Hello there Steam people!
Can't believe it has been such a long time again...But a lot has happened recently and while some news are good, others are kinda neutral. No bad news so far though, so I guess that is good, right?
First, the Steam page for the prequel is currently being checked by valve. The weekend is inbetween, so I expect that it will be approved tomorrow ( Monday, the 27th ). Then you will be able to wishlist the game and get all the info you need. I also put a little #faq there where I explain why the prequel exists and what my plans going forward.
So the good news is that the court case where I was the victim is done now. The four culprits that are there ( since the main culprit fled to thailand ) got sentenced to quite decently long jail times - The highest was six years and ten months. The chances that the main culprit decides to come back to Germany on his own are basically zero now, but according to the german press there is a chance that interpol might get involved ( not just because of the case where I'm the victim, the dude did horrible things before that ).
The more neutral news is that there are still no real news regarding my confiscated equipment. There are some things that I learned that I'm not allowed to share publicly yet, mainly because it involves the case files that I only am supposed to talk about with my lawyer. One thing I can say is though that yes, this game will also be reviewed by the german law enforcement. Since the game is super public and available on Steam and in the normal internet in general, I have zero doubts that this will end positively for me, though. I have all the rights on my side. But I might have to rally some of you amazing people to speak out your support for this game if it comes to that.
Now before I talk about Chapter 4, I want to address a few things that have happened recently. I know that I should not pay attention to these people but I feel like just letting their comments stand in the room without saying anything to is is also wrong. No, I'm not working on the prequel for a quick cash grab. No, I'm not working on the prequel because I lost my character files or anything like that. No, I'm not working on the prequel because I have no idea where to go with the Story etc, quite the opposite actually. The only reason I even started to work on the prequel is so I can keep improving my rendering and writing skills. I could have made a completely new game with a different name etc, but I'm always trying to be as transparent as possible, even if it means telling you people about details that are rather private. Trust me on this, though. There is not a single person out in this world that is more angry about the fact I can't work on the main game right now than me.
Okay, now let's talk a little about Chapter 4. Obviously my work is more on the prequel right now, but while the images for that are rendering I always find the time to continue work on Chapter 4. With Anna being awake my brain is basically flooded with new events and things I want to do in the game. Not only that, the addition with Karla, Caroline and Emily opened up so many possibilities for me. The hot step mom, the cute half sisters...The options are pretty big. Then there is the situation with Sarah that needs addressing, Jessica who went missing because of anger the MC is not at fault for. My mind is still there, even though I'm going through some horrible shit right now, but my creativity never has been stronger, I feel like.
And a big part of that is also the fact that I'm working on the prequel. The girls you meet there ( I decided that all of them will appear in the main game at some point ) can be integrated so well into the main story. A lot of the things the MC experienced regarding his work life can also be explained with things that happened in the prequel. The fact that I can tie them together this well and that people who never played the main game will still have fun with the prequel makes me happy. This and the fact that so many of you amazing people have my back are the things that keep me sane. Because I was in a very dark place again around two weeks ago, when I had a call with my lawyer. Now thinks are looking better again and I'm never going to give up.
To end this very long post I'll give you guys a few more teasers from the prequel. As soon as the prequel page is live I will make another announcement, like I said. There is also going to be a trailer. Sorry about the delay on this, I completely forgot how much you have to do to set up a Steam page.
