Hey! It's Kyle, developer of Emily is Away. I've gotten a lot of questions about development, features and the release date recently, so here's a post about all of that!
Earlier this year I was hoping for a release in 2019, but as you may have guessed from this post's existence, the game isn't ready yet. This is for a bunch of reasons that I'll detail below, but the tldr; is I want to make Emily is Away <3 the best it can be. I currently still have the last chapter to write, along with a ton of editing, polishing and play-testing. My release window is looking like Summer 2020 (I know, I really thought my indie game would be done before Cyberpunk). Let's get into why.
Facenook Features
Facenook is way more than just chat. You can write statuses, post on friend's walls, and get into poke wars. There's note surveys, event pages, and 3rd party apps to explore. All of these new features tie back into the narrative and the way you use them will effect your playthrough. This is a major change from previous Emily games that were almost entirely chat-based. As you might suspect implementing these new features took some time. I also wanted to design narrative scenarios where each feature could really shine. It would feel disingenuous to create a version of Facenook that didn't have all these different avenues for interaction. And personally, I remember all these features vividly. Posting an edgy status, reading a crush's note, flirting via poke war, these are all part of our memories of Facenook. They needed to be a part of Emily <3.
I'm not an Artist
Photos were a huge part of highschool Facenook. You had profile photos, tagged photos, mobile uploads, and even selfies (though they weren't called that at the time). I knew for accuracy's sake, Emily <3 would have a ton of pictures. And narratively speaking, photos are super versatile! I can use them to show events in between chapters, social dynamics of your friend group, even how relationships change over time. The only problem is, I am not an artist. It takes me a long time to make these photos. Not to mention that due to branching paths, a typical playthrough won't even see half of them!
The Narrative™
Like most game sequels, Emily <3 is bigger than it's predecessor. But maybe unlike most game sequels, Emily <3 is bigger than both it's predecessors combined. This time around there are more endings, more branching paths, and more meaningful choices to screw up decide. I really wanted to tell a story that was quintessentially Facenook. This meant involving more than just Emily and Evelyn in the narrative. The choices you make along the way will not only effect your relationships with them, but your entire friend group as a whole. Right now there are 5 characters with conversations, 6 distinct endings, and a ton of different ways to get there!
Thank you for the support!
And thanks for reading! Still want to help out? Please wishlist Emily <3 if you haven't, that really helps with discoverability and other algorithmy-metrics. Oh! And I still need usernames to help populate the 2008 internet! You can add yours in this form. They'll be shown on different websites in the game like YouToob - Toobcast Yourself
