What’s up, everybody!  

Here’s the first update of the year on Dog Eat Dog: Scam to Survive. I’m happy to say it’s been a productive month - let me outline where we’re at…!

SYSTEMS

There have been a few worthwhile changes on the backend: First, the ‘Penalties and Payouts’ system that fires after the player succeeds in a scam is now a far more efficient event. All the math happens in one place, and the code is easier to read as a result. Hooray.

Following that, all cut-scenes have been rebuilt using the new comic builder function that was added to the project towards the end of last year. This script makes spinning up one of four different types of cut-scenes really easy. I no longer have to meticulously position pictures, render text boxes as pictures, or animate each individual object. This is already saving me so much time with new scenes.

VISUAL

A bunch of older backgrounds and scenes have been re-designed to fit more within the theme of Act 1. I’ve also kept to a strict colour limit going forward. There’s no specific palette - all imagery still stands on its own, but now there’s more cohesion in the fidelity of each photograph. The limitations here work - I think it’s a big improvement.

GAMEPLAY

Players can now choose how much they wish to steal from a caller. This makes the levels a bit more complex, but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. There used to be set amounts the player could scam for, but now you can input whatever you like. Be awful and take it all? Always choose zero? Up to you.

There's a library in the game, and you can now read all of the books. For the longest time, I’d limited it to 1, but nah, go nuts - you'll be able to read ‘em all. The gameplay benefit to reading books and engaging in the world gives you knowledge about VONA (the city) that can be useful in scams. Or, sometimes it’s just a random book about the effects of sleep deprivation, and how a fantastic night’s sleep is desirable only so that you can be a productive human for somebody else the next day, and not for the simple value of rest... 

Anyway.

MUSIC, MARKETING & AI

Sounds, baby! I play guitar, so I added some of my riffs to the game. That’s been cool. New sound effects, too! I picked up a BOSS ME-90 a few months ago and that thing is wild for getting quirky tones. In no way does any of this trample over the awesome OST that I still can’t wait for everyone to hear.

The RPG Maker Festival on Steam is coming up on February 15th, and DED is gonna be there for a third time, chilling out with the ‘Coming Soon’ tag once again like a child that keeps failing the same year at school and re-sitting. Heck, it’s all good, I like that such a thing exists to celebrate games made in RM - why not? 

Finally, let’s address AI for a moment. AI art sucks, and none of our games will ever use it. Anything that generates artwork using other people’s styles - specifically when the artist isn’t being compensated fairly - is just theft. For as long as we live under a brutally unfair system where money does all the talking: pay your damn artists.

TINY DUMB ADDITION OF THE MONTH

There’s now a bone badge on the monitor, cos like… Dogs. Ya know. 

UNTIL NEXT TIME...

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-codapill 💚