HELLO!!!! It's been SO long, and somehow there are still people dropping by! Seriously, thank you SO much for sticking with this project despite my terrible sense of timing!!!! ❤️

First things first: YES, this project is still very much alive! It's not on hiatus or anything like that. I'm just... really slow. 😭 Apparently I also have a terrible sense of timing, because I genuinely thought it'd be ready last year lol. I'll update you all on everything and how it's going!

Starting by the beginning:

THE CHANGES™

So, the game was supposed to be divided into some specific chapters: the first one would cover an entire year of story, focused on a single character with whom the protagonist would have a major contract by the end. This is a solid format, but as I wrote the story, I started to have a REAL hard time fitting the events into this explanation, because the first chapter's main storyline isn't focused on a single character but on a group of them (being the main ones the archangel Gabriel, archangel Michael, and Pastalpahziel) to work. Sooo I just decided to do the chapters in a more "free" dynamic.

I also had planned to do free-time events inspired by Persona's calendar system, where you'd have a limited number of actions before reaching the next story deadline. Since I moved away from the "one chapter = one year" format though, that system didn't really fit, so it evolved into something different.

From here on, I'll talk about how the ACTUAL system is working so far!

FREE-TIME EVENTS

Each chapter is divided into some parts. Those parts are composed like: introduction scene → free-time events → ending scene.

The above is the map! Every main event is shown with a red exclamation point. The chapter's current part basically only ends when the player has gone through all the main events (some of them are unlocked based on circumstances; for example, only after other events are done). However, note that some characters appear in locations without exclamation points. This is where free-time events can occur!

Once you go into a location that a character is in but no major event is indicated, you have this place's artwork + the clickable character as below:

Once you click said character, you have some options: talk, present, and date. Talk consists of optional talks, in which the character talks to the player about their worldview, experiences, and relationship with other characters. You can build up affinity with them in those talks, or just don't have them in case X character isn't really your favorite, or if you just want to follow the main storyline, especially because some of the optional talks are pretty long lol.

Each character is planned to have around 10–15 optional conversations, so there's a LOT of extra dialogue if you enjoy getting to know them.

The present option allows you to present an item or piece of information to the characters as well. Sometimes this consists of a main event, and sometimes it's just for the sake of showing them the item or building up affinity.

The date event is for whenever your affinity is high enough and you feel compelled to get romantic™. 😏 You can ask them on dates even when your affinity's low, but chances are you'll get dumped... sometimes gently, sometimes not.

There's also a hear option for whenever there's a group of characters (duo or more of them) interacting in the same place, so the player can hear how they interact without the player character participating in the conversation. Those are also optional.

PROGRESS!!

I've worked on a lot of artworks in the last months and have progressed significantly on the overall art! (also story! it's all coming together.......)

I also redesigned the menu a bit! The interface is much cleaner now, every character received a new full-body illustration, and each one now has their own sigil displayed behind them.

If you're interested in seeing a video showing the new menu + full-body characters, check this same post on Patreon! Only Noxiel and Laleit are missing from the video, but their art and implementation are also ready.

There's also the initialization menu! Now you have three design options for each angel class + three design options for general old angels (as "prototypes" of some sort) + three design options for cambions. For each design, you can change their colors and get some quick lore info.

The story is also progressing! Currently, there are two routes with significant differences beyond the small choices you can make along the way (such as choosing your favorite drink with Tohuom; he remembers your choices for future meetings!), with one of them being centered around Gabriel and the other around Laleit.

I'm trying to go a bit faster with the development since it's been a while since the demo came out, but I hope you find some patience and mercy in you for me .......

There is also a new system that is ready! At X point of the story, the player character acquires their sigil, which is an important mark for a demon to be recognized in the hierarchy. The sigil's design depends on your choices during the game and respects as much as possible the personality you chose for your character.

The sigil will be present in the dialogue box and will reveal incongruences in characters' lines. When you hover over the sigil, words that may not be true are highlighted in red so you can see through everyone. This is especially useful for characters that lie a lot. 😏

There are still lots of things to get done, but we're getting there.... slowly...........

Most of the characters are also already voiced! The majority of the game will have only voice barks, but each character's first appearance has at least a portion of their dialogue fully voiced.

And FINALLY, the soundtrack has become much bigger than I originally planned. 😭 I'm unable to reuse music tracks;;;

Each location has a specific theme (they play automatically for free time talks!), so we have themes for The Ravine Tower, which is Tohuom's residence; the Glass Manor (Lucifer's manor!); the Prince's manor; restaurants; bars... and so on. Important characters also have main themes, and some of them sing (Marko + Madrior), so they ALSO have this voiced track.

THE ENDLESS STRUGGLES....

My ETERNAL ENEMY continues to be English.

It isn't my first language and I'm so confused on what is formal and what is too formal for the narrative, some scenes sound too much and others sound too little this is something

anyway just wanted to vent

If you made it here, thank you so much for sticking around!!! This was my update for today!

If you'd like a sneak peek at the soundtrack, you can check my Patreon!! There's a post there that is basically this one but with an extra for paid members!