MVOL v0.90: Going into Beta!

Alright, this is it! With this update, the main storyline content is now complete, and all of the endings I have planned are now in the game. There are also tons of changes and additions with this version, so I’ve got a lot to go over.

I know some folks may be a little sick of hearing this by now, but one more time, the bulk of the new content for this update is hidden content. I’ve been thinking a lot on how I’d make sure people can find it, but the thing is, this is meant to be literally the most hidden, hardest to find content in the game, that you hopefully will only find after you’ve seen just about everything else. To that end, I’ve planted some clues in the final endings (albeit in the parts hardest to reach), as well as in another new feature going into this version.

This chunk of content was very draining, but not quite a full update’s worth on its own, so it worked out pretty well that for this release, the voters on my Patreon actually had a three-way tie for what to add to the game! I’d been debating on what else I’d squeeze into this one, but this worked pretty well, especially considering one of them was a series of Hints for the main area. As you play the game, hints will show up at the bottom of the main screen, many of which are custom-tailored to the situation you’re in right now to help prod you in the right direction, or give you clues toward side content. They also add a little to the “feel” of the game, I think, and hopefully should do a good job replacing Lith’s immersion-breaking “tips” in Talk > Anything, which I’ll be revamping in a future update. There are almost fifty different hints in there, including one for finding this version’s hidden content, so keep an eye on the bottom of the screen!

The second winner of the vote was to add a new snack behind the Wooden Door! For this one, I’ve taken the chance to add an opening for a little more perverse content. Folks that have read my stories on the side know that MVOL is actually pretty vanilla compared to my full range of interests, and some have suggested I should find a way to work some of that in so that folks that like all that stuff can enjoy some in-game. This new snack should make a lot of that possible, but since it’s a little more “out there,” you can only access it once you’ve tried all the other snacks. Right now there’s only one scene with it, though it has three major variants for how things go down depending on how your cat is configured, and there’s lots of room for kinky content to be added in the future.

The last addition from the Patreon vote is a small overhaul for the game’s summaries, to help you keep track of which “run” in particular you’re on. The save and load menus have a more robust description of each save file now, the main screen’s description of Lith is more detailed and helpful, and I’ve added a few more tweaks here and there as well.

For this release, I’ve added four new pieces of art, simpler pieces that I commissioned in a set. They’re not quite as exciting as some art I’ve gotten, but I think they help a lot to add character and feel to the story, and you’re pretty much guaranteed to find them playing through the second half of the storyline.

And lastly, by request from one of my biggest supporters, I’ve gone through several of the early game sex scenes and added small variants for when your character is lactating, both to acknowledge and reward taking that route, and to act as “extra relief” to help keep it going in a variety of ways. Hope you guys enjoy!

I think that wraps up all the major additions and changes with this update. I’m sorry to always be so mysterious with these additions, but I always put the priority on preserving the experience, and a big part of that with MVOL is that sense of working things out and trying something weird to discover a new path. If I right out tell you “go here, do this,” then that removes a lot of that sense of agency and personal investment that is what makes games so special in the first place. You might as well just be reading a story, then. I do hope that you can find it on your own, and that you’ll enjoy it all the more for the challenge!

This release marks our transition from Alpha to Beta, as I’ve mentioned before. That means that I’m gonna start transitioning from pure content generation to trying to refine MVOL as a game and an experience to play better and feel better, something I know it needs. I’ll still be adding content for a while longer, maybe even past 1.00, but this does mean that I should have an opening to spend more of my writing juices on my next project.

I’ve been working with a programmer on building the skeleton for a new game, and that’s finally ready to go! I still need some time to get used to working in a new engine since I’ve only ever really used Flash, but all the basics are there for me to get a new game started! I’ve been sitting on a ton of ideas for this, and I’m still developing the characters, gameplay, and overall story in my head. I expect it to have a fairly similar feel to MVOL, but I really want to push it to have better gameplay and avoid a lot of the mistakes I feel I made with my first game.

I’m still working on my series explaining my full plan on that front! I actually have two posts mostly written for it, but exploring all of it in detail has really brought some possible problems into focus for me, so I’ve been wrestling with those and trying to figure out what exactly the best path from here will be. How much faith should I put in myself to be able to pull off something this crazy? How much faith should I expect the people supporting me to be willing to give? Is there a safer route, and should I take it? I know I need to challenge myself to grow and to do my best work, so would a safer route actually be more dangerous? Is there a compromise?

I want to be more sure of myself before I lay down a more solid plan. It’s hard to predict how my fanbase as a whole will feel, since it’s pretty much guaranteed to be a huge mix of very different opinions, but I know you’ve all been very kind. I just don’t want to take advantage of that kindness too much.

I’ll try to figure that out and bring you some more solid plans soon. In the meantime, I just want you to know that there is more content and more improvements coming for MVOL, and that a new game is already in development. The main storyline may be complete, but we’re not done yet– in many ways, we’re just starting a new chapter, and I’m hoping to make it an even better one.

I’m hoping to get a lot of feedback in the coming months, too– keep an eye out for polls and other tools for getting you guys in and engaged with what’s going on, both for MVOL and the new project. In particular, I’d like to get some beta testing going. It’s always fascinating to me seeing how new players approach the game, and that’s part of the experience I really want to improve before I consider the game finished. If you know anyone that might be interested in recording their first playthrough I’d be absolutely delighted to watch! I’m thinking about trying something silly like going on fiverr or similar sites to just ask random people to play the game and record it with their impressions, but people that might actually be interested in the content would obviously be preferable. So if you happen to know a let’s player or someone that hasn’t played the game but might be willing to record trying, let me know! I really want to refine the game to make sure it’s welcoming to anyone that might enjoy it, but it can be hard to see it through a player’s eyes, let alone a new player’s.

Other than that… Oh! I did post a new story recently, I’ve had a few I’ve completely forgotten to actually post in all the rush, so hopefully I’ll remember to post another one around the end of the month. I do still have a Twitter if you’ve missed it, though I’ve forgotten to mumble about sex on there as much recently. And for a few months now I’ve been streaming some games regularly on Sundays together with a few of my friends and my biggest supporters, so you’re welcome to come hang out if you like! We usually start with a big multiplayer game, often something in Tabletop Simulator or sometimes Jackbox so we can get the audience involved, and often switch over to Team Fortress 2 after some of the guys have to call it a night.

Alright, that’s all the updates for now. Between how draining this update has been and some personal life stuff slowing me down, I’ve fallen behind on a number of side tasks lately, but I’m hoping to start pushing forward on that and getting lots of news and questions out to you all soon! Keep an eye out, and thanks for playing!