Patreon blocked my post again because of its vague guidelines, and I really don't have the time or energy to keep blindly editing everything over and over.
So if you can't read it here, feel free to check it out on my other social media:
SubscribeStar: https://subscribestar.art/posts/2525366
itch: https://mr-unaware-studios.itch.io/unaware-in-the-city/devlog/1555103/progress-report-147-june-2026
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2532340/view/715655868018853476
Hey lads!
I wanted to post this devlog much earlier, since some major things happened, and I promised many times that I'd be as transparent as possible about the project. But I didn’t have any good news, had no idea how to announce it or what to do next, and I was mad as fuck. It’s been a few months already, so I’ve calmed down, brainstormed a lot of ideas, and gone through a lot of stress and problems along the way. I also ended up in the hospital, but I managed to fix the situation in the end, and the project is back on track.
Long story short, my character artist and animator (LustFire) quit the UiTC2:R project a day after I posted January’s devlog, fucking up the whole project in the process, because it heavily depended on his work. It also made me look like a total idiot after all the big plans and promises I made in that devlog.
Since so much money, time, and hope were invested into this project, I feel like you guys deserve an explanation. But I don’t want to start any drama or wars, nor get into personal details or write a long essay, because that’s not what this is about. If you don’t care, just scroll down, as always.
Another major issue was me ending up in the hospital in February, and then almost ending up there again a few weeks later. I had to change my lifestyle and cut myself off from stressful things, but I’m doing fine right now.
As always, HERE are the videos, since I can't upload them directly to my devlogs.
Alternative video link on Google Drive.
I'll start with personal stuff:
I know how it looks - the typical NSFW developer story: health issues, hurr durr milking patrons, slow updates, and all that. As many of you know, I've been disabled since 2019, and over the years I've had my ups and downs, including multiple hospitalizations because of it.
This time, though, it hit me really hard. I ended up spending almost two weeks in the hospital in early February, and afterward my body was weak and in a lot of pain for weeks. On top of that, I was diagnosed with severe depression. I had to return to the hospital regularly for checkups, and they kept telling me not to stress myself (good one). That's also one of the reasons why I haven't been very active on social media lately.
Anyway, it's June already. I've gotten used to the situation, and lately I've been feeling much better. Progress during February and March was quite slow, but I still did what I could.
As a break and a mini vacation, I'm going to Pyrkon (a Polish fantasy convention) with my family, so I'll be away from June 18th to June 22nd. It's basically a tradition at this point. The kids always have a blast there, and I always come back with my batteries recharged, so I really need it.
My health has improved a lot recently (you can probably see that development has been speeding up again), but I still need to take breaks during the day and get some rest. I'm also trying to avoid working late into the night and spend more time with my family instead. I'm basically trying to relearn how to relax and simply let go.
You know, I stopped playing games and watching movies a long time ago because the guilt of "wasting time" became so strong that after 15-30 minutes I felt compelled to stop. Yeah, pretty messed-up stuff. Anyway, I don't crunch nearly as much as I used to, but I still work seven days a week, so progress remains steady, even if it's a bit slower than before.
When you run your own project from home, build everything from scratch, create all the systems around it, and then hire people to help you, it becomes much more than a full-time job - it basically becomes your whole life. If one of my freelancers has a question, or I need to test something for them, and I don't do it as soon as possible, it often leads to delays or other issues. So I end up either stressing myself out by trying to be reachable 24/7, or stressing over delays and problems because I wasn't available in time.
People often think that hiring freelancers saves you time - it doesn't. It can speed up development, but it also creates another responsibility that requires your attention every day. Hire five people, and you'll spend most of your time managing them instead of working on the project yourself. So you either stop doing the actual work and focus on management, or you keep the team small enough that you can still work on your own part of the project.
Anyway, my point is that all of this can be very overwhelming, especially for a single person. I'm doing the best I can, but problems, mistakes, and delays will happen from time to time, so please bear with me.
About LustFire:
We ended up teaming up because his personal projects used a similar character system, and he was both a 2D artist and animator, so it seemed like a perfect coincidence. He wanted to become an NSFW indie developer himself (although I've lost count of how many projects he's started by now), so I encouraged him to keep chasing that dream. Maybe that was my mistake, because he often prioritized his own projects over mine. In the end, he admitted that he hated working on my project but needed the job.
The reality is that he was never particularly enthusiastic or interested in the project. He never played the game or cared much about what was happening in it. I gave him a lot of freedom, shared his posts, and tried to support him, but he never really tried to promote my game despite it using his art and animations. Looking back, there were plenty of red flags throughout development, but I wanted to believe things would improve over time. He seemed like a nice guy, and he was constantly dealing with personal issues, and I know how difficult life can be sometimes. Unfortunately, my naivety got the better of me.
For that reason, I want to apologize, because this was a major failure on my part. I should have replaced the artist much sooner and saved a lot of time and money.
We had heated discussions every few months, and each time things would improve for a while. The last major one happened in December, when I asked him to take the project seriously because I had a deadline and wanted to release the tech demo for Christmas. Instead, he decided to work on Christmas skins for one of his own projects.
