Writer's Blog: The End Is Nigh (Patreon)

I admit, updates have become a little difficult to write simply because I want to show you all what I’m working on. But, alas, the coding continues to change more frequently than the color of that mood ring I wore at age thirteen (puberty was rough). I’ll have a more extensive list of everything changed during the upcoming update notes, but I can at least share some of the biggest alterations.

For Chapters 10 and 11, I’ve completely reworked both the undercover mechanics and as well as the bread crumb trail that leads to Shard’s identity. Scenes with Vengeance read somewhat similar to before, but there’s now a believability meter which teeters a lot more than before and amps up the tension accordingly. If Button and Kenzie make the wrong move, Vengeance members now respond more in line with how you might expect terrorists to react. Furthermore, not acting believable enough now locks Team Hemera out of some pertinent clues as to Vengeance’s involvement in the bombing (and also new hints as to why they wanted Nick).

New clues have also been added as to Shard’s identity, with the perhaps the most significant being dropped in Chapter 9. Without getting too spoilery, this clue used to be locked behind a skippable interaction, but now it’s available for any MC who accepts the phone call from Hope. Which is still a skippable scene, so anyone not talking with Hope in Chapter 9 will have to take the later option. If you miss both . . . well, such is the nature of an interactive mystery. Think of it as replay value!

Speaking of Hope, her Chapter 9 conversation has been completely reworked (yet again). My biggest struggle has always been balancing relationship building scenes with a sense of urgency (Nick is, after all, kidnapped). Which is why Rosy now stays for the phone call with Hope, should Button choose to pursue it, and you get insight into their past together. And also learn a little about Unity's more morally gray past (which, ironically, Gray would be absolutely horrified by).

Another scene which underwent a complete makeover is Kenzie’s date. Those that chose to walk with Rosy back in Chapter 7 will be able to learn more about Kenzie’s mother during dinner instead, while others will be able to learn more about their relationship with their father. The biggest changes, however, go to Buttons who are pretending to be in a relationship with Kenzie (I’ll let you guys discover the new bits for yourself, because they're squee-worthy, if I do say so myself . . . which I just shamelessly did). Ultimately, dinner with Kenzie has tripled length per playthrough and has almost ten times the prior wordcount in the code. It’s a lot of changes, and Kenzie actually talks (if you play your cards right).

Currently, I'm working on the portions leading up to Nick’s radio silence in Chapter 13, which is now more reactive to the relationship dynamic established in Chapter 9. There’s also a more gradual tapering off with Nick’s dialogue, foreshadowing what's to come, and some insightful/interpersonal Buttons can even begin to suspect that something is hinky even before Nick goes silent mid-sentence. I’m constantly changing the code in these chapters but will upload all four chapters as a chunk once I’m done.

Future Plans: Once Chapters 9-13 are finally up, I’ll be releasing the new version of Chapter 14, which will force you to accept Shard’s offer of aid (so some options that are in the current demo will be withheld). This is because, starting in Chapter 15, the final forth of the story relies on different chapter files, and I want to focus on the Shard-as-an-“ally” ending paths first. For the most part, playthroughs will end at Chapter 20, but three of the endings have an additional chapter (and two of those involve Shard as an active participant, so I wanted to release the longer versions first).  I’m really excited to share the endings and hear what you guys think! 

. . . I’m less excited to actually code everything that I’ve written, but such is the nature of the beast.