Status Update #82

Hey, everyone! I have an exciting status report for you today.

Today's cover image is from the second Grind'm scenario featuring NC17's twin, Trevor. I chose this one because, like them, we're on the cusp of being ready to get down to business.

Which is to say that I'm only a few days away from done with the next update, meaning it's just about ready to go into early access here on Patreon! I'm going to do what I haven't in a while and give a timeframe, which I'm estimating to be within the next week or so, potentially before July ends.

I'm giving myself that extra time because of what I mentioned last time—I'm facilitating a house move. That's actually happening over the next several days. I'm not moving myself, but I do have some friends moving in with me, so that's gonna take up some of my time.

But hey, even despite that, we're close! I'm looking forward to sharing some of what I've been working on since the last update.

The new update is primarily focused on releasing a new Grind'm scenario, which I've been creating alongside what I know is the much more anticipated story update to follow. It's now almost time to turn my attention entirely to it, so let's do an overview of what all it entails.

The Getting to Know You Update, Part 1

I've posted lots of bits and pieces about this across multiple status reports, so first let me sum up what it is.

The Road Ahead

The game is divided into narrative chunks that each cover a common theme. Beginning with the Morning After Update, the story has entered what I refer to as Week 1. The theme of this week is "getting to know you," letting you get a chance to better know each guy as an individual as well as figure out who your Connor is shaping up to be.

I wrote more about the weeks to follow in Status Update #70. Check out "The Overall Plan" section of that post to get the lowdown on how the rest of the game is organized.

The post that followed, Status Update #71, further goes into how Week 1 itself is portioned out. Each of the upcoming Getting to Know You updates highlight a few specific guys (though everyone else will still be present in some form).

The guys being highlighted in the next story update are Matt and Evan with a lesser focus on Marco and Leo.

Content Breakdown

This first Getting to Know You update is divided up into five distinct sections:

• The immediate follow-up to the end of the Morning After Update

• A transition between the last day you've played and the next

• A hangout with Evan

• A transition between that hangout and the next

• A hangout with Matt

Those transitions are spots where you'll have interactions with the non-featured guys to do things like set up future hangouts or have run-ins to keep furthering your relationship. For example, the second transition will include Owen, and under certain circumstances, Isaiah.

I've already done a fair bit of planning and writing for these sections. To see discussions on that and related flowcharts, check out these posts:

• Status Update #78 for Matt's section

• Status Update #79 for the opening, which also involves Marco

• Status Update #80 for Evan's section

Dev Builds

In the past I've released early, incomplete versions of story updates as a preview of what's to come, as well as act as milestones along the road to a release. I call these versions "dev builds."

I'll be doing the same with this update. There will be two dev builds before the final release. The first will be the opening, potentially with some of the next day. The second will be the full day transition leading to Evan's hangout and the hangout itself. Then the final release will include the rest.

Dev builds will only be available to Senior and Graduate patrons, but for everyone else, they'll still serve as way to gauge how quickly things are (or aren't) coming along.

I won't be including it today, but beginning with the next Status Update post I'll include a list of all the components needed for each build. Each Status Update to follow will show what has been completed since the last post.

I no longer give out time frames or dates for a release until I'm 100% certain I can meet the deadline, so this list will serve as a way to gauge that for yourself.

Additions and Fixes

There will continue to be other work going into the game beyond just creating the story content. I'll be adding back in some cut content, revising some art, and make coding adjustments to fix stuff I did incorrectly way back when I started the game.

Additional Planning

What's above covers the plan for the next update, but I am also continuing to plot the course of the full game. I thought I'd highlight some of that today by focusing in Hookup Levels and how I'm organizing progression.

Hookup Levels are a behind the scenes calculation that determines what all you encounter when it comes to sexual situations. In outlining the Getting to Know You Update, Part 1 I realized I needed to refine my plans for that.

Initially I laid it all out in a big grid, which looked like this:

Each row was a different Hookup Level, and each character's box had a list of how they could progress further down as they made choices during that chunk of the game.

Trying to make one for subsequent sections of the game made it messy and hard to follow. So now I've given each guy his own dedicated flowchart that makes it easier to plan and then follow the plan later on.

I'm gonna zoom in close on one of these to give a clearer look at what this involves and how it affects your playthrough.

This portion is a big spoiler for Evan's hangout, so skip ahead if you would rather wait to play it yourself.

Evan's Hookup Level Progression

Here's how his chart looks up through Week 1:

During the content you've already played, it's possible to reach Hookup Level 2 one of two ways:

• Reciprocate his drunken kiss and/or watch over him after the party ends

• Him seeing you naked the morning after hooking up with Julian

During his upcoming hangout, it's possible to go all the way up to Hookup Level 3 regardless of any prior choice. Your starting point and the choices needed to advance are just different.

But I wanted to reward players who dedicated a lot of time in Evan, which was one of the sticking points when I was outlining Evan's section. Using this chart, I decided that I'd add a modifier to Hookup Level 3—you must meet the requirements of the first bullet point above to go beyond that during this sequence.

Basically, while helping Evan make a profile, you can potentially go as far as trading blowjobs. You'll be able to go even farther if you focused in on Evan prior to this hangout, representing him trusting you more. It also unlocks a "quickie" situation you otherwise won't encounter.

Following the flow of this chart, I can better plan the requirements for increasing Evan's hookup path. For instance, at Hookup Level 5 you can start encountering threesomes, but the third guy also needs to be at or above that level. Knowing specifically when that's possible helps me decide on other events in the game and brainstorm scenarios.

As a side note, it's kind of wild that Evan of all people will be the first guy in the game you can have a full hookup with. It comes from his origin as a hookup character who only recently got upgraded to a romance character!

There is more to this hangout than just sex stuff, though. So even if you just want to hang out with Evan without getting frisky, there will be fun stuff to see.

Guide Preview

The upcoming relationship guide has a section that goes into the mechanics of the game. If any of you are curious about Hookup Levels and other things going on behind the scenes, here's a preview you can check out!

Relationship Guide Preview - Mechanics

Itch.io

Lastly, I wanted to comment on events over on Itch. If you're unaware, Itch abruptly delisted all adult games. This was done due demands from Visa and MasterCard, which those companies did in response to anti-porn activist groups.

You can read Itch's update on this by clicking here.

I figured something like this was coming, which is why I spent time adding in content toggles earlier this year. If they actually audit games like they say, I do fit within their acceptable parameters, so I should hopefully be relisted at some point.

I assume many of you only found the game because its presence on Itch, so needless to say, losing that platform isn't great. If you want to follow along with the game's progress, I encourage you to follow me on Bluesky, as well as here on Patreon if you decide to end patronage.

Anyway, on that delightful note, that's all I have for today. I hope everyone has a good weekend!