Delay

Just a quick note - the next release is going to be delayed for a bit while I take care of some other business.  Hopefully there aren't too many people on the edge of their seat for this release, since the game is still a prototype, but I thought I'd let anyone watching know anyway.

Talea, Gaaster Jarl

Talea is a brutal, heartless warrior, possessing little patience and even less scruples.  She finds Oran’s cheerful nature and penchant for diplomacy distasteful.  While she respects him as a warrior, she believes he will eventually be tricked by one of Gaast's enemies, bringing ruin to all they’ve achieved.  With this in mind, she plans to one day kill Oran and take his place.  Oran is fully aware of this, but keeps Talea close anyway, both to keep tabs on her, and for use in Gaast's vanguard.

Oran, the Gaaster King

Oran is a jovial, cheerful man, often found drinking and laughing with his clanmates.  He is also an adept strategist, however, and in battle his red-cheeked festive nature is replaced with barely restrained ferocity.  He has done much to bring the disparate Gaaster clans together, and is open to diplomacy when possible.  He has little trouble using force when diplomacy fails, however.

1000 Downloads

Gaast now has over 1000 downloads on itch.io!  Thank you so much for supporting this project!

More concept art & new build on the way

I'll be posting a series of character concepts over the next two weeks or so, starting with some Prezlucians and Gaasters, along with a brief description of each character.

I also hope to have 0.1.4 out within the next two weeks.  The business management screen (where you will select which degrees are available and how much tuition costs in the university setting) is done, and I'm currently working on a system which allows a regular influx of students at specified intervals, or "classes".  Which class a student belongs to is important, as it is common for upperclassmen to haze the new students, and upperclassmen who are doing poorly in their studies can also be susceptible to punitive measures.

Ennell Concept Art

Ennell, Prezlucian Fighters Guild Leader

The leader of the Fighters Guild has become the defacto military leader of Prezluc, with the grizzled warrior Ennell currently holding the position.  Ennell is a large, masculine woman, who moved into a leadership role in the Fighters Guild after losing her sword arm below the elbow.  Being both a distinguished fighter, and an excellent commander, she was a shoe-in for the top spot in the guild.  Because there is regular confusion about who has authority over what and which laws are currently in effect, Ennell often disregards the bureaucracy of the Prezluc leadership, taking matters into her own hands, often to the chagrin of the other leaders.  While grim and severe, she genuinely has the best in mind for Prezluc and its citizens.

Relaxation: successful

Back from a weekend relaxing at a clothing-optional resort with a group of friends.  It was a little cold, but still a lot of fun.  Playing a particular silly card game in the nude gave us an interesting idea for a sexual tension generating party game.  If anything comes of it, I'll post an update.

Content Poll

I've noticed recently that some straight folks get fairly upset when they're expecting to see straight content, and they accidentally end up with gay content instead.  I'm curious how strongly people feel about this.

I definitely plan on having both straight and gay content in Gaast, but with filters to allow individual users to limit what type of content they see.  That said, I think it might limit some interesting content - for example:

I'm working on a hazing scene for Gaast, where upperclassmen haze freshmen by having them perform oral sex on willing students & teachers passing by in the hallway.  I could write a version of the scene which has straight and gay pairings together, or I could write two scenes which have straight or gay pairings, to mesh with the content restrictions.  If I do it the first way, neither gay nor straight people who don't want to see content contrary to their orientation will see that scene.  The second way is a bit more work, and makes the scene less interesting to certain (especially bisexual) people.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments, or answer the poll on the sidebar.

Update 0.1.3

0.1.3 is up on itch.io!  Here are the patch notes:

0.1.3

Added images for Teamsters event.

Implemented interview process.

Fixed pause menu drawing underneath other menus

Fixed some issues with pausing, then ending the game.

Fixed a bug with schedules not differentiating between weekday and weekend room activities (was causing a crash while scheduling reception activity)

Note that I would have added an image for the Assistant Selection event, but the artist mistakenly drew the actors nude D:

My next project will be to add student arrival. Students will arrive in "classes," with multiple students arriving simultaneously at a specific interval. Students will each have a goal (or degree) in mind, and some may need to stay longer than others to achieve their goal. Students pay tuition and rent (if they choose to stay on campus), which will be two of the main sources of income for the university-type business.

Possible Delays

Looks like my artist has had some delays, so I might have to put off the next release until next week.

Bella & Adena

Bella & Adena

A slight miscommunication with the artist (they were supposed to be applying for a job, not nude!), but here are Bella and Adena, the assistants the player can currently choose from.

FAQ

I've added an FAQ to the links on the right side of the blog.  In other news, I'm hoping to have 0.1.3 out sometime this week, complete with hiring new employees.

First ever status update

The current build of the game is 0.1.2.  This update was focused mostly on bug fixes with the UI and cleanup on exiting the game, and starting a new game.  It also added the ability to select the foyer, and schedule a character to be the receptionist - which will be important for the next update.

I am currently working on adding an "interview process," where visitors can come to your business and request to become employees, students or customers.  It will be worked into the event system, and involve testing your owner and/or assistants judgement skill to determine what the interviewee's skills and personality traits are.  Some people have a lower self-worth than others, so may sell themselves short, while others have an inflated self worth and may claim they are more skilled than they really are.

I have also hired an illustrator to illustrate some scenes from the "Teamsters" event, and am really excited to see the results!

Edit:  I forgot to add that in the 0.1.2 build I added some dialog to the assistant selection event which should hopefully help players figure out what they should be doing.

Hello World!

Welcome to the Gaast development blog.  Here you can find news and development updates, as well as basic information about the game, and where the game is going.