Hello Rebels!

I'm proud to announce that Chapter 3 has been launched yesterday.
If you haven't checked it out yet, feel free to do so:
Here's the Link

I hope you enjoy the story!
If you encounter any problems, please be so kind as to let me know, so I can try to fix it.

Thank you all for your support!
meta.baron

Hello Rebels!

Chapter 2 has been out now for about a month! Thank you for all your support!
I used this time to remove bugs and to add more information according to the feedback I received (e.g. Recap of Chapter 1).

Additionally, I can finally announce that I have implemented 17 unlockable achievements for Chapter 2!
Feel free to check them out, and please check out Chapter 2 if you haven't done so, yet.

I'm more than happy to hear your feedback! =)
And I will continue to work on Chapter 3, stay tuned for updates!

Thanks, everyone! And please, stay safe!
meta.baron

Hello Rebels!

This is going to be my last DevLog before release, which is good news.
Things are going good, and the release date only depends on delivery date of the last few missing artworks.
But you can expect a release within 2 - 3 weeks.

I want to take this moment to compare the assets of this chapter with the first one.
Let's have a look:

[h2]Backgrounds:[/h2]
14 background pictures for Chapter 1
25 new background pictures for Chapter 2

[h2]CGs:[/h2]
11 CG pictures for Chapter 1
24 new CG pictures for Chapter 2

[h2]Characters[/h2]
24 characters for Chapter 1
13 new characters for Chapter 2

[h2]Expressions[/h2]
63 face expressions for Chapter 1
88 new face expressions for Chapter 2

[h2]Creatures[/h2]
4 creatures for Chapter 1
4 new creatures for Chapter 2

[h2]Items[/h2]
7 items for Chapter 1
4 new items for Chapter 2

[h2]Music[/h2]
11 songs for Chapter 1
13 new songs for Chapter 2

All in all, there is much more content in Chapter 2 than with the previous one, and I can't wait to show you.

As for the Achievements, I have decided to leave them out for the initial release, because there is not enough time for me to test everything. I will however do this as soon as possible after release. I hope you understand.

This will be it for now, and I hope you look forward to what's next.
Take care!

meta.baron

Hello Rebels!

The past few weeks were busy, and I was able to make good progress.
First of all: Proofreading is halfway complete. I will continue with the other half as soon as everything is complete.
Secondly: I have written down all the face expressions that I need, and have started to commission most of them. Good thing is, that I have already received some of them. Bad news is, that some of the artists have a tight schedule and can only start working on them sometime in February. Due to this, I was forced to postpone the release to March, as implied in the last DevLog.

What's more: I have received another CG, bringing the current total CG to 20, and I still plan on 2 or 3. But let's see how things go.
I also got another BG and 2 more Characters for this Chapter. Now only 1 Character is left.
The last few backgrounds and the last few soundtracks are also in the making.

Everything seems to be going fine so far.

I don't like to spoiler anything at this point, so I won't post any new pictures.

I will let you know about the status and progress of the chapter in a couple of weeks.
Until then, I wish you the best.

meta.baron

Hello everyone and a happy New Year!

I hope you are doing well, and I wish you and your family all the best.

Although, I've been working on the game during the holidays a little bit, it wasn't enough to make significant progress.
I've been working on a few assets, and primarily on re-checking all the scenes and complementing with additional information and more personality for the characters.
But I still have to complete a few scenes.
As for the assets: I mostly have everything regarding characters, backgrounds and so on. The main thing I'm missing are face expressions, which I didn't start to commission yet.

Due to this delay, I had to re-schedule the release to February, and the Steam Team themselves have even recommended to go for March. Even though, it depends a bit on how fast the artists can finish the assets, I will try to aim for February.

I have also found a professional proof-reader with in-depth analysis. Hopefully, I can get rid of all the errors this way.
I really want to make sure that the game is in perfect shape.

I will keep you up to date in the coming weeks, and I will do my best to make good progress.

Stay healthy and safe!

meta.baron

Good day everyone,

I'm happy to announce that -after a few complications - the Steam Store Page for Chapter 2 is finally up and running.

Please check it out here:
Chapter 2

The information on the description section is not totally accurate yet, but I will update it continuously.
Furthermore, I haven't created a bundle package yet, but I will do so eventually.

Feel free to already put it to your Wishlist.

Thank you for your patience and take care!
meta.baron

[previewyoutube=q5z0YX5sJbo;full][/previewyoutube]

Hello Rebels!

I'm relieved to announce that I have fully recovered from my covid infection.
I would also like to thank Zaijka for the kind words and the support.

Progress has been slow the past few weeks, and I apologize for that. But I'm eager to boost the processes at present and future.
One thing I'd like to boost as fast as possible is the shop page of Chapter 2, and I'm happy to confirm that I'm finally working on the Trailer that is necessary to publish the shop page.
Hopefully, you will look forward to it.

But I don't want to leave you empty-handed here, so I'd like to show you another character that will make its appearance in this Chapter.

The artist of this nice artwork is ranaadz. Please show some love.

