Hi everyone! I’m back with more updates. I’m not sure why two weeks always feels like so much longer than it actually is, but anyways...

This will be an update on Chapter 2 progress, which is going to be the next addition to Alaris! I’ve completely finished the script (not including Free Time) and coded it into the game. Right now, I’m at the art stage with a little sneak peek here. Feel free to read on for a complete look at the updates!

For those of you who don’t follow me on Twitter, I’ve been feeling in a bit of a funk since the year started. Lots of anxiety, burnout, etc. My laptop also broke down for a bit so that was fun and definitely stalled progress for a bit too. On the one hand, I’m feeling a lot better now (yay!). On the other hand, it means I haven’t made as much progress on Alaris these past two weeks as I would’ve liked. I think I still have made decent progress, having caught up on a lot of things this past week. But I don’t have as much as I would’ve liked to share for this update ;(

Anyways, in terms of a breakdown of Chapter 2, right now we are at:

• Script: 90% Complete
• Art: 75% Complete
• Coding: 40% Complete

The main script for Chapter 2 is done, but I still have the Free Time dates to do. I’m hoping to get to it this upcoming week and finish it by the end of the week, but we’ll see! With everything going on recently, I don’t want to make promises since I want to take care of myself and my mental health first, but the plan for now is to finish Free Time next week :) 

Art has been the biggest hold up. I was making CGs and I was so mad and frustrated at how they were coming out so I took a break. Now, I’ve officially finished the CGs after reworking them a bit, and I’m much happier with how they’ve turned out! Sneak peek of them here~

Next on the art agenda is sprites and BGs. I’ve finished BGs so actually all that’s left is sprites! I think this will hopefully not take too long, and I want to finish by the end of this week :) 

So basically, all that’s left is coding and writing Free Time. Coding shouldn’t take as long as Chapter 1 since I already have a GUI and the features set up. The only thing is I have in mind a new mechanic to introduce this chapter. If I’m able to pull it off, it’ll be really exciting. But I’m still not sure if I’ll be able to and how long it will take, which is why coding is at 40%. Other than that mystery mechanic, all I have to code are things like music, dialogue and visual effects, etc. which shouldn’t take too long. 

I’ve already put in personality stuff, and as exciting news, this chapter will have personality results! So for those who have already played Chapter 1, you’ll know you have already started making personality choices - in this upcoming chapter, you’ll start to see it start impacting dialogue and things like that based on your dominant personality trait! I’m excited to see how it plays out for people and hope people like it. I’ve definitely heard the concerns about how some players didn’t feel like their personality was showing in Chapter 1, so hopefully in this chapter you will finally see those choices come to light! 

That’s all I have for this update - mainly script and art progress. Most of the harder things are done so here’s to smooth(er) sailing <3  Until next update!  As always, feel free to follow on itch.io, Tumblr, or Twitter for more updates or donate at Ko-fi to support development <3