Alpha Preview Update (April) (Patreon)

Play the alpha here

Password: summery_may ⬅ ❗️

Report bugs here

View bug reports here

Incomplete routes guide ⬅ ❗️please check if you suspect your game ended early :)

What's New:

• 16,000 words of new content to Chapter 9!

• This main part of the mission is finally complete! Gain the last few signatures for your petition against Sibella de Vespe, gather crucial information from Sun Courtiers, Court Mages, and Ket guards, and proceed to the next part of the mission... either investigating Sibella's personal rooms or bringing your results to High Augur Arameri!

Developer's Notes:

(Note: More variables were added to the startup file, so you will need to start from a 'fresh' game and either play through to Chapter 9 naturally, or use the quickbuild to jump to Chapter 9; trying to load your existing file from Chapter 9 will cause you to run into an eventual error! Sorry for the inconvenience, but we shouldn't have to deal with this problem for much longer)

Hi everybody, this truly massive section of Chapter 9 is finally done! Woohoo!!! 😮‍💨

I had a lot of fun writing this section: this sort of mission lends itself really well to meeting all sorts of interesting minor characters with allusions to their own backstories, personalities, and motivations, which is honestly one part of the game-making process that I really love. I just like the idea that you're only getting a surface glimpse of what's going on in the wider world outside of the Shepherds, with court politics, family feuds, cultural traditions, and strange occurrences happening all the time--things that make you go, "Wait, I want to read a story about that!"--while still keeping a focus on the MC's current predicament, just like you would in real life. It's just such a rich sandbox to play around in!

I don't have too much to expound upon for this update, as it's fairly straightforward! I'm beginning to get a strong sense that, once this chapter is complete (or possibly even sooner than that), I'm going to need to take a break before the 'final' push to dive into the story's last three main chapters. A lot of branches, variables, decisions, and character arcs are going to start converging soon, and I want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row before I take the plunge and begin that process. So it's looking likely that once Chapter 9 is done or very near to done, I'm going to pivot and start filling out the gaps we've left behind us: namely the character interludes and holiday/relationship stuff that's pretty important, like the Ascendancy Festival, birthday stuff, etc. It'll be a change from my usual "main story first" process, but I'm getting to the point where the timelines are getting a bit muddy and messy, so it feels a bit reckless to just keep forging ahead into the game's last sprint without getting everything neat and tidy beforehand first. Just giving you all a heads up about that!

In other news, Jeremy and I are going to Costa Rica for about ten days next month to attend a friend's wedding and to have a little summer trip, so it's possible the Q&A may not happen next month. However, everything else with the alpha build update, the short story, and etc. should still proceed as usual!

In personal news, a lot of wedding planning stuff has been decided within the span of just a few weeks, and now it's just a matter of waiting for the natural course of things to take place (until 2026)! I'm a little sad that I don't have it as a big 'project' to work on anymore, because it was actually a lot of fun, but now I suppose it's back to Shepherds, the Twine conversion (which is just beginning on Chapter 7), and hopefully my next book soon! 🥲

Total wordcount: 1,115,893 words without code

What's Next

More Chapter 9, possibly a character interlude depending on how far we get, but I wouldn't count on it, and some quality time with one of your teammates if you chose not to plant the dark tome in Sibella's room. If you're romancing Briony, Lavinet, or Riel, I consider this next sequence a treat, because it employs one of my favorite romantic tropes ever! XD I've been so excited for it! (Let's just say that smooching may or may not be involved.)

Thank you for everything, as ever, and I hope you enjoy this update and this completion of this massive section!