A Shot in the Dark: Chapter 4 BETA Release Info

Chapter 4 BETA Release

Early / BETA Release of Chapter 4 of A Shot in the Dark will start on Wednesday, March 27 for our supporters on Patreon and SubscribeStar:

-Wed, Mar 27 - $40+ Patrons & Subscribers

-Fri, Mar 29 - $20 Patrons & Subscribers

-Sun, Mar 31 - $10 Patrons & Subscribers

-Wed, Apr 3 - $5 Patrons & Subscribers

Remember, anyone with a lifetime pledge of $10+ also gets access to the Interactive In-Game Walkthrough Features + Hondo's Complete PDF Guide!

Official Public Release of Chapter 4 for players who own the game on Steam and Itch will happen in mid to late April, once we have had time to add Steam achievements and do further testing once those are added.

THIS IS A SAVE-BREAKING UPDATE!

WARNING!!! SAVES WILL BE BROKEN THIS UPDATE! Opening old saves will introduce bugs. Please plan to start a new game or use the Entry Points feature to avoid opening old saves. To be safe, please consider deleting your old save files: https://savelocation.net/renpy

We know broken saves are a huge inconvenience for players, but unfortunately we made too many changes to the foundation of the codebase for it to be avoided.

What's new in Chapter 4?

With this update we are adding:

-16 scenes, 9 lewd

-~55K+ words

-2,226 renders

-97 animations

-28 songs, 21 sfx

Ren'Py upgrade and code optimization

This update we upgraded from Ren'Py 7.4.11 to Ren'Py 8+ which allows us to take advantage of the newer optimization features Ren'Py has to offer! We also took this opportunity to refactor our code to integrate well with Crowdin and help automate the translation process.

New Achievements feature added

We've now added Achievements (which were previously only available via the Steam platform) to the game itself so that players on all platforms can access them! All players will get notifications when achievements are completed and can check in-game to see which achievements they have completed or not.

If you have the Walkthrough features purchased and enabled, you can also get hints for the achievements in-game.

Note: Only Chapters 1-3 currently have achievements implemented in the BETA version. Chapter 4 does not have achievements in the BETA version, but they will be added before we release on Steam and Itch in April.

Unlock All Memories feature added

We added the ability to Unlock All Memories with a toggle in the settings. We already had the feature that allows you Reset All Memories. These are quality of life features to help players who get stuck in bugged states, are playing on multiple platforms/devices that can't share saves, etc. Both can be found in the Options menu in the More tab.

Brand new GUI throughout entire game

Thank you to m. of Tsundere Studio for the complete GUI overhaul! We couldn't be happier with how it all turned out. Be sure to add their game to your Steam wish list: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1703610/I_Just_Want_to_be_Single/

Prince of Suburbia: V0.95 Early Release details!

Here is our SFW trailer for V0.95! You can find our NSFW trailer in this post: https://subscribestar.adult/posts/952168

Testing of the second beach update (V0.95) of Prince of Suburbia has been going smoothly! We will begin Early Release on Wednesday, July 5.

Part 2 - V0.95 (BETA) Early Release (ENGLISH ONLY):

Jul 05 $40+ tier Patrons/Subscribers

Jul 07 $20 tier Patrons/Subscribers

Jul 09 $10 tier Patrons/Subscribers

Jul 12 $5 tier Patrons/Subscribers*

*You must be a $5+ Patron/Subscriber and have a lifetime minimum pledge of $10+ for Early Access. Changes in pricing and access to comply with Steam rules were explained last update.

Dates for Public Release (ALL LANGUAGES) on Steam and Itch will be announced later this month. Creating versions for all the languages we support on those platforms takes a few extra weeks of coding and testing.

The second beach update (Part 2 - V0.95) of Prince of Suburbia includes:

6 new scenes, 5 remastered scenes, ~19,000 words, 2 new backgrounds, 63 2D illustrations, 44 2D animations, 45 voice acting audio files

This update cycle included 3 fully remastered animated lewd scenes from Part 1 - V0.55 with Sonia, Heather, and Naomi. If you already saw the original scenes, you can access the remastered scenes in the gallery. 2 remastered non-lewd scenes with illustrations only were also added.

Development of the last story update (Part 2 - V1.0) is already in progress and is estimated to release Fall 2023!

We'd like to extend a special THANK YOU to those who helped with this update:

Auxiliaryout, for all the art and animations

HaruLuna, for the amazing voice acting

Mute Hazelnut, for writing the Catherine + Sonia, and Sarah + Fiona scenes

Rachel Writes, for writing the Samantha, and Samantha + Sarah + Fiona scenes

Kitty Kaplan, for writing the Catherine bonus scene

And all of our play testers who are helping with testing right now!

And, of course, a HUGE THANK YOU to our generous supporters who made this update possible!

Early Release of Chapter 3 (V0.25) of A Shot in the Dark will start on Tuesday, May 30 with an official Public Release scheduled for Tuesday, June 6.

Access to Chapter 3 (V0.25) including Interactive Walkthrough Features + Hondo's PDF Guide (click here to learn more about this bundle):

Tuesday, May 30 - $40+ Patrons & Subscribers

Thursday, June 1 - $20 Patrons & Subscribers

Saturday, June 3 - $10 Patrons & Subscribers

Tuesday, June 6 - $5 Patrons & Subscribers with $10+ lifetime pledge; $5 DLC for Itch.io customers who have purchased base game

Access to Chapter 3 (V0.25) ONLY - NO Walkthrough or Guide:

Tuesday, June 6 - $5 Patrons & Subscribers with less than $10 lifetime pledge; $5 base game on Itch.io

As discussed in our prior post, the base price of the game is $5 and access to the Interactive Walkthrough Features + Hondo's PDF Guide costs an additional $5. Current $5+ Patrons/Suscribers with a lifetime pledge of $10+ can access the Game + Walkthrough + Guide build on June 6.

