Dev Note: Thank you, road map, and a favor

When I put out Build 0.1 (aka the "Demo") in early February, I had no patrons, no followers on Twitter, and no idea whatsoever if I'd be able to put together something that folks would catch anyone's interest. Not only have folks been interested, but a lot of them have been willing to step forward and help support the project financially. That's you!

Because of your support, I've invested more than $1,300 in assets and resources for BBN. While it would be great if this project starts to put some money into the bank account, that's not really the point. I'm having a lot of fun putting this together, and even more knowing that folks out there are enjoying it. So, whether you've been with me from the start or joined in the last month, THANK YOU! Your support means everything to me.

Development Road Map

Now that Build 0.4 is out for early access, I thought I'd give you an update on where I see development going from here.

• Build 0.5 -- This build is going to focus more on Nick and Ronan, picking up where the Chapters 6 and 8 cliffhangers left off. I'm also going to spend some time revising Chapter 2. I love Nick and based on an earlier poll, it looks like a lot of other people quite like him, too, but there are some folks who aren't having a great reaction to him. I think I can rework his introduction a little bit while still staying true to his character. This has the potential to be another big update, so I may break it up into two parts.
• Revised Chapter 1 -- In addition to updating Chapter 2 as part of Nick's storyline, I've learned so much in the last few months that, looking back, I feel like Chapter 1 could use an update (lighting, skin textures, some dialogue tweaks, etc.). This probably won't happen with Build 0.5, but it is on my "to do" list.
• The Next Act -- After Build 0.5, the story will turn back to Alex as he resolves how to proceed. After making his decision, we will move into the next act of the story, in which more secrets will be revealed, relationships may grow stronger and deeper, new threats exposed... and maybe sex with a shifted werewolf.
• Music -- When we reach 40 patrons, I'm going to invest in professionally produced, royalty-free music. Music can be very personal but I also think it can help convey the emotions and tone of a scene better than text alone.
• Image Gallery -- At some point, I want to incorporate an image gallery in the game. While many Ren'Py games have them, they have to be custom-coded, so this is going to take some time on my part first to even learn how to do it and then to actually implement it within the game. But I do want to have this as a feature, and probably with higher resolution PNG versions of the images you see in the game.
• Android Support -- I've been getting requests on other sites for Android support so this is something I'm looking into. Unfortunately, I've been having a lot of trouble assembling distributable builds and I also don't have an android device so I can't test the end result. It's on my radar, but lower on the priority list.

Some Possible Patron Benefits

For a month or two now, I've been wanting to give you guys a short video of what goes into creating the renders for BBN. I've actually made a few attempts at recording something but was never happy with the result. But this is something I want to do. (Note/Edit: I actually managed to put this together and release it yesterday!)

Another idea comes from a suggestion I just received, which is to host a livestream playthrough and we can chat and laugh about it, but I can also get some of your live feedback and thoughts. Fair warning:  I'll probably be drinking for that! :D

One Request:  Critical Feedback is Welcome!

While I hope you'll think about leaving a positive review on F95zone or Itch, I am sincerely committed to continually improving the quality of the project. (If you've already offered some constructive criticism, you know how sincere I am about this.) Taking a hard look at Nick's introduction and replacing some of the explicit sounds in Chapter 1 are responses to some of that feedback. And, whenever someone notes an issue in an image or a typo, I fix it immediately for inclusion in the next update.

So, if you have any critical feedback, please let me know! You won't hurt my feelings! On the contrary, particularly from a patron who has a personal investment in the project, I know the feedback will be coming from a place of kindness. So let me know. The best spot for this is on Discord, but private messages here on Patreon are also great!

Cheers!