Introduction: Bjorn & Carmen (Patreon)

Good afternoon,

it's again Friday, so time to sum up the progress I made over the week.

As the title image shows I completed the indoor map of the Old Boar. The map with the floor upstairs with the bedrooms is also done and I finished the outside map which I previewed last week. I also worked on a lot more character sprites this week + dialog images. This also includes the sprites for Kate & Claire that you voted for.
Originally I had planned to add more antagonists in this update in case you killed Toren & co. But I've now decided against that. The story will instead be more focussed on the innkeepers.

Now that I have given a first impression of Bjorn & Carmen, I would like to introduce them briefly: Bjorn recently took over his father's inn. It is important to him to carry on the tradition and the name of the inn to honor his father. Business is mediocre, which is why he cannot afford to employ any more staff. Fortunately, he can rely on his wife Carmen, who takes care of both the kitchen and serving the guests. Carmen is originally from the southern islands and has brought her own customs from there. They also have a son who was supposed to help them with the work, but like so many others he was called up for military service.

What I'm currently working on is the travel sprite for the MC/Kate/Claire. Similar to what I did for the monastery, but this time I plan to add some more on the road riding. I've started working on a map for that already and while it is slowly taking shape it will need some more finishing touches. The goal for this week was to have all of that done by tonight, so I hope I can finish it in the coming hours.

So what's the plan for next week: We're now halfway through the month and as I've said at the beginning of it, I want to release a new version before it's over. A lot of the material is done by now, but I will still need some more situational sprites (sitting, sleeping...). Also while I won't be able to tell the actual story in this coming update (that will come in 0.5.8.0) it should contain some content. So this means I'll work on a new scene for Kate & Claire next week.
In 0.5.7.5 you'll then be able to travel to the old boar and have some first interactions there.
The release date will be the week after, so around the 26th-29th, depending on how fast everything can be done. 0.5.8.0 will then contain the meetup with Toren & co (should they still be alive) and the actual story that I want to tell around the inn.

Anyway, that's all for now, I'm now back to working on the wagon sprites.
I wish you all a nice weekend!