Throughout development, I repeatedly explained how important this project was to me. I made it clear that this was a long-term project that would take years to complete, and I always asked whether he understood what he was committing to. If he quit halfway through, it would severely damage the project and potentially make a lot of previous work unusable, or even lead to project deletion.
Overall, I don't think LustFire is a bad person - just someone who is very unreliable and unable to commit to ambitious long-term projects. I don't wish him any harm, and I'd appreciate it if everyone left him alone.
I'm still frustrated about what happened, but it's in the past and I need to move forward. At least I no longer have to deal with the stress of constantly missing deadlines and covering for him because a promised character wasn't ready yet again.
About new character artist:
So, the Spine project LustFire left me with was a total mess, and no sane person would want to take it over. First, because it was a mess, and second, because it was someone else's mess. As we all know, nobody likes working on something another person abandoned halfway through.
For almost two months, I talked to dozens of Spine animators. Many gave up quickly, ghosted me, or tried to scam me. Some were willing to take on the job, but either wanted to charge ridiculous amounts of money or gave me serious development-hell vibes. I also brainstormed all kinds of alternatives, including switching to 3D, cutting the project down into smaller parts (such as focusing only on the Diner), removing customization altogether, or even scrapping UiTC2 entirely.
I'm pretty adaptable and can adjust to almost any situation, so no matter what kind of problem I run into, I'll usually find some workaround. That's how I've always been. It's difficult to demotivate me, and challenging situations often become a source of motivation. That's also why I've added things that I previously claimed were impossible or too difficult, such as the translation system or the X-Ray creampie effects. But yeah, even I have my limits.
At this point, I'm really tired of working with people. It's one thing to hire a composer to create a soundtrack and then part ways after a few tracks while someone else takes over. It's a completely different story when you hire someone who becomes almost a partner and leave the fate of the project in their hands. I'm not willing to take that gamble with yet another random person from the internet. That's why this time I decided to try my luck with an animation studio made up of more than a dozen skilled people. They had already proven they could work with my messy Spine files, so I hired them in March.
The downside is that we have to remake a lot of things from scratch (though not everything), and we're leaning more toward an overall anime-inspired art style (but not full anime), as it's easier to animate and work with. It will cost me a lot of money, but if it comes with better quality and faster progress, I'm all for it.
I managed to save up some money, especially thanks to the sales on Steam (once again, thanks for the support, lads!), so I should be able to keep funding everything at the current pace for at least a few more months.
After just 3 months of work, we already have more than 50 animations completed. Both the female & male bodies have been remade in all 3 viewing angles using the new anime-inspired style. We also have several new faces and multiple issues with the original rig have been fixed.
On top of that, I hired a background artist along the way, but things didn't work out with him either (seriously, NSFW freelancers seem to have an attention span of only a few months). I recently hired another one, but background art is currently a lower priority, so progress there is slower since the characters are far more important right now.
At some point, I'll also need to hire a composer and a voice actress, as I want to improve the overall sound design of the game. However, that's still low on the priority list, so I won't be tackling it anytime soon.
I won't let two years of my hard work and your support go down the drain.
About UiTC:
In January, I announced that I wanted to finally bring some closure to UiTC. Then I spent the next few weeks working on and experimenting with the old UiTC because I was too frustrated to touch UiTC2, which is why you already got v47 with X-Ray creampies and translated dialogues.
I went through the old code to see what could still be improved. I also gave mod support another try, but that one is truly impossible. Not a single part of the game was built with modding in mind, so I wouldn't be able to let you modify clothes, faces, or other core assets. Sorry.
In v46, I already fixed some animation algorithms and calculations, so you may notice that certain animations are more accurate now. Remember the infamous hand glitch, where characters would briefly rotate or move their bodies or limbs in weird ways? I also reworked how body and butt size scaling works, so it looks better and stays synchronized more reliably.
The system is universal, but it's not perfect, and the whole game is still a mess under the hood, so I'll need to go through many animations individually and assign alternate calculations where necessary. Also keep in mind that some animations are simply broken due to engine upgrades, and the only real fix for those is remaking them from scratch.
For v48, I'm translating the entire UI and finally marking the translation system as complete. This one has been a real pain in the ass. With dialogues, everything used the same .json format, so I only needed to add support for that format once and could then translate all dialogues into any language.
The UI is a completely different story. There isn't a single pattern or standardized way of handling it. UI elements were created in many different ways, scattered across all kinds of places, often using unsupported fonts and without any translation support ever being planned or implemented. It's possible to translate everything, of course, but it's extremely tedious and time-consuming.
And to make things even more fun, short UI text without context often produces weird translation results. Fortunately, I found a smart way to handle it. It's also much less text-heavy than the dialogue translation, so progress is moving faster than I originally expected.
I originally planned to release v48 in late June, but I'll try to release it on Patreon & SubscribeStar on June 17th, since I'll be attending Pyrkon from June 18th to June 22nd. The Steam & itch release should then follow in late June.
Another v48 feature is the ability to get Albert's flat back (even with the Drifter backstory). The Albert flat event will, of course, be a repeatable sex scene, meaning you can lose and regain the flat multiple times, similar to how employment at Kevin's Diner works. The Drifter backstory will have its own scene variant, but the event itself will function in the same way.
