PUBLIC DEV LOG #1

Hi everyone.

We would like to share an update on our communications and releases for  Our Home. We recognize the value of our supporters and, as a token of  appreciation, we have established the benefit of regularly receiving our  dev log, which is typically published on a weekly basis. 

Furthermore, we have also decided to provide a brief public dev log for those who are curious about the changes we are implementing. Although this public dev log won't cover the story or new content, it will provide important information that we consider relevant to share with everyone. And it doesn't have a periodicity If you wish to have early access to what will be included in upcoming versions and exclusive content, we kindly ask for your support as developing a game requires a lot of effort (and sometimes, even a few good laughs).

Before we proceed, let's do a brief review.

Today, our development team consists of:

- 2 3D Artists: My wife and me. 

Currently, I am employed full-time and working to change this situation. My intention is to be able to fully dedicate myself to Our Home in the future. Unfortunately, at the moment, this is not feasible as I am the sole responsible for the financial expenses.

I  have invested time in teaching my wife how to work with 3D modeling, and currently, she is responsible for about 95% of the game's renderings, including those present in the latest public version. I, on the other hand, focus on other areas related to 3D, such as creating environments, objects, and in-game customizations, as well as providing technical support to her.

1 Programmer: Myself.1 Writer: Myself. 

Of course, I rely on my wife's support to validate certain aspects of the story.

1 Social Media Manager: Myself.2 Unpaid beta testers;

Who have the benefit of accessing the game early and, in return, help us identify and report bugs in the version. These two individuals  are dynamically selected, depending on the type of content that needs to be tested in a given version.

1 Unpaid English proofreader at the moment, who reviews the English texts according to their availability and time.N Community volunteer reviewers in various languages.

We are always grateful for the dedication and support of our team and the community of reviewers.

It is evident that the workload falls mainly on two individuals, my wife and me, and we are committed to maintaining a regular schedule of releases.

Our working approach is as follows: my wife, Juli, is extremely meticulous, which means our renderings are carefully planned and executed with the utmost quality possible. You will notice that, except for the prologue, which will be redone in the future, each dialogue is accompanied by a unique rendering.

We firmly believe that each character's dialogue should reflect slight changes in their expressions, and we want to highlight the details of each scene. While having a rendering for every dialogue may seem like an insane effort, we believe it elevates the quality of our work.

Furthermore, we strive to avoid rendering errors such as characters crossing through objects or environments that look unrealistic. This would compromise the immersion of the game and is unprofessional. Of course, this sometimes requires rework and consequently more time, but we believe that even so, we are able to deliver satisfactory results.

Big changes are on the way! Here are some of the key updates you can expect in the upcoming versions of the game. In addition to introducing new options that will allow customization of certain settings, both in the beta version and future public releases, we are implementing two features that will make your gaming experience even more enjoyable.

Introducing is a new game mode that we call "Limited Experience".

With this mode, players will be able to go straight to the point of the story without having to go through all the stages. It can be selected at the beginning of the game or at any time during gameplay. And if players want to switch back to the "Full Experience" mode, they'll have the option to do so, to enjoy everything we've built.

In the "limited experience", the player won't have access to all the resources the game can offer. Although there are many experiences within the open-world mode, we understand that not all players are as passionate about this type of game as we are. However, we're catering to the desires of those who prefer a more direct and linear experience.

Another feature we'd like to share is this public dev log.

Since the beginning of development, my biggest concern has been to ensure that players don't lose their progress in the game.

Although this has only happened once during the development of the game, I don't want it to happen again, especially considering that we're working with a free-roam/point-click game.

To solve this problem, I've created an experimental system that will allow players to save their progress in Our Home to the cloud. Even if the Ren'py save breaks, players will be able to quickly recover the progress they lost.

However, I recommend that players continue to use the standard Ren'py save in parallel, as the new system is still experimental.

We'd like to express our sincere gratitude for following Our Home. It's   extremely rewarding and motivating to know that we're creating  something that's appreciated by so many people. We'll continue to work  hard to provide the best possible experience and hope that you'll  continue to join us on this journey.