Alpha Preview Update (January) (Patreon)

Hi everyone, I am very proud and excited to bring you the update for the alpha build this month! I'm not shy in saying I got a metric shit-ton of work done over these last few weeks, so I'm very happy about that! I very much hope you'll enjoy!

Note: there is a new password this month for the alpha build, so if you need to enter it or start a new file, that can be found below!

Play the alpha here

❗️➡ Password: candyheart ⬅ ❗️

Report bugs here

View bug reports here

What's New:

• 22,000 words of new content! ❗️
• New content for Chapter 7!
• Meeting Mimir!
• Sharing a room with Trouble path is complete! Warning: if you're romancing him, there are TROPES!

Developer Notes:

Each of the room-sharing scenes has a ton of branching, so it looks like I'm only getting one a month done (while continuing to progress the main story). This time, Trouble's scene is up! Trouble is among the easier characters to net romance points with, but if you're having trouble (hah) seeing some of his stuff (say, if you notice other people referencing things you haven't seen), I strongly recommend trying the quickstart option and setting his romance flag count to high, then jumping forward to Chapter 7. If you aren't getting people's romance scenes the way you think you should, don't worry! It might not necessarily be your fault. I am deliberately setting their flag count checks to the number I think the player should have at this point in the game, but because many day off scenes haven't been written yet, thus denying you the opportunity to net a lot of those hypothetical romance flags, it may seem like the checks skew high! But you're not doing anything wrong, it's just a necessary aspect of the alpha build!

Also... Mimir. Can we talk about Mimir? [Very mild spoilers] My initial sense about Mimir (both game and original novel versions) has always been something along the lines of, "haha look at this funny cryptid psychic! Oh, the bizarre riddles she says! Oh, the cryptic nonsense she spouts! What a bouquet of comedy! She’ll make a delightful addition to the team, who will continually be baffled by her antics!” --Which is partially why I went back and forth on whether she could be cut as a recruit.

Now that I'm actually writing her, it's more like, "Oh... she's trapped in a prison of her own mind... the suffocating press of both future and present is hemming her in every moment… this is… fucked up…”

And also, I love her. Therefore I am starting the #PROTECTMIMIR campaign. Leave a comment below to join the campaign!!! PROTECT HER!!!

Note: along with the prerequisite Chapter 7 content warnings (swamp, murder, nasty creatures, horror elements, Trouble being a raving idiot if you're romancing him), Mimir's introduction talks a lot about very confusing timey-wimey future stuff. Maybe don't read it if you're, like, really high?

Also, there is, like, the tiniest Easter egg for anyone who read Red's short story, Possessed. See if you can find it!

Total wordcount: 712,184 words without code

What's Next:

Still chugging along on Chapter 7! There's still a lot more ground to cover, and the wordcount for this chapter has already surpassed what was previously the longest chapter (Chapter 6, which was at around 92,000 words). Chapter 7 is now at 112,000! What the hell!!!  😭 There is definitely a pattern of each chapter getting progressively longer and longer... Not that I'm complaining, Chapter 6 felt like an absolute beast (and Chapter 5 before it) when I was writing it, and now they feel positively short and straightforward in comparison glfdjgfd but I am slightly worried because Chapter 8 and 9 ought to be (OUGHT TO BE) simpler and shorter, so I hope the difference doesn't feel jarring. Maybe it won't shake out that way and we'll just keep getting progressively longer chapters regardless of the actual mission length, lol... Hopefully you guys are enjoying them regardless! Or maybe it's not as noticeable because the words are stuffed into more separate branches, rather than actually extending the main chapter length itself? 

Anyway, yes, I got a ton of work done this month (22,000 words in a much shorter amount of time than is typical for me), and I've also been working steadily away on Shepherds: Twine Edition. Earlier this month, I finally ported over the entirety of the prologue! ;_; The shortest chapter... but still a great accomplishment, given that I also wrote a ton for the alpha build! I think of when I optimistically thought I'd have the Twine version ready by, like, April, and I can only laugh pityingly at my past self... oh, sweet summer child... Anyway, that's not going to be ready any time soon, so we'll just keep doing things as we've always been doing them for now and the foreseeable future! I am still very excited about all of the cool features I'm implementing in the Twine version (there are especially very exciting things happening on the art and assets horizon), but trying to not let my perfectionist, workaholic, impatient tendencies take over. It's like, logically, I know I'm still learning to code and everything is still a rough draft, the same way that writing something for the first time is going to look rough and raw, especially in comparison to a published book. But I just want to skip past the rough and raw part and get right to the polished, fabulous-looking, triple-A-oh-my-god-you-made-this? part! 

I think I'm also quite new at working in a more visual sense (I don't have the strongest sense of aesthetics; I can envision something looking very pretty, but actually executing and getting there is a skill I've never had to practice until now. What are color palettes? Is this nice to look at), and I'm aware of my noviceness, and impatient with it, because I don't often labor in fields that I'm unfamiliar and clumsy at. But I'm working on taking things at a slow and steady pace, being happy with the progress I'm making, and devoting my attentions to other things, too! We'll get there.

Anyway, thanks for reading this long ramble! I'm excited to keep writing more, but for now, I've got to dash off and hopefully write the end of Trouble and Riel's serial story, The Bridge of Bones! Also, I love Valentine's Day, so keep on the lookout for a small Lovelace Day prompt challenge on the horizon in February! (Do people like seeing such challenges on the actual holiday, or like a week before?)

I hope you enjoy this update: feel free to leave a comment or drop a line in the Discord, and I hope you stay safe, take care of yourself, remember to hydrate, and have a great end to your week and to January! 💝