Boobies, boobies, none of ’em small, but who’s got the jiggliest of them all?

 

Under the Hood

Mid-April, we’re aiming to kick off internal testing of the alpha version of Serpentine Shadows. In this case, that means a game build you can run from start and finish, although mostly with visual placeholders. This version isn’t meant for any kind of distribution — it’s for us to hunt down bugs, test game logic, and verify that gameplay flow actually works the way we want to.

We were hoping to hit this stage in March, but, well… life happened and our optimism got reality-checked. We’re building Serpentine Shadows in Unity — not exactly the most complex engine out there, but it’s still new to us, and has a tendency to throw surprises our way.

If alpha testing confirms that the game can be completed without major issues — with all the endings unlocking properly — the next step is to pump out the missing visual assets and prepare a playable demo ASAP.

 

Graphics

I’ve finished most of the dialogue animations. The main characters each have three to four animation loops that alternate to create a subtle illusion of motion. Below you’ll find a few sample loops. This is our typical way of presenting characters during dialogue — similar to our previous games.

 

 

 

 

 

Dialogue animations are reserved for main characters only. Minor NPCs will use static renders — the kind you’ve probably seen in most NV-style games. To make up for the lack of animation, minor NPCs will often change poses during conversations.

 

Serpentine Shadows is our first proper dive into the VN genre. Like most visual novels, it offers limited interaction options — but that doesn’t mean none at all. Below you can see one of the “hubs” inside the Black Pearl pirates’ base. This is where you’ll conduct most of your investigation into the mysterious murders and disappearances plaguing the crew (of horny pirates, obviously — as you can probably tell from the preview).

 

While work on sex and dialogue animations has begun only recently, a good chunk of static illustrations is already done. Some have already gone through post-production, others are still in the queue.

 

Jackie is a big fan of chemsex. If you play your cards right, you’ll get to find out exactly what she brings to the table.

 

Of all the Black Pearl crew, Piglet’s probably the most “wholesome” — wouldn’t hurt a fly… Unless it gives her a chance to test some new gear.

Here you can see her prepping some slaves for portable experimental “electric shepherd” gear.

 

And here’s one of the weirder places on the island (not the weirdest though!). No spoilers — it shows up later in the story and is tied to some unexpected twists.

 

As for a release date — can’t give you one just yet. Our current priority is to get a functioning beta running this month, identify and squash any gameplay issues, and get that playable demo out to you all as soon as humanly possible.