Good day everyone - Hope you are all well amongst the interesting world circumstances we currently find ourselves in.

First off, I would like to apologise for the lack of Devlogs recently! A range of technical and health problems have led to the team deciding to take a short period of time to rest and recover.

We are however back and ready to work once again!
Another week of work of course means another Devlog, while only a week long - we hope it's informative and interesting!

Also keep your eyes peeled, by the time this Devlog goes live - we will be very close to announcing something...

Enjoy!

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Sprint 5 - Devlog - November 23rd to November 27th

Progress:

Despite taking a break, our goal remains the same - preparing to playtest!

With the core drink making systems and customer interactions coming together in a simpler form, this will be a great chance to gain player feedback on the core essential systems of our game.

Jake has been working hard to this end - getting all the core functions integrated, running and not crashing everything. Jemma and Myself have been assisting, integrating the customer randomised, order request text and various other improvements to help deliver an interesting gameplay experience.

The build will end up being rather simple, but due to the pre-production and very early Alpha stage of development we are currently in, it still looks as if we are on track to finish pre-production before Christmas. Next term we enter full production, and the game can begin to develop further. With all the documentation at the ready, playtesting over the Christmas break will give us a great deal of valuable opinions to discuss as we enter a crucial part of development.

Besides the character creation system, Jemma has also been trying to make the scene more enjoyable to look at. With several key visual issues fixed, the 3d environment is looking very good. With customers spawning and key bugs resolved, the game is coming together well.

Sapphire has also been developing something important to the games visual style - A diegetic recipe book! We are still experimenting a great deal with its appearance and function, but it's a key part of gameplay once more recipes are added. There are many decisions to be made about it still, so it's unlikely to be seen in our upcoming playtest - but will be a critical element of future versions.

I have been working to try and prepare us for the upcoming playtests, as well as experimenting with the customer dialogue system. Every customer will generate a random drink and piece together a conversation through a variety of possible phrases - creating a procedural conversation. There is a lot to experiment with still to get this right, but a prototype version will be found in game.

Warren and Kim have been working hard as well, piecing together character personalities, plotlines and audio that sadly won't make it into the build - but will be the backbone of full production next term. We hope that all of this preparation will lead to a very exciting game in the future!

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Problems:
While the past 2 weeks break has led to an improvement in health and productivity, some members of the team are still tackling these issues. While little can be done besides allowing time, taking this time away from the project has certainly helped - and at the end of the day, the health of our team is an absolute priority. You cannot make a game if nobody is there to make it!

We are also hitting a busy period for other assignments, but with everyone working so diligently when not resting - we are well on track to deliver a playable and exciting game prototype soon. We are dedicated to this idea and really keen to get into full production next term!

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This marks the end of our little Devlog - While still recovering, progress continues and we are confident a playtest version of the game will be in your hands very soon… keep an eye out here or on socials!

Remember to give us a follow on itch, twitter or send us an email to get in touch - and fill out the form on our front page to get an email when we release a new build, devlog or questionnaire!

Until then, stay safe~

• Dan Baker, Producer and Writer for Slime Crime