Hey everyone, Lina here with a new update! 🎴🐰
Don’t worry, we know it’s been a bit since the last one, and we’re sorry for the wait between them. To be blunt, we didn’t really like how the last few had been so light on stuff to actually share, and so instead we elected to hold off until we had enough ready to be worthy of your time. We don’t intend on having another gap like this for the foreseeable future.
As alluded to though, we have a whole lot to show off for this update, so let’s get started!
As of now, our estimate for Episode 1’s current progress is 50%, which with a whole lot of hard work is actually slightly ahead of our intended pace! Here’s the breakdown:
As mentioned in the previous update, we’ll still be sending out our Backer Survey in May to collect our supporters’ reward preferences (such as choosing platforms for your game keys) in preparation for the Early Access release, so keep an eye on your inboxes then!
The biggest leap in progress since our last update is in the writing department, where we can confirm that Episode 1’s whole script is now complete! That means every line of dialogue is finalized, clocking in at a total 56,200 words with an estimated ~5 hours of playtime!
That’s a whole lot of text to read for just one Episode, right? Luckily that leads us into our next topic…
That’s right! We can officially confirm full English voice acting for Kumitantei: Old-School Slaughter! It took a lot of budgeting and logistics wizardry, but we managed to find the money to cast and pay an incredibly talented group of voice actors, courtesy of our amazing casting director Mia Paige!
We’ll be announcing our cast and their roles at a later date, but for now it’s just so exciting to be doing this at all! This was one of the big stretch goals we sadly ended up not able to hit, so to be able to follow through on it anyways is a big deal for us (and hopefully you guys are excited too)!
Next up, we’d like to share a preview of the next area you’ll be able to explore in Episode 1, the Living Quarters! Here you’ll find the cast’s dormitories, the cafeteria, the locker room, and the laundry room! Every comfort necessary for a long, eventful stay in the Bunker.
The extra fortifications should protect this level from any collapse caused by seismic activity. Maybe. Hopefully.
On a less ominous note, we’re excited to show off the second of our Retro Minigames, a classic-style space shooter called Cosmidors! Alongside Merlite, this new game will be playable as a proper arcade game in the Prize Corner, while also having unique remix challenges within the Clinical Trial!
While of course very reminiscent of games from the period, Cosmidors has a pretty unique twist with its time-warping gameplay! You’ll need to manage your warp charge alongside your missiles to be able to defeat the attacking alien fleet, and bend time itself to strike enemies that are otherwise invulnerable!
Going for high scores in the Prize Corner makes for a very fun time-sink, so we hope you’ll enjoy this new addition!
Next, we just wanna showcase a few of the new character sprites our art team has been cooking for Episode 1, particularly for Tsubaki, Hiroshi, and Kazan! They’re so expressive!
Before anyone asks, none of these sprites we’re sharing ahead of time contain spoiler content, so don’t think too hard about them!
That about wraps up everything we’ve got to talk about for now, but that doesn’t mean we’re vanishing again! Next month we’ll be sharing another beefy update, revealing the voice cast and discussing our participation in the June 2025 edition of Steam Next Fest alongside a new Demo Update!
Thank you all so much for your patience and taking the time to read this, we really hope it reassures everyone that we’re not dead and still hitting our goals.
Discord: https://discord.gg/mangofactory
Website: https://www.mangofactory.win/kumitantei
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MangoFactoryEN
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MangoFactoryEN
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Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/mangofactory