Hi folks,
I hope everyone is doing OK and life is treating you well.
A couple of quick announcements before I get into my Season 2 update:
Discord / Patreon sync:
There seemed to have been a syncing issue between my Patreon and discord, but it should be fixed now, so patrons should get assigned the relevant roles in my discord. For anyone who is on discord, but not yet on my channel, you can check it out here:
Playtesters / Beta testers for Season 2:
I am looking for more playtesters / Beta testers for Season 2 (not just the demo - all chapters as we complete them). If you are interested, please let me know. Playtesting really only works (for real-time communication) via discord, so I'm mostly looking for Patreon Patrons who are on discord as using the Patreon messaging system to discuss playtesting would be pain. However, I will consider non-discord for a select few patrons who really want to beta test but don't want to use discord, but this will be limited to higher tiers or long-term patrons only. Please send me a DM on discord (preferred option and open to $5 patrons or above) or Patreon ($15+ patrons or long-term patrons) if you would like to get involved in testing.
Season 2 demo:
I have added a mobile version (android) of the Season 2 demo to the same folder as the Windows / MAC version. Just a reminder that I don't create (or support) the android version - It's created by a third-party with no affiliation with me.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EXr0FgHYyv0tUj5_n5BMPsGGrQ6Sx8zU?usp=sharing
For those who have played the demo, your demo saves SHOULD be compatible with the full season 2 release.
Also... the Season 2 demo can also be played via the season 2 page on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3345130/Where_the_Heart_is_Season_2/
Season 2 will be available on Patreon, so I know a lot of folks won't need to purchase on Steam, but even if you never intend on purchasing via Steam, I would be very grateful if you could just add it to your wishlist. This costs you nothing, but it will help me out a lot as the more wishlists agame has, the more visibility it gets on Steam.
Season 2 Progress:
Remember... Season 2 will have 6 Chapters and these will cover the original episodes from episode 11 up to episode 17/18.
I've already covered this question, but I'll mention it again: People have asked if Season 1 covered the first TEN episodes of the original, why doesn't season 2 cover the next TEN (instead of 7 or 8). The reason for this is because as the episodes progressed, they got much bigger and bigger. For example episode 11 was twice as big as episode 1. Episode 14 was THREE times as big. Episode 15 was FOUR times bigger, etc. Episde 25 was almost 40 (Yes FORTY) times bigger than episode 1. 😊 So, don't worry Season 2 covers less episodes than Season 1, but it will have MORE content.
Regarding Season 2 progress, we had a really good week and we are still on track to have the first 4 Chapters complete (and the fifth chapter well under way) by the end of June. We have decided to add more content to the photoshoot scene (this will happen in the 4th episode) as we felt it was a little lacking, so we are currently adding more art & script to improve the re-do versus the original and we are adding some new parts (that weren't in the original at all). This is in progress, but it's going well and it shouldn't effect us closing everything off for the fourth chapter before the end of June.
Since last month, C3nturion has paused working on art for the epilogue (Heaven and Elizabeth) and has switched all his focus to working with me on the script of Season 2. I am still spending about 80% of my time on Season 2 script, and about 20% on Season 2 art, while Cell is 100% on art. The three of us have a good system going and things are working well.
The only issue I have at the moment is figuring out exactly what scenes we squeeze into Season 2. I have an exact moment in my head to end at in Season 2 (it will happen somewhere just AFTER the carnival scene from episode 18). However, if I put in every scene from episode 11 to the carnival scene in episode 18, this will make season 2 too big. Season 2 will be a bigger than season 1 anyway, but I don't want it TOO big where we have to add an extra chapter and potentially take another month or two to re-do. So I am going to stick with my ending point, but I might need to trim one or two scenes from the original, just to make sure everything fits. I am already moving scenes around to improve the flow of the whole game and to fit in new stuff (I did the same thing in Season 1), and I won't completely cut any major scenes, but I am currently considering tweaking some scenes to make everything fit.
This includes moving ONE scene to Season 3 (where it will fit better and I'll be able to add a lot more depth). I am also considering cutting one scene completely, because on review, it just seems like a "filler" scene to squeeze in some interaction with one of the girls in between major scenes, so I think Season 2 will work better without it. And thirdly, I might have to tweak a couple of scenes to remove some stuff that is no longer relevant or has already been covered in previous upgraded scenes. But I'm still looking at options, so I'll keep you posted...
In the meantime, here are some teasers, and please scroll to the bottom for this month's 4K poll. I'm not sure what theme to go for this month (bikini, lingeri, nude, fantasy, etc.), so let me know in the comments if you have any suggestions.
Thanks,
CG