Howdy everyone,
Sephra again, wishing you a now late Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and general warm sentiment of the season for anyone who doesn't jive with any of that stuff; like the Neptunians of the North Pole we've been working away, under the somewhat foolish belief we might be able to get something out around now but there you go; the main thing is we were working madly in the attempt and we have a lot more done as a result! Tib has been tackling the gameplay side of things as usual, and I'll turn this to them before I start with the screenshots:
Hey everyone!
A small bit from me, Tib!
This month, for the most part, I’ve been working on both the AI (namely, goldie to start with), and in the second half, been also doing the Inventory system! I’m excited to show off both in the next update, which will feature some actual gameplay, exploration and combat!
It’s been quite fun figuring out the inventory through code. I’m not finished with it just yet, but Sephra and I already had some great ideas for items! I’ve also been fixing a few small issues that I noticed here and there, but hopefully, the next time you hear from me, it’ll be with an actual update to the game! 
But until then, happy new years everyone, and see you all in 2025 <3
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Now they mentioned the inventory, and I have here what it's probably going to look like or thereabouts:
 The box on the right there's going to be for the item name/description, and most likely it's going to look a bit more over-engineered by the time I'm done with it, but also I can't stray too far as it has to fit on the back of this guy:
 
Who I'll be properly explaining in a lore section sometime but this is the Amnet Avia, who will be helping Amber carry a little more than her jacket will let her; oh and while I think of it I've been making lore sections for the computer terminals in the game too:
I found a liking for this wiremesh looking style; as it happens the C&C Red Alert 1 installation program is to blame for my love of it and yes I am old enough to remember configuring soundcards. Saw someone ask what DOS was the other day, can you imagine?
Anyway Screenshots:
 
Some of the new areas in the first level for you to have a gander at; and as a final teaser thing, a couple of the new items you'll be encountering too:
 
 


Now that last one's really so I could show off what unchecked obsession does to my brain, but also look what the QRD can do now! Don't worry, the wall isn't that strong, but the device above is (if you hadn't seen the filename) a Teleporter, with fairly broad range too I might add; might be some sort of sub objective involved in getting one up and running, go see what goodies the QRD have locked away!
Anyway, I'll stop before I spend pages and pages but yes things have been moving along very nicely and we hope to have something to show you soon involving some actual gameplay stuff, with AI and combat and exploration and sub-objectives and secrets, so on and so on!
Until then we all hope you have a good year, me Tib and Sammy, and we'll see you in 2025 for more ramblings!