However, since I'm trying to release v48 this Wednesday, I'm not sure I'll have enough time to properly finish the flat event, so it may end up being added in v48a later in June.
I also wanted to add the Anal X-Ray feature, but the graphic artist who was supposed to create it went MIA, so I'll need to find someone else. Because of that, it will most likely be added in v49 later this year.
UiTC will most likely continue receiving smaller updates every few months, but as I've mentioned many times before, please treat the old UiTC as a finished game. My main focus is on UiTC2:R.
About UiTC2:
We already have a huge amount of content prepared or planned out (and I really mean a lot). Of course, I still need to script it, the dialogues always need revisions once they're implemented (raw text and in-game dialogue tend to change quite a bit), and there are all sorts of other time-consuming tasks along the way. Even so, development is moving much faster than it ever did in the old UiTC.
And yes, I know I probably sound like a typical game developer right now, but I'm genuinely excited to finally get something playable into your hands soon after two years of hard work.
The May tech demo wasn't meant to be fully playable or particularly enjoyable on its own. Its purpose was to showcase progress and all the groundwork being done behind the scenes. The goal for future updates is to keep polishing and expanding everything we've built so far, while gradually making the game playable by adding content and connecting all the systems together.
The planned release schedule is fairly straightforward: one devlog every month with concise updates focused mainly on completed work. I'll try to avoid talking too much about plans or personal matters unless I believe they're genuinely important. I want development to be predictable and transparent, so you know what to expect from me.
As for UiTC2 itself, the goal is to release updates monthly whenever possible, but never later than every two months unless there's a very good reason for further delays.
So you can expect both the next devlog and the next UiTC2 tech demo in late July.
I have a background artist, character artist, character animator/rigger, and writer, but I also need a music composer or sound designer, a concept artist, and probably a few more voice actresses, so that's a lot of people to manage and a lot of costs to cover.
Not gonna lie - since I'm earning less and less money, my calculations show that I'll run out of funds to hire freelancers later this year, which would be really bad for the project. No, I'm not asking for more money, but I am saying that I'll soon start charging for UiTC2 releases on Patreon/SubscribeStar. To justify that, I'm going to start releasing monthly or bi-monthly updates with actual content. Honestly, I'd prefer to spend at least another six months peacefully working on core functionality, but I'm aware I've run out of time, so I have to work with what I have.
I'm not giving up on UiTC2, no matter how hard it gets. With this project, I'm going all out - building world lore, creating NPC backstories, brainstorming how every little system connects to the others, and figuring out how everything can evolve into something much bigger and more ambitious over time. That's only possible with Patreon funding, which allows me to keep moving forward. Unfortunately, I was never able to find a proper long-term partner who could handle the art and animations while I focused on everything else, so I'll continue working with various freelancers instead.
I'm working on multiple things at once, so everything progresses and improves little by little instead of focusing entirely on one area. This way, each update will most likely include something for you to enjoy, even if it's only a small addition, rather than making you wait months because I'm focused exclusively on one type of content.
Another issue is that everything in the game is connected. If I design part of a questline around Old Town, then Old Town must be accessible, even if it doesn't have much content yet. Otherwise, every storyline would be restricted to Main Street or the Diner for a very long time, which wouldn't be good. At the same time, I can't stretch myself any further, so the Prison, for example, definitely won't be added this year. Any questlines involving it will have to wait until the Prison itself exists.
When UotW first came out, it literally had only Jane's flat, the Diner, and maybe two or three scenes. People called it an Insexsity rip-off. It also took me a full year of working on it in my spare time after work just to release anything at all. Now, in v47, the game has well over a hundred events and features such as X-Ray and pregnancy systems. It has grown enormously and is very different from Insexsity.
I've already been working on UiTC2 for two years, and despite not having much actual content yet, it already contains far more systems and features than UotW/UiTC had during their first few years of development. Projects like this always look rough in the early stages because their features can't really shine yet. After all, what are freedom and choices worth if they don't lead anywhere? The game will improve significantly as more content is added and everything becomes more polished.
This isn't the kind of game where the demo represents the first few hours of an already finished experience and shows exactly what to expect. Both the public and paid versions will continue expanding over time.
UiTC2 will have storylines and quests, but the core concept remains ultimate freedom and choice. Can you undress yourself or start masturbating in the middle of a busy street? Of course you can. Can you distract someone and steal their wallet? You can do that too. But just because you can do something doesn't mean you should, or that it will be easy - although you can certainly build your character around those kinds of choices.
If you end up in prison on your first day in The City, or have to do desperate things just to survive, that's on you. Basically: fuck around and find out. But creating an open-world RPG with genuine freedom is also one of the hardest genres to make.
About work done since January:
As of June, we've updated Spine in the project to the latest 4.3 version, since we intend to make use of its new features, such as improvements to the physics system. Also, our character art has already been updated to the new anime art style, but many of the sneak peeks in this devlog still use the old western art style, so bear with me. I recorded a quick preview showing how the shaders and character customization currently look. All of these characters were generated completely at random. Here's the video.
I sorted all the sneakpeaks below by their original publication date on Discord/Twitter, so some of them may be outdated since I didn't update them specifically for this devlog. Don't be surprised if the UI or art style suddenly changes between screenshots or videos. After all, it's been five months of development since the last devlog.
