It's been a while, but the latest patch for Burden of Proof is finally live! Here's an update on the changes for version 1.0.6, as well as a news roundup for what I've been doing recently. You might be wondering, what happened to version 1.0.5? It was uploaded just a short while ago before I found a somewhat severe bug, which has just been fixed for 1.0.6.

Update

Changelog: v1.0.6

• Fixed inventory being accessible from Main Menu
• Fixed some script bugs which caused scenery to not appear correctly in Chapter 5

v1.0.5

• Added extra texture details to: Courtroom, Car Objects, Courthouse Lobby, Detention Center, Chapter 4 Locations, and Chapter 5 Locations
• Fixed a script bug which caused some objects in Chapter 5 to appear when they shouldn't
• Added an additional solution to a Cross-Examination in Chapter 5
• Fixed an input bug during "choice mode" causing parts of the script to play when they shouldn't
• Fixed UI shadow glitch around Save File text

Overall, this is mostly a bug fixing/polish update, so there's not really any extra content here. But the changes should help the game become a little bit more accessible for the long-term, especially for future players who might be interested in the series. This is the last update for a while, unless more bugs are found, in which case I will be more than happy to continue making fixes. In the meantime, though, I've got other priorities that will require my attention.

My Next Game

I want to give another huge thanks to everyone who has enjoyed Burden of Proof over the past 2 years. The supportive feedback I received has been incredibly humbling and has motivated me to continue development on new projects. The positive response to BOP has put extra pressure on me to make sure my next game surpasses the quality of BOP by a huge margin, and so far it's shaping up to knock BOP out of the park in all aspects--art, music, story, animation, UI, the list goes on, and all of it showcases a a much higher level of polish thanks to what I've been studying on my own in the past few years. In case you weren't aware, I had a project in the works during 2019 which was supposed to be my next release. However, the game's scope flew far out of reach and I had to stop development in order to work on something else. That "something else" has become Iron Reckoning, an action-adventure game with a fantasy/sci-fi setting. In case you missed it, I announced the game with a trailer back in March on my YouTube channel, with an expected release date sometime this summer! More information can be found in the trailer's description.
It's been a lot of work getting this far, to the point where in early 2020 working on this game would be the only thing I'd do in my free time most days of the week. It's also brought up a lot of stress and concerns that I wouldn't finish in a reasonable time and that I'd have to cut corners in order to get the game completed at all. It hasn't helped that I had nothing to show for 2019, especially when my thought process has been to get a game out at least once a year. But I powered through and was able to make a good amount of progress around when the trailer hit. I'm carrying that momentum forward as I continue to work on Iron Reckoning, in the hopes that it'll be worth it when people are able to play it and see my ideas completely realized. Iron Reckoning is quite different from Burden of Proof genre-wise, but I believe it still carries a lot of my personal style in terms of storytelling, art, and music, just with an added level of polish that I wasn't able to put forward before. I'm confident that fans of BOP will enjoy this new title if they have any interest in action adventures such as Tomb Raider or Final Fantasy. I'm especially proud to say that this time around I've been able to work with voice acting talent who were able to bring my characters to life and add extra emotion to my story. All of that will be revealed shortly though, and I hope that you'll take some time to check it out real soon once more info is released.
I've also been uploading timelapses of my work as I make more progress on the game, which may be interesting if you're into 3D modeling or art creation. Finally, as is tradition with my games so far, there will be tons of easter eggs and references to my past projects, including BOP. I won't spoil anything for now, but you can expect a certain lawyer to make a special appearance in some hidden locations :)

Timeline

When May rolls around I'm hoping to start work on another trailer and begin testing rounds on Iron Reckoning. Having actual playtesters will be a huge step this time since I can nail down bugs early and allow some space to see clearly where places need extra polish. The biggest challenge so far has been environment art, there's just so much of it that I'm not sure if I can really hit my goals the way I'd like to. But nonetheless I will keep at it and try to find solutions as I go. By June I'm hoping to have a Steam page up and a more solid release date planned. It's around that time when I should expect to be in the final polish stages, and then hopefully by the end of June or July the game will be ready for release. Of course, that's all assuming things go to plan, but it's really easy for things to get delayed and moved back with everything going on. At worst I may have to release in August, but really I don't expect anything later than that. I realize it's a bit of a wait, but trust me when I say the results will be worth it. I've stressed this many times already, but this really is the biggest and most impressive game I've built so far. I'm hoping everyone will feel the same when they are able to play it.
Beyond that, a lot of people have been interested in a sequel or some follow-up content for Burden of Proof. Unfortunately something like that would take a lot of time and before I landed my current job I've been struggling to figure out how I will pay back my student loans. Because of my financial worries and my own sanity (it's tough to work on the same thing for a long time) I'd like to hold off on the sequel until I have at least 1 more shorter game released past August. Of course, those are just my current thoughts and things are always able to change. If you're a fan of Burden of Proof I'm confident that you'll enjoy what I have to show next. In that way, I'd rather you all get to play something tangible sooner instead of waiting another year for a bigger project. But believe me when I say, I do plan on building a sequel at some point, and that kind of game would be completely re-imagined from what I have here with updates on all of the art, music, and even gameplay. It's been in my head for a while now but sadly it'll just have to wait until I get my current projects sorted. As always, I'm extremely grateful for everyone who has played BOP! Iron Reckoning will be my focus for the next few months, so if you want to keep up with what I do, I make regular updates on Twitter and YouTube. I'm glad that the time I put into BOP was worth the effort for many of you, and if this is the last update I'll always be grateful for the support you have given me. I will make another announcement here when Iron Reckoning is closer to release. Stay safe, and thanks for playing! -Matt