Release Date in 7 Days!! + More Info (Patreon)
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Hey everyone!
The time is rapidly approaching but I'm happy to announce that Zombie's Retreat 2 Beta 0.01 will be launching for $5+ ZR Patrons on Friday Feb 26th!
Let me talk a bit more about the release dates and what's coming (and not yet coming) to this first update!
== Release Date ==
As mentioned, the $5+ ZR Patron release will be Feb 26th.
Normally, the public release is 3 days later but I think I might make an exception this time. I may push it back to 5 or 7 days as I imagine bug fixing will be more prominent and it will help keep a hectic week a bit more calm on my end.
I'm still not 100% sure about this yet though. My guess would be the public release will be ~ Wed March 3rd.
== What's Included/Missing ==
With the delay, I was able to spend a lot more time on early mechanics that I wanted to work on more thoroughly. For example, the Day 1 introduction is COMPLETELY different from how I initially planned it to be in the Alpha. I think it does a better job setting the atmosphere and immersing the player pretty quickly.
However, some features that I talked about may not be introduced or even make the cut. Stats for instance, I was interested in the idea but grinding XP to level up your HP just doesn't sound as satisfying as continuing the Z-Cola mechanics from ZR1. I think it's more rewarding to find secrets in the city to reward that kind of stuff. I am considering one single 'Romance' stat to help grind during time slots where you have nothing else to do but I don't think that'll make it in this update just yet.
In addition, this is something that may anger some folks but I do NOT intend to add a full-blown H scene in this update. There will be some teasers, some pre-H content, but the focus on this update are maps & core mechanics. Once these are done, then new updates focus primarily on stories (where the H scenes happen).
ZR1's Alpha build had an issue where the early H scenes were thrown in before they really felt appropriate and I want to avoid that this time around. I think the vast majority of you all know I will be bringing NSFW content to this game so the need to cram it in doesn't feel as necessary. Like I said, there will be some teaser content though so I think it'll be a good build up for Beta 0.02.
Last reminder, this game still has MANY more updates ahead of it to continue adding new features so I ask for your patience if this update doesn't meet your hopes. For those expecting a full-fledged game, we are very far from that. But over time, things should start coming together!
Personally, unlike before the Alpha build, I am very satisfied with how things are turning out now! That extra two months really make a huge difference on me mentally and for the overall first impressions of ZR2. Thank you!
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Alright, that's everything for this update and should be the last update until the actual build is released! As usual, I can't thank you all enough for your patience. I hope the wait makes the introduction to ZR2 worth it!
Thank you all for your support and I will see you soon!