One important note: even if the logic behind a feature is already finished, it doesn't mean its content or data is complete. Just because I'm showcasing things like the quest log or random quests it doesn't mean actual questlines are already implemented in the game - only that the current system already supports them.
The same applies to changelogs. Just because one update is packed with more content or features than another doesn't mean I worked harder on that update and slacked off on the other. It simply means that the content was finally ready for release. In another update, I may have spent a lot of time working on something that still wasn't ready to be shown, but the work was still being done.
And if you're wondering why I'm feature-creeping instead of adding content and getting players into the game already - it's because it's the only way to ensure those features ever get added properly. The prison can be added much later, but if I don't implement breaking into buildings now, I'll need some other workaround to build all locations around, only to later tear everything apart to add it properly. I'm a solo dev after all, and I don't have the luxury of rewriting the whole game later.
The game has been in development for two years, and I already have almost everything I need. That's why, after the recent May tech demo release, I'm going to focus more on adding actual content.
So... Let's get to the sneakpeaks!
I’m remaking all UI elements directly through code instead. Here’s a quick preview of the new Character Creation window. It already received multiple fixes and tweaks since then, and its core functionality is finished.
Here's a quick look at the ground loot. Since I want the game to lean into survival elements, allow various playstyles (like thief or scavenger), and make the game more about exploration and uncovering secrets, you'll be able to pick up some items directly from the ground in addition to looting containers. There will also be a perk that highlights them if you find it too difficult to spot them, and if you want to make it your main source of income, there will be a specialized character build for that.
It's pretty straightforward - locations will have a chance to spawn a few random items on the ground, and there will also be unique items scattered across the world. Looting containers lowers Jane's reputation and increases crime, while picking up ground items will not damage any stats (or will do so rarely), but will not reward many items either. It is basically a low risk, low reward version of looting containers.
I decided to add an in-game bug reporting feature with an optional nickname & screen attachment. It is a much better alternative than having to manually take a screenshot, join my Discord server, and write a bug report. Especially since you only need the game itself, so no Discord or e-mail is required.
It is all anonymous and only I can see it, but the only drawback is that I will temporarily (for a few hours?) have your IP address (as if that matters with dynamic IPs, VPNs, and so on, and I'll never check those anyway, but that's how it works, so I added a disclaimer anyway).
Either way, I am counting on your feedback in the future!
I was working on the stats/skills window, and I was wondering whether I should display all those internal stats and values to players, because I am aware it might scare some people into thinking the game is overly complex. Personally, I like to know what stats do. I hate hidden values that affect things without me having any clue about them. I also will not be doing a traditional tutorial, although I added pop-up messages explaining some features across the game, and I will most likely add a glossary with a large list explaining everything (yeah, nobody reads those). I will include tooltips explaining things in-game and show where bonuses come from. I am not sure how to make it more obvious and easier to read yet, so please bear with me here. And yes, feedback is always welcome.
Here you can hover over stats to see explanations and what affects them. You can quickly check your skills, perks, traits, and any status effects currently affecting you from all sources, so if something happens to your character resulting in a buff or debuff, you can easily review it.
I don't yet know on what basis cheats will be added to the game, but I've already integrated them into the stats window, so you can edit most values easily.
Regarding the large number of stats - do not worry. I like my systems to be complex but easy to play. Basically, you need to take care of Jane's physical & mental well-being (Health & Sanity), because reaching 0 results in a Game Over (do not worry, it is not something you can reach on day 1, even on Very Hard difficulty). Then there is Disposition, which is the core of the gameplay, as it determines whether NPCs like or dislike you. Primary Needs are self-explanatory - if you sleep, shower, eat, etc. regularly, there will be no issues. NPCs will not run away because you did not shower for 12 hours, and you will not faint in the evening just because you woke up in the morning. The point is that you do not need to micromanage everything. These systems exist to make the game more immersive, replayable, and deeper under the hood, where your character build and choices actually matter. After all, remembering to sleep at night and take a shower once per day shouldn't be that difficult either. And it's not like you need to monitor your condition constantly. Anyway, you get the point, so there's no need to explain it further.
I improved some very old and outdated UIs along the way to match the current, more modern style. I redesigned the HUD to display only the information you actually need to pay attention to. Being hungry matters, while seeing your unchanging movement speed does not. You can choose to display stats permanently regardless of their current value, or only show them when they drop to around 40-60% (they are tiered in 20% thresholds). They also change color to indicate increasing severity.
In the future, I’ll let you manually toggle additional stats you want displayed at all times, like Charm or Luck. For now, I’m focusing on core functionality and essential QoL improvements.
So I finally finished wiring up the quest system with my dialogue tool. I can attach any quest to any dialogue choice, mark it appropriately, or check whether it meets the requirements, all while keeping the data in my quest database. It’s much faster and easier than in the old UiTC, where I had to script all requirements directly in the dialogue tool, which was time-consuming and prone to bugs. It displays all kinds of information, and you can track past completed or failed quests. I most likely won’t implement automatic item tracking (e.g., showing 4/10 items for a quest), since it’s a lot of work for relatively little benefit.
