Oh my, it's still growing!

I'm talking about the 1.8 update, yep. And that's both bad and good news at the same time. But before that...

... October, by and large, was pretty productive. Some nasty stuff tried to distract me but failed, so the draft (which is the basic element of any update, like 60-70% of work) kept growing and growing and... still growing.

And here's the “bad” news. In the announcement of the 1.8 update, I assumed it would be the standard ~100k words (which is roughly equivalent to ~300 pages of draft). Well... the 300-page draft point I passed a few days ago and found myself... about halfway through the plan. Yep, oopsie. I suspect this update's final draft will be around ~450-500 pages. That's a lot, yeah. That's a big update coming out. I don't quite know how to get it done by the end of November like I'd hoped before, but I can see two ways:

• 1. Cut everything that can be done without. And reconfigure the planned events a bit. Then it will be possible to make it to the end of November. But some of the previous preparations, figuratively speaking, will hang in the air and lead to nothing. That's the price.

• 2. Do everything in full, and let the update will be released... when it will be released. But it will have a lot of content.

There will not be a vote on this matter. From experience with previous votes of this nature, I will assume that most of the patrons will anyway vote for “more content, we'll wait”. So I thought I'd let you know in advance that November is no longer a hard deadline. But the update will also be well over the line of the notional “medium size”. Of course, size, ahem, is not the main thing, the main thing is technique. And it's even better if it's both. And I hope this will be the case.

This is that good and bad news at the same time. The update is going to be bigger by a factor of two than I originally expected. But you, the players, will also have to wait longer.

Why is it still growing?

Sex! Oh, sorry, I should have given an introduction and all... Well, there's such a point in the chapter and the story as a whole where Selene can go all wild. Probably the first time she's ever been able to do it to this extent. Well, one beautiful woman surrounded by a lot of men around her... You don't have to worry too much about spoilers to already know where all this is going just by the very logic of events.

You also know that despite its deep optionality, the lewd scenes in Inner Empire are very detailed, with lots of choices, integration with other events, and wide room for roleplay. If it were just a porn game, it would be a lot easier for me:

- Hey, I need to get my pipes cleaned right away!
- Don't worry, lady, I'm gonna clear all your pipes.
  Oh, they're already having sex...

Motivation? Well, she needs her pipes cleaned... Character development? Well, she's a housewife and he's a handyman with a big tool. Rationale? Well, she's got a deep cleavage and he's got, uh, big tool again? Yeah, whatever, let them fuck already! It's porn, and porn is a utilitarian thing. It's not consumed for the story.

Here we go. That's what I try my best not to do. In fact, the only sex scene in my game where sex happens after a single conversation is the Barnabas scene. And, actually, it's a prostitution scene, which doesn't need much elaboration, since that one lewd scene is based on a goods and money transaction. Hmm... so that's why in so many adult games, the female protagonists so often are prostitutes... Saves the authors so much trouble... Hell, I should have made Selene a prostitute! Like, a brothel simulator! I'm sure no one's ever thought of that before!

Haha, well seriously, to give you a better understanding, the “crown” scene of this kind in the next update includes not only a whole series of scenes bringing up the events but also has two different versions with different lines and reactions to the main sequence to it. But that's not all. It also has an alternative, where the main version of the scene is canceled, but is split into two more event sequences and can therefore lead to two different lewd scenes. With a continuation. Or not. Because the variations where Selene avoids all the lewd stuff are also worked out (fans playing as a demure virgin should appreciate this).

On a separate note, I'll add that one of these variations is... Well, usually when I do a scene I feel something like, “Okay, this fits, good enough”, but in this case, I feel more like “Oh shit, I love this!”. You know, sometimes Selene can be a weirdo (and other characters note it), but in this case, it's no longer just a weirdo, oh no, there's another level of weirdness here, like, level 2, Nutty. By the way, this sequence of events will be quite difficult to find, it's located where you're unlikely to look for it, so consider it... a secret scene. Ooh, seeecret scene! Ha ha, I'm gonna regret writing that, aren't I? Oh, crap. By the way, this nutty variation will not be available for a virgin. I just can't imagine justifying something like this on behalf of an innocent girl. Yes, that was a clue hidden in that wall of text. There will be no more. Come on, read on, don't linger here. Secret scenes? Don't know what you talkin' about.

And all of the above refers to only one such sequence of events. There will be approximately four such sequences in total. The others are smaller, though. But I still don't know how many will actually come out, if you count each individual variation as a scene. That's why there are already variations that were not in the plans and which were added on a whim and by the influence of a lecherous muse. Like that nutty one.

That's how it turns out, month after month, and instead of a release, the update keeps getting bigger and bigger. And all because of... Sex!

Is there going to be anything other than this?

Will be. You will have the opportunity to get to know one of the main characters much better. Many things about that character will fall into place. For better or worse. This will be especially true if you're good at picking up hints in conversations and find one such hint in one of the branches of dialog with that character in a very... remarkable place. And in quite remarkable circumstances, hee hee.

Plus, all those “accompanying” scenes that might lead to lewd things might as well not lead to them (depending on your choice), and because of that they shouldn't be “useless” anyway. Lore insertion here. A character revelation there. A build-up of exposition here and there. And somewhere all together. Though, yes, overall this update may be considered as a vacation one, in many ways. Just relax. Nothing bad is going to happen... Gotcha! Ha ha, I'm just messing with your expectations. Or am I? One day you will know ;)

I'll also probably shift the originally planned final update point to a little earlier. Maybe. Or, as my sister likes to say, “Maybe for sure”. It's not critical this time though. Just, there won't be a ringing cliffhanger at the end, since those events will be entirely in the next update. It might even be better this way. I'm just at a loss as to how to manage to cram these events into the current update, which is already very sprawling. At least in any reasonable time frame.

A little look into the future.

The second chapter has already turned out much, much bigger than I originally envisioned. For those who don't know - the numbering of updates is in whole numbers for the finished chapter. That is, 1.0 is the full first chapter, 2.0 is the full second chapter, and so on. So I'll have 2 updates left to complete the second chapter, and considering how much I still have to stuff into it... I don't know, I might have to release some intermediate 0.5 update (after this one) or something, but it'll be a standard-sized update, not a half-sized one. There's more of a slip in my estimation of the amount of work involved. And a tendency to add things under inspiration that weren't in the original plans. Or... the two remaining updates will be very large. And long in development accordingly. Still not sure about that, so I keep you guys informed just in case.

I'm also already thinking about reconfiguring the end-of-chapter event sequence. Well, a long time ago, before I even fully started working on Chapter 2, I made artwork for an entire location where all the events of the chapter were supposed to take place. At that time, the road to Amarath took up two full chapters in my plans. But then I changed my mind and that whole location went into the reserve. There is a good chance that this location will be the final location of the second chapter. With different characters and different events from what was originally planned for it. This will save me a lot of time and “squeeze” the events into what turned out to be a very appropriate place. With a good space for exploration.

By the way, if you will scroll down my posts for a long time, you will find an archived folder with the arts of this location. There is only a part of its art. The most interesting thing I removed from there even then. It's a good thing I intuitively thought of that. This is going to be a surprise. For the most curious explorers. There are a few things that still need to be done. Like the arts of the interior rooms (they're just not in existence yet) and additional exterior locations. But overall and in general, yeah, why not? It's a good place for the end of the chapter. And for Selene's first appearance as an actress. She is an actress, after all, not a wilderness wanderer. And for a lot of other things, before a time skip of a month or two of in-game time, after which Selene, perhaps even a little pregnant by then (and finding out about it), will arrive in the big city and events will take... a whole different turn.

P.S. The center art is from that very location: