My butt ugly roadmap again

Greetings, Ladies and Gentlemen,
First and foremost, let me express my heartfelt gratitude for your overwhelming support on this update. Your feedback and encouragement are the greatest sources of motivation we could ask for, and my team and I are thrilled to deliver on your expectations.

To kick things off, I’ve brought this artistic masterpiece once more to talk about what’s coming next.
⚠ WARNING: This post contains minor spoilers from the last update! Proceed at your own peril! ⚠

Main Storylines 
The first recruitment arc, Velvet Vanguard, is now complete. It should give everyone a clear sense of how we plan to handle future storylines. This arc highlighted key members of the cast—Stella, Emi, and Opal—who were placed in a situation that enabled them to help recruit a certain group to join forces with Gina.
Looking ahead, the second arc will primarily focus on Jade, Akari, and 1–2 new characters essential to the faction's development. Some factions may already be familiar, while others will only get introduced, but each will play a meaningful role in the overarching story. Much like the first arc, Gina will have a presence in the main events while other activities unfold throughout the town. This allows characters not central to the arc to shine in their own way. In total, I’ve planned 3–4 recruitment arcs before moving into the final act.

Growing Girls
With an expanded roster of girls, the opportunities for growth—and fun—multiply. However, this also increases the workload significantly. Our goal is to have these factions grow, but at a slower pace than the main cast. The distinction between the primary characters and supporting ones will remain clear. Some characters might get smaller growth scenes (like Emi’s in the last update) if we come up with a particularly fun or lewd idea.
However, not every character will have a dedicated growth moment during every story progression. This ensures the main storyline advances at a good pace without being bogged down by too many side scenes.

Dating Mechanics 
In this update, nearly every character had a chance to build affection. We've also outlined the "front lines" of who might end up with whom. While the mechanics aren’t fully set, the current idea is to designate Saturday evenings as "date days." During these evenings, unlocked dating events will play out based on Gina’s previous choices.
To maintain balance and progression, there might be "filler" events (e.g., Gina and Jade visit a festival in town and enjoy waffles: +0.5 affection). These smaller moments would give the romance a more organic feel as relationships develop a bit "off-screen", but would still lead to fully written scenes at key points.

Next Updates 
Update 6.1: A smaller update that wraps up the storylines from Update 6. We’ll see Xici's trial and implement Gina's growth to Lvl 6 scene, although she won’t yet get the chance to show off her new strength in the open world. Development time for this update should be relatively short.

Update 6.2: This update will delve into Susan’s arc once more, focusing on the events taking place in the depths of Lab 1. Once again, this update will be exclusively available to patrons.

Update 7: The next major update will unlock the open world for Lvl 6 Gina, feature multiple growth-scenes across the cast and kick off the second recruitment arc. We have a lot of groundwork to cover, including refining the combat system to accommodate a fourth ally. That said, preliminary work for this update is already underway.

Thank you all again for your incredible support and enthusiasm. It means the world to me and my team. We’re steadily moving toward the finish line and can’t wait to share what’s next.
Have a wonderful week, and we’ll keep in touch.
Kind regards, the Don and his basement dwellers