Here’s an early preview of the dynamic quest system. It still has a long way to go, but I’m fairly satisfied with the current state.
It was mainly inspired by Bethesda’s Radiant quest system, where random NPCs generate random tasks. It supports all 7 NPC classes as well as unique NPCs, each using different pools of quest types. For example, all classes can request items (Hobos for food, Commoners for energy drinks, etc.), but there are also more complex tasks. Gangs might ask you to deliver a message to a random unique NPC (lowering their reputation), a Thug might ask you to pick a locked box (requiring the Lockpick skill & a mini-game), or you might get street gambling tasks based on a Luck roll. This way, the system makes use of your character build and playstyle, with everything wrapped in immersive dialogues and quest descriptions. And yes, it’s an NSFW game after all, so sexual tasks are also possible.
Quest rewards are scaled. Giving vodka yields better rewards than beer, and location matters as well - delivering something to the Slums (higher risk) offers better rewards than Old Town (lower risk). All quests also grant Experience, which you can spend on Perks. Depending on the task and the quest giver, you may also receive penalties or bonuses (for example, working with Thugs or Gangs can increase Crime & Infamy).
There’s also a daily limit on how many tasks you can accept or refuse to prevent exploits and repetitive gameplay loops. Although I'm still brainstorming how to softlock it properly, since as you know I hate typical "you can do it only X times per day" as if it was some MMO. Currently I'm experimenting with stacking Stress stat that at some point makes penalties greater than rewards.
As with all features, it’s fully optional. You can build your character around these tasks, or if you don’t enjoy MMO-style fetch quests, you can ignore them entirely and focus on other activities.
The system is still a work in progress and will continue to expand over time, as it’s not something that can be finished in just a few weeks.
Here's a simple game over screen. As the game develops further, I'll probably add more stats to display.
The game is being developed with replayability in mind, including something similar to New Game Plus, where a small portion of earned Perk Experience carries over into future playthroughs. Also, most backstories, goals, and traits will initially be locked, because having everything available from the start would be overwhelming for new players creating their first character. Unlocking them will require fulfilling specific requirements that fit their theme rather than mindless grinding.
I believe I've never shown real sex to the public, so here are 2 animations - doggy style & standing sex from behind.
As a proof of concept that animations work regardless of how characters look, I'm showcasing them with different body proportions, including extreme values not normally possible in-game, so check out the attached video.
Jane can sleep in multiple places, but I’m not going to force players to go home for the night like many games do (because it’s easier), although she will have only one actual home - a rented flat from Albert.
The idea is that it’s ruined and fairly cheap by The City’s standards, so if Jane wants a bit more luxury, she can upgrade it with better furniture (flatmates will have special interactions and benefits tied to the upgrade and furniture system). It’s not mandatory, but if you have some extra cash, you can make Jane’s life more comfortable. Also, I won’t let you move furniture (it’s not The Sims), but upgrading certain items will swap their visuals.
This feature is just a placeholder and not currently a priority, so it won’t be finished soon, but I decided to showcase it since it’s already partially in-game.
I’m pretty proud of this one and I really like the old-school feel it has. I snapped the camera to the size of the current room, and it slowly follows Jane as she moves toward the other side of the screen. There are multiple camera settings that let you customize how camera behaves, including zoom & movement.
There’s also an alternative camera mode where you can see the whole location, but I’m not sure what to do with it yet (maybe make it a reward or an unlockable ability from Perception stat?).
I also added shadows under characters. It’s not perfect and doesn’t work properly yet with sitting or lying characters, but it’s better than nothing.
I showcased the initial stealing mini-game half a year ago, and it has received multiple tweaks and changes since then, so there’s no point repeating everything again. I’ve adjusted several mechanics, added visible NPC inventories, NPC traits, animations, and outcomes (still work in progress).
You can approach it like a proper thief by staying unnoticed, or take a bolder route by flirting and touching your target. However, that draws a lot of attention, especially in public places, and can lead to worse outcomes if you fail. If you initiate a lewd approach while stealing, the NPC might want to continue further. It also heavily depends on who your target is - for example, a cop may arrest you instantly, while a lowlife thug will react very aggressively to being robbed.
As with every side activity, I had to limit it somewhat. All robbery attempts increase the Crime rep gauge (similar to wanted stars in GTA). The more you steal, even if you’re not caught, the more attention you attract from the police. A higher Crime level also means harsher penalties if you do get caught.
Unlocking perks will work the same way as in the old UiTC, so Jane has to go to Dr Braun at the hospital (though there will be alternative ways to get them) and spend Perk Experience (you gain experience from almost everything, just like in the old UiTC). The system is similar, but now many perks have multiple ranks, and specializing in a branch is cheaper than being a jack of all trades, because perks become more expensive the more new ones you unlock. Their costs are also affected by backstories (for example, the Criminal backstory has cheaper crime-related perks). There’s no perk removal, since you can’t pick negative perks at character creation.
Just ignore the effects and perk costs for now, they are random placeholders, as I’m not balancing numbers yet.
