Hi everyone and thanks for reading this week's public update. Today's agenda is to discuss a new feature coming in the mini-update to help those of you that struggle with where to go and what to do, and then we'll talk poll results from last week.

Being a game dev can sometimes be an enlightening and frustrating experience, and one thing I consistently find is that as easy as I think I've made something, there are always questions about it. This is coupled with the fact that so many people today expect their games to be made in Ren'Py, many simply do not have the patience for the RPGM interface and aren't interested in the exploration and discovery element of the game. Over time, I've tried to introduce a variety of things to help, but now I've gone the full hog and made a mode that will lead you by the hand through the whole game. Introducing Quest Hints!

Like Narrative Mode, Quest Hints can be turned on and off at the start of the game or from Missy's laptop. Maybe if I can figure out how later, I'll add it to the in-game menu, but for the time being, that's how it's going to work. Switch it on and wherever you go, there'll be a handy big pink arrow or bubble marker telling you where to go and who to speak to next. I really couldn't make it any easier if I tried.

It will always show you your current active quest. You can change this yourself in the menu screen, but the game will also select the most relevant quest for you if there isn't one currently tracked. In the mini-update, it will only work for the main storyline, as this took a bit more setting up than narrative mode, but every new quest I make will now come with them and the existing side-quests will soon be compatible too.

For those of you who really just want to be playing a Visual Novel or get to the next scene quickly, this mode is as close as I can offer you. And for everyone else, if you're stuck at a part and don't know what to do next, switching it on temporarily could be a godsend for you. I hope you find it useful!

Last week I asked you for your feedback on Chapter Six and the Reign of Jess arc as a whole. As this was a mega-poll, I'll break it down into relevant sections to discuss each in context.

There are spoilers below, if you haven't played Chapter Six yet.

17 respondents thought the chapter was perfect. I appreciate the ego-stroke, and am happy you're happy.

Consistent with other recent releases, there is, as usual, a large majority that would be happy to see the game get darker (than four of the main characters being sold into slavery for life!?)

Once again, this is about as dark as it gets for the time being, and while I'm happy with less than 4% for too dark, I don't want that number to rise too high. I feel like we're about where we should be at present.

A significant improvement on Chapter Five, with the majority happy with the length and a couple even thinking there was too much of it. I was a bit concerned after that last poll, as this time around, there wouldn't even be the element of exploring Fivaviana, at least not as much of it. There's a few things to see in Old Town North and at the Governess's Mansion, but not enough to take up a lot of time. Still, it seems that with the puzzle elements and dungeon, plus the punishing Jess minigame and everything else, this chapter provided a decent chunk of game time.

On the subject of the puzzles and bearing in mind what I've said above, I was frankly amazed that I didn't get more questions about the clock in Elizabeth's house. Well done, all of you!

I'm pleased with this result. A nearly 75% majority liked running around Scarlett's base. Again, I wasn't sure how this part of the chapter would be received, but I worked hard on it and was pleased with the result, especially the chase sequence on level 2. Did you manage to find all four of the things you can throw at her? I bet a lot of you got caught accidentally-on-purpose a few times though didn't you? ^^

 Several of the upcoming stories have scope for adding more content like this to them, so I'm glad it was mostly well received.

I added this out of curiosity, and again, it shows progress on the results from Chapter Five. It's clear that a majority are still looking for more of a choices-matter experience, and one of the main (and fair, at least in context of what you know right now,) criticisms of the ending are that in the end, nothing mattered with everyone's memories getting erased. I'll decline to comment further on that, and just leave you to ruminate on the cryptic part about "what you know right now."

But I digress, this, I think, is why Poppy's story remains so much more popular than the main storyline, the payoff is immediate and the effects of the choices obvious. And the good news is we'll be seeing more of that in some of the upcoming side quests.

Nonetheless, this doesn't seem to have stopped the overwhelming majority of you from enjoying the Reign of Jess. Even some domme players have remarked that they didn't mind seeing what Jess did to Missy and took the story in the manner I intended it - just a bunch of really hot stuff that happens while doing the business of telling the story.

Some of the feedback I've received (and again, I'm grateful for all constructive feedback, good and bad,) has criticised the big undo, but again, it seems the majority were still able to just enjoy a good schoolgirl blackmail/submission story for what it was. I'm pleased you enjoyed playing it, because I really enjoyed bringing this long-awaited tale to life!

So on we head into Act Two, and in the next public post, we'll learn a little more about that. There most definitely are going to be consequences from the Reign of Jess and Act One in general. You're at a super-strict school and there's been a lot of misbehaviour! Now the other shoe is about to drop...

Have a great week!

