Version 0.21 is now complete and ready for play testing. This is the first of two major overhaul updates focused on improving the writing, choice system, mechanics, and the animated h-scenes. The word count is now up to 53,613 with about 40 minutes of new gameplay mostly added into the first act. Because of the changes to the choice system, a new save will be needed. Old persistent data will also need to be deleted, so if you have weird bugs on Windows check in your appdata folder for old persistent data files that could be causing issues. The next update will also continue with major changes and require a new save.

People who played our latest free demo will recognize the major expansion to the intro h-scene. In version 0.20 it used to be a couple of static pictures in the last version but is now fully animated with a lot of different dynamic camera angles. Other h-scenes in the game have been given similar expansions and overhauls, notably on Lucine and Lena's paths. Lena's new scene is the most dramatic change, focusing on virginity and finally adding the cum inside choice.

The new choice system is still only partially implemented in the first few in game days of the game, but in such a way that it won't cause anything to break in act-2. Version 0.22 is planned to have the final implementation along with the accompanying story changes. Many scenes that didn't really serve a clear purpose were removed entirely, mostly really bad lines like MC waking up and saying something like "time to go to the creek now" that felt like they were just filling a blank space. Some of those lines are still in there but they're on the chopping block for the next version. There were a couple of full scenes like that with MC and Eryn that were removed. In their place are now scenes that serve their story and do a much better job of characterizing them and showing their relationship. We added in little things like an animation of her sprite flicking his chest to really make their interactions feel more fun and natural.

The next update will be part two of the overhaul, and is focused on massively improving Eryn's path. A similar virginity scene to the one we just added for Lena will be added into act-2, and her existing h-scenes will have some different writing and be moved to later in the story. We're also revisiting the creek scenes in act-1 which may sound like kind of a dumb idea but trust me it's going to be good. The main issue on Eryn's path is that MC originally came across as kind of a bumbling idiot. When we started the project we wanted him to be kind of a silent protagonist type, but over time we've come to the conclusion that making him an actual character makes the story better. In the next update he'll have a clear character motivation and conflict that makes their arc a lot more interesting. The new creek scenes are being designed around this, but in a way that builds a lot of eroticism. We're also experimenting with a new approach to making scenes in general with a lot more small animations, ambiance, and visual metaphors. We have it all story boarded out with some concept art to follow very soon, and I think it's going to make their romance path overhaul really solid.

This update had a ton of moving parts so nailing down a final release date was really tricky. There was no clear finish line and the main thing we had to juggle was making sure that the changes didn't cause continuity issues in the story. Each new choice or change to the routes needed story changes around it. Some of those changes worked fine with the existing story, others would have created continuity issues until the full story revision was done without additional writing. This update was a constant process of making a small change in one spot and realizing that another scene needed to be rewritten for the story to still flow. I think we struck a good balance with it and it feels like it all flows together, but it won't be perfect until 0.22 drops.

Version 0.22 is also going to take a long time given the amount of artwork and writing going into it, but it's going to be another major evolution for the project. The artist and I have both learned a ton from this and are looking forward to taking all of this into our next game when we finish with Refuge of Embers. Thanks again for your continued support. We're going to keep doing our best to make this game as good as it can be. Send us a DM or drop a bug report on Discord if you find any typos or other issues.