Progress Report

So, as of my last progress report, I'd finished work on 1x3R and intended to complete work on 1x4R and release them both together. With how easily the three preceding chapters had come together, I expected this subsequent one would follow suit.

Naturally, this wasn't quite the case, and now I wish I'd just released 1x3R standalone as I'd originally planned to do. Whoops. 

After several sessions of writing that simply didn't produce material I'm satisfied with, I've described to scrap what I've done so far and start over with a different approach. The stuff I've written so far largely follows the beats of the original with little deviation, and as a result, it feels a little like it is simply going through the motions, the enthusiasm and excitement from previous scenes all but absent. That's not to say there aren't some decent ideas that found their way in - there were two smaller things that deviated from the original, and ironically, those ideas are the only things I intend to keep from the current iteration. 

I'm planning to begin anew as soon as this post is published, and this time, thanks to some suggestions from CurryCatz, the scene will immediately go in a different direction compared to the original. The middle section of the scene will be more familiar, but will implement the new ideas from the failed iteration and will streamline a few aspects to allow for some new conversations to take place. Finally, the day will conclude with a brand new ending sequence which draws inspiration from a similar event that took place in the ancient 2014~ prototype release... that sequence is, of course, that thing we teased like a month and a half ago but have yet to actually release... this thing right here.

With any luck, today's attempt will bear more fruit than those previous and we can have a new update in your hands very soon. As previously mentioned, once the remade Day 1 is complete, we'll be reintroducing Tai's Route into our development schedule and splitting our time between the remake of Day 2 and the continuation of Tai's Route. 

Interestingly, my difficulties in completing 19x6 largely mirror those of 1x4R, just on a larger scale. The biggest issue with 19x6 was that a series of specific events needed to take place in sequence, and while each piece came together well enough, linking those pieces together in a way that felt organic was a struggle. Of course, in my time away from that sequence, I've been thinking about how to handle that, and the strategy I intend to employ upon my return is the same strategy I used once before in a situation that, in hindsight, is actually rather similar!

You see, perhaps you recall the first chapter of Day 17 (Tai's Route) which took place at the bar and introduced Maxwell. You might remember how Jay's fight at the combat tournament took place prior to this sequence and Adrian was indeed present, however all we see of this is a brief flashback where Adrian spoke with Logan.

You see, I had originally planned for this bar sequence to be the second chapter of Day 17 with a sequence at the tournament being the first. Sadly, I struggled to string the events in that first sequence together in a way that felt natural, and I struggled to produce a version of that chapter that I was even remotely satisfied with. Sound familiar? Eventually, I took a step back and reevaluated the chapter. Other than some exposition, the only sequence I felt needed to be included was the brief conversation with Logan, and I wouldn't have to worry about the events prior to that conversation and those that followed it if the conversation itself were isolated to a flashback sequence shown in a subsequent chapter instead. And thus, the chapter was thrown out and those elements of exposition and the flashback conversation were woven into the bar scene instead.

Now, there's one small snag with using that strategy to address 19x6. That is that 19x6 has at least three crucial events that take place at different times. One flashback is no big deal, but three is somewhat more unwieldy. That being said, we've done multiple flashbacks in quick succession before with strong results, though in this case, we'll be working to keep those flashbacks more brief to ensure the chapter's length remains in check. The chapter is a sequence unto itself, and thus having three flashbacks occur within another event could easily spiral out of control into another of my famous epics. The silver lining is that the sequence in question these flashbacks will occur within was primarily slice of life character moments and not anything plot critical, and those two things handled correctly can work rather nicely together.

Assuming that all goes to plan, 19x6 and 19x7 will be consolidated with 19x8 becoming the new 19x7 and being the final chapter of Day 19. And yes, 19x7 is a sex scene. It's been too long since we made one of those. We have a clear vision for what that scene is going to be, and CurryCatz has already begun working on the artwork for it. After that, Day 20 will likely have only 3 - 4 chapters in total which serve to wrap up any loose ends and give the story a satisfactory conclusion. And once Tai's Route finally wraps up, we'll finally get to start on something new! I intend to continue seamlessly from the end of the rewritten Day 5 into a brand new route, but I expect to finish Tai's Route before that happens. As such, we'll finally make a start on that expansion to Diego's route we've been promising for such a long time. Who wants to meet Diego's family?!