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DevBlog: Roadmap 2021
🕑 Added 2021-01-13 01:56:02 +0000 UTCHello everyone,
It’s the start of a new year and I wanted to share with you some thoughts on where we are, where we’re going, and what’s the plan on getting there. This will include some additional thoughts and commentary on development, as well as minor spoilers for upcoming content.
I have done my best to word things in a way that is specific enough to give insight on development, while remaining vague regarding plot and story to not give too much away.
Let’s start with the immediate future. Here are the next items on the agenda, roughly in their planned order (of course subject to change during development):
Milestone 1: Chapter 2: Completing the conspiracy (current ETA: end of April)
- create Elise’s line by adding interactions with her and ways of obtaining information about her involvement in the events of Chapter 2 (similar to Lavius and the wolf);
- expand the mermaid’s plot and interactions;
- wrap up the lines of all the guests in a single narrative thread;
- expand the Elder’s involvement and interactions;
- Create the “win” conditions for Chapter 2 and wrap up all the choices and challenges together
Commentary break:
As you can see, the highest priority item is building the spine of Chapter 2, which will wrap all the lines together and make the Chapter truly functional. It is something that has been long requested, and for us it’s important to move forward with the core plot at a reasonable pace.
In parallel with the above items, this period will also include other targets:
Parallel targets:
- complete at least 1 Agent of Terror request per month;
- complete the Dream Sequence between Ch1 and Ch2;
- Fill out any pending content for Ch1, such as the Sabrina training options;
Once Milestone 1 is achieved, we will move on to the next phase:
Milestone 2: Adding side content to Chapter 2 (rough ETA: end of July)
As mentioned above, Milestone 1 is all about creating a spine and a core structure that organizes all of the events of Ch2. In the second phase, we will start adding more meat to the bones, bringing the total feel of Ch2 closer to how Ch1 feels like right now:
- Succubus mode: as the main feature of Ch2, it’s very important to get this right; This will be the main phase where gameplay and mechanics are fleshed out, balanced and polished.
- adding more variations to all the scenes in Ch2 based on previous choices;
- adding more clothes-based variations;
- expanding dialogue options;
- adding minor characters and locations;
- adding side content and secondary tasks;
- expanding lore and exploration;
As you can see, Milestone 1 and Milestone 2 are all about growth and getting all the new plot and mechanics in, up to a point where jumping in for a quick run of Ch2 feels just as engaging and satisfying as it does in Ch1.
Once that is accomplished, the next phase is:
Milestone 3: Continuity, variety and polish (ETA: 2021)
M3 is all about filling in all of the content and mechanics in Ch1 to their full potential and then making sure that they transition to Ch2, along with player choices.
- expanding and polishing the Character Traits system in Ch1 with more dialogue options and unlockable content;
- expanding and polishing the Sanity / Lust system;
- integrating Character Traits into Chapter 2 and adding extra options, scenes and content based on traits;
- polishing the relationship system in Ch1 and transitioning it into Ch2 with more unique paths and content based on your choices in Ch1;
- expanding playthrough variety and adding more depth to over arching choice combinations - for example making an “Occult” playthrough unique and different than a “Sceptical” playthrough, with more tailor-made dialogue, descriptions and consequences;
- adding specific choice combinations and paths to grant unique consequences and unlockable content for specific play styles;
With that, the roadmap for 2021 concludes. I have tried my best to balance ambitions with a healthy, realistic plan that can be executed and has a margin for delays. It everything goes well, by the end of the year Chapter 2 will be fully complete and will feel like an organic continuation of Chapter 1, offering consequences and unique content based on previous choices.
As for the future… in current plans, Chapter 3 will be the final act, offering a conclusion to the story and multiple unique endings. More on that when we get closer!
Expect another update soon, where we'll talk about project finances, future goals, and announce some exciting new things for tiers and rewards!
