Howdy-ho!! It's been one week since you looked at me the demo's release, so I thought that was a good enough amount of time to slide on through with my thoughts on things and my plans moving forward! 

First, let's take a look at some stats!

In our first week alone, we garnered 300+ views and 32 downloads!! (6 of these downloads were for the Bio Cards, so it's more like 26, but whatever!)

We also got 5 ratings, and currently our average rating is sitting at 4.8!!!

That's honestly WONDERFUL and a lot better than I thought we'd fare in just the first week, so I just want to give a big thank you to you al!!

So, with this in mind, what are the plans for the game moving forward?

Well, if you saw the segment I put at the end of the demo, you'll know that I actually have big plans for the game already, and definitely want to see it move forward! I'm already extending my feelers to some friends who have been a big help with the project so far and coming up with a sort of volunteer dev team, so that I'm not shouldering a lot of the work alone, as what's coming up next will be a substantial addition.

Let's consider the alpha demo setting our toes in the water, yeah? So let me recap what I said in the bit at the end of it.

My plans for the game will be to chop the game up into three (though technically four) routes. Each route will take you to a vastly different location and explore details about the world that are laid out in the demo while also touching upon how each of the characters tie into these things.

Buckle up, these are some big explanations.

The main three routes are as follows:

First up we have the Fae route, which, as you can obviously tell, covers the beings known as the Fae. Just why do they hate mortals so much? What association with them do Inky and Jacques have? 

While on the Fae route, you'll also encounter one of the gods of Torja: Ysen, the god of all things Fae. Ysen is very much a tricky sort, liking to make games out of even the most horrific of situations, but when they set their eyes on Greg, something much more venomous begins to unfurl... They seem to have a grudge against him, specifically, but how is that even possible when Greg's never even seen a Faerie?

Along the way, you'll have to deal with things like a herd of hostile unicorns, man-eating bugs, and even coming face-to-face with doppelgangers! All on top of the death game, which seems to not care about a change in location--How could that be? 

A lot of character design work has gone into this route, namely for the heads of the Fae courts

Now... Hold on a moment... Why are there five heads, you may be asking, when there are only four seasons?

Well, while I am taking inspiration from a few other things using Fae courts, namely basing each court on a season, in Torja, the seasons work a little bit differently than they do for us on Earth.

You can read about that, as well as info on each of the court heads, over on this tumblr post!!

Now, let's move on to the next route...

The Great Sea route!

I shouldn't have to tell you that you'll be going to the Great Sea in this route, and that it will primarily focus on Umi and Leau, yeah? But did you know it will also focus on the sociopolitical aspects of Torja, such as the Great Sea's relation to other kingdoms and Gigglox's as well?

In the Great Sea route, you'll actually learn about the true state of the Great Sea, which has seemingly remained peaceful and amicable to its neighbors, but hides a certain darkness beneath its waves.

In truth, not everything is as calm as the waters it occupies, and as a result, you may actually come face-to-face with the royal family to try and settle things.

You'll also get to learn more about the family Umi left behind! She touched upon why she left in the demo, but it's in this route you'll learn the full details, and perhaps also understand why Leau has such a grudge against her.

For the Great Sea route, I'm trying to come up with a few different races, and preferably some that don't stick to the same bipedal template. You know of Ikalings, Lapaquins, and Anemorites already, but I'm toying around with a more fish-like race as well!

And this route isn't without its godly appearance as well. Here we have Netuna, the goddess of water, who has been said to be sleeping below the Great Sea for centuries. Out of all the relevant gods, she definitely took the longest to nail down in terms of appearance, but I finally settled on something I like for her!

I have quite a couple tricks planned for this route, too, should I get Ren'py to cooperate. If it works the way I'd like it to, then you'll be seeing a whole different form of text in this route!! But I'll keep that secret for now ;3c

Finally, let's turn to the last of the main three routes...

The Magic route.

Already in this image we have a lot going on, but let's back up a little bit.

Magic is a force that is regarded with wariness throughout the mortal population. Most races cannot use it naturally, and have had it used against them in horrific ways. Most mortals who can use magic have gained it through association with the gods, whether willingly or not. As a result, their power may not even been within their control, leading to a lot of deadly accidents.

But it's pretty clear we have some magic-users in the jester group, so... Why? Does Eucidyes know? Surely he does, right? Barisol doesn't exactly keep it secret, after all. Isn't it dangerous?

In this route, we'll be focusing moreso on the backstories of some characters, as their relationship with magic is quite interesting. Barisol and Pragma were both affected by the gods, but in different ways, and how they make use of their powers now are in a stark contrast to each other.

Then there's the matter of Vega, who is of a race literally made of magic. His views on it are quite different, but he's still aware of the wariness others hold. How will this shape things as they go on? Will we see an epic fight between magical forces as opposing parties duke it out?? I sure hope so!!!

This one is still a bit loose in the central storyline that will tie things together, admittedly. The Great Sea route has the issues within the sea, and the Fae route has the matter of the Fae, but I'm still unsure the main thing that would drive this and bring up the aforementioned points. But, that'll probably change as I write stuff, so!

I mentioned that there are technically four routes, but all I'll say in regards to that are two things: 

- The fourth route is considered the 'true' route,  and will only be playable when you finish the other three routes.

- The fourth route is called the 'Godly' route, and what it focuses on should be pretty clear with that name!

SO, with all that out of the way, what does this hold for moving forward?

Simply put, I think the next aim will be to update the demo to Alpha 2.0, in which I will be including the first chapters of each of these three routes. These chapters will probably be around the same length as the demo, but hopefully with more content since a good chunk of the demo was taken up by interviews. I won't be implementing anything that changes the route depending on the order you go in for these--These single chapter things are supposed to be a taste of what to expect!

That being said, with this decision, certain things in the demo WILL be changing as a result, since I would like it to reflect my actual plans for the full game. 

So, I will be upfront and say that Caramilla will not be the one to die in the full game. 

I sort of pulled a Danganronpa, admittedly, having a different character die than the one I originally planned. I felt it would be kind of appropriate, leaning into that death flag trope, but Caramilla has so much more to offer the game than dying right out the gate.

"Who is going to die, then?" You may be asking?? Well... That's a secret! It wouldn't be fair if I spoiled that for you guys! You'll just have to wait until Alpha 2.0 is out!!

As for the timeframe on that, I'll say there isn't one. The alpha 1.0, as I'm now calling it, was a bit of a crunch, with me racing against a personal deadline and fighting against a hand I very much should have rested a lot more often than I did. But with that now out on the date I wanted it to be, I'm going to not only try to take things at a much slower pace, but I'll be trying to divide some of the work between me and friends who are volunteering to help out. As such, there's no estimate for when that will be done at this point in time--But I will be providing major updates both here and on the game's social medias!

I suppose that's it for all this? Thanks for letting me talk your ear off... Or would it be typing your eyes out? Anyway, yeah!

So if you like what I have in store and want to see the game improve and grow, please consider spreading the word, leaving a rating and/or comment, and just make it known!! I can't wait to show you more of what I have planned for this world, guys!!!