~October Dev plans!~ 

I'd like to begin this development report off with the highlight! I know things have been really awkward in waiting for us to get our feet on the ground running with releasing updates again for quite some time.. But without fully confirming a set date yet, we're about ready to release episode 5 (v0.20)!

Of course before we do release said update, we always do a 48 hour heads up post that'll hopefully let everyone be aware of said update and when it's dropping exactly.

Why has it been taking a while recently to release this?

One thing I really wanted to do as a whole for the project, is to go through all the documents and files I have, tidy everything up neatly and organized. That way I'd have everything needed to keep moving forward without awkwardly having to attempt to update certain things behind the scenes while also trying to get new content released.

Besides that and other behind the scenes prep related work. I'm making sure that when we release v0.20, it won't be met with us running into the same problem for the future in development again like things have been like for a while. Sooo.. I've been making sure that v0.21 and even v0.22 content is fully figured out and on the right path ahead of time, so that once we toss v0.20 out. We'll be able to steadily hit the ground running and provide the following updates without any issues.

That's one of the biggest things I've wanted to make sure we tackle behind the scenes, because while releasing v0.20 without any other prep work would be good for the short term. But I also know that if we don't have our backs covered for keeping that content flowing once again even after that one release, it'd only spell trouble for the project.

So with that said.. I know we're running a bit later than I had wished with v0.20 releasing. (Understatement of the year! ^^") But, I think this month will be a huge surprise with the content coming out and what kind of quality the game is in and to be expected with even existing previous content episodes that we'll get around to in the future months as a lower priority as our main priority will be new content!

We'll also have a ton to share this month with polls, behind the scenes and some very interesting things coming to the game on our roadmap to wrap this year up and what to look forward to along the way into 2023! ^^

Our 3rd anniversary post will be held later this month, as I want to get all game content stuff taken care of firstly as the main priority. We have some very fun stuff in store this year for that post though to mix it up from the previous years! Stay tuned for that later this month!

~Development Team!~

[~CG art~]

October will bring us some really nice cg art previews! We have two of those planned to share with supporters, 2 concept previews, followed by final previews.

During September, our artists finished up the cg art related to Juliet's route and a supporter tier reward/request for episode 1. (When Brandon and Erika meet for the first time after being away for 5 years.) So, it was a busy month on that end!

October's plans for cg art is actually to take a break for the month, to give our artists a bit of time to tackle other things before we wrap up the first route episode cg art needed for the cast. (Erika and Zoey's art is remaining.) But as we head into November, we'll be hoping to get those moving along for cg art! Either way, we'll still have plenty to share for cg art during this month to keep the hype going! ^^

If you missed our previous cg art related previews in September, you can check those out below! (Supporters $5-10+ tier to view.)

https://www.patreon.com/posts/cg-concept-v0-22-71858321 (Rachel route cg concept)

https://www.patreon.com/posts/cg-finished-v0-72316494 (Rachel route cg final)

[~Sprite art~]

This month, we'll end up seeing the long awaited return of KS oc's! So, we'll have a preview post to share regarding this character being shown off.

During September, Lisa managed to complete one of the KS oc's and as we move into this month. We'll have her work on either the next in line KS oc request from our campaign or possibly a secret addition related to the cast, which.. We'll mention more about when the time comes! :P

If you missed our previous sprite related previews in September, you can check those out below! (Supporters $5+ tier to view.)

https://www.patreon.com/posts/sprite-preview-71680248 (Outfit differences)

https://www.patreon.com/posts/sprite-preview-72006281 (Charlotte additions)

[~Music~]

The romance track was finished during September! We're now moving onto Juliet's Theme! I've heard the first sketch preview for some sample melodies and so we might end up hearing the final version of that track this month! ^^

If you missed our previous music related preview in September, you can check that out below! (Open to public to view!)

https://www.patreon.com/posts/music-preview-71952297 (Romance track)

[~Gui~]

I've heard from ds-sans not too long ago, about a week ago I'd say. I was told I'd see some previews by the sounds of it, so.. Perhaps we'll see some of those gui preview assets shown off this month! :P

If nothing else, we'll have the new gui text box element added in v0.20 to give a little preview of how that's looking, but we're missing other gui screens of course.

~Ending Notes~

As we get things rolling out again and steadily releasing content without major conflicts. We'll be looking at future tasks to tackle, but our main priority and focus moving forward will be on providing new content firstly, anything else as secondary focus.

There's some quality related fixes we'd like to make to earlier content in the game and some minor stuff that needs addressed like bugs or stuff in that nature will of course be included in v0.20, along with some new cg art moments added to episodes 1-4 or fixes related to those areas of the game. But, there's also other quality fixes we'll get around to adding when we have the time on the side for upcoming main release updates.

Some other stuff we have planned will be taking a lot of what is seen from episode 5 forward with cg animation, sprite animated effects, screen/camera effects and applying a ton of that to earlier content. So, we'll be looking at feedback and what everyone thinks about how episode 5 feels in comparison and keep this in mind when cutting back or going full on into applying what feels right. ^^

Our other aspect for older content that'll be seen in episode 5, is more gameplay choices spread out to help keep engagement. Many of these will very from meaningful choices, informative choices and choices that'll impact or unlock future content or allow you to take more control in your direction of enjoyment for the game! :P

With that out of the way.. Hang tight! It's going to be a bumpy and wild October!

~ From all of us at Messy Studios! ~