Traveling in UiTC2:R has been significantly reworked compared to the old UiTC. It’s mainly inspired by classic Baldur’s Gate travel, with 4 exits from each location - North, South, East, and West. You no longer need to go east from Main Street to enter the Park; any exit will work. However, you still need to discover a location first before it becomes available.
The main addition, aside from animated travel, is Travel Encounters, which can be positive or negative, and either passive or active.
Each main location has its own sub-location called an Alley, which is used for encounters.
Another change is travel options - on foot, by bike, or by car - which affect both travel time and encounter types. Taxi and Metro still exist as alternative options, but they don’t trigger from the world travel screen, as they have their own dedicated scenarios.
Positive and negative encounters are self-explanatory. Passive encounters simply describe what happened (finding cash on the ground, someone stealing your wallet, etc.), while active ones move Jane to the Alley and trigger an event with dialogue choices (thugs blocking your way, a pervert offering to buy your panties, etc.).
Encounters depend on factors like location type (e.g., thugs in RLD), travel method (you won’t lose your wallet while driving a car), and even time of day (a cop inspecting you late at night).
There are two rolls for encounters - one on departure and one on arrival - to determine what type of encounter occurs, but only one can happen per trip. The base chance is relatively low (around 5–10%) but is influenced by multiple factors.
Time is now a meaningful resource. Traveling on foot is very time-consuming (around 4–6 hours between adjacent locations), so movement becomes a strategic choice, while using a taxi or train makes much more sense. Also, locations have been merged, so Main Street is now one large area instead of 3 smaller ones. Although I still haven't created any proper outdoor locations yet, because there are a few ways to approach them, each with their own pros and cons, so I'm still brainstorming the best solution.
Decrees replace the old weekly buffs, but with two main changes: they stack, and they are mostly negative. Their purpose is to scale difficulty and improve replayability, so each run feels different and unique. However, they stop appearing after 100 days, so you won’t be punished indefinitely.
Every Monday, The City’s Mayor makes a public speech and announces a new decree that affects gameplay for the rest of the run. This event is triggered by Jane watching it on her phone. Some decrees are simple, like increased prices, while others are more complex, such as more police presence or more aggressive NPC behavior. In some cases, they can even be neutral or beneficial depending on your playstyle.
I tried to make them sound like typical political bullshit you’d hear on TV, while fitting the game’s world and giving Jane her own commentary on each one.
We refined walking animation for both female & male characters. Walking in heels requires a separate animation, but it will be done later.
We are working on climax for both genders that syncs seamlessly across all animations, meaning that no matter the situation or animation, if any character reaches max Lust - they climax without breaking anything, and it just works. It comes along with sound & special effects.
The concept of static and dynamic skill checks hasn’t changed, but the math behind dynamic skill checks has. I’m using a fairly sophisticated approach (basically three different formulas combined), so the chance doesn’t scale linearly. The idea is to make low-level checks manageable even at 0/25, while reaching around 50% of the requirement starts to noticeably favor the player.
As for mini-games vs. dice rolls - it’s impossible to balance perfectly. If you’re skilled, you can pass hard checks through mini-games, and if you’re lucky, you can pass them with a 1% dice roll. Both are fair and unfair in their own ways. That said, all mini-games will have perks or effects that influence their difficulty, so mini-games are the intended way to play. Still, nothing is forced - you can always stick to dice rolls, but those will have less "special" bonuses to unlock.
The main point here is the new mini-game type for skill checks. The three arrow mini-games will remain as legacy options for now, but the bubble mini-game will be the default.
The rules are simple: over 5 seconds, bubbles spawn (with different speeds, sizes, and effects), and you have to click them before they explode, or they will damage your health bar. If you survive the full duration, the skill check is successful. Spawn rate, damage, and the chance of more dangerous bubbles all scale with skill check difficulty.
I prefer this over the arrow mini-games - it’s more dynamic, offers more variety, feels more engaging, and allows for more margin of error. But I’d like to hear your thoughts. Just keep in mind it’s not properly balanced yet.
Here’s the day and night cycle in action. It affects all locations, including interiors, although interiors (like the diner) are only partially affected by nighttime, so they won’t become completely dark. Almost everything in the game is connected to the current time, from NPC spawn types & spawn rates to Jane’s visibility & random encounters.
The lag in the recording happens because all existing NPCs reroll their behavior and schedules whenever a full in-game hour passes (just like in the old UiTC). In the game, there will be a fade-out animation when it happens.
I decided to add toggleable Abilities (at a cost), because it would be really problematic if passive skills and stats constantly got in your way - for example, if you were undressing in public, but a high Sneak skill made you almost invisible. They only work in real time, so you don’t need to enable them for dialogue Skill Checks. You first need to unlock them, though. Some simply come from leveling up skills, while others will require more complex methods to obtain.
For example, if you enable the Perception ability, passive time flows slightly faster and Jane gets tired more quickly (that's the cost of balancing constant ability usage), but she gains a higher chance of spotting items (although searching still works passively without it). If your Agility is high enough, you can enable the Slip Away ability, which reduces the chance of NPCs catching Jane (including getting arrested), so being highly agile doesn’t automatically prevent you from seeing touch-related scenes.
