Astra - Monthly Update (January 2024)

Hello Patrons,

Here comes the first update of 2024!!!!!!!!!!!!! This will be the last Astral Ascension update that we give in January as the game will be released this year for sure (AND YOU CAN QUOTE ME ON THAT! :D)

First order of business, the Episode 6 - Act 3 + Act 4 Art version is completed! You can check it out here:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/85057446

Please note that there are just two scenes that didn't make the build which are "Kai Arc" and "The Chase". We ended up finishing these a bit later due however we didn't want to delay sharing a build for you all for this monthly update.

Now let's get started with our update!
 

WRITING

>> CAUTION: SUPER ULTRA OMEGA INSANE SPOILERS IN SCENE TITLES<<

Episode 6 is basically all wrapped up. "The Chase" just needs final edits and then we can work on the narrative design in game for it. As for the hotsprings, the events are all self-contained so we plan to come back to this at the very end. We are thinking of pretty much treating it as a fun, free, DLC after the game is donso!

This is the fabled episode 7 that we've been talking about! As you can see, this is basically a mini "after story" for the girls as well as a bit more of an oomph for Kai and Celeste. We have a 2 month time skip from the end of episode 6 to get to the good stuff which is followed into an arc 1.5 (hence, a mini-afterstory) for your waifu of choice.

Once all that wraps up, we do like a "after 2 years" epilogue of how life is going for everyone. This one is going to be more of the Crystalline approach where you get a nice summary of how they are doing in a narrative form.

This is one of the new experiments we are doing in that you actually play a bit while being a couple and going through almost a secondary arc for the character. It will be more fluffy in nature as you can tell with the episode not having a mission!  We think this will be a nice way to wrap up the game. :^)

CHARACTER ART

We got the Luna beach CG finished which you can check out here:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/astra-luna-beach-97100018 

There is also the Kai epilogue CG early concept which can be seen here:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/astra-kai-cg-97100395 

BACKGROUND ART

No additional backgrounds for now, we are compiling a list and will also see what feedback we get before commissioning out the next batch!

ANIMATION

No updates on animation though we are still currently thinking about overhauling the UI.

PROGRAMMING

The narrative designer wrapped up most of Act 3 + Act 4 art version of episode 6! He is currently finishing up those two outstanding scenes and then will proceed forward with adding in the background elements for Celeste phone calls.

Lastly, we have NPC portraits working now so that will also be an adventure to retroactively add those!

On a more technical note, we upgraded from Naninovel 1.17 to  1.18! This helps a bunch of the backend stuff though ideally you shouldn't notice any difference as a reader. If you do run into things that seem janky, please let us know!

AUDIO

Audio be quiet for now as well. We will be adding in the chimes for personality traits (so it's obvious in the game when it is happening) and there is still the plan for an ending song!

That is all the update for now. We are literally in the last phase of development, then we just gotta do voice, polish, and release!!!!!!!!!!!

As always, please feel free to share your thoughts below. Thanks again for your support!!

- Dishu