At long last, I present our much-delayed update: version 0.7.5. A nice, round milestone number for a chunky update full of all-new content. The primary focus on this one was Writing. The main plot is advanced by another extended scene; probably the last major development before the main plotlines diverge.
(Look! 3 NPCs on screen at the same time! Had to rip out and completely replace an embarrassing amount of janky old code to make this work...) Speaking of plot divergence, there are two possible ways I can develop the rest of the game: 1. Try to write all three plotlines simultaneously, really slowly, and release everything in a big 1.0, OR 2. Complete them one at a time, in order, with a 1.0 release once the third plotline is complete (what I like to term the smart way). I'm planning to go the smart way, although if anyone has a contrary opinion, I'd be curious to hear it. On top of the story stuff, a number of new music tracks are sprinkled around the game, more SFX and ambient sounds, and an important extension to the research tree which will make Science continue to be useful all the way into the late game. Hopefully soon I can do a proper expansion of the research tree with lots more abilities to unlock. Which brings me to my final point: Ideas! I want yours! Is there an ability you'd like to have? A research topic that's conspicuously missing? An artifact you think would be cool? Perhaps even a concept for a new anomaly? I'd like to know about it! I've made a pinned thread on the discussion boards where you can post anything your evil little minds can conjure up: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1299540/discussions/0/4692279782566059248/ Don't be shy -- we're very open to brainstorms right now. That's all I've got for this month. Until the next update... Stay safe, and happy Stalking! Changelog:

• Wrote and implemented a large chunk of Act 3
• Wrote and implemented special event after finishing Power Plant
• More dialogue for Louis and Dominica
• Completely rewrote dialogue bubble code -- system now supports any number of NPCs on screen at once
• Greatly expanded functionality for story character positioning & movement
• Completely rewrote Esper interaction handling
• Game will no longer get confused about which part of the story you're in
• Added buyable quest hints in quest log
• Fixed fast dialogue behaviour
• Sped up timing on some conversations
• New unique music for several boss fights & story segments
• New sounds for rewards/quest progress
• New sounds for battle UI, some cards & enemies
• Better normalisation on music tracks
• Added more ambient sounds in Wharf biome
• Fixed missing music when loading into story segments
• Fixed some audio looping issues
• Fixed sounds on Prawn boss
• Small TTS variety improvements
• Fixed Buzzard's sound & animation going out of sync
• New research topics
• Infinitely repeatable research topics with exponential costs
• Fixed certain research upgrades being erroneously reapplied on load (Rad Flush etc.)
• More new cards
• Replaced a lot of nasty temp art
• Fixed crash when opening quest log
• Fixed battle crash
• Fixed issue during void storm event
• Fixed Allison's expressions not showing
• All Ailments now properly show on the Passives bar
• Added tutorial entry for Passives bar
• Fixed HP bar readout during side jobs
• Fixed error on Fountain card text (should be Bleeding, not Poison)
• Fixed cards/passives box jumping around on item tooltips
• Player battle sprite can no longer double up
• Upgraded to Godot 3.6 stable release
• Phase 1 of localisation support

• Fixed crash in Chapter 2 ending
• Fixed crash in Power Plant exterior after defeating Wharf and Power Plant bosses
• Fixed Power Plant exterior Fog of War not covering whole area
• Fixed crashes on area transitions/freeing up memory
• Fixed Spray Can not appearing in Power Plant
• Fixed Irradiated debuff turning victims too bright
• Fixed Rufus's Lifeline quest triggering inappropriately
• Fixed music not playing on load in certain areas
• Fixed rabbit hole pop-up behaviour