Sileo by approximately 30%~ while providing a greater level of visual fidelity. AVIF does a much better job of preserving small details on things such as textures, and linework is much more crisp as well. As for AV1, I'm still waiting on CurryCatz to give me the source files for the animated sequences, but even just converting the existing files as they are, we've been able to reduce the filesize by 25 - 30% with no loss in visual fidelity.

It is my expectation that the first version of Sileo that ships with Ren'Py 8.1 will be at least 50MB smaller than the previous release while featuring an overall increase in visual fidelity. It's worth considering however that this comes with a performance impact. While this won't impact the majority of people in any noticeable way, devices that are already struggling to run Sileo may have further difficulties once this format migration has taken place. Please keep this in mind if this is applicable to you.

Now, of course, without Ren'Py 8.1 having a firm release date just yet, it's possible our next update may release beforehand while remaining on 7.5.3. So engine upgrade and format changes aside, what are our plans for Sileo's next content additions?

Well first and foremost is 20x3 in Tai's Route which at this stage is planned to be a smaller chapter than 20x2. Of course if we feel it is needed, we will expand it, but at this point we're hoping to have this chapter span 200 - 300 lines and avoid having a flashback like 20x2 had. If the Ren'Py 8.1 update happens, we'll likely release 20x3 alongside those improvements, but otherwise we'll aim to include 20x4 as well. 20x4 at this stage is planned to be more like 20x2 in that it will feature a flashback, but likely won't be quite as long. 20x4 is the final chapter wrapping up side stories within Tai's Route, and the following 1 chapter is planned as the actual conclusion to the route. That chapter is expected to be fairly long and content rich and thus will likely release in an update following 20x4.

This of course assumes all goes well with the continued development of Tai's Route which has been proving a challenge. I've certainly run out of steam on the final stretch, but nothing would be a greater relief than to ship out the final scene and to call the route done, so I'm pushing forward in hope of achieving that. If things go sufficiently awry however, we might work on another chapter elsewhere instead. This could be 6x1 of Axel's route, perhaps the first chapter of Diego's tale, or, most likely at this stage, the debut of Lukas' route. I say that as everything is set and in place for the first chapters of that route to be written, and right now it's the most appealing chapter of the bunch for me to write. Of course, finishing Tai's route still takes priority for now, but we'll see what happens.

Beyond that, there's not much else to talk about just yet. Today is mostly an off day following the release of 0.54 and 0.54.1 with tomorrow being the day I hope to get stuck back in for the next update. With any luck, I'll have more to show and tell in the coming days, but for now, stay safe and well, and have fun with the 0.54 update!