General Update #15 (Patreon)

Hey there agents and cadets!

Today we want to share some news with you about the ongoing development of Starwatch Academy and Silent Echo.

In addition, as we're nearing Starwatch's second anniversary, we've been preparing an intermediate release to celebrate it!

Let's get into the good stuff!

Starwatch Academy v0.3.11

As the development of v0.4.0 is taking quite some time, we've decided to release an intermediate version named 0.3.11 for the game's second anniversary.

One of the big tasks we've been working on over the past couple of weeks is a complete update of the existing game. We've been chipping away at updating all of the existing artworks to match the most recent ones, updated the look and feel of every single scene in the game, and standardized navigation across the entire game.

In addition, this update will enable the MTF transgender start, which is a feature that has been requested for a long time. It features a special backstory, explaining how these events developed prior to the main character's arrival at the academy.

This version will also feature a few updates to Eva's beach house simulation, including new fluff scenes to learn more about our favorite AI girl and her plans for the future.

Our objective is to put this new version in early access this weekend.

Starwatch Academy v0.4.0

We have already spoken a bit about the plans for this update, but as the content has been churned out and some details and decisions have been looked at more closely, we've gotten to the point where we can talk more deeply about the meat of this update.

As seen in the main picture above, combat has been fully implemented in Starwatch, and unlike Silent Echo, you will have the opportunity to choose between three classes with different skills, perks and talent trees to progress through.

The three classes available in the game are:

• Enforcer: A class that plays like Agent 36 with the same starter kit, designed around maximizing the player's personal damage output.

• Vanguard: A battlefield tank that excels at crowd control, with high defensive capabilities.

• Warden: A squad oriented class that empowers your squad members, significantly increasing their combat capabilities. The warden also gets access to special skills that directly interact with them, such as Kill Command, an ability that summons two squad members and orders them to open fire on your current target with their primary skill.

Another topic is expeditions. These have had several concepts behind how they'll work, ranging from simple short text adventures to full length "dungeons" with rewards and self-contained smaller events. For now, we've settled on a mixed approach, meaning that no two expeditions will be identical, as we tune each one to the nature of it's background.

An exploration of a derelict and abandoned space station will be fairly straight forward for example, with a chance or two to show off and increase those stats we implemented so long ago.

A quest that sends you looking for an upgrade to the Cruisers capabilities however will be more reminiscent of our other game, Silent Echo, with conflict, twists and drama, as well as multiple ways to reach the conclusion of it.

Finally, we want to add some expeditions that will serve as "repeatable raids" in a way, giving you and your squad something to do out in the wild for some promised rewards. These would be things like raiding a merc camp, or hunting a rebel ship through the void. Encounters that by their nature could play out fairly similarly, and will allow you to experience the combat without waiting for quest and content updates in the future.

Silent Echo

We are still in the concept phase for Chapter 2's story elements. Meanwhile, we've done some art and technical work on the player paperdoll to allow us to implement a wider range of transformations, including partial transformations.

Above is the updated version of Agent 36's corruption level 2 body, which now has support for different breast sizes, lactation and basic genitals. This is a first step and we're satisfied with the result, but this is not where we're stopping.

Thus far the transformations in Chapter 1 have been linear and very impactful. Things will slow down in Chapter 2 as we introduce partial transformations.

For instance, instead of losing his penis right away, perhaps Agent 36 will find himself as a true futanari with both genitals for a while. Perhaps a bad encounter with a new xenomaterial creature will cause him to have an arm replaced by a corrupted one. Perhaps the androids in the new location will find the idea of augmenting Agent 36 tempting, giving our unlucky fellow some improvements of their design.

As you can see, with this new approach we have a ton of room to add interesting transformations, and while some of them might not prove to be too much of a hassle, we're definitely looking into making some of these partial transformations impactful, unlocking new special skills or interactions with the characters or the creatures.

We hope this will also make the experience more dynamic and personal.

That's it for this week!

Have fun!