Update 5.5 devlog: The end is nigh + stickers, previews and more!

Hey hey!

Whew, it's been a while! Apologies about that! I usually try to keep people posted at least once a week with devlogs or previews, but most of the stuff for Update 5.5 has already been seen. All that was needed is for me to keep working on it! And boy, did I...

What?

It's ironic that Update 5.5, with this half-a-number update and whatnot, was supposed to be shorter. I need to revaluate how many branches I add in the future and how much stuff a new character can bring to the table! Adding both Boris and Jayden and trying to make the best out of them, well... It took way more than I expected! Live and learn, I suppose. I'm still at the beginning of this whole VN developer thing, but I'm learning a whole lot as I go!

Not that I'm saying I regret it, mind you. I think that, ultimately and despite the amount of work it was and the time it took to release it, the update is looking the best it could be. I think that Boris and Jayden add a nice variety of Order members that aren't the main five in Resnick's unit and they bring a bunch to the table. Including when it comes to the smutty parts...

All of that being said, however, I'm here to announce that the writing part of Update 5.5 is finally done, reviewed and closed. I've moved on to coding, which still takes a while (takes longer the more writing there is). Now that the writing is done, I can also say that Update 5.5 ended up, among all of its branches and possibilities, amounting to a hecking 25k words! That's bigger than most previous updates, with perhaps the exception of Update 2 (with the ambush and combat scenes).

That's huge! And most of that is different flavors of smut! I really hope you all will enjoy seeing the very different variations that Edwin's day will bring. In the end, it'll be worth the wait. You'll see a whole lot of tiger! A whoooole lot!

The usual question: when?

I've moved on to the coding, as I said, and while that is somewhat linear, there is a LOT to code. Most of the extra special stuff that I'll include in this update are already in as well, such as bug fixes, a new custom-made box frame for the interface, a new button to hide the interface (to let people better appreciate the new CG), etc. The new CG itself is still pending to code but I plan on working on that with Blain tomorrow. After that is done, well... It'll only be a matter of scripting everything!

I can't give a proper date for the beta yet, but expect it to be very soon. I'm aiming to try to release the beta at the end of next week and then, possibly, the Patreon version at the beginning/middle of the week after. We'll see, though! I'll work hard to make it happen!

I apologize for the long wait, but again, I think it'll be worth it!

What else?

There's a whole bunch of exciting stuff that I am planning on releasing in the following weeks! Update 5.5 is the biggest one, of course, but since Update 5.5 was taking so long to make from my side, I already worked with Blain on a few of the assets that will come in the all-exciting Update 6 that comes right after! More about it in future devlogs. ;) I can say, though, that as some of you know, it'll move the story a few steps forward and it's full of interesting things! I'll start releasing some previews of such things to the previews tier. Not only that, but you can also expect some screenshots of Update 5.5 as it nears completion, as usual, and another special thingy or two! Stay tuned!

As many of you know, we're working on many things in parallel. I thought I'd take this opportunity to also give small previews of the Discord server stuff we're working on! Most of you participated in the poll that decided which characters would star in the first Discord stickers we made and Blain and I have been hard at work on that as well! You've already seen two of them there, hopefully...

Captain Garret's commanding presence keeping you all in check.

And Resnick under influence seeking new targets to do exacly what Garret was disapproving of in the first sticker!

I love how these two turned out. As per the results of the poll, we have four more stickers still coming: Two more of Garret, one more of Resnick and one of Edwin. Some of these are already being drafted (subject to change), like...

And also...

Amazing stuff, isn't it? This whole sticker business ended up being both more fun and also way more work/money than expected! Blain did an amazing job on them, as usual, and we'll definitely be having more in the future!

As soon as the whole six-pack (heheh) of stickers is complete, I'll make sure to post them all in here as well for everyone to have access to their completed version. ;) They're fun to use in Discord, but they're even more fun to see!

Alongside these stickers, other small things we have in the work is a cool banner for the server since it just reached level 3 on Discord (thank you, boosters!) and I have some more artwork coming here or there that should be pretty cool!

Whew, long post! Sorry about that, kuddos to those that read all of these! I'll stop here for now.

The next weeks will be full of exciting stuff when it comes to Demons Within and I'm looking forward to sharing it all and moving things forward!

As always, reinforcing that none of this would be possible without you guys' support, so thank you so much for everything!!

Cheers and until the next devlog, which should be announcing dates already. ;)