Release Day + Progress

0.8.2.1 has been released for Dossier tiers.

In the past week, I've built out a couple things for the upcoming 'big event' in Act I:

The selection of which employees at Club ZZYZX are going to be taking part of the upcoming event. This is (mostly) based on Claire's current success as an employee at the Club.

If she's not selected, there will be ways to nudge her way in that will be added piecemeal, but at least one will be included in 0.9 alongside the event.

Reporting in to EROS about Claire's accomplishments to date. This will open up avenues for continuation of spy paths, some with EROS support, some on her own.

Depending on how much she reports in, she'll gain standing within EROS which will be a factor in what EROS is willing to do for her in the future.

My focus is the Loser arc now. I'm aiming for the release of 0.8.3 next week.

As mentioned last time, there will be four new outfits; all accessories for purchase in the Act I Mall; all the skills and traits have GIFs that will appear in pop-ups when they are improved/used in the game.

Speaking of Act I, what would content would you like to see slated for 0.9?

Release Day + Progress!

0.8.2.1 has been released to Sudden Agent tiers and up.

0.8.1.1 has been released to Origin tiers.

For 0.8.3, in the past week we've:

• Finished off the remaining skill and trait GIFs which will be added to pop-ups in 0.8.3
• Begun sketching out the plans for the first Act I (Main Game) event for you spies.
• Added in four new sets of clothing for our models (and of course, the Loser outfit).
• Offered different accessories for purchase in the Mall during the Main game for those who want to switch/swap/make a lewk.
• Begun sketching out the Loser arc for HS.

Speaking of which, what kind of goals would you like to see in the Loser arc? The Nerds have their Cosplay and TwitchCon competitions, the Jocks have their Varsity championships, the Alphas have their popularity contest and Prom...but what might define a successful/unsuccessful time as a Loser in HS? Put your comments, ideas and thoughts in the comments!

We're also in the first stages of planning the restructuring of character creation. No longer will you choose Claire's parental traits and have those decide Claire. Now there will be a character creation sheet at the beginning of the game where you will customize much of Claire and then dive into the prologue to define her history, skills and traits. That will be coming in 0.8.4!

We're also working on a couple infographics to help visualize release timelines and what's included/offered in supporter tiers as well as what is not included with the public releases.

Thank you again and enjoy!

Release Day!

0.8.2 is releasing for our Handler and Chiefs; 0.8.1.1 for Dossier tiers.

What's in 0.8.2? It's a big one.

• More interludes each morning in Home Base reflecting what Claire did the previous day.

• Each Club Arc has a choice for Claire to be passive or active in her investigation.

• Two of the three Club Arcs are nearing the end of the first 'phase'.

• Identifying features has been added to the Dossier -- and the Legendary tattoo is now reflected!

• Modeling in high school is no longer an arc, but a possible additional vignette path!

• New random 'bodies' for HS and College models.

• The opportunity for trying out modeling in College! -- four new outfits!!

(HD in future release)

• 85 more HD-ified assets for the doll on top of the hundreds already in-game.

• A toggle to turn off the 'hometown' accessory on the doll.

• 'Final Form' is fully new and improved. Better responsiveness, hovering over choices to see them reflected on the doll before choosing!

• Claire's measurements are now in the Dossier

• MORE passage art!

* Coding in significantly more speech bubbles for easier, better play

In other news, I got a little curious the other day and wanted to do a side-by-side comparison against...another...game in the space.

• This version of Blue Swallow has 188,600 more words.

• That's comparing our 0.8.2 against the other's 1.20.1.

• That's 26.7% more content.

• 1.5 years against SEVEN+ years.

• No reboots here. If things need to be changed/updated/improved, we do it during our dev cycles alongside additional content with every release.

• That's not counting sheer number of options, choices mattering, stats and skills being affected.

• And lots, lots more sex.

Thank //you// for being a part of this project. Thank you for being a part of the community and guiding its development.

What's up next for (0.8.3)?

• We're going to be shifting the character creator forward. That means picking many of the aesthetic and some of the skills/traits for Claire right out of the gate. Claire's parents will now be reflected in the choices you make for her rather than the other way around.

• Setting up the first big event for the Working Girl and Dancing arcs in Act I (Bargirl to catch up in 0.9)

• Creation of a new HS Arc -- the Loser Claire!and Loser Quick-Start Claire

• MORE HD Art!

• Even more new outfits!

0.8 Progress Report

I'm on the mend, which is great, so I've begun work on:

• Expanding the Dancer and Working Girl Mission arcs (and a little expansion of the Bargirl arc). Each of them is getting a moment where Claire can decide on being an active or more passive investigator at the Club.

• Claire's Modeling Arc in College (new!)

• Additional HS content /flavor with Claire's parents

Meanwhile the rest of the team:

• Has 150 more HD assets complete and more on the way!

• A toggle is being implemented for Claire's accessory -- don't like the cowboy hat or something? You no longer need to 'move' Claire. Just turn it off!

• The Final Form widget has been seriously improved with hover-implementations that should make choices in character creation more responsive and intuitive.

• We're beginning work on outfits being mix-and-match. This will allow for more customization in Claire's outfits in the main game. Like a certain top to go with a different bottom? It'll be up to you!

• In the background, we're continuing on a longer-term project where we're visualizing all the different versions of Claire's mom based on the choices you make in the Prologue (its a LOT of assets).

The above is what we're aiming to release with 0.8.2.

Thanks and have a great end of October!

Release Day

0.8.0.1 For Dossier tiers and the hotfix for our Handler+ tiers.

We're sync'd up on a Wednesday now, which is great for me.

What hasn't been great for me is back-to-back illnesses. A bad headcold right into a flu that has taken me out of content writing for a solid week or so. Hope to get back into it today as I get through the last of this flu. But in the meantime, enjoy!

0.8.1 Release and Poll Results!

0.8.1 has been released for our Handlers and Agency Chiefs! What's in this update?

• Claire's results in college and high school affect the graduation and commencement sequences? Drop Out? Graduate Early? Get some crazy good grades? Now there's touches, flavor and realistic endings for each of those arcs.

• The Cheerleader paths for HS and College have been enhanced and expanded.

• The first lesbian animation has been added to the game for those who's 'first' hookup is a lady.

• New passage art.

• Updated and improved 'Final Form' widget! We're improving the responsiveness where you finalize Claire's look In the character creation. This is just the v2 of further improvements. We intend for it to be better, more interesting and more flexible.

And how about those polls?

Acting HSV - 32 (20%)

Barn HSV - 3 (1.8%)

Beach HSV - 14 (9%)

Church HSV - 11 (7%)

Dance HSV - 15 (9.5%)

Helper HSV - 2 (1.2%)

Home HSV - 8 (5%)

Job HSV - 10 (6.3%)

Africa Gap Year - 34 (21.5%)

New Au Pair Gap Year - 23 (14.6%)

Finishing School Gap Year - 6 (3.8%)

Which means, for 0.9 we'll be putting the Africa Gap Year, Acting HSVs, and a new Au Pair Gap Year on the docket. Sounds like a lot of content for me to start sketching out!

Don't worry if your fave wasn't on this list or didn't win, we'll be sending out a poll for the next release series during 0.10 with different options along with the ones that didn't make the cut above.