Happy fall, everyone! We're finally getting some rain here in my corner of the Pacific Northwest, which has calmed down our wildfires and given me that nice autumnal feeling. It's my favourite season, which of course is why Made Marion is set during the... summer.

Pilot Beta Update:

Our pilot beta test is well underway!  Thanks so much to all our beta backers who have given me tons of invaluable feedback. You've caught my typos and helped me slay my big bugaboo, missing nameplates (when a character is supposed to be saying something but their name doesn't appear above the dialog box). 

You've also given me some great general suggestions and feedback! I'm happy to report that Marion's father is a divisive figure, as I had hoped. In the game, you'll get to choose whether Marion breaks off her relationship entirely or leaves the door open for reconciliation. This choice will be reflected in numerous route endings.

I'll be keeping the beta client up until the end of September, so if you're a beta tester and haven't checked it out yet, you still have time! Check our previous, backer-exclusive update for information about joining the beta (or finding out whether you're a beta backer, if you forgot).

The Writing/Coding Department:

Our accessibility options have been implemented!  They weren't quite done in time to be added to the beta client, but y'all will be able to use them or test them in all future betas.

Many of these options are already baked into Ren'py, but we've moved them from a hidden menu to our main Options menu.  You now have three font options and the ability to enlarge any font for easier reading. If any of our animations bother you, you have three kinds of animations to toggle on or off - combat, magic, or screen shake. In our example screenshot, the player has turned off screen shaking, but will still see combat and magic animations.

We've adapted our user interface to allow for larger font sizes across the board. In the above example, the player is using Opendyslexic font at a large size. This causes some of our longer lines to overflow the text box, so a scrollbar appears. Players can drag it or use the scroll wheel to read the extra text.

Thanks so much to Shawna for taking charge of our accessibility coding! It's turned out great, and we've made some nice general changes to the UI layout as well (notice that the "Return" button is now much easier to spot).

As for writing, our update is a bit early this month because I'm headed off for a week's vacation, which will also be serving as a writing retreat. I'll be working on Robin's route while relaxing by Lake Oakanagan. It should be inspirational!

The Art Department:

Arraspo is busy with the rest of the main character sprite rehauls. Several of them are near complete, and John is finished. Here's our new John design, which really gets across his size (he's the famous Little John, after all!) while maintaining his gentle demeanor. I love his new hairdo, and I'm not complaining about the tighter cut of his shirt, either.

These smaller screenshots don't do justice to his golden eyes. Rest assured they look quite nice in the game.

It's ok if you're distracted by Marion's new "wet" velvet dress. I think it's helps sell the fact that John later gives her his cloak to cover up!

That's it for September, hope you all are also enjoying this lovely autumn as best you can while this darn pandemic keeps sticking around. Stay safe!