0.40 Reflection and 0.41 Preview

Hey, perverts! I'm very glad to be able to work steadily again. I'm keeping burnout and general health in mind, so while my ongoing work might not be as rapid as it's sometimes been, I hope to keep it more reliable.

I recently polled the Center of Attention patrons about how they feel regarding pledge rewards. They mostly seemed pleased with what is currently on offer (which isn't too surprising, since I was polling folks who are active pledges), but one thing that seemed welcome was access to a "cheat mode" that would let you easily skip around on subsequent playthroughs. I'll figure out how I want to update pledge benefits soon, including maybe adding a higher tier for some more niche rewards. If there's a benefit that you would like to see offered in exchange for upping your pledge, please let me know in the comments or via DM!

Reflecting on Hands and Flesh

The first fully-post-hiatus release went well, I think! I liked the bit of night music I added -- I think it's a good balance of sexy and creepy -- and I'm eager to get the final piece of music written.

I also added the ability to pierce the player character, which was a patron request! I hadn't initially considered it when I added Theresa's piercings, since the player character is barely ever visible, but I should have realized that it's still rewarding to roleplay such things even if they don't show up much. Thus, you and Theresa can now get matching tongue studs!

There were a few bug fixes in there. I hadn't realized that the act title cards had stopped working, and there were other issues that y'all kindly pointed out. One tricky bit was the issue I felt the need to hotfix: I straight up forgot to put a proper condition on a prompt for the (unfinished) endgame. It was hard to notice for folks who were already caught up, but for players just starting out, they could ask Theresa a question that was a bit spoilery. That wasn't hard to fix, but I definitely wish I'd caught it before release.

Next Release

The next release might not be out by the end of the week; we'll see.

The big chunk of writing will be the final basic NPC hookup: Pappy. It's a fun scene that can go a couple of ways: nothing too flashy, but it'll make the town experience feel more complete to me. The writing there is coming along fine.

I've got a small collection of fixes and enhancements to do, some of which incorporate new art drawn for the graduation orgy and some of which are filing down some rough edges in the game.

I'm actively planning my next horror expedition, which will be pretty weird and draw from both Scandinavian folklore and a nightmarish 1985 children's movie. Unless I end up hyperfocusing and hammering it all out in a fugue state, it'll probably end up in the release after next.

Please share word of the game to any friends or communities you think would enjoy it! I'd also appreciate a follow on Twitter, where I'm @PhanesDionysos ; retweeting release tweets there would be a big help! As always, I love to hear what you think about the game and any suggestions you might have. You can comment on these posts, PM me on Patreon, or write: phanes@phanes.me