Dev Log #70 - Upcoming last-minute absence and detailed plans!

Hi all! There will be some important updates regarding Episode 2: Enhanced, so let's get right into it!

2-week absence

I will be away from 14th March to 28th March for a private matter that involves my family. This is something unavoidable and had just come up early on in this week. During this time, I will be unable to work on developing the game, but I will still be reachable on Discord sporadically and will still have previews lined up for the week (i.e. scheduled before my absence!). There will be a lack of dev logs (on the 15th and 22nd of March) during this time, however!

I apologize as this is a last-minute announcement and I will be more careful to update all of you much earlier than this! Of course, this is something I don't want to happen more often and I will be looking to minimize this in the future!

How will Episode 2: Enhanced (E2:E) be impacted by this absence?
As of now, I will still move forward with the first release of E2:E next week, which will include new scenes added to Episode 2 as well as the opening scenes of the twins' side story!

This version will be available for "Head of Family" and above and is intended to be an early preview of the new content available! While the scenes added to Episode 2 here are fully completed, the twins' side story is still pending completion and will be incomplete in this version, hence the early preview label!

What about the release plan?
Due to my unforeseen absence, there will be small adjustments to the release plan, detailed below!

Early Preview version: For Head of Family and above; includes all new endings and scene variations added to Episode 2. Side story content is incomplete (twins' side story). Will release next week.

Alpha version: For Head of Family and above; includes Early Preview content together with the full side story. Releases early to mid-April.

Beta version: For First-rate and above; Includes content from Alpha with potential bug fixes and fixed issues. Will release 3 days after Alpha.

Gold version: For everyone; all added content included with all potential bug fixes. Will release 4 days after Beta.

In summary, the release schedule is the usual schedule for previous episode releases, where an Alpha version is released, followed by a Beta version 3 days later, and the Gold (public) version 4 days later!

The only difference is the addition of the Early Preview stage, which as mentioned in previous dev logs, is a trial state that will be used to catch bugs, logic errors, or dialogue errors early on and allow for more time for refinement before the subsequent version!

Will this affect Episode 3's development and its stipulated release window?
This adjustment, while it does eat into the development time of April, will not affect the development of Episode 3, which has had ample time for me to lay the groundwork and finish the story planning and preparation. After E2:E's release, the focus will switch entirely to the development of Episode 3!

What about custom render requests?
The render requests for March will still be done and will still be delivered! While the requests might eat into April, I will be committed to getting them completed and posted as soon as possible!

Regarding the February render requests, the links will be available in a separate post this Saturday!

Development Update

The development of the side story is currently in progress as I'm finishing up the posing and rendering of the side story content!

The delay here is mainly attributed to some reorganization of the story's scenes and content; this means that there are scenes that require additional attention and this means that there are new renders needed for these scenes (without spoiling too much!).

It is expected to be done up before I leave for my absence (and letting my render workstation work while I'm away) and once I'm back, I will be using these completed renders to write out the remainder of the side story in preparation for E2:E's full release!

------------------------------------------- E2:E PROGRESS BREAKDOWN -------------------------------
Story: Reorganization is complete, now pending renders!

Renders: 90% done. +163 renders from last week, bringing the total to 1387 + 163 = 1550! Up 5% from last week.

Dialogue: 80% done. Dialogue re-organization is mostly done, now waiting on the renders, where the remaining dialogue will be written up! Up 5% from last week.

Game Playability: 60% done. The side story is waiting on renders, and this will increase once they are available! No change from last week.

--------------------------------------------- END OF BREAKDOWN ---------------------------------------

Once again, I apologize for the last-minute announcement of my upcoming absence! I'll see you all soon!

Stay safe and healthy!