Alright, time to get into info on Chapter 3.

First, a quick review for anyone who's new: Cruel Serenade is intended as a five part series, two of which are now complete. The first took about 7-8 months to reach its initial release, the second, GutterTrash, as it was a much larger and more fleshed-out game, took about 13, followed by another year of additional content.

My general plan going forward is to use GutterTrash as a general mold/template going forward. This doesn't mean there won't be variations or improvements, but you should expect to get a roughly similar game in terms of size and scope. Each chapter is hypnosis/mind control themed, but in a different way, with a different scenario/mission and enemies.

Starting now, August of 2024, the clock is ticking. My plan is to have the first release available to supporters on SubscribeStar by September of 2025, 13 months from now, and public somewhere between two and four weeks later. The price will remain $10. As with GT, this is planned to be playable from start to end, with at least two endings (one good, one bad), and 6-7 unique CG to start.  As with GT, additional endings, scenes, scenarios and (likely) minigames will be filled in with additional content packs, which will be free to those who have already bought the game (Chapter 3), and available 2 weeks early to supporters on SubscribeStar. Chapter 3 will also continue the boar sub-story in Haven (to start), as well as introducing two more (in later packs), all dependent on how a player played and finished GT, carried over by the DataCrystal.js file.

Keep in mind that all of this is still, metaphorically speaking, written in pencil. I hope I've built a reputation by now as someone who takes deadlines seriously, but the nature of game development is that it's a big, complex thing to get a grip on, especially for one person. I deliberately do what I can to keep things chopped into small manageable pieces and not bite off more than I can chew, but things will undoubtedly shift a bit as work progresses. Usually this is a good thing: you REALLY don't want to play the original planned version of GT, it was much less fun, didn't flow well, etc. That said, I THINK I have a decent chance to make a similar game to GT in a similar amount of time.

And that's about it for now. I tend to keep details about story, characters, mechanics pretty close to my chest until release, and especially with this one it will be more fun if you go in blind. I'm not even going to reveal a title for now. That said, I do feel obligated to share SOME details due to the fine folks supporting me on SubscribeStar, so I'll probably be sharing some art assets, and bits and pieces of story and setting as I have them, not just on SubscribeStar but here as well. And for the same reason, as with GT, I plan on giving basic progress updates on a "quarterly" basis, roughly every 3 to 4 months, just so you know I'm not dead and have some idea on where things are.

On that note, things will obviously slow down here for the next year or so as a result, and with it funding, both from sales and SubscribeStar. This is expected and budgeted for, but I want to highlight the difference those who can stick around make. Things are rough right now for people, and I don't want anyone giving me money that can't afford to. But if you can, it makes a big difference during these droughts. And if you are, have in the past, or, and/or plan to continue, thank you.

Making something this big always seems impossible. GT seemed impossible. But you organize it big-picture, subdivide into smaller chunks, subdivide THOSE into even smaller chunks, pick up one and work on it. And another. And another. Occasionally glancing up to make sure you're not off track. And eventually, one day, you're a quarter done. You're half done. 3/4s. Finished. It's stressful, harrowing, fun, exciting, hot, and when it's done, probably one of the most rewarding things I've ever done.

Time to do it again.