Build 0.5: "Tripping on !nabas"

And there we have it! The biggest new build to date, and definitely the most important (as the ending will make clear). Things change a lot from here on out in Paardenrust, so I'll make a separate post to talk about that.

This build is complete; all routes go as they should, they contain all the branches I intended, and the ending conveys the necessary information. However, due to an incredibly difficult month, I had to sacrifice a few secondary things to meet my self-imposed deadline. Some of the route endings may feel a little abrupt. I did not spellcheck all the routes, and some of them (especially the Interludic) have some lines that are too visually long. And one or two of the BGs aren't quite aligned to what the text says.

None of it is major stuff, and I don't expect it to impact enjoyment of the build (or else I wouldn't be releasing it). But given the status of this build as a seminal moment in the story, I'm going to use it as a rest camp up the side of this crazy mountain called LOTM, to pause, take stock, clean things up a bit and generally make sure my house is in order before charging forward. I also, frankly, desperately need some time away from all obligations to give myself some space to deal with the losses I've suffered this year.

So over the next month or two I'll release minor updates to 0.5, addressing the issues above and some others that I want to sort out (such as the editing issues Whale has identified, backporting the new dialogue system, and cleaning up some character moments). Next couple of months will be billing months anyway, with a bunch of new art to show off, including the first CGs (with more on the way already), so that works out fine.

Alongside fixing up those things, I'll be working on new code to support 0.6 and beyond: specifically, the dynamic content system. 0.6 will be the first build to support fetish selection in the options, to let players choose which additional fetishes they're into. Some of that content will ship inside each build, but others will be the aforementioned dynamic content, which will require loading extra files into your game. Patrons will have access to all possible dynamic content on Discord, where they can pick and choose what they want to add to the game from a fetish perspective. I'll talk more about that closer