Hey all, apologies that it's been a while, but it's time for another developer log, this time giving you a more in-depth look at what you can expect in the next update. Since the status update posted months ago only includes visual progress, this post will be diving into more specific topics that are also included.


BILLING RESUMED

First things first, I once again thought I could finish the update sooner rather than later, but here we are again, 4 months into a paused billing cycle. With all of the things recently going on in the world and such, I've decided to resume the billing.

With this, I'm still continuing the promise I've made back when I paused it. Similar to 0.3, if you were subscribed to the Early Access tier anywhere from November last year to now, then you're free to unsubscribe now and shoot me a message when the update is finally out to receive it for free.


IMPROVED IMAGE/VIDEO QUALITY

Together with thelordofcorruption (who worked on https://thelordofcorruption.itch.io/airhead-academy ), we will be redoing the compression on both images and videos to reduce the artifacts that are currently very present in some. This is not to say it will be a crazy improvement but you'll definitely be able to notice it, especially in the darker scenes.


OPTIONAL 4K VIDEO

With the next version, comes the ability to optionally toggle if you would prefer 4K video over the usual 1080p ones. Keep in mind that these are simply upscaled and are not fully rendered in 4K. You'll also require an internet connection for this as the 4K versions are downloaded and are not included in the game, to not bloat the file size.


ITCH.IO WEB BUILD

I'm also proud to announce that when the public version of 0.4 releases, the game will be embedded right onto the Itch page, allowing anyone to play directly without downloading.

This is more so an addition and makes the game more accessible, an offline/downloadable version of the game will always exist.



ARTIFICIAL CONTENT

As already mentioned before, while the artificially generated sprites will be removed in the next update, there will be more artificially generated animations. I am well aware of the public discourse surrounding this, so there will be an option to disable it for those who don't wish to see them.



NEW MECHANICS

For 0.4, there are three major mechanics/menus planned, two of which I can showcase today. Keep in mind that these are blurred to keep spoilers to a minimum and that these are a work in progress, so they may change slightly.



MISCELLANEOUS CHANGES

To add to all of this as a little cherry on top, there are some more minor changes listed here:
  • Location soundtracks
  • Scene rewind/rollback
  • Save importing & exporting
  • Path tracing/click to move anywhere on the map
  • W.I.P stats system (will likely not be fully integrated yet)


FINAL NOTES & TEASERS

I hope this gives you all a clearer understanding of what's been going on and what the update will entail, without spoiling all too much. As for a release date, I currently still don't have an accurate one to share with you and I don't wish to disappoint by mentioning a date and then failing to meet it again. I will mention one when the time comes.
I'm very positive that this update will be of similar size as 0.3, if not larger. Unfortunately it will still take some time, but I can guarantee that the wait will be worth it.
As always, thanks so much for the support! Much love to you all and stay safe! ❤️