Sunwave Hotel News

Patch Notes

It's strange I thought I made a post when I was uploading the new build but I guess not.

Hey just here to say that the game has been updated again with another small bug fix to patch some more of the rough spots. Keep those bug reports coming. I'm always looking to improve and polish up the game.

Specifics
The Back Button during scenes should now be fully functional now. We're also looking into adding a regular Back Button for during conversations.
Improved Adoka Conversation. This is when you're talking to her and getting to know her better.
Day Counter is now in the Status Menu, not just on the screen.

Future Fixes
Dedicated Back Button
Graphic Scaling - Apparently, this is an issue for some users.
Fixing Mac Save Bug - There is a Mac build for the game but we haven't been able to fix a save bug issue.
Saving during conversations
Journal and Codex. Something to keep track of your progress on the Main Quest, and something to give players more lore for the species and world of Sunwave Hotel.
Fix issues with Kuhno Conversation in the Guest House.
Improve dialogue for your first meeting with Kaci to clarify what she is talking about and ensure it's easy to get to her scene or skip it if you don't like it.

Hello Outlaws

This week has been a whirlwind. I've been delighted to meet many of you who picked up Sunwave Hotel and gave me some feedback. We've already got our first bugfix update out, hopefully further improving the game while we're still in the first month of Early Access.

As a special treat, I wanted to show off a trio of lovely ladies who will have an impact on the next big update to the story of Sunwave Hotel.

From left to right, we have Keylan, Badyrii, and Firah. I'm really happy with how their designs came out, and I can't wait to introduce them to players as the story of Island 3 continues to unfold.

v14.11 Patchnotes

• Fixed a lot of dead ends that might lock up your progression in the game.
  
• Fixed a list of typos along with some issues where the Player's Custom Name was not showing.
  

If you run into bugs or broken issues, please drop a note in the Community Hub Bug Reporting Section or come over to the Discord Server and drop a line there.

General Thoughts

It's kind of surreal thinking about how the game has only been out since this Monday. It feels like it's almost been a month. The reception has been great, way better than I expected, and I want to thank each and every one of you who has picked up the game during Early Access. It's already going to make a huge impact on development and has also been the biggest endorsement that I have been working on crafting something cool for people to dig into after a long day.

And we're just getting started!

Have a great weekend.

Wildquill

Fixed a lot of dead ends that might lock up your progression in the game.
Fixed a list of typos along with some issues where Player's Custom Name was not showing.

The Future of Sunwave Hotel

Hello,

This has been a long time coming, and I'm so happy to have Sunwave Hotel out on Steam. We've been around for a couple of years now, but this is the biggest step we've made. I hope that all of you will find something special in Sunwave Hotel. It has been a labor of love and we're not done yet.

Technical Advice

Save often. The game has some bumps and bruises that we're working hard to fix up. I recommend saving often just in case you run into a bad room bug. This just means that a quest exits you out onto an old room file and traps you there. I'm working hard to nip all of these issues in the butt, but for now it doesn't hurt to have some backups.

I'm also looking at increasing the total amount of save files.

Main plan for what comes next

Pretty much the number one priority is just finishing the main story. We're at 75 percent on that, so there isn't much to do and I'm confident it will all be finished and polished in 2024. Beyond just the ending, we will have different endings for players to choose from based on their choices throughout the main story.

Improving Saving and Loading. Right now, you can only save after events, and you can't load from in-game. We are working to add that functionality so people can do as many routes as possible.

Gallery Information

We have begun construction of a proper Gallery for the game. You can find it in the Main Menu. It is not complete, but we have you covered if you want to review the juicy scenes. In the game, after you do the first mission, if you just go to the left of the town map, you will see a Not-So-Secret Gallery.


We created this early on so that in case of bugs, people can always check out the scenes. Our plan is to convert the old gallery into a new gallery. I will be working on this throughout October. It will be a long process, but worth it once all the pieces are in the right place.

Achievements

Achievements are on the list, and I expect to work out the coding side to achieve them during October or November. I know this may frustrate some, but Sunwave Hotel is still being finished, and I didn't really want to jump into making achievements until everything was in place.

But rest assured, in the future, Sunwave Hotel will have a range of achievements for people to unlock, after we make sure the system works properly.

Plans for Voice

We have experimented with Voice Acting during the development, and I can see just how much it adds to the game. We already have a voice actor for Kuhno, and we will continue expanding this function in the future. It can feel a bit 'extra', but when Kuhno's voice pops in with an animated scene, it really elevates things to the next level.

Plans for Animations

With enough support, the plan is to get at least 50 percent of the scenes animated. Nothing is better than watching the 2d pieces come to life.

Additional Content

Beyond finishing the main quest, we will see a large Side Quest being added to Sunwave Hotel in the future as well. Everything is plotted out. It's just a matter of writing the content and manufacturing the scenes.

We're also planning to do a Female Protagonist option in the future as well. Kuhno will be turned into a Playable Character so that people can play as a male or a female character.

Naturally, we have plenty of room to expand. New islands, new characters, this is just the start of a new galaxy.

Additional Languages

During September, the team was hard at work making sure that in the future, the system can cover special characters for other languages. We don't have any concrete plans for what comes next, but we are definitely open to adding additional language support during the development cycle.

If you have any other questions, drop them here or in the Steam Community Section.

Early Access is a few weeks away. This is crazy! I am thrilled to thank each and every one of you who has supported this game and all of the new people wishlisting it. I think we're actually now visible on STEAM's
Popular Upcoming list, which is a huge feat for me.

Anyhow, onto the nitty-gritty of the post.

Been working on polishing up systems and figuring out the essential list for Early Access. For any who don't know, the story will not be completed upon Early Access, but the story will take you to the final island of the game, essentially the third act. The story and where it goes are all plotted out; it's just a matter of forging it and making sure the conclusion and endings have the punch I want it to have.

Taking the time with the ending has allowed me to spend some time cleaning up earlier parts of the game, like Island 1. My style of production / scripting and just everything has changed a lot so Island 1 definitely has many areas to fix up. One of those points has been the background art. With such a small team and limited resources, I just made basic art for the backgrounds when we started. You can see an example above.

Thankfully, now with grit and support, we have some really amazing hand-drawn backgrounds for players to enjoy and make the world of Sunwave Hotel pop with much more vibrancy. I'll always enjoy the old basic ones, but when SH is complete, all the backgrounds will have a much more polished state.

Gallery

For anyone who has already played one of the free versions, you know that the gallery is in a not-so-secret place just off the main town. Obviously, that is not going to be a permanent thing going forward. I have just sent word to the coder to set to work on making the Gallery part of the Main Menu. At some point during Early Access, the gallery will also work like a normal game gallery, with the content unlocking as you unlock scenes in game.

For the moment, all the scenes will be available for people to check out and enjoy all the scenes. I made this call early on so that in case there is a bug/broken path, players can still always see the juicy scenes if they want.

And I think that's all I have for today. Thanks for reading.

TLDR
Old Background Art is being vastly improved upon and work has started on turning the not-so-secret Gallery into a proper H-Game Gallery.

Enjoy the rest of your week.