Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Working on the Beards & Makeup HUDs for the updates...

Beards HUD layout for the Jupiter Update! The Jupiter update will include the 6 beards previously packaged in the Beards Addon... bumping the included number to 12 beard options... in 6 colors. The single beard HUD will have 2 'pages' of beards... as shown here:



(Edit to add a shot of the Makeup HUD layout too!)

Here's what the Makeup HUD will look like:


Monday, September 28, 2015

Update on the Genitalia and More

I know that you are all eager for the genitalia to be ready for the store... and all the wicked fun you want to use them for. I just want everyone to know that I am just as eager... probably more so... to get them finished off. It has been a long road on those... much longer than most of you know... and much longer than I ever intended it to be. It's one of those projects that grew in magnitude at every turn... and one what has been hampered by that Otherlife (RL) stepping in to keep Me out of SL for stretches. All that said, I hope that when they are finally ready, that you all will think it was worth the effort.

As I've said here and other places, that last stretch of RL keeping Me busy totally broke Me out of the groove I was in for the code work. When I was able to get back into work mode here in August, I really needed to start with something a bit less heavy, and more artistic, while I got back up to steam. This is why I went to work on the Skins Updates. And those are (finally) rolling along at a good pace. With the new Applier Omni-HUDs sorted out, I am now able to get them loaded and rolled out into the store. Like the last post said, you should be able to grab the updates by the weekend.

I do still have several more skins lines to get knocked out, and I really need to get that done ASAP, since, as most of you know, Mesh Bodies are very much mainstream now, and it's impacting sales to not have the skins ready to apply for those customers. As I'm sure you can imagine, slower sales makes it harder to keep on doing what I do without RL getting in the way more often.

Once I get those skin updates finished, then I'll be freed up to jump back into other projects full steam. I plan to split My time 4 ways when I reach that point:


#1 Project Thread: The Naughty Bits!

At the top of that 4 way split is finishing up the Sinteract!2 HUD, which is the first hurdle in getting the Genitalia finished up for the store. Once I get that S!2 HUD ready, I can work on finishing up the User Interface for the manual control of the genitalia on the HUD, and then I can polish up the code for the bits themselves and finally get them into the store! The good news is, once the first genitalia are ready, it will be much easier for Me to get others launched. I look forward to burying you in aesthetic choices on that front... including human, demonic, furry, and pure fantasy variants across a broad range. Expect lots of kinky, twisted, sexy choices once I can get to that point.

As much as I want to, I cannot offer an ETA on when the Naughty Bits will be ready. This is actually a massive project, and every time I think I have a grasp on when it will be ready, something else crops up. Please e patient... and remember that I am working on these, and everything else that is being created... ALL BY MYSELF. I have a great team of CSRs helping out with the store, but all content creation... including Mesh work, texturing, scripting, packaging, etc... is all done by Me.

#2 Project Thread: Mesh Bodies!

Since Mesh Bodies are all the rage... I definitely want to get into that market and offer what I can. Expect to see several shape options, and features that are on par with what the Venus Fitmesh Breasts offer compared to other Mesh Breasts in that market.

Male bodies are going to be as big a focus here as the females, since I'm definitely looking forward to having a mesh body of My own that I want to wear full time. I have actually gotten a little work done on these already... and I hope to have them ready before Christmas if at all possible.

The plan is to offer lots of Alpha cuts, and to offer more/less-than-human modular parts that will work with them... like Hooves, Claws, Paws, Digi Legs, etc. If you have suggestions you'd like Me to see for the bodies, please put them in a notecard and drop them in the Suggestion box on the Customer Care desk at the Main Store. You can just send them My way, but I don't always see everything that gets sent to Me that way in a timely manner. When I empty the Suggestion Box, I'm looking at those notecards right then.

#3 Project Thread: Venus Updates & Add-on Toys

There are a few lingering issues with the Venus Fitmesh breasts that I want to get addressed. One of these is getting them packaged up with the live version of the S!2 HUD when it's ready. Others include some Alpha Masking options to fight the glitchy way SL handles overlapping 32bit textures on Fitted and Rigged mesh. I also have some minor fixes already worked through (one related to Materials appliers and the other to the Black Skin & Nipple issue when using appliers after using the A5 HUD) that I'm ready to drop in. There is another issue with texture mapping that I also need to knock out (that was highlighted while adjusting Juno skin nipple positions to play nice on Mesh Bodies). That will probably be the biggest chore, since it means fixing the map on some 15 Meshes, exporting them, uploading them into SL, and subbing them out for the old ones in all of the current Venus breasts.

