Howdy!

I’m pleased to announce the GA of DomJOI V0.92. This is the most significant and most extensive release that I did. This release notes have five sections:

1. TLDR
2. Changes in details - as always, Trello cards
3. Monetization changes
4. Personal story
5. Future updates

TLDR

• Real facial animations (v0.92)
• Voice acting. (v0.92)
• Handjob animations with rhythm mode are now available. Please note that this is the first iteration. (v0.91)
• New logos (v0.91)
• UI changes (v0.91)
• Tons of fixes and internal changes (v0.91)
• New petting animation with some nice tasks/texts :) (v0.90)
• Glasses -> With 10 glasses, including new sunglasses, fantastic shades and monocle, this system is finished in a reasonable future as this is the end game for it. (v0.90)
• Click when clicking/choosing the action during the game (v0.90)
• A few bug fixes (v0.90, v0.91, v0.92)
• Splitting all texts into the global text/variable files. This change will significantly speed up several processes, like adding extra tasks for kinks, fixes, etc. As a programmer, I dislike any kind of “global”, but this is much more practical than keeping a bunch of strings in functions and making them obscure/harder to read and debug. (v0.90)
• Unreal engine update 5.4.2 to 5.4.4

Changes in details/tasks done

The following Trello cards have been done/made/resolved in this release:

DomJOI Trello Board: https://trello.com/b/irQ9RiFE/domjoi-kanban

v0.92

• [Programming] Update Engine to 5.4.4
• [Programming] Investigate the Linux build issue
• [Programming] Link Animations - Final step
• [Marketing][UI][Feedback] New Logo, Extra Graphics, Fonts - I’m happy with the results. Still, I will invest more in it in the future. Probably some tiny refresh.
• Facial expression to animations in Engine
• Test different voice cloners - Believe me, there is no good voice cloner for “reaction” sounds like laughs, “eh”, “ohh”, and grunts. I used ElevenLabs before in different projects, which was terrific; unfortunately, it’s barely passable for reactions-like sounds. With more traction, I hope to pay a professional voice actress to work on these reactions. I tested Morphvox, Clownfish, Voxal, Voice.ai and others. Non of them was better than ElevenLabs.
• REDO Reactions that are impossible to voice clone
• Facial Expressions V2 - Ready in-game
• Programming for Reactions - blueprints
• [Bug] Remove the last frames from animations [reset frame] -> fix for another Unreal Engine quirk.
• [Programming] Rename base face animations in C++ and Blueprints
• REDO BAD Animations
• Random smile/neutral/angry/disgust animation - Random in meaning that I have a few looping animations that are randomly chosen; for example, for a smile when she is happy, there are 4 animations. I will add more in the future.
• [Documentation] Write Documentation for facial animations -> Boring but critical!
• Voice acting :) - first animations
• [Programming] Add the variable that controls the head rotation for animations -> each time it should be set or unset depending on the Animation before baking Anim.
• Record Facial expressions - List of 21 facial expressions that ATMs are used in the game.
• [SubscribeStar] DAC7 -> I had to do that because EU regulations
• [Feedback] Blue player penis/dildo colour -> You asked. I made it.
• [Programming] return value string to ENUM or similar solution -> I hate magic “strings” and values that are randomly popping in the functions :P. Make code cleaner
• [BUG] Problem with light flickering on a desk - one more time. -> BTW, for v1.0x, I will make changes with lights one more time. At the moment, shaders and other stuff are killing performance. There are also glitches/artefacts (especially regarding the eyes).
• [Refactor] Make tests On GUF (Global Utility Functions)
• [Refactor][Bug] Disobeyed instead of Disobey -> Disobeyed is used in different context :)
• [Programming][Refactor] Add prefix to GUF
• [Programming] Move GlobalUtilityFunction as GUF + make static instead of inline - BTW, after some work, I decided just to do the upper task
• [Documentation] handjob system + unit tests
• [Bug] All stroke types are always available

v0.91 (development snapshot - because this version is freely available, development snapshot was available for base-level Patreons)

• New Logos - this is still a work in progress, but as you can see, the game has a new logo! There are also new banners and some additional graphics for platforms.
• SubscribeStar profile approved - My profile on SubscribeStar is now officially approved :)
• [UI] Try to change the “action” button - The UI in the game now looks more modern with rounded edges and a little polish. BTW. I’m thinking about changing the fonts in the game for something better; I’m currently working with an artist to determine which fonts look better.
• [Refactor] New timed task generation function and move common functions to common/global functions—I rewrote the system’s internals so there is better separation between different system layers. It also removed a lot of boilerplate code, making the game easier to test, maintain, and extend! I also found small bugs along the way. I’m thrilled with the results.
• [Programming] Make the package smaller by disabling unnecessary files - The final game is slightly smaller due to optimization and removing selected unnecessary plugins and Unreal Engine files. I did not do any hardcore size optimization, as it can make the game unstable in the long run.
• [Feedback] Better grammar, better text - One of the projects supported by Patreon helped me a lot with grammar, better text, typos and so on. Anything that is still wrong in the game is on me. After getting approval, I will put his name in the final in-game credits.
• [Feedback] More variety in text for good/bad day outfit change/deny- New messages contribute to a more immersive and varied experience.
• [Bug] Thighs worship has wrong outfit O.o” - Bugfix
• [Bug] Thighs worship clipping on feet that go “into” the bed - It’s not perfect, but good enough now.
• [Bug] Day stays amazing, my amazing. - Another typo I wrote as a separate card is that I noticed it doing something different. It was a trivial task.
• [Feedback] Slightly higher values for worship - Worship tasks should not exceed 10 seconds.
• [Programming] Simplify camera functions - Internal change to how the camera is set up. This simplification is essential during software development, making the whole system cleaner. It also removed double teleporting during scene transitions, making the game faster.
• [Patreon][Feedback] Handjob - find nice metronome sounds - I choose a few metronome beats from Pixabay, then split the audio to make it a ‘single beat’. This way, you get similar but different/more real metronome sounds.
• [Animation][Programming][Patreon] Stroke Torus - Torus is just a ring you can see during handjob animations. Making it, spawning it, getting collisions, etc., was more challenging than I first thought :).
• [Marketing] Update itch.io with a new logo and colours, new content - Marketing Tasks
• [Patreon][Feedback] Cock Hero Mode/Handjob Animation - This is a milestone project. It’s the first version of one of the best things I’ve done. It currently supports head/shaft/full strokes plus tempo [slow, normal, fast] + some rhythm patterns. I know it’s not perfect, but it’s ready for the first version of this subsystem. What I want to improve in the future you can read here: https://trello.com/c/pefTAJNh/384-handjob-v2
• [BUG] problem with casting-> the TaskClusters should be pointers. - Nasty bug where I had to rewrite part of the system to use polymorphism/classes/casting and other C++ goodies. The problem with pointers ATM is a small memory leak during initialization and session termination. It’s only about 16KiB, so nothing serious, but I will fix even this tiny piece of code in the future. [EDIT fixed in v0.92]
• [Patreon][Feedback] Cock Hero/Handjob Animation -> CODE CODE CODE - Using pointers and dynamic casting, I was finally able to code the rhythm events in the game engine.