In the old UiTC, Jane could only search trash bins, but in UiTC2:R every location will contain lootable (and respawnable) containers, as well as world loot lying on the ground that Jane can potentially notice - all using proper loot tables based on location (soap in bathrooms, condoms in RLD streets, etc.). Multiple systems connect together here: Perception helps you find loot, Luck improves loot quality, Lockpicking allows access to locked containers, and so on.
You most likely won’t specialize in everything, because the game soft-locks you from becoming godlike like in Skyrim (although feel free to cheat if you want). The general idea is that your build and playstyle matter. You can specialize in nighttime gameplay and hiding in darkness, improving the loot you discover during night. Or you can focus on burglary, using Lockpicking to crack safes and find valuables even without high Perception or Luck (although those would still help). So you don’t need to specialize in high Luck or Lockpicking just because you want better loot, but you’ll naturally get better loot along the way if you have them.
So yeah, there are many interconnected systems, but the game doesn’t force you into chasing perfect synergy. I’m putting much more emphasis on exploration, traveling, and uncovering secrets, because I’m trying to build a larger open-world map with proper free roam. Jane isn’t on some grand heroic mission - she’s just trying to survive in The City. And I’m leaving it up to you how she does it, or whether you let her drown instead.
There’s also a light and darkness system that affects Jane’s visibility and the visibility of world loot depending on nearby light sources, but it won’t be finished for the May tech demo release.
There’s the Buff/Debuff system that affects both the player and NPCs. In UiTC2:R, NPCs react to Jane’s actions, so you don’t simply grind reputation (random NPCs don’t even use a standard reputation system). If you make a customer or Kevin angry during a diner shift, they can gain a lingering effect lasting from a day to even a week, affecting their disposition toward Jane (similar to RimWorld). If an NPC catches you stealing, it doesn’t just increase Crime and reputation - they can personally stay angry at Jane for some time afterward.
Trespassing is still unfinished (there are a lot of mechanics to wire up and issues to resolve), but since I recently fixed NPCs chasing Jane through rooms, I decided to showcase it.
Locations, rooms, containers, doors, etc. will check multiple conditions (Is it closing time? Is Jane working here? Can she access it right now?) and can become locked or marked as trespassing areas. So Jane can legally access the diner’s storeroom during her shift, but otherwise it will stay locked. Toilets obviously wouldn’t be closed, so even if the diner shuts down, not every door inside will be locked, because that would be both annoying and illogical.
Thus, robbing the diner during Jane’s shift will be much easier, since she can move around legally. If she gets Kevin’s key (through various means), she won’t need lockpicking. If Kevin is in his office during her shift and she manages to lure him out temporarily, she can access his safe without having to break in at night. You don’t need to specialize as a thief to break into places (though it helps), and some quests may require entering locations either legally or illegally. It’s not a game purely about crime, but about ultimate freedom.
If Jane is trespassing, the alert gauge gradually increases as in-game time passes, and her movement speed is reduced. Every container she searches or lock she picks makes her run out of time faster. Once she leaves the location, 10% of the trespassing gauge converts into Crime reputation. Additionally, existing Crime reputation gets added back into the trespassing gauge whenever she starts trespassing again. It’s a soft-locking and balancing mechanic so players can’t endlessly rob everything without consequences.
Once Trespassing reaches 100%, Jane receives a massive Crime reputation increase (30%), and a cop spawns inside the location to chase and arrest her. Crime reputation decreases by 1% per hour (doubled while staying in safe zones like home). The higher her Crime reputation, the more recognizable she becomes, increasing the chance of random arrests on the streets. At 100%, it’s basically a guaranteed jail sentence. You either find a way to lower it quickly or end up in jail for up to two weeks or pay a $3250 fine. The jail mini-game won’t be added anytime soon, so for now it mainly means lost time and stat penalties.
If Jane has a key, she can skip lockpicking entirely and instantly open doors or containers. Keys are permanent items, so if she somehow steals or finds Kevin’s key, she can permanently access almost everything tied to him. Unique items come in two categories - respawnable and permanent. If you lose a respawnable unique item (like a key), it will eventually start spawning again. But if you lose a permanent unique item (for example by selling it), then it’s gone forever.
There are still many missing features, such as locations being tied to unique NPC ownership, or NPCs reacting differently when they catch Jane trespassing, lockpicking, or stealing - including offering alternative solutions instead of immediately calling the cops.
I want the overall UiTC2:R gameplay to feel more "touchy." Whether Jane is sitting, walking, working, or doing mini-games, there will be many animations across different scenarios targeting various body parts based on the situation or even the direction an NPC approaches from, so everything feels more fluid and logical.
There are 13 gropy animations remade from scratch in much higher quality. You can check them out in an attached video.
This one took me much longer than I expected because of multiple issues, but here's the partial Albert Rent Mini-Game in action (redesigned from scratch for UiTC2:R). It's obviously not finished, and the dialogues are still a bit generic, but, as with everything else in the game, it will keep getting improved little by little.
