Another Friday. (It's crazy how fast the weeks fly by when you use something like weekly devlogs to mark the rollover occasion.)
All things considered, I'm well, and I hope the same for all of you.
I've been working my butt off (Almost literally, I think I need a new chair to work from) to get the next release ready, and it looks like we should have a Beta Test version ready by next week Friday.
Storywise, we've added Lochem's long-awaited intimate content. (Around 8K words), as well as a follow-up scene for Lebeny, Kiaria, Khalil and another hidden one. (Around 1K words each). We've also added the first of many true friendship routes for Lochem (Another 1k words - thanks to all of you who pointed out the lacking content for friendship routes). And then there is the episode wrap-up! (Another 3.5K words). Lastly, I've started to add some other feedback changes to the story, like the ones suggested by Nibblatious on Steam. This will be an ongoing process.
Artwise, we've added the new sprites for 16 characters. There might still be some weird expression issues in the older content, so if you come across anything, let me know so we can fix them! Tae has already started working on the new characters for Episode 4.
Background-wise, Stoffies, has steadily been pumping out new (and replacement) backgrounds, and some of you might even have caught one of his Discord streams and watched along while he drew.
(link to gif with another new BG since Steam and Imugr aren't getting along...)
Trix has been invaluable in helping me speed up the dev progress, and she's the reason why I'm able to have the Beta Version nearly ready for all of you.
What's next?
Episode 4, which I've already started writing. But first, player-made mods and content, and a taste of the free-form ship exploration!
Still a work in progress, but you can probably spot a few new locations.
A final shout-out to each and every one of my patrons and followers. None of this would be possible without you, and I love all of you to bits! Thanks for being there and for giving me a reason to continue creating Infinite Stars.
Have a fantastic, peaceful weekend!