v0.90 (development snapshot - because this version is freely available, development snapshot was available for base-level Patreons)

• [Programming] Separate the task texts
• [Bug] Thighs worship ending uses ass worship animations
• [Bug] Feet Ending uses ass-worship animations
• [Gameplay][Animations] Pet/Head petting reward/animations etc
• [Audio] Add click after clicking on button/choosing action
• [Feedback] More glasses -> THIS TOOK SOOO LONG! I thought I would finish it in one to two days (two hours per day), but this took over a week!
• [Marketing] SubscribeStar button in-game
• [Marketing] Add subscribe star link to itch.io

Changes to monetization

I wrote a lengthy message on my Patreon -> https://www.patreon.com/posts/107835695/ because I didn’t change the game mechanics, the v0.92 is freely available.

The next version, v1.0x, will have a demo and a paid version.

• The full update will be available cheaply for around $2- $3 [I aim for $2, so it’s about $1.3 for me after taxes and platform fees]. I believe that no one should pay $10 or $20 to get just an update for the game. (It will be v1.02 then v1.12).
• If you want to support the project, there is a 5$ level on Patreon that will give you access to development builds that I try to push every two weeks (more like three weeks ATM, TBH, but the goal is two weeks). (It will be v1.00, v1.01 then v1.10, v1.11)
• If you really want to help bootstrap this project, there is a limited level at which I will forever put your name or chosen string in the game credits.

If you cannot afford the game, just message me on Discord. I will gladly provide you with the full version. I understand your struggle and that even $2 might be a lot for You.

Personal Story

To this point in the game, I was mostly learning! It was a slow process, and I discovered that game development is not about coding, the only thing I feel competent in. It’s much more about animations, looks, blueprints, performance, marketing, setting up a foothold on platforms, and trying to get traction.

I feel like I worked pretty hard on this project, especially when I have family and other people depending on me, so I had to cut my free time to a minimum, sometimes to get even half an hour to work on this game. Despite everything, the game is slowly but steadily becoming better. The last puzzle involved facial animations and recording. I’m not that happy with voice acting. Still, I do not have enough money to get a professional voice actress to record the reactions with LiveLink full facial recording. This release is unique because it contains not only facial animations but also the first body animations that I made myself (handjobs and petting animation). There is one field I must improve in the future - clothes.

With your support, I have many ideas and possibilities for this game. The thing that limits the progress right now is funding.

I will keep development at least until the end of the year. Then, I want to consider what I should do with this game. I love the community and thrill of game development, but in the worst-case scenario, maybe I will have to pivot.

With this in mind, I want to address the elephant in the room -> “AI” Gameplay.

Future updates

As said in my personal story, to this moment, as I gather experience, there are only 1 or 2 things that I’m still unable to do myself, but the rest of the process is quite well-known.

Because of the steep learning curve of Unreal Engine to this point, the game was more like a tech demo on steroids, so now it’s time to make Gameplay so the deep core of the game better and more fun. No more anal insertable without preparation. No more edges and worships as the first tasks, less randomness, more Virtual AI/AI-like experience.

I should add a few kinks in the next version, change the base game feeling and mechanics, and add more session types (mid, long, beg for release).

Add endings module -> Denial, Ruin, CEI and ending-only poses/animations.

The next update should also add some extra visual customization - horns!

As always, you can observe progress on the Trello board and write to me/ask me anything on Patreon(Priority)/SubscribeStar(Priority)/Discord/F95Zone. I’m extremely happy with the shockingly high amount of feedback that You, girls and guys, gave me. The only thing that I ask you is to be patient, cultural, and understanding.

If you read everything to this point, I salute You. Thank you for reading, and enjoy this release!

Thanks from the bottom of my heart,

DomJOIDev

PS. This version does not have Linux binaries. Previous verisons were cross-compiled on my Windows Workstation. Unfortunately, using RTTI on Linux is not supported [at least for cross-compiling], and there are compilation errors like:

ld.lld: error: undefined symbol: typeinfo for UObject

I will investigate this issue further because I’m a Linux user myself.

Lastly, I would like to thank the project supporter, Saya, who helped with a lot of grammar. I am responsible for any incorrect in-game texts.