If you have any questions about who has access to what build when, please let us know!

The Chapter 3 (V0.25) update to A Shot in the Dark includes:

13 scenes, 55K words, 1,830 renders, 98 animations, 42 songs, 17 sfx, 274 GUI elements, Interactive Walkthrough Features, Hondo's Complete Player's Guide PDF (Chapters 1-3)

A Shot in the Dark (Chapters 1-3) now includes:

70+ scenes, 150K+ words, 5,000+ renders, 275+ animations, 115 songs, 34 sfx, 493 GUI elements, Interactive Phone feature, Interactive Texting feature, Interactive Walkthrough Features, Hondo's Complete Player's Guide PDF (Chapters 1-3)

We'd like to extend a special THANK YOU to those who helped with this update:

Doc62, for help with programming this update

Hondo, for all his hard work putting together such a thorough guide

Kitty Kaplan, for help writing the sexy Paloma scene

Mute Hazelnut, for help writing the ambitious Mai, Delia, and Elly scenes

And all of our play testers who are testing right now!

And, of course, a HUGE THANK YOU to our Patrons & Subscribers whose support made this update possible!

Prince of Suburbia: Part 2 - V0.9 Early Release details!

Testing of the first beach update, Part 2 - V0.9 of Prince of Suburbia has been going smoothly! We will be prepared to start Early Release on Monday, Jan 16!

Part 2 - V0.9 Early Release (ENGLISH ONLY):

Jan 16 $40+ tier Patrons/Subscribers

Jan 18 $20 tier Patrons/Subscribers

Jan 20 $10 tier Patrons/Subscribers

Jan 23 $5 tier Patrons/Subscribers*

*New this update: You must be a $5+ Patron/Subscriber and have a lifetime pledge of $10+ in order to access the download. Changes in pricing and access for this update are explained below.

Public Release dates for Itch.io and Steam will be announced when translations are complete.

Part 2 - V0.9 Release Details

We are so excited to introduce you to a fresh, new location for Prince of Suburbia with this first beach update! We hope you will have as much fun playing it as we had making it!

We'd like to extend a special THANK YOU to those who helped with this update:

Auxiliaryout, for all the art and animations

BananasFoster, for help with promotion and trailers

Kitty Kaplan, for help writing the Sonia, Sarah and Catherine scenes

HaruLuna, for the amazing voice acting

Mute Hazelnut, for help writing the Fiona and Samantha scenes

And all of our play testers who are helping with testing right now!

And, of course, a HUGE THANK YOU to our generous supporters who made this update possible!

The first beach update, Part 2 - V0.9 of Prince of Suburbia includes:

8 scenes

~20,000 words

6 new backgrounds

35 2D illustrations

21 2D animations

This update cycle also included 2 remastered scenes from Part 1 - V0.55 with Heather and Naomi (which were already released publicly back in December).

Development of the second beach update (Part 2 - V0.95) is already in progress and is estimated to release Spring 2023!

IMPORTANT: Pricing Changes for this Update

tl;dr: Starting with the Part 2 - V0.9 update, only active $5 tier Patrons/Subscribers with a lifetime pledge of $10+ will gain Early Access starting Jan 23.

How we price access for Prince of Suburbia is changing with this update in order to comply with Steam pricing rules, and to be fair to our customers across all platforms. Most importantly: We cannot sell the game on any platform for less than it sells on Steam.

Another change this update is that the $5 tier on Patreon and SubscribeStar is now considered part of Early Release because it will happen before the Public Release on Itch.io and Steam.

We have to wait for translations to be completed before Public Release on other platforms. Early Release on Patreon/SS will be ENGLISH ONLY.

Once the translations for Part 2 - V0.9 are completed, we will have a Public Release on Itch.io and Steam. At that point, any Patron/Subscriber with a lifetime pledge of $10+ (regardless of their current tier) will have access to the most recent version of the game, as well.

We do not predict this will impact a large number of fans. Over 80% of our current Patrons/Subscribers already have a lifetime pledge of $10+. Also, the majority of our fans that purchase updates on Patreon/SS have already purchased an update in the past. Anyone that pledged the $5 tier for even one previous update will meet the $10 minimum when they pledge the $5 tier for this update.

The only fans affected by this change will be ones that have never purchased an update before on Patreon/SS, but want Early Access to Part 2 - V0.9 before it is available on Itch.io or Steam. They will need to either pledge a $10+ tier to start, or wait until their lifetime pledge amount reaches a minimum $10.

The good news is that much like Itch.io or Steam, where once you purchase the game you have access to all future updates, all Patrons/Subscribers who have a lifetime pledge of $10+ will also have access to future updates once they are in Public Release. Being in the $5 tier to gain access only applies during Early Release.

We will have a post with the download links available to $10+ tier Patrons/Subscribers starting Jan 20. On Jan 23, we will send a private message to all $5 tier Patrons/Subscribers with a lifetime pledge of $10+.

Any new $5 tier Patrons/Subscribers that sign up after Jan 23 who also meet the $10+ minimum should message us on Patreon/SS for a link. Once Public Release happens on Itch.io and Steam, any active Patron/Subscriber that meets the $10+ minimum and needs a download link can message us for one.

We do not anticipate a large number of fans will need to message us for a link, but we should be able to respond to any link requests we do get within 12 hours or less. We are also working on a web app that integrates with Patreon/SS to verify current tier and lifetime pledge amount as a more efficient long-term solution.

Please let us know if you have any questions about these changes! Thank you for your patience and understanding as our studio grows and adapts to having a presence on multiple platforms.