Similar to the old UiTC, Albert comes every Sunday for his $500. If Jane misses the event (not being home or not opening the door), she can personally visit him or call him by phone, because if she doesn't, the debt will increase every day and Albert's relationship value will worsen. Once Albert comes to collect the debt, Jane can decide where to take him - for example, to the kitchen to make him tea (for bonus reputation), or just handle it quickly in the hallway without wasting time. The scenes will differ slightly depending on the choices made, for example whether they both sit on the sofa, only Albert sits on a chair, or they both stand (we have over a dozen groping animations for a reason). Bargaining over debt while sitting together on the sofa also has a higher chance of success than standing in the hallway - small details like these are everywhere in the game. In the old UiTC, this would have taken me months because I had to script every single thing from scratch, but UiTC2:R is much more flexible, so I can easily reuse systems while scripting scenes, allowing me to make them more complex while also developing them faster.
Since Albert's events revolve around rent debt, he will constantly look for ways to charge Jane extra, so if she can't afford it, they will have to find some other solution together. At home, there will be multiple usable furniture items (more about that another time), and they can break from time to time, becoming unusable. Jane will have several ways to deal with it, such as trying to repair them herself (or failing and damaging them even more), asking Ben for help if the relationship is high enough, or calling Albert and increasing her debt further.
As part of the slow-burn corruption and scene progression, you will need to trigger every scene at least once and in the correct order. So there will be no sex with Albert on the very first payment day, but also no sex if Jane's debt is too low - he won't demand sex over a $200 debt. However, if the debt grows too high, he may no longer settle for anything else. For virgin runs or players who want to stay pure for as long as possible, Jane can always refuse, but that may eventually result in eviction and homelessness.
I'm trying to make everything feel more immersive, logical, and realistic. So paying rent will have four branches:
Pay the rent - If you have no debt, nothing happens. If you can handle the rising costs of renting a flat in The City, you can skip all of Albert's sexual content entirely. Your choice.
Non-sex persuasion - Postpone the payment or reduce the remaining debt. However, as the debt grows, persuading Albert becomes more difficult, and failure can cause the entire burden to suddenly fall back onto Jane, so it can easily backfire.
Don't pay - If you can't pay, Albert will initiate sexual interactions. If the debt is low, he will only ask for lighter stuff. If the remaining debt is still high enough afterward, he may push for a second round.
Seduction - Initiate sexual interactions yourself instead of waiting for Albert to make the first move. If Jane's skills are high enough, she unlocks more seduction options, each reducing the debt more effectively than if Albert initiated it himself. Failing the skill check puts Albert in a bad mood, but he may still decide to initiate something on his own.
As mentioned many times before, skill checks use synergy between multiple stats and skills. That means you don't need to max out a single stat to pass a check - you can combine several weaker ones instead. For example, if you want Jane to flash Albert to lower the rent, you can do it with max Exhibitionism (she's used to being naked), max Corruption (she's already done worse things), high Lust (for example from aphrodisiacs), or simply a mixture of several smaller factors at once. Maybe she's somewhat used to flashing, has some sexual experience, and is slightly aroused in the moment, so it feels natural for her to do something lewd.
Just like in the old UiTC, I struggled with deciding how to handle non-player-controlled scenes. If the player makes all the choices, then it doesn't really feel like a non-player choice. If everything is left to RNG, then unlucky players might never see certain scenes. If it's gated behind stat brackets (like reputation), then players who grind too much, cheat, or arrive at the wrong moment may permanently miss some content. In the end, I decided to use timed choices instead. Players will have a few seconds to react, otherwise the NPC will decide for them. Together with slightly shaking buttons and a visible timer, it should feel more immersive. If you are fast enough or already familiar with the choices, you can select them yourself. Otherwise, after a few seconds, the result becomes random.
Unique NPC schedules and stats are tracked and saved (more about that another time), and they are taken into account during scenes, affecting both Albert's skill checks and choices (for example, his Lust increasing the amount of groping, etc.). Because of that, giving him an aphrodisiac can have a real impact on the entire scene.
We also have the entire locations available for scenes. In the old UiTC, you had to be physically in the bathroom to trigger bathroom events, etc., but here the player has much more control over choices such as room, sex position, or even furniture usage (with characters physically walking around instead of using black screens). Some options will still be gated behind stats, because it's still an RPG after all. For example, inviting NPCs into Jane's room requires enough relationship, and alternate sex positions require higher sexual skills (deepthroat requiring better oral skill, etc.). At this point, Albert's rent mini-game could practically be its own standalone game because of how much work is going into expanding it. Together with Kevin's Diner, it's my primary focus for upcoming updates, since those two systems form the core gameplay loop that Jane will constantly interact with.
UiTC2:R is also placing much more emphasis on character reactions and comments (as you probably noticed from the chat bubbles and similar details), so Albert's rent system will make heavy use of them as well. It also tracks things like whether a dialogue option is being selected for the first time, whether Jane is currently wearing underwear, and uses 3 different Corruption states in her responses (similar to Lewdness in the old UiTC).
And as a bonus (still a work in progress), here's the most recent sex animation with the X-Ray feature enabled, tested on multiple male body sizes. The vagina scales with penis size, which causes the womb to move upward as a side effect. I'm also using it to test some new shaders.
Okay, enough of the rant. Thanks for reading!
Don't forget to check out the videos HERE.
For more frequent sneakpeaks and news, I encourage you to visit my Discord & Twitter, as I'm more active there.
Cheers!