I also want to get some Add-on Toys done for the Venus line. I've always intended to offer more nipple piercings, chains, clamps, pumps, and more for those. I look forward to delivering on that over a stretch... especially since I'll want to carry over those Add-on Toys to work with the Mesh Bodies.

#4 Project Thread: A5 Product Updates & New Demon Stuff!

Last, but certainly NOT least, I desperately want to get some new work done! I have tons of ideas for new Horns and Tails... wings... spines... hooves... and so much more percolating in the ol' noggin. Now that A5 is ready to go, including materials support, as first shown in the Nox Spines set, I am REALLY looking forward to getting everything else up to speed.

Part of the drive here is to update some of the older work that still stands the test of time to Mesh, and getting it set up for A5. This will include some classic goodness like the Dark Temptress and Dark Seducer sets... which I think will look phenomenal with baked textures and Materials... and will work SO MUCH smoother with mesh components and the A5 HUD.

The Wings all need an update to Mesh as well, and I'm going into that with the forethought of adding animations to them to allow for stuff like embracing others (wing Hugs) and more. Again, I can't wait to see them with baked textures and material support... especially the Seraphs!

The Sinteract!2 HUD is also an issue here though, so some updates are going to need that to be ready for a 'Live version' before I can roll them out. That's the big reason the #1 Project Thread starts with S!2. As much as A5 is the foundation or customizing all the new work to come, S!2 is the foundation for an integrated product line that will allow more interactive fun with others using your attachments... and theirs. And the S!2 HUD will make it easier than ever for them to play with your toys... and you to play with theirs.


Beyond all that:

Sinteract!2 also serves another purpose in the long run. It will be a gateway for all future items to become part of a larger experience that will allow you to immerse yourself in SL in new and entertaining ways. Kind of a persistent game experience, if you will, that I plan to integrate with the Role Playing environment that has been slowly taking shape on the ground level of the sims over the last 2 years. Dev kits will be available for others to be able to create their own locations and toys to play along with as well.  I really can't go into deep detail here... but I'm really looking forward to being able to bring this goal to life... and I think many of you will get a real thrill out of it when I can.


More news when I can offer it! Stay Sinful!

Update on the updates!

Alright... I'm uploading demo textures for Juno Tone 1 right now... so hopefully I can start loading up the Omni-HUDs and Demo HUDs... then start packaging them tomorrow. I'd like to see this fixed (and hopefully final) update for Juno in the servers for the weekend for your updating and purchasing pleasure. You may have noticed from the HUD images that the previously separate Eyebrows and Pleasure Patches addons are now included in the skin HUDs. I will be adding the classic (non-mesh system avatar) tattoo layers for those to the skin packages too. The Add-ons will be retired... but will remain available for redelivery for those who have purchased them... just in case you have been using them with other skins or something.

It's worth noting that I am -not- changing the way the Classic Avatar (system skins) are set up. In other words, brows, makeup, body hair, beards, etc. will all still be on tattoo layers. For those that wonder why, it's just a matter of time and setup. To give you some scope...

I uploaded 470 -new- skin textures for the Juno Update, and 702 -new- skin textures for the Jupiter update... just to allow for all of the options for brows and body hair. In the HUDs, the Head, Upper Body, and Lower Body textures can be applied independently, so while it was a job to set those up and import them into SL, loading the HUD isn't too bad. However, to turn all of those textures into new system skin options would mean setting up literally hundreds of system skins for each tone. That effort would wind up taking more time than everything else I've put into this update already... so... yeah... you see where I'm going with that. lol.

Anyway... the Demo HUDs look like the image below, to make it obvious you have the demo HUD on instead of the retail HUD. I can't wait to get these done so I can roll into the Forsaken updates... because I know you are chomping at the bit for those. Ba'al & Lilith are next after those... followed by the Umbrals, Gothique, and Basilisk lines.



