Happy Thanksgiving to you Americans. And all you non-Americans as well. There are enough good vibes going around that I feel I can share them with everyone. And here at ILS Productions, we're thankful for all the support and fans who've been following us for years. And all the new folks who just discovered us. Even that one guy who constantly complains about everything on social media, even though they keep playing month after month. You know who you are. :P
Well, it's time again to start talking about our new adventure, which will be released in December.
About TOXICity:
It rolled in slowly. In a town in its off-season, no one noticed when the city streets grew empty. No one thought twice about it when people called in sick. And then, while at work, John and his coworker, Kallie, witness an unusual fog surrounding their office. Cellphone service stopped. Phone lines went dead. Almost immediately, they lost contact with the outside world. When they went out to investigate, the fog burned their exposed skin and made them sick. Stranded, they have to find out what’s happening and how they might be rescued.
TOXICity is a character-focused, narrative-driven experience, smaller in scope that our previous efforts. After having to juggle a sizable cast for TID, we decided to go back to a handful of characters. This, hopefully, will produce a more intimate experience where you grow to learn about your fellow survivors throughout the story. Unlike N&T, these won't be people you already have a pre-established relationships with who are more prone to like you from day one. Sure, Laura and Kallie are coworkers and you know them as such, but you'll have to talk with them and consider their perspectives when making choices. You'll have to earn their trust because they have lives to return to if they survive their situation.
One of the main elements of TOXICity is a concept we call "micro-choices" where you can respond to conversations without it making huge changes to the scene. Instead of your comment triggering an alternative path, what you say will just be heard (and maybe briefly responded to). But, what you say will alter how your fellow survivors view you through one of five stats.
Love - A measure of the romantic feelings a character has for the Main Character. Raised by performing activities that involve intimacy or affection. Do you show kindness or care in a moment when they’re struggling? Or, do you blow them off?
Friend - A measure of your friendship with the other characters. Improving this will alter conversations and potentially unlock variations in scenes that might allow for romantic events.
Desire - Represents the sexual tension between characters. Even if they are not romantically involved, this stat might open up moments you normally wouldn’t see.
Trust - Does the character trust the Main Character’s decision-making ability? Can they be relied on to follow his lead? This is a modifying stat that can alter conversations and scenes.
Anxiety - Is the character stressed by the events that go on around them? Can the Main Character convince them that it’s all going to work out or they are safe in the meantime? This is a modifying stat that can alter conversations and scenes.
In terms of graphics engine for renders/animations, we are now using Honey Select 2 Studio. While I won't say we were experts with HS1, we were good enough to knock out 8-900 renders and 30+ animations in a month with it, so making the jump to a new program is going to take some time to learn. Sure they share a similar UI, but there's a fair number of plugins and mods that are different or don't exist in the new Studio, so we've had to figure out how to make the same experience through a different means. A bit of on-the-job training.
Also, for those who don't like to go in blind, for TOXICity, ILS Productions is producing an official walkthrough, which will be fleshed out more as we progress through the game.
Thanks for your interest and patronage, -Kinderfeld
All right, folks, we're working hard on getting this build polished off and ready for release. And, man we're having to break out the digital shoehorn to get it all to fit. Let me tell you that the 2GB limit on APK files is really asking a lot from us, compression-wise. But, this one, render count and animation-wise, racks in as one of the bigger.
This update has not one but two combination scenes, featuring our two biggest pairings: Tina/Robin and Anita/Marisa. Proving that friendships last beyond the end of the Interim, you can see variants of either scene by choosing one of the girls as your ending lover while having the other as a potential lover. Of course, depending on which girl you're with, you'll see different versions of events.
For those wondering "What about [this girl] and [that girl]" well, that's what the 0.99.0 Final build's for. Let me tell you we never planned on doing a "director's cut" like N&T. And outside of some cleanup and adding stuff for the planned Hard Mode, we won't touch the main story. But, we plan on a special ending in the 0.99.0 release. With a TON of stuff not currently in the game. And maybe some personal indulgences.
Thanks for your patronage and interest, -Kinderfeld
Here we are. To answer some questions that have come up in the past month, yes 0.31.0 is the last update of planned content for The Interim Domain, including the following items:
Selene Ending
Allison Ending
Anya Ending
No One Ending
Unlock All Feature for the gallery
Two Combo Scenes (more on this next update)
This won't be the final build. We will still have some work to clean up the script and code and any continuity issues that remain in the game. After the Director's Cut of Now & Then, we told ourselves we wouldn't do a major rework of a game ever again. But, based on feedback and the inclusion of difficulties and the playful (at the time) threat of a Hard Mode, we will be putting out a 0.99.0 build with a reward for finishing the game in said Hard Mode.
So, the plan is to shift our main focus to TOXICity in December, while working on the 0.99.0 of TID in the background. Considering the amount of content we're looking to add (which includes a ton of new scenes planned), this will take a while to pull together. If you recall, Now & Then's Director's Cut launched almost a year after the previous release, so use that as a benchmark. If it makes you feel better, we already have parts of four scenes either written or partially shot.
As for TOXICity, we'll discuss more about that in the following updates. Right now, we're trying to get a solid UI together so that the initial package feels somewhat close to the product should be going forward.
Okay, we're deep in the middle of putting 0.30.0 together. Maybe with a little bit of a slowdown due to a workplace injury that had a 1k lb machine fall on my right hand. Nothing broken. A lot of bruising. So, maybe not everything gets done at warp speed, but with so much content already built, we should still be on schedule.
What's left after 0.30.0? We have a few special endings left to do. By the time this update comes out, all the main girls will be covered. All the side girls will be covered. Hell, even Mira and Apollyon will be covered. So, you'll be getting endings that might take some work to unlock. Or none at all (there is a No One ending in development). And maybe a few combo scenes left to pack in.
On other topics: Game #3 TOXICity, will have its first release by the end of the year. The 0.01.0 will contain the prologue and chapter 1.
Thanks for your interest and patronage, -Kinderfeld
And the last of Natalie's storyline. That's what we're working on for 0.30.0. Who all gets endings scenes?
Natalie
Robin
Kara
Sammy
Apollyon
Mira
And let me tell you that putting together the ending sequences has been a hell of a lot of work. I guess we shouldn't be surprised considering the endings for Now & Then required us to start working on them six months before we released that build. This is feeling like as much (if not more) work.
Based on some feedback, we did add Allison's path to the Story Replay mode, so if you failed to complete (or see both Mira's and Allison's sides of the story), you'll be able to do it now.
I will say one of the things I did enjoy doing the endings was creating the parents Michael meets when being introduced to the family. Yeah, some of them you don't spend a lot of time with, but others, like Marisa's mother, Helen, were fun to put together an older version who could feasibly be their parent.
Thanks for your interest and patronage, -Kinderfeld
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