Wrapped up the pre-testing tasks noted in the last update: music/sound, coding, and polish. Test version has been uploaded, so while that's being poked at I'll be handling the extra tasking for this update. I'd like to take 10-14 days on that, but also want to set the release schedule so the public release is on Thursday/Friday to give folks the weekend to play and hopefully get the project more visibility. That would mean 18th/19th or 25th/26th depending on how testing and extra tasking go.
I'm using a restricted visibility Itch project to upload the test version to, and if all goes well, I'll be carrying that forward into the early access releases. It's a bit more convenient than uploading to multiple filehosting sites. I should still be able to make those available if folks run into issues with downloading directly from Itch.
Reminder that I'll be skipping the next window for progress updates, so the next public post should be the release dates. Next progress update will be mid-to-late June.
Extra stuff for Patrons/Subscribers:
Reminder that this portion is just for you folks on Apprentice and up, so if discussing on Discord, make sure to use the appropriate role channels.
Mentioned this in a previous update, but a second starting point for Cerys's romance will be available in this release. It'll be for those who didn't have enough affection to trigger her confession, but earn enough by a certain point during the ball. I've made it viewable for everyone who is already on Cer's romance path (once the corresponding scene for that path has been unlocked), so you won't have to replay to see it. And if you pursue the second start, the scenes from her first path will unlock as the relationship progresses. Scenes that unlock this way are flagged as 'alternates', and will be displayed in the 'Events' GUI with a bit of transparency to distinguish them. Don't expect much in the way of 'new' dialogue for scenes on the second path, it'll essentially be the same as the first with a few tweaks/updates to fit the current circumstances.
Thanks for the support and stay safe!