Version 0.3.11 + DevBlog

Hello guys,

It's time for another update, and this one is a sizable one!

Before diving in, I just want to take a moment to thank everyone for your patience and understanding of the situation. Last week I was not in a state of mind to be talking about this, and it didn't feel right. As we promised, we have donated $600 to humanitarian aid, specifically to a fund dedicated to the children of Ukraine.

With that said, on this post I'd like to cover two topics - what this update contains, and what we've been up to in the longer than usual break since last patch (which do not entirely overlap). I will be starting with the blog part, but if you just want the patch notes, feel free to skip ahead.

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Blog Part

As those of you following our milestone plan know, March was our target for wrapping up Chapter 2 (and I'm happy to report that you will find something very satisfactory on this front in the patch notes). This was also an opportunity for us to re-evaluate what the final vision for this Chapter will be, as this is pretty much the moment to consolidate all systems and mechanics. However, we felt that a little something was lacking in this final vision. And that something was Transformations.

Based on popular feedback from all of you (special thanks to all those who took the surveys and commented!) as well as our own gut feeling about the project, we decided to push further and expand the demonic transformations of Alex.

We are adding a succubus tail, eyes, and wings.

We will also be revamping a lot of the scenes and plot points to refocus around this idea. We would like to build Chapter 2 as a journey that starts with 2 small horns and ends with everything you would expect of a full-fledged demon.

Having taken this decision, we also wanted to implement it in a way that really has some oompf and hits the reader in all the right ways. So we started prototyping.

This is where we ran into some trouble, as there were a lot of different ways that we could go about this. We explored different styles for the scenes, from focused on single body parts, to positions, or even comic-strip styles. We briefly looked into animations and tried to see how our new engine capabilities could handle this. 

Some things worked better than others. We didn't want to rush this bit as it felt like a really important thing to get right. We allowed ourselves some time to try things out and then toss them aside when they weren't working as well as expected. This is one of the primary reasons why the patch took longer than usual. In retrospect, I feel like it was the right decision.

We are now at a point where we've made significant progress on this front and have consolidated a style for the changes that we're pretty happy with. There is still room for adjustments or building on top of it, but we've picked a direction and we feel it's the right one. This is where we have to give you the heads up that these changes, for the most part, are not dropping this patch. We have started adding the eyes to the plot, but the vast majority of work for the new transformations is still behind the scenes.

But worry not, in parallel with this, we have also been working on other content, which is ready and available right now! Let's move on to the patch notes:

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Patch 0.3.11

This update is, in many ways, a love letter to Elise. In the patch notes, you will see a line mentioning a "secret epilogue". That epilogue is 43 pages long (all variations included) and is the first possible "real ending" to Transylvania. It's not the only ending, and not even part of the originally planned endings at the end of Chapter 3. But it's an ending that you can unlock earlier and that gives a possible conclusion to our heroine's journey =)

Apart from the Secret Ending, this patch also brings 3 new location backgrounds, a new scene with the Elder as well as a shiny new avatar when talking with him, lots of important fixes and visual polish. Oh, and you can export and import your saves now.

Full notes below:

General
-added new background for the library (+2 variations);
-improved the opening screen of the game;
-improved the transparency on some UI elements;
-fixed a large amount of typos;
-added a notification for feats;
-updated existing feats to show notifications;
Location backgrounds
-added background for the library;
-added variations for the library background;
-added background for Yaga's hut;
-added background for Elise's lair;
The Elder
-added new character portrait;
-new scene: Elder's toy;
-new illustration: Elder's toy;
Chapter 2
-Secret Epilogue: added a possible early conclusion to the story at the end of Chapter 2;
-added a lengthy sequences with several scenes, choices and consequences in the Secret Epilogue.
-added a new scene for acquiring demonic eyes;
-it is now possible to escape the pit of death on your first visit if you have already acquired demonic changes.
Fixes and improvements
-fixed a critical plot issue where taking the pact before visiting the lair in Chapter 2 would result in the chapter becoming unwinnable;
-the Lavius lair investigation will now be properly removed from the journal when resolved;
-fixed a bug where finding out Elise's motives last would not trigger the next phase of the grand conspiracy under some specific choices;
-fixed a bug where under some circumstances the conspiracy could be reset a step back when being reborn;
Patreon
-added the ability to export, import and delete save slots;
-added end of Chapter 2 to the quick navigation options;