Trembling Essence Devlog 1:💙Afternoon route clean up!💙

Hi guys and welcome new followers I hope you're all having a good and safe start into the New year!

This part will contain spoilers if you haven't played through the [Extended Demo], specifically the afternoon route. 

I want to explain what all was worked on last year up to the afternoon route as a quick recap!

The early start of 2024 was the surprise Trembling Essence [Extended Demo] while the spring/summer of 2024 consisted of me redoing the start of the game leading up to the cabin which included Dialog, CG's, Endings, and the way Noah introduces himself to you.

This was done because a lot of what happened during that segment didn't match what goes on later in the game since my writing and story telling improved. All of it is aboutttt 90% done because I really needed a break from working on it.

Around the fall is when I went through and fixed up the introduction into the cabin.

I added more depth on how the player(Y/N) feels/reacts from being back in the cabin again and cleaned up the different situations you can get depending on your interactions with Noah before he goes to bed along with choices that effects Noah's closeness with the player(Y/N).

"Will the [Extended Demo] receive anymore updates?":

As far as the [Extended Demo] goes, I do have plans on updating it with new/updated content HOWEVER, it will be some time before that happens. I do have a future poll I want to do about this. :[]

Onto the afternoon route clean up:

Midway through December I've been going through the afternoon route and making adjustments as I go! It was a lot of fun to do since I don't think I've played this route since maybe.. the early start of spring? Overall, it gave me a chance to have a fresh perspective of what needs to be adjusted.

I'm still aiming for a meaningful slow-burn build up. :]

I cleaned up the dialog by combining sentences together and slightly removed certain key-words sentences to balance the pacing during this scene. I want some of the talking points the player(Y/N) mentions to happen later in the game since this is still the half of just Day 3. Noah and the player(Y/N) interacting with each other has also been adjusted but not by too much.

The cooking scene:

I wanted the closeness build-up to feel more rewarding so I added 1-2(ish) more choices during the lunch scene and dialed back the dialog so it doesn't drag on too long for both "Chicken" and "Vegetable" choice . I also added a couple of callbacks here too that in canon with how Noah reacts to what you add into the soup! I won't mention any specifics but there is a post or two in the #Get to know: Noah I answered recently that discusses what type of foods he enjoys. :]

The noise scene:

I don't have too much to say about this because not much was changed outside of dialog adjustments and removing key-words sentences to balance the pacing during this scene.

The sewing scene:

I really loved what was already here and it was a lot of fun coming back to this because I was getting better at writing cozy/warm-like scenes around that time. :,D

I'm trying to be very careful when it comes to adjusting this part. The only thing I wanted to do is put a better emphasizes on how Noah truly felt when he caught you sneaking around. In the [Extended Demo], it felt as though you sort-of get punished for picking the choice that shows this because you don't gain any closeness with Noah. In good news around this time my play-tester was able to take a look into what I was doing and did a couple of playthroughs. A lot of good advice was exchanged and it really gave me a better outlook on what to do about this. I still have the original set-up jussttt in case. :,]

This is about where I left off since I didn't get to the final section of this route but I am surprised with how much was completed. I'm really excited about it because that means I'm closer to working on Day 4! :,D

If you like what I create, please consider supporting what I do on kofi [Here]! All donations and tips help tremendously while I continue to work on the game. Since the battery to my computer still dead I might open up chibi commissions through here BUT i need time to figure it out. Thank you to those that optionally bought the [Extended Demo] on itch.io. :,]

Q&A / Ask box is open:

Thank you to everyone that recently sent in asks! I see them and at some point I will respond, I appreciate the small influx of interest! :,D

To know and understand Noah through Asks and random posts about lore, they'll be under #Get to know: Noah ! :]

**Some asks won't be answered if it contains spoilers but I do appreciate what I receive. :]

If you have any questions about Trembling Essence/Noah feel free to ask here or on itch.io please. This makes it easier for me to see and answer accordingly! I enjoy hearing from you guys!

Anywho, that's all I have to share right now. Thank you to everyone's continued support, especially those that have been here since the beginning and have been very patient! I wholeheartedly appreciate it. :,]