Thank you for all the support. I really appreciate it!
Take care, everyone!
meta.baron

Hello everyone,

First of all, I'd like to apologize for the delay of this announcement, and for the lack of content.
I have been diagnosed with a high viral load of Coronaviruses last Monday, and I've been very sick since. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to work on Chapter 2 at all since the infection.
I hope I get better soon, so I can get back to full speed.

As for the progress itself:
Before my infection, I was able to get one of my play-testers in, and I have gained valuable feedback from that.
My biggest take on the feedback is that I should explain the lore better of this world and its characters. I know that there are still a lot of open questions in regards to the lore, which I did more or less on purpose, because in my novel, it will get explained at a later moment.
Now, if someone is reading a book, this issue might not be a problem, because the reader can control his/her own reading speed, and continue on reading until all mysteries have been explained.
With this game however, the reader is not able to do so, instead he/she needs to wait for several Chapters until the questions from Chapter 1 have been explained. At this stage of development, this is a time-span that is too big for any reader.
In short: Before my infection, I have started to go further into detail with Chapter 2 and to explain more things. I think this will not only make a lot of the lore clearer and understandable, but it also adds to the total play-time of the reader, which is a plus on both parts in my opinion.

There was of course much more feedback, but I think that would be too much to break everything down in here, so I'm going to leave it at that.
Again, I'm sorry for the short announcement.
I will try to recover as best and as soon as I can.

Take care everyone!
meta.baron

Hello Rebels!

As promised, I want to give you a small update about development.
Even though I have to confess that I wasn't able to put together much content since last update due to illness and fatigue. But worry not, we are still aiming towards the finishing line.

So what does that mean?

From an overview perspective, I was able to complete two more scenes. Might not be much, but we are getting closer and closer to the end, even if it's just a bit.

Looking at smaller details, I have now implemented the first Character Data Card to "find". It turned out pretty well, I think. There will only be 2 or 3 different cards that the player can encounter in this chapter, but the number will increase a lot in future chapters.
I'm also playing around with a pan- and zoom feature, so "the camera" can move around the scene. For example: Moving the camera back and forth between characters. Not only does this help to understand which character is talking, but I also believe that it makes the scene more vivid overall.

I will soon present the current progress to my test-players and carefully hear out their feedback on everything.

It has also come to my attention that Chapter 1 has quite a few typing- and grammatical errors. I sincerely apologize for that. And this makes it clear to me, that I will need to hire someone professional solely for that task.

I'm going to post another announcement in two weeks.
Hopefully, I will have made good progress until then to make you proud.

Take care everyone!

meta.baron

Hello Rebels!

Three weeks have passed and it's time again to share the progress with you!

I have started to set up the store page for Chapter 2 on Steam. Most information is already typed in, and I have set the release date to December. A few Images need to be uploaded, which shouldn't be too much of a problem at this stage of the progress. But I still need to have a new trailer, and I'm not sure if the content so far is enough for a good trailer, and what kind of trailer is best in the first place.

As for the content progress story-wise:
Completed scenes: 14
Half-way done scenes: 3
Not started scenes: 11

So, I would say I'm a bit over half-way through with written text alone. But I'd say that the progress is higher with the assets that I have already accumulated.
The exact number of assets still needed is not set in stone yet, but I think: 5 Backgrounds, 5 CG's, 3 Characters, 2 Soundtracks, and a lot of face expressions.
Sadly, one of my BG artists I liked to commission has fallen ill to covid and isn't able to work for now. So, I will need to figure out how to fill out that gap. Let's see.

Additionally, in DevLog#3, I have announced the idea of adding Character-Stats-Cards. I have finally set up a consistent system for that, and I have received the artwork for the card to insert all the information. I hope you will enjoy it. I am at the very least happy with it.

I feel like I'm getting closer to finishing things up, so I will try to give more frequent updates for you, starting with every 2 weeks, and increasing the further we get into finishing this game.

Here's yet again a little bonus for you to wonder what on the Segments this could be used for:

Artist: kanasricharoenc

As mentioned, I will check in again in two weeks, and I hope your happy all the information so far.
Feel free to ask any questions, and take care!

meta.baron

Hello Rebels!

Here again to share some insights on development.

In the last devlog, I explained how I came to sort of a halt regarding ongoing commissions. I'm pleased to tell you, that I've had quite a number of commissions going again the last couple of weeks, and there are still more and more to come.
I'm trying to have two artists or composers working at all time in all the major groups (Background, Character, CG, Music). With this, there's always something going on, and I'm not relying and waiting on one person alone.

All in all, I'm very happy with the progress. I also think, that the art and the music has even gotten better compared to the first chapter.

So, everything is progressing just fine. I will also soon start to set up the shop-page for chapter 2, even though it might still be a bit early.

As a bonus, I want to show you a preview of this lovely character, maybe you can figure out who she is:

The artist of this wonderful asset is zeroyama.

Thanks everyone for your support and stay tuned for the next news in three weeks!

meta.baron

Hello Rebels!

I wanted to share a short update on the progress of development.

