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Heyo, Youko here!
Sorry for the absence last week!😅 I was super sick from getting my second vaccine shot and it took pretty much all weekend plus the start of the week to recover.
This week officially marks the start of side missions (for me at least). While the guys are working on yet more obscure bugs, I've been preparing the finer materials so work through side missions progresses smoothly!
Right now we're looking at possibly 8 optional missions for the first free roam period of episode 3. Sierra Ops was designed as a multi-playthrough game so it's impossible to see all the missions in one run so be sure to have your saves ready or hunker down and wait for NG+ release so you can reap those NG+ bonuses (and extra content). Generally we try to have at least three new side quests per free roam, but this one is extra stuffed.
The free roam leading into chapter 4 will be the first time we introduce chain missions! Chain missions are missions that are only available if prior requirements are met. Usually this means completing an optional mission or getting a specific result during another part of the game. You can almost consider these hidden missions if you'd like since some of them are quite difficult to unlock. While they're generally not mandatory, you will want to see them if you want the best outcome possible or just to experience all the content. This also means that missions will now start featuring more dynamic elements where succeeding one step may mean another is far easier (or harder) than it could have been. These sorts of missions are quite difficult to design, balance, and write for so we hope you look forward to them.
There's not much I can reveal with spoilers, but expect a few tougher decisions coming your way.
Writing aside, we’ve started working on a few other exoframes that will appear in the game! The modeling for one of the new Ares frames is done with animation rigging being planned for this week. (Maybe even a sneak preview...?)
Lapis has also seen some more love with work being put into implementing its new development screen. We don’t have an actual screenshot to show yet, but expect a proper introduction in the monthly big update next week!
If you want to help support us, please leave a review (or update your existing one) here on Steam! We’re working hard to bring you new content as soon as possible!
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