It's Friday the 13th, so there's a camp out there where teens are getting brutally murdered by a face mask-wearing killing machine. Sucks for them. But, it's also the day where the new release announcement goes out for Subscribers. Hurray for you.
Story-wise, 0.07.0 balances delivering on moments we've been building towards and laying down the groundwork for other narrative threads that will move to the forefront soon enough. Because of the traumatic nature of their situation, you will see some people pull away while others gravitate towards John out of need.
Also, we want to take a moment to announce that ILS Productions now has a RedBubble store - ILSProductions.redbubble.com
We've been kicking around the idea of finding a vendor to produce branded prints, shirts, and assorted tchotchkes. Right now we have a few designs meant to test the waters to see if this will work out. It appears to be a purely Print On Demand Digital operation and we haven't received any product yet to see how the quality stacks up, but take a peek if your interested.
Here's the release schedule for 0.07.0 (all scheduled for 11:59 am EDT release):
Tier 3 - June 16, 2025 Tier 2 - June 18, 2025 Tier 1 - June 20, 2025 Public - June 21, 2025
Change Log 0.07.0
Added Chapter Seven
Fixed typos and grammar errors
Altered code for Stats menu link in side menu if Quick Menu visibility is on or off.
So, we're at a point where the base structure of the build is in a playable state. There's no audio, no stat flags, and we haven't even tested to see if the animations work right yet, but that's what the next few days are for. It'll all get polished up in time for the nearing release.
It seems that some of you have taken to theory-crafting explanations about the fog and the Burned Ones, and we're enjoying some of the comments we read. While we are taking the philosophy that not every question will be answered, because leaving certain aspects open-ended for players is the intent (we hate movies where everything is spelled out to the viewer), there are sequences planned in the future intended to shape the ecology of the new, hostile environment.
The Interim Domain 0.99.0 is still on track for later this year. "Why is it taking so long?" you might ask. Well, developing two games at the same time does take time. Plus, that pesky 50 hour a week job I do to pay for other crap. As a reward for your patience, the new ending is pretty big. We are currently at the opening of Act 3, and there are already 1700 new renders and 87 new animations. To give you context, this is about two to three full episodes' worth of the game that are just dedicated to the new ending. And that's not counting what's left to be done and the integration of all the other endings into this new story.
Thanks for your interest and patronage, -Kinderfeld
All right, we're back at it. And now that we can talk about Shelley, we're not going to talk about Shelley. I'm kidding, but what is there to say? New girl who alters the dynamic of the trio and introduces some new questions about who she is as a person and what baggage she's gonna have, because you know we don't add characters who don't have their own history and personal quirks/demons. Anything more than that might ruin any potential surprises.
In terms of development support, when we have the time, we are doing a little rework on some older content. As you can see from the sample screenshots, for 0.08.0 we have some re-shot scenes to be implemented. Examples below (original on left, new on right):
As with how we had to learn HS Studio while working on Now & Then, we're figuring out things as we go with HS2 Studio. So, that means some sequences look washed out due to some baked-in lighting that we learned how to work around. The prologue, though, remains as is because I love the fake out that the game starts as a workplace drama, and the standard by-the-numbers look of the original renders sells that.
Thanks for your interest and patronage, -Kinderfeld
Outside of a little last-minute polish, this build is good to go, and we'll be uploading it shortly. And I know some of you (hopefully ALL of you) have been impatiently waiting for the next chapter. Fear not, you'll be rewarded as you'll finally get to meet girl #3. Also, there's at least one moment that's been a long time coming.
As I say this, I do offer a bit of warning/sage advice on how you may feel about the story as it progresses. Events occur, sometimes with little lead-up, or just enough that you'll have some context, but will start to make more sense further down the line. These scenes are a window into each person's timeline, and how they react may be fostered as much by your own actions as those that occurred before the game's Prologue.
One of the themes of TOXICity is that nothing happens in a vacuum, and there's usually fallout for what you do. So, getting involved with people in complicated relationships (or who have issues of their own) means navigating both their present and future states, while being aware of their pasts.
Here's the release schedule for 0.06.0 (all scheduled for 11:59 am EDT release):
Tier 3 - May 16, 2025 Tier 2 - May 18, 2025 Tier 1 - May 20, 2025 Public - May 21, 2025
Change Log 0.06.0
Added Chapter Six
Fixed typos and grammar errors
Fixed a tag in chapter 4 where Kallie may get credit for seeing the dead monster when she hasn't
Added Visibility option for the Quick Menu. For Android users, swipe up to go into the menu when turned on.
At this point in the development cycle, we have one scene to end the build left to write and shoot, and then some stuff to fill in the creases between the major moments. The funny thing about this chapter is that we did one of the last scenes first because of how important it is to a specific arc. It's one of those "this has to be done just right" moments.
I have to say, it is nice to go back to a more straightforward, streamlined experience. Yeah, TID was a fun ride, and it had a ton of characters I loved writing for, but it got a bit unwieldy towards the end, especially with all the continuity rewrites. Focusing on a smaller cast in a linear story allows me not to have to consider the dozen other things going on at the same time in the background.
Speaking of which...
The Interim Domain 0.99.0 Update:
We're getting to the end of Act 2, with a few new scenes left to shoot and code, but once that's finished, we'll move fully into the final act, which comes with all new content, new locations, and the expected outcome for a Harem ending. Plus, we have to figure out how to make a touching resolution for a story that's been in development for over three years now.
Also, while thinking about the walkthrough, I thought "Oh, there won't be any need to add this to it" before I recalled that there are a few meaningful choices buried in there. And, also, maybe having to point out some tips on how to get everything so you can unlock the new ending. So, there's that.
Here we are, back into development mode. So, how about that reveal at the end? We're going to try hard not to spoil anything about girl #3 until you have 0.06.0 in your hands, but that's going to be difficult, considering her introduction is a major point in the chapter. Maybe slap a blur block over her in screenshots (kidding, mostly).
I'm sure some of you have noticed that when it comes to writing, TOXICity is more of a return to how we handled N&T. For each game (story/book/etc.), you have to find a specific tone, voice, and lexicon of terminology that gives it a unique voice. One element of this is what I like to call "levels", where the narrative is arranged with a certain pace/detail in mind. Think of it as a depth of view on a scene, where the "camera" may be pulled back to show less detail because the action dictates a wider field.
With TID, we pulled back a fair bit, meaning that we didn't delve super deep into every moment, and there were sharper cuts in the scene-to-scene transitions. Readers were left to infer events between moments based on what may have come before. With so many characters to cover, we couldn't get to the granular level without each update taking forever to complete. Now, with TOX, a chapter may only last 2-3 in-game days, rather than 5-10.
Thanks for your interest and patronage, -Kinderfeld
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