I have finished a rather long scene that occurs in the city, and I can confirm that there is now a playtime of 90 minutes as of now. The scene includes 1 choice option which is fully implemented, and ends with another choice. That's the content I'm working on at the moment.

There are now 10 CG's in total, which I'm happy about. I haven't gone through the entire thing, to see how many there will be at the end, because I'm having new ideas all the time. But I think there will be at least 16, probably even 20 or something.

Sadly, I don't have a lot of commissions running right now, mainly because I wasn't totally sure what I needed exactly, and most artists are very busy lately.
This is a time management thing that I need to get better at, and I know that. So hopefully, I can get a whole lot going again soon.

Here you can check out a new creature that I got recently. This is a chibi-version that I received as a bonus.

The artist is polcastr, big shout out. =)

This will be all for now, and I will report the next log in a few weeks.
Take care, everyone!

meta.baron

Hello Rebels!

Progress of the next chapter is going steadily.
I'm currently at a game-play time of a little bit over an hour.
There are 3 fully implemented choices to unlock or see different content. It feels to me that there should probably be more than that, so I will think about adding more. I will most likely go over the whole thing again in the end to see where more choices can be implemented, but those will have much less "impact" than the others.
I still only have one map screen with one path fully done. There's one more path on the map screen, but I'm not yet totally sure what to add there, so this is still to be done later on.

There's a total of 8 unlockable CG's within the current game-play time of 1 hour, which is pretty good, I think.
There are also a total of 8 new BG's at the moment, and 5 new soundtracks.

As for characters, there's nothing really new here compared to Log#2, except for one of the characters of the flashback of Chapter 1 that has been re-made to be 12 years older.

Additionally, I had the idea of adding something like character stat-cards into the game. Those can be found by the player depending on their choices. Feedback regarding this idea was very positive so far, so I will almost certainly include them.
Spoiler: There are A LOT of characters throughout my story.

So, this is going to be it for now.
Hope you're happy with the development so far.
Take care!

meta.baron

Hello Rebels!

I bring you a small update on the progress.

I have currently implemented the first map screen, where you can choose which path to take. I'm thinking about showing icons on the map to indicate what awaits the player, so that they can make a proper decision. The 1st Chapter did not have that, and I think it feels a bit like a "pick-a-door" kind of thing, which misses the purpose.

New Assets since last update:
- 2 new BG's
- 2 new characters
- 2 new soundtracks

Of course, other things are always in the making, but I will announce them when they are finished.

There is one more thing I'd like to share with you that is dear to me. I have commissioned a large number of different artists and music composers. I'm not doing this because I'm unsatisfied with the older artists and composers, no, it's because I'd like to give everyone a chance to shine. This may cause some conflict in art-style for some players, though personally, I do like the different art-styles. I will continue with this idea for at least this chapter, and maybe also the 3rd.
After that, I'd like to make a decision with the help of the community on which artists and composers to stick to. And I'm really looking forward to it.

This will be it for now.
Have a good time and stay healthy!

meta.baron

Hello Rebels!

I've been working on Chapter 2 the last months, but admittedly the progress was a bit slower than I anticipated.

I'm the kind of person who needs things to be done in the same order that a player would play the game: from Start to End.
But the first couple of scenes needed artwork that I didn't have yet, and some of them took quite a while to finish.

Another thing to mention is that I actually have the first novel of my story written out, so some scenes are faster to produce as I only need to import the text, more or less. The current written novel consists of 8 Chapters, but this number can easily change, because I'm adding a lot of new content to the story, and some chapters might be a little bit too short, so I would combine them.

Anyway, for Chapter 2, I am currently at the first point of decision for the player. I stopped the timer to check the game-time so far, and it took me exactly 20 minutes to reach that point. It contains:
- 3 new BG's
- 3 CG's
- 1 new Chara sprite
- 1 new soundtrack

And I already have another CG, another BG, and a new creature ready to use for my next scenes.
Having 3 CG's in only 20 minutes playtime is already almost twice as much compared to Chapter 1.
I will try to keep this up.

Tune in for the next DevLog, and have a good time!

meta.baron

Hello Rebels!

Now that the release and marketing of Chapter 1 has settled down, I have started to work on the next chapter.
So far, I have laid out the series of events that will unfold in the story. Some artwork are already done and some are in the making. But in general, there is still a lot of things to be made.
I have decided to work within the same general set-up as in Chapter 1 for now, because it leads to the fastest result. Meaning: I will use the same engine and the same resolution. I'm also tempted to keep the UI/GUI the same to keep it simple.
I will try to make Chapter 2 longer than the previous one, with more choices to be made.
New characters will enter the story, and I want to add a greater variety of backgrounds to offer a change of location.
But most importantly, I will add more CG's to unlock.

I hope you liked the first chapter and are hungry for more!

Feel free to share your thoughts.

BrotherWood Games

Hello Rebels!

I'm happy to announce that the game now has 7 unlockable achievements implemented.
They have been lovely designed and created by the talented artist Gabriela Schenner.
They work for both Windows- and Mac users.



I hope you enjoy and I wish you happy collecting.

BrotherWood Games
Meta Baron