GOOD. LORD. This episode is massive, no two ways about it. We have about 60% of the full episode done, and we opted for a split release because of how huge it is. 

I played through it on Auto mode, and it took me about 2 hours to get through if you include the side content. I know most people read faster than that, so I'm estimating about an hour and a half more playtime.

This Main Story update is resolving some of the longest running conflicts in the story. We spent a lot of time setting these story beats up, and it's time to knock them down. 

RELEASE SCHEDULE:

IN THE WORKS:

CHANGELOG:

1.4.8.0 - Main Story Content Update

Previews:

​I wasn't expecting to have another update so soon, but it seems the things we were fixing ended up being fairly simple. Here's where we're at:

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Lot to tackle in this one, so I'll try to keep it short.

First, we're in final testing phase for 1.4.8.0 which will be about 60% of Season 2 Episode 5. Soon as that's done, I'll submit it to Estrada for the Android port, then start the release cycle. 1.4.8.0 is built using Ren'py 8 (Python 3), whereas 1.4.0.0 was built with Ren'py 7 (Python 2). Senia and all DLC characters will be built with Ren'py 8, so you'll need 1.4.8.0 or higher to play them.

Speaking of Senia, you'll notice she's done. We'll be adding her to the release cycle alongside 1.4.8.0 so that people don't buy her and then have to wait for 1.4.8.0 to become available to play her. We're also planning a couple of giveaways soon, and she'll be one of them, so keep your eyes on the Discord!

Now, the details. What were we fixing? Well, there were a few reshoots where Nags and I didn't notice parts of bodies were phasing through desks, chairs, hats, etc. So those had to be reshot. On upgrading to Ren'py 8, the $ renpy.cutscene function started blackscreening and I have no idea why, so all the voicemail videos had to have their code changed. Some of the patrol sequences featured characters that were missing, so I figured out how to set conditional variables to show certain patrol images if those characters are missing. Lastly, there's a very, very special scene in this that I needed some help animating, so I contracted someone to help me out with some Timeline animation. It's not top of the line cinematic, but I hope everyone enjoys the extra effort. 

If anyone can figure out what's wrong with the Cutscene function, lemme know, 'cause that was cleaner than using the Scene command and then a Pause for however many seconds the video is supposed to last. 

Anyways, we'll need a few days for everyone to test the full build and all the side stories, and then for Estrada to get the Android port made if there's nothing else to fix. Then we'll have it in the release pipeline and on its way to you! I was hoping to have it out by my birthday (July 30th) but well, I was fighting with GitBash so that didn't happen. 

We've also demonetized WCA on Itch, so people can't leave tips anymore, and we ended up getting reindexed there. If you'd like to say thanks, you can always hop over to our SubscribeStar or Patreon pages. 

That's it for now. Back to work. Real excited to get this out to you all.

-Vic

Hey, all! You're gonna notice the progress graphic looks a little different.

What is this "First Half" sorcery? Well, as I said in the last post, this episode is absolutely massive. Probably triple the size of any of the other S2 episodes, and that's without manually counting. We've gotten a ton done, and a lot of people have been expressing regret that they have to wait so long for a release. So we made an executive decision.

We're going to be releasing a little over the first half of Season 2 Episode 5 first, and then the second half later, in a split release. We're 4 scenes away from finishing this First Half build, which is very close. I'm working something special out right now with someone who knows a bit of Timeline animation for a very special scene that you all have been waiting years for. Beyond that, 2 scenes need shooting and bugtesting, and only 1 scene needs writing, shooting, scoring, and bugtesting. Then we do our final test, and if that's solid, we ship it.

While the first half is making its way through the release cycle, we'll be hard at work on the second half. We have quite a bit done for these scenes, so we're hoping that we can push it into the release cycle within a month of the first half going public.

Also, I've done something a little different with this episode. Previously, we've been alternating Side Story and Main Story releases, making them mutually exclusive. This time, I decided to ship each build with at least 1 new Side Story scene per Free Time opportunity. The first half of S2E5 has 6 Free Time opportunities, so it'll ship with 6 new Side Story scenes. That way you have something new to play in each Free Time event, even if you've played all of the previous Side Story scenes.

Lastly, and slightly off-topic, I'm not gonna pretend I'm the first dev you're hearing about the whole Itch deindexing thing due to the payment processors thing. You know what's going on. Best thing you can do for all the creators you love, not just us, is be sure to follow them directly on Itch or sign up for free on their Patreon or SubscribeStar accounts so you don't miss updates.

A kind user on Patreon sent me this collection, where they're adding all the AVNs they could find links to. This might serve as a good collection to browse until this all gets figured out:
https://itch.io/c/6089350/find-all-the-avns-i-could-save-links-to 

You might be able to use this to find more of your favorite creators and follow them directly. 
Anyways, thanks for reading! We hope you're excited to play Season 2 Episode 5 soon!

-Vic

​You know the drill. Progress first.

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Team's been working extra hard this period. Senia is 1 scene away from full release. Once we shoot and score that, then it's off to bugtesting her entire DLC, and then we release her to the public! Will probably take us another week or two. In the meantime, T5 and T4 Supporters will get Senia 0.9 shortly after I'm done posting this, where you can play everything but the final scene we're working on. That's 21 scenes total. I'd really love some feedback from you, as well, since this will be our first completed DLC character. 

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Senia's story is turning out to be unnecessarily cute, way more than I initially intended. But she's got some fire in her, and when she starts getting comfortable... hoo boy.
Anyways, that's it for the moment. T5 and T4, I'll have Senia 0.9 up for you shortly!
-Vic