I'd mentioned previously that I would be sharing a devlog soon focused on the recent progress made in sandbox mode. Today's post will cover the updates I've just published and the pending sandbox devlog will be made available later this week. There's still a few things I want to finish up before sharing progress in the upcoming mode, but beyond that all I have left to do is to record the gameplay footage.

Before I get to what's new in this update, I wanted to share a sneak peek at what's been worked on. Below you will see the results of my work on creating characters for use in both sandbox and story modes. There are 20 waifus in all, and each one will come with multiple customization options in story mode as well full customization being available in sandbox mode. Note that these characters are not necessarily final, there will likely be some changes made as I progress, but I don't expect any big changes to be made in the long run.

For the currently available modes, I've added some new things but given that most of my work these last two months has been focused on sandbox mode, there isn't a whole lot to share. Most notable is the addition of tattoos, which is currently limited to a single tattoo, but has full color control and will be expanded on in the future to allow for more (and possibly customizing its placement on the body). I need to reorganize the UI layout to allow for this and a few other changes I have planned for next month.

I've also added four new hairstyles to choose from and fixed some coloring issues with hairstyles that have accessories built in to their mesh. You'll also find fishnet stockings have been added and can be customized with color options, plus one new hairband and a new option for eyes.

I am planning to take a week off next month with the intention of getting as much work done on sandbox mode as possible, and while I don't expect it will be ready to make available after that time, I will at least be much closer to reaching that goal. One of the main things I want to get done during that time is implementing a system for saving and loading the game state, a task which will be time-consuming given the way I will be approaching it's development. I have often played games from this genre where my save game becomes useless after an update is published and I intend to put in the effort required to ensure that this is not the case for Waifu Island. By building the save/load system from scratch, I can include default states for any data that is missing is due to its feature not existing when the save file was created, which will guarantee that your progress, saved games, etc. will all be transferable to the next version of the game with absolutely no input required on your part.

Once that is done I will need to focus on overhauling the UI a bit to make room for the new additions as well as anything that is slated to be added in the future. On top of that, I have decided to move the character customization system to its own scene to keep the sandbox mode screen space from becoming cluttered (as it already is). This scene will remain in your computer's memory throughout gameplay so that is instantly available when you choose to make changes; this gives me back all the screen space that these UI elements are currently taking up without adding a delay between loading the layout for making changes to your waifu, so it's win-win, even if it's going to divert my progress on sandbox mode for a bit.

All of this, including the upcoming sandbox mode, is in preparation for the day I can finally focus on story mode and bring some life to these characters as well as share their stories. Sandbox mode was created as a way for me to test out all the mechanics and features that will leveraged in story mode, I just figured I might as well make it available for players since there wasn't really a reason not to. This has the added benefit of possibly giving me the room to afford players a chance to create their own story scenarios, even if this option would be far into the future and is anything but a priority at this point.

I'll be back with another devlog to share later this week, and although there won't be any updates made available to the game itself, it will cover quite a bit of new stuff for sandbox mode. After that you can expect at least one or two devlogs during my week off next month. I hope you're all having a happy new year!

v0.2.2q

• Fixed coloring of embedded hairstyle accessories
• Fixed bug with devil tail rotation
• Added body tattoos
• Added three fishnet stocking options
• Added four new hairstyles
• Added new hairband accessory
• Added new eye color option