Unfortunately, there is no new version of the demo for this game jam.  I've worked very hard on adding these features, but it's got a way to go before it will be ready.  The previous version of the demo is still available, but the features mentioned in this Devlog are not yet implemented.  This game is being rebuilt pretty much from scratch

Recently, I made the decision to work on Miracle Girl Chiyoko as my primary project. Of everything I've started, it's the project I've had the most fun writing, and I'm really excited to see where it goes! Over the last month, I've been working on adding some new features and cleaning up old ones to make the game more polished to play and more manageable to work on. The game is slowly coming along, but there have been some hardships this month as well, and I'm coming to the realization that this project isn't going to be as easy as I thought it would be.

I was hit with my first reality check pretty much the instant I resumed working on the game: this game was (and still is) a mess. Owing most of the clutter to the way RPG Maker MZ works, it was a jungle of over 300 Common Events and hundreds of switches and variables, many of which were in a random order, making them hard to find at a glance.  There were also tons of unused variables and events, due to having multiple iterations and features that were incomplete or unused.  The further I got, the more this issue piled onto itself, and I realized that if I was going to finish this game, it would have to be rebuilt from scratch.

And so, I began the long process of remaking the game, this time being more mindful of where the pieces are and how they are sorted. RPG Maker's indexed events and variables mean that once a variable or common event is declared, it has to stay in that position on the list forever, and it has to be hunted down in the GUI every time it's used (as opposed to just typing the name). So I've worked hard at both making sure that each one is in a logical place and making sure that there is enough breathing room to add more if needed. The biggest hurdle in this process has been the menu system, which is improved but still bloated, and will probably need to be refined again soon.  It was and still is the part of the game that is giving me the most trouble.

It's not all bad, though. As I've gotten much better at making plugins recently, many of the processes have been streamlined.  For example, to set a scene background, I used to have to type the string of the scene name every time, and one typo meant it would not work.  Now I can simply select the scene from a list in the plugin command, which is faster, easier, and error-free!  So I implemented the same system for displaying characters on the screen as well.  This also makes adding new assets, such as backgrounds and characters, much easier.

Aside from cleaning up the game, this month was dedicated to adding two new features: Visual Novel style character graphics, and interactive Life Sim events!

The first major addition to the game is Visual Novel character graphics!  This is something I wanted to add to the original version of the demo, but I ran out of time before I could get them in.  I think they make the story scenes a little less bland and help the player remember which character is which.  Drawing them is a lot of work, compared to simply drawing the portraits, but I think the end result will be worth the effort.

Each character will probably only have one pose and a selection of facial expressions.  I don't plan on going overboard with this feature, since I'm working alone.  Since many of the character graphics are noticeably better than the portraits, I've already begun updating those as well.  I expect I'll be adding facial expression variants there too, eventually.  Some of the backgrounds will have to be redrawn to work with these character graphics, since the elevations don't line up properly.

The next feature to be added will be Interactive Life Sim Events!  One complaint about the game has been the lack of interactivity outside of dungeons and battles.  Sure, the player can decide how Chiyoko spends her free time, but her school day and many other events are pretty much set in stone.  So I'm giving the player a bit of control during these Life Sim scenes!

Chiyoko's "SPIRIT" attribute is a combination of her mood, stress level, and physical fatigue.  Chiyoko's energy flow, which she draws upon for her magical powers, is hindered if her spirit is in turmoil.  Working too hard at school and at Magical Girl training will both drain Chiyoko's spirit a bit.  On the other hand, relaxing during school will give Chiyoko a spirit boost in the short term, but this will come back to bite her if she fails a test, which will devastate her spirit!  It is up to the player to maintain a balance between performance at school, magical training, and keeping Chiyoko's spirit high!  Chiyoko's spirit will fluctuate wildly throughout the game, and some bad events may hurt it no matter what, so the player will have to roll with the punches, just like in real life.

Chiyoko's teammates Kameko and Haruko have a spirit attribute too, but the player has less control over it.  Storyline events will raise or lower it, and it will go up and down semi-randomly each day.  Hanging out in places each character likes may improve their spirit a bit more, however.  Choosing to go to the Arcade will boost Kameko more than Haruko, and the reverse would be true if you go to the Museum.

This feature was tough to add because it has so many moving parts.  So far, it's only been implemented in Chiyoko's school days, but I plan to add a similar system to studying outside of school and to Magical Girl Training.  I am currently brainstorming ways to give the player control over "Hang Out" events as well, with each location having different options to gain more spirit, raise a grade, or even an attribute, gain experience, or get some other bonus.

This system will need a lot of balancing and testing, of course.  I am doing my best to avoid feature creep with it, as I've thought of many ways to make it more complicated.  But this isn't a school sim, so I'm going to try to keep it fairly simple.  There are other changes coming too: the battle system is being tweaked and rebalanced, there are some adjustments to the story, and the way the game handles free-time events is being reworked as well.  I want the next version of the demo to be the most polished version possible, so if anyone has any ideas or issues with the game, please let me know in the comments or ratings!

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a new version of the demo out in time for the end of the Magical Girls Forever: Continue-It Game Jam.  I found out about this jam fairly late and was already dealing with some burnout, and a hand-related injury took me pretty much out of it for the last few days.  (Solo-dev problems, lol).  I look forward to getting back to work on this once it's healed up and getting the new (and hopefully, final) version of the demo out as soon as possible!

Thank you for reading this devlog, and have a great day!