You know, it's funny that we think of Chapter 15 as a bridge episode, where the story works on existing plot threads that will play out to some form of a conclusion shortly. Why is that funny? Because it's bookended with serious drama, horror, and action that's almost a whiplash in intensity when it hits. Still, we're looking forward to 0.16.0, which (like N&T) promises to be packed with story developments as it shakes up the status quo and sets the table for the last half of the game.
Some users have inquired about the possibility of a bad ending, separate from the normal "No one" endings, where you don't romance any of the girls throughout the game. Like what we did with the Director's Cut of Now & Then, where there was an extended epilogue after Jack dies in the school, we're toying with a scenario where John dies, and the others make it out. Implementing that ending might be something that happens near the end of development, just so that its existence doesn't ruin certain plot elements of the main story. We're still figuring out the logistics behind it, but it's something we're seriously entertaining.
I'll admit to having some negative opinions on "You're Dead" endings and fail states in visual novels, mostly landing in the territory that they're often a waste of time when someone can just roll back to/reload the last autosave. There isn't a level of true anxiety from the gamer about it. So, if we do it, there should be something painful--emotionally--to make it stick. That's why the No One end in TID was so melancholic. (I wanted to mention other media that follow a similar arc, but that would really dip into spoiler territory for movies/games that you're not expecting, and that isn't cool to do.)
Thank you for your patronage and interest,-Kinderfeld