March 2024 Monthly Update

Hello lovely patrons!

Welcome to our newest monthly update where we update you on all things Two and a Half Studios. As always, these will come out every month on the 6th (AEST).

January was a hectic development filled month, and we also ran our yearly Steam festival towards the end of it! We have quite February has came and went and we're already into March - I can't believe Dreambound launches next month! Right now we're planning for the very end of April as the release date. We're very excited about it!

Lets just into a quick update on what we've been doing this month.

Dreambound

Programming

All programming and editing on Ivan's route is complete, and we released his entire route as a beta build at the end of February! We're just waiting to switch out one background that's a placeholder, but apart from that it is totally complete.

We're currently working on programming the latter half of Crow's fourth chapter. We plan to complete programming on his route this month and hopefully release it as a beta build.

We have yet to start on the Kaine route programming, but will very soon! We're still editing some of the endings while we work on Crow's.

Art

Art wise we have just a couple of backgrounds left to complete. First of all, let me show off a preview of a super cool background:

We told Vui to go all out on this one and he nailed it completely. You'll see this location at the end of Ivan's route!

CG wise, we have 2 CGs left. One is currently in sketch form, and the second one has yet to be started. We're making good progress to be ready in time for release, yay!

Screenshots

A Date with Death - Beyond the Bet

Art

We've started working on the new artworks for the DLC! At the moment, we're planning some new CGs, as well a new standing sprite for Grim. We're currently unsure if the DLC will add anything to the character creator but we *may* have some opportunities for people to buy custom assets to put in game.

We'll be showing off a sketch of Grim's new standing sprite later this month!

Writing & Outlining

We're currently still outlining and deciding the exact content of the DLC, so we have no yet begun writing. We plan to begin writing in full force once Dreambound releases in late April. Until then, we'll be working more to plan out the endings and what we want to show during the additional gameplay.

At the moment, we are planning for one or two NSFW scenes (optional, added via a free patch) in the DLC. As you can imagine there's a lot of variables here on MCs, so we're working out exactly how it will look and play out.

New Opening

The new opening movie is planned to be complete later in March! How about a short WIP update?

This is still a WIP but you can see some of the classic A Date with Death style coming through with the colors!

Kickstarter

We're planning to hold a Kickstarter campaign for the DLC/base game additions in Late May-Early June to:

1. Finance the new DLC

2. Give everyone a chance to grab some exclusive/new rewards

3. Potentially add English voice acting

We're still working out what the tiers and rewards will look like, but this will allow us to bring the game to its full potential without making us broke, haha. The voice acting will be a stretch goal - it's a big amount of work and a very high cost involved, after all. Keep an eye out later for a way to sign up for the Kickstarter ahead of time!

Astralis Publishing Title - The Last Rose

For those that don't know, we have a small publishing wing of Two and a Half Studios for games we think align with our studio that want a little help with production, marketing or releasing their game. We're proud to work with many amazingly talented developers to bring their stories to life.

Art

The Last Rose currently has a demo in the works! While we work on it, here's a new CG preview:

And a few new character cards:

Programming

Programming work continues on the demo! We don't have any specific date in mind for the demo, but we're hoping also some time after Dreambound releases. Dreambound is a big project on our plates, after all!

Opening Song

We're working with the talented Scarlet Moon and Peter Reid Jones on a fantastic voiced opening song for the game, which will then be sung by C.L! It won't be complete for a few months yet, but we just know it's going to be amazing.

Astralis Publishing Title - The Inn Between

For those that haven't heard the news, we also announced that we are publishing The Inn Between by Cats on a Lilypad Studios!

Writing & Beta Release

With the common route writing complete, the developers are working on releasing a beta that shows off the entire story so far on their Patreon! Writing on the routes will begin shortly after that, and we're hoping to bring on a second writer/adaptive editor to assist with getting it complete as quickly as possible.

Screenshots

Patreon Support and Wishlists

Cats on a Lilypad have their very own Patreon which holds their beta, exclusive monthly (SFW and NSFW) artworks, as well as much more indepth updates about their progress. If you have the chance and it's within your means, we'd love if you could check it out and show them some support!

You can also go wishlist The Inn Between on Steam - let's push for some huge support for the wonderful devs over at their studio!

Other Updates

Women's Day Event on Steam

We were very lucky to be invited to the Women's Day Event that's currently running on Steam!

Make sure to go check it out! There's some great games included. 

Itch.io Sale

All of our projects are on sale on Itch.io at the moment! Go grab our games at a discount :)

Azrael Plushie -  8 Days Left!

There's a little over eight days left to get your Azrael plushies! Makeship kindly offered to extend the campaign by a week, so you've got an extra bit of time if you've been thinking of grabbing him :)

Taspop South

We'll be vendoring at Taspop South! We're sharing a big ol' booth with our friends Cats on a Lilypad Studios.

We'll have new and old merch, plus some really cool physical copies of our games!

If there's any leftovers, they'll be in a big update to your webstore later this month.

Focus for the next month

This month is dedicated to Dreambound, with a little Astralis work on the side!

• Dreambound - Crow route programming, Crow route release, Kaine CGs
• The Last Rose - Demo programming

Thanks once again for reading, and I'll see you next month!