Hi everyone! First off, I want to say thank you for all the kind words, support, and understanding from my last post. The past couple of days have been a bit kinder on me, and while things aren’t necessarily good, they’re at least better. I mentioned in my last post some news about the Chapter 2 release, what’s in store, etc. and I want to use this devlog to talk about progress since last time, where the game is at, and more official announcements on Chapter 2 :)

So without further ado... here is my usual clickbait image. Feel free to read below for a complete look at the updates!

So in my update from a couple days ago, I mentioned how Chapter 2 will be released soon so that I can get some new content out for the game - mostly what I have finished up until this point with some refinement, but not the full scope of what was initially planned for Chapter 2. 

Basically, for Chapter 2, I had planned the base chapter content (~20,000 words), the next set of Free Time Dates (~10,000 words), new art, and further game mechanics (ex. personality results). Right now, Chapter 2 will have the following features based on my progress. Again, some of the initially planned features were cut and will be released at a later date since right now it’s a huge strain on me mentally and emotionally to work on some of it.

1. Base Chapter 2 Content (~20,000 words)
2. Edits to Chapter 1 Content
3. New Art (3 CGs, new BGs, additional sprites)
4. Further game mechanics (Personality results, more personality choices, a few new codex entries, and a new Dragon Energy Vision function)

As you can see, the new set of Free Time dates was dropped - I was supposed to write those up last week, but because of my personal circumstances, it won’t be feasible at this time. I’m hoping to release it at a later time when I’m able to - this might be a little after the release of a Chapter 2 in a follow up release or just an addition to the Chapter 3 release. It all depends on where I’m at mentally, emotionally, and personally over the next month or so. 

However, as you can see, there is still quite a bit that will be released for the current chapter version. I’m hoping this will be okay for you all and really appreciate your understanding and patience right now <3 I promise the full content will be released eventually - it’s just not something that is feasible for me at the current moment. 

Moving on to actual updates, it’s hard to provide a breakdown of Chapter 2 progress since the current version of the release isn’t the full version. But basically, writing and art are finished (excluding Free Time). Sneak peek of sprite expressions I’ve been working on here:

All I’ve been working on lately is coding small stuff - effects, sprite changes, dialogue, etc. I’ve also been tinkering with the Dragon Energy Vision, which you see an image at the top! Basically, how this feature will work is you will have a key that you can press to activate MC’s ability to see people’s dragon energy. This will be an important piece of the plot (if you’ve read Chapter 1, you may have an idea), and I’m hoping this will add an immersive interactive element to the game! I’m still playing around with it so that it feels smooth and up to my standard, but I got the base coding (which I was most concerned about) working :)

Other than that, I just have other small coding stuff to do like updating the codex, gallery, and things like that, which are small game mechanics. I’m basically in the final wrap up stage of this chapter’s development, and I should be done within the next week.

I’ll have an official announcement probably sometime next week about the release date. Tentatively, right now, I want to estimate it will be released around Valentine’s Weekend. This is actually what my initial release goal was, but obviously this release version is a bit shorter compared to what I had in mind. Regardless, I think it is a good amount of content, and even though this is the release date for now, obviously more content is still to come eventually, so it’s not like final development is being cut short or anything - this is moreso a compromise so I can get some content out while giving myself a break from hardcore development to focus on my mental and personal health. Again, words really can’t capture how grateful I am for the support and patience - I think we’re still making sufficient progress on Chapter 2, and I’m excited for you all to see it, even with everything else going on in my life. 

Until next update!  As always, feel free to follow me on Tumblror Twitter for more updates or donate at Ko-fi to support development <3