Trinian

Hi all, and welcome to the (slightly belated) last public update before the release of 0.8! I think I've said everything I need to about Chapter Six by this point, (and my supporters have played it anyway,) so today, let's take a look ahead to what's coming next: Act 2!

The ending of the Reign of Jess finishes the first act of the game, and with it, the story moves forward. Alancia's bears the scars and so what's coming after 0.8 will be a mini-update, (those of you that have been with us since at least this time last year will recall that I made one of these after Avenging Angel, the purpose of which was to make the changes to the school corresponding to the status of the war between the Bad and Popular girls,) and now a similar update is going to be needed to apply the changes caused by the Reign of Jess.

For those new to this concept, mini-updates do not add a new quest to the game, (and therefore have shorter development times. Hopefully no more than 1-2 months.) There will be some new scenes, the central of which sets up the game for the changes I've mentioned above. There's been quite a bit of misbehaviour at Alancia's so far, especially from the bad girls, and now things have reached the tipping point. Discipline will be restored. Forcefully.

In the mini-update, we'll see the aftermath of the Reign of Jess, as well as meet a new character:- Saint Alancia's terrifying and strict headmistress Miss Gloria Whorle. What new horrors await our girl in this changed landscape now that the focus is shifting back to the school with new events, punishments and pitfalls? As is usually the case when girls misbehave at this school: all will be revealed!

See you back here on Wednesday for the public launch of Missy 0.8!

Trinian

Today's public post is a shameless plug, as 0.8 is less than 48 hours from supporter release - so if you've been considering jumping aboard, now is a great moment as you could be playing Chapter Six before the weekend!

Let's take a look at those levels and see which one fits best...

The first tier offers access to supporter-only posts, and of course, the very next one of those will be the new content. But in the time in-between supporters get treated to previews, polls, lore posts, first looks, behind the scenes posts and lots more. Paywalled posts can also contain NSFW content, which I'm unable to show in public posts.

Schoolgirl offers an inexpensive way to show your support and keep up to date with development, plus you get the new stuff early.

Coming in slightly more expensive that the schoolgirl tier, prefects get everything I've mentioned above and also once a month I upload a pack of at least 5 images rendered in 4K. These vary, some are funny, some are sexy, some are off-the-wall. We see what-if scenarios and crazy situations that would for one reason or another be problematic to have canonically happen in the game.

Members of the elite School Council get everything Schoolgirls and Prefects get plus have the right to vote in polls that directly influence development. The next one of these will be to decide what will follow the mini-update. This time round, Council Members will be choosing from things like a quest in which Karen buys a slave, a quest in which we have to get Emily out of the slammer, and of course Jessica's long-awaited relationship quest. Joining at this tier is how you can have your say in the future of Missy.

At a very high price point, this tier is not intended for regular patronage, but rather something you might do once or twice as what you get, (in addition to everything available to the other three tiers) is the right to commission your own image, taken from multiple angles, in 4K. There are certain guidelines, but within those, what is it you'd like to see my girls doing? They're ready (if not necessarily willing) to do it for you!

If you're ready to pledge, then great! let's get that started, but even if you aren't in a position to do that right now, I want you to enjoy the game anyway! And if you want to help, spread the word! Make people aware of Missy, review the game and show your enthusiasm. Every bit helps!

Have a great week!

Trinian

Hi everyone, and thanks for joining me for this week's public check-in. Today I have some previews to show you, as I finally have some scenes in which the characters are wearing clothes! ^^

Development-wise, the cycle is now in the end stages, I have a few sessions of rendering left to do, some stuff to tidy up and then it'll be off to the playtesters!

But about these previews...

Missy, Abbie and Miss Paris sit and discuss something. This is the first glimpse inside Miss Paris's apartment... well.. the first glimpse of the 3D environment anyway. You of course already saw the in-game map in Chapter Five.

Miss Paris enjoys a sip of wine. Teaching the first year class at Saint Alancias, (while fun) is no doubt quite stressful, (especially right now with Jess running riot,) and like most young professional Sapphorian women, she likes to knock back a glass at the end of the day.

Abbie looks a little concerned. Or perhaps just intimidated to be in her teacher's apartment. This hasn't exactly been a restful weekend for her (and that's only going to get worse in Chapter Six.)

What could Miss Paris be getting angry about? Perhaps the girls have a difference of opinion over how to deal with their red-ribbon-rocking problem?

I hope you've enjoyed these, some of the only SFW previews I could find, however there are a couple of more... risqué ones over on my Deviantart. Check it out!

Have a great week!

Trinian

Hi everyone, and welcome to this week's public update!

Development-wise, there isn't a lot to tell, rendering continues, with a couple more scenes completed over the weekend. Supporters are already being treated to regular previews, but for the time being, I'll have to post any public ones I want to share to Deviantart as there are currently almost no SFW ones! Once again, this is a very naked update! Up top is the one and only one Ive got, in which we see Abbie return to Jessica's house ready for the final battle!