Saturday, September 26, 2015

Male Omni-HUD...

I'm uploading the male textures to finish the code tweaks for the Jupiter Omni-HUDs now... those will look like this:




















Once that's done, I'll continue loading up the textures for Juno and Jupiter to get those rolled out... though I still have to get the Demo HUDs loaded too. These updates should be ready to roll out here in the coming week!

Monday, September 21, 2015

New Omni-HUD coming along...

As mentioned, I've been trying to wrangle all the texture options into a user-friendly, manageable package to get the revised update for Juno and Jupiter done. Things are finally starting to fall into place now. In case anyone is wondering what all the fuss is about... I'll give you an idea. Just Juno, for her 9 tones, calls for 470 NEW textures to be uploaded into SL. That's really just allowing for choosing which of 5 eyebrows in which of 6 colors you want on your face... and which of 3 pubic hairs in which of 6 colors want on your lower body. The Makeups will still need to be loaded into a HUD on top of that. And for Jupiter, instead of makeups, it's 12 beards in 6 colors! So yeah... LOTS of textures... and trying to find a way to make it easy for you to choose your options is important to Me. And now I have some idea who I'm going to do that. The Omni-HUD is shaping up something like this:




















Once I get through the set up, which will involve some code tweaking for all the new buttons, I hope to roll out Juno by Tone pretty quickly, then follow up with Jupiter... and finally be back on track for getting the rest of the skins updated as well!

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Mesh Applier Skin Options...

Well I'm grinding out all these Eyebrows& Body/Hair options for the mesh body appliers... getting them set up painted on each of the 9 tones. I was thinking about just tossing more of the new Omni-HUDs into the packages to carry these options... but in the end I think I may set up a new HUD that makes it easier to see the choices and apply them. *grumbles* It'll be worth it to have the work done for when I get Mesh Bodies and other Omega compatible stuff finished (like Hooves, Claws, etc), but I would so rather be working on new stuff than updates! Can't wait to get finished with this task!

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Genre: Twilight Zone Started today!

Genre's next event, Twilight Zone, kicked off today at noon, and runs until 10/12! I have a pair of skins and some horns at the event, so drop by. The build is a very cool setup for the theme... definitely worth a drop in if you love the Zone!



Look for the Sinfu; Needs Vendor on the far left from the arrival point =)


Saturday, September 12, 2015

Skins Updates Oversights...

Well it turns out I didn't think through all of the ramifications of the way the Artisan skins are setup when I did the mesh body updates. Juno and Jupiter will be getting another Update during this coming week that addresses Mesh Body issues like... Make Up appliers... Body/Pubic Hair... Beards.. *cough* Eyebrows... etc. My attempt to keep things simple for set up and maximizing customization really bit Me on the arse here for Mesh... since you don't have 5 tattoo layers to play with on a mesh body... and even if you did, thanks to alpha conflicts on Rigged/Fitted mesh... they wouldn't all play nice together. So... expect the (hopefully final) update to the Artisan Skins to include a few more applier HUDs to allow for the aforementioned options either painted on the skin (Eyebrows and Body Hair at least) or in Applier HUDs.

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Jupiter Skin Update Live!

















Just like with Juno, hit the CasperVend Redelivery Laptop or click any vendor in the store and choose Redeliver in the menu. Follow the link to a page where you choose your Redelivery. This update includes the new Omni-HUD Applier, to which I've added Omega compatibility, as well as Slink Visage and Physique (And Slink JUST released their Male body the other day). Jupiter also got a new tone: 2.5 per popular request. More skin updates soon: Forsaken > Ba'al/Lilith > Umbrals > Gothique

Saturday, September 5, 2015

First Skin Updates Ready!

Juno Skins Update is Live. https://gyazo.com/dfae44b45d7ad61c70f2afd92068dc25 The Juno Skins have been updated! Hit the CasperVend Redelivery Laptop or click any vendor in the store and choose Redeliver in the menu. Follow the link to a page where you choose your Redelivery. This update includes the new Omni-HUD Applier, to which I've added Omega compatibility, as well as Slink Visage and Physique. Juno also got a new tone: 2.5 per popular request. More skin updates soon: Jupiter > Forsaken > Ba'al/Lilith > Umbrals > Gothique