Hiya there,
This is a post I've been hoping to make for a while now--a very long while--but I'm happy to say that Quest Failed: Chapter Two Alpha Build 0.15 is now available to download for all those on the $25 alpha testing tier! (Or who were as far back as September, as promised. Hence why I'm making this a post for everyone--just in case those that lowered their pledges want to still see.)
The new build includes the following:
5 new h-scenes, 1 of which is currently voiced
A good few story CGs to help cap things off
A somewhat lengthy conclusion to the main story as it winds down across a number of days, ultimately leading to the end credits, effectively letting you play the game from beginning to end now with zero interruptions or awkward END OF ALPHA messages.
A large addition of voice lines to key moments in the climactic battle scene. I find that the voices really add a lot to certain moments now, so I highly recommend going through it normally and not skipping through!
For some reason the entire squirrel scene has voice now. I don't know either, but it's cute
Effectively wrapping up Anna's, Ren's, Cynthia's and Queen Deidra's parts in Chapter Two now in one big super ultra swoop
It's a very exciting time for me I think, where the main story is now completed. I want to stress that this doesn't mean Chapter Two is finished now--because a number of characters still have lingering event chains to be completed with their respective h-scenes--but this does mark a very big milestone all the same and is a large weight off of my shoulders.
As usual, please start with a fresh save to avoid any crashes or disappointment. Especially in this instance where I've shuffled around a lot of early game logic to accommodate certain things and added new variables in as needed. Any attempts to use old saves may work somewhat right up until they run into a part where the game expects something the old saves don't have. So, yeah. Don't do that. I think I've set it to use a new save folder regardless--but just in case!
I've done my best to try and debug the build as best I can (including one nasty bug that took you right to the end of the game on certain days if you completed quests, due to a missing check, whoops) but due to the sheer scope of Chapter Two these days, there may have been some very obscure combination of choices that leads to some kind of unexpected behaviour or a hard crash. If by chance you stumble on any crashes whilst playing, please let me know and I'll strive to fix them as fast as I can in an updated build, provided I'm not sleeping.
As promised, all those who pledged to the alpha tier as far back as September or October I believe it was (forgive me on the exact month I'd need to look the post up) should be able to access this new build via the same link sent to you as before. Please be sure to download whilst you have the chance as I'll be starting the rolling links month by month again starting from next month as I hope to outline my plans soon for how I'll be handling alpha builds next.
I can't thank you enough for your continued patience and support for this ol' sloth of a dev. It really does mean the world to me and whilst it took far longer than I would have liked, I hope my passion for creating something to entertain you all shines through in this build. There's a lot of cute moments. A lot of funny moments. And I think the new h-scenes have some really nice writing at times, with one of them being especially lengthy, with over 100+ layers to it. (Poor Matt.)
Ah, right, and as before, a scene guide will be up shortly after this post to give you all guidance on finding the new scenes, because only one of them is straightforward while the others are more culminations of choices across the entire game with a couple of little tricky checks here and there. (Not for the sake of being purposely obtuse, but more they fit the narrative in this way.) The scene guide will be behind a $25 post as usual to avoid spoiling people too much that might not be interested in it--but I'll also include the scene guide as a .txt file alongside the game files themselves as before, so you can access them as needed regardless of current account status, so long as you had the alpha link.
There's a lot more I want to say regarding this release and everything around it--including the lengthy time behind its release and 0.14--but I feel it's probably better put in a dedicated dev log that I'll put up in a few days after I've rested. But of course I'll still be on stand by for any bug fixes as needed and anything else people might need on the technical support side of things.