So for today, I'm going to make a short lore post for any of you that are interested in the background fluff, and for today's subject, I have chosen Fivaviana's rulers, the Kisimi Noble Family.

Rise of the Nobility

In the first era, roughly 600 years ago, the Sapphorian "Citizens Council" was dissolved in disarray after a group of wealthy families, (that would go on to become the Nobility,) engineered its downfall. Having resolved to work together to take over Sapphory for themselves, they next needed to set up an alternative system of government to the one that they had just finished convincing the populace had failed.

The largest and most powerful of these families, the Schiede, (Shy-ae-da) put forward their Matriarch, Isabella, who became the first Queen of Sapphory, though not before there had been much wrangling between the families. While this was eventually obviated by Isabella's marriage to Princess Cecily of Okonrin, which united the two largest families and resulted in the birth of the Schiede-Rinta dynasty which endures to this day, the contributions of the Kisimi family, their closest allies were never forgotten.

The Kisimi Matriarch, Seraphina, a close friend of Queen Isabella, was granted the rule of the most important province outside of the capital, the port of Fivaviana, which even in that time was already hugely important to Sapphorian trade. Meanwhile, her daughter Mariella Kisimi, who would eventually go on to replace her, was the country's foremost diplomat, and having worked for the Citizens Council, immediately put her skills to work for the Nobility, negotiating with the outside world through the United Nations to prevent an invasion of Sapphory.

Today, Kisimi Mansion is the centre of Fivaviana's government. All important affairs of state, from tribute collection, to marriages, slave registrations and even licences for sex work are handled here.

The current Matriarch of the family is Clementine Kisimi. She is considered a middle-of-the-road tyrant by her subjects, neither as liberal as her grandmother nor as authoritarian as her mother. Like her ancient ancestor, she is also a close personal friend of the monarch, Princess Selina Schiede-Rinta, as they went to school together. (Nobles attend special private schools where all of the teachers are themselves members of the Nobility, as it would be unthinkable for Noble girls to be disciplined by commoners.)

The Governess has six daughters, Mercedes (29), Francesca (28), Meredith (26), Tabitha (23), Constance (21) and Cordelia (19) whom you've already met. Each of them is a vicious, highborn brat and must be handled extremely carefully if encountered. As is often the case with the younger generation of the Nobility, they are born-to-rule and see others as beneath them.

Like all of the Noble houses, the Kisimi clan own vast tracts of land and legions of slaves. They are the largest controller of ground rents in Fivaviana and a major shareholder in the Mulligan Corporation, Scarlett Raine's employer. Their true wealth is measured however, not in money but in power and influence: Their long-standing alliance with the Royal Family has ensured that the Governess of Fivaviana is always among the first of the Queen's Courtiers, and this is unlikely ever to change.

I hope you've enjoyed this snippet of the background lore of Missy, I'll see you next time!

Trinian

Hi everyone, and thanks for joining me for this week's... well... fortnight's public post. I've been having a very busy time in real life recently, so have had to cut down communication a little for now, but development on 0.8 is proceeding and supporters have already been treated to some previews of the delights that the new content has in store.

My new spoiler warning image at the top there denotes when a post is going to contain previews of new content. It's there for the benefit of people who want to avoid seeing anything at all of the new stuff before it's released.

I had hoped to do a few public previews today, but glancing through what I've made so far, there are actually almost no safe for work pictures! Our lovely girls spend a lot of time naked in this chapter, so instead, let's have a look at a few of the new maps. Chaper Six will open up more of Fivaviana for you to explore and find the clues you need. Let's take a look.

My supporters already saw the imposing Governess's Mansion a while ago, and now you get a peek at it too. Set in impeccably-maintained grounds, (you can see the slave girls there tending the gardens) and overlooking the Fivaviana-Saparos Canal, Governess Kisimi's home is also the state capital of Fivaviana province. It's like the Royal palace in miniature, and it's crawling with Nobles, so keep your head down!

Another new area you can check out is Old Town North. There are things here that you'll need to complete your quest and many quirky inhabitants to talk to. You're well away from the tourist areas of the city here, so keep your wits about you!

Weathersporks, (for you non-Brits, this name is a play on Weatherspoons, a large chain of pubs,) is a quaint little establishment in Old Town North where you might find a few clues if you ask around. The folk here are authentic Fivaviana girls and not as used to tourists.

Finally.... This. I'll leave you to wonder about this one, as Abbie finds herself lost in a maze of shipping crates. Well, Fivaviana is Sapphory's biggest port-city.

I hope you've enjoyed this glimpse of the new content, and will be back next week hopefully if things have started to calm down by then!

Trinian