week 5 update

progress on the current version is progressing better than expected.
it turned out that next to the first week which was released in parts, the week 5 version is the biggest update up to now.
due to the location change there's tons of backgrounds and new character videos necessary

i expect the backgrounds and story for the week should be finished within the next 48hours
while waiting for the editor feed back I'll have to do about 15 full character video sets with 200-300 frames each for the new character outfits

so if nothing unexpected happens the new version will be released by end of June

general outlook

looking at the current story progression and overall plot I plan to make the first cut in 3 or 4 further versions.
so after week 5 there will be 2 more "normal" weeks of progression and one for the travel to Tharkad. 
I'm not yet sure if the final chapter will be part of the travel or not. But after this chapter of the story will end.
This will also put a freeze on the free itch version (except necessary bugfixes)

Once that's done, there will be a minor overhaul of the version to fix some internal issues to make it easier to add extras.
While this is going on the game will be listed on steam and once done and a couple of extra scenes added it will go on early access.

During early access I'll work on the "new game+" mode for more extra content. While in the normal game the player only knows what our protagonist sees the "new game+" will feature additional scenes that happened arround the main story to add more context and background info. 
Once this is done the game will leave early access and development of the DLC will start.
The DLC will add 18+ content. Over time some scenes already teased further actions and especially with week 5 the progression on some romances are getting clearer and spicier. 

so the base game will stay here on itch as a free game as originally intended
the steam version will be definitly stay in the budget area, I guess (not set in stone yet) the early access will be arround 4-6USD, the final release arround 7-10USD max.  
For the DLC i'm not sure yet, as I'm not sure yet how much will be animated or stills. And I'm toying arround with the idea of some extra features for the night time slot that is mostly empty through the story.

on the timeline right now
i guess to finish the initial game in autumn and the steam early access should be ready before end of the year with a final relase early 2024. 

well except my editor who helps out with spell/grammar/style checks and some test players this is still a single person operation as a side hobby :) The overall success will determine how much more ressources I can put into it in future to speed up the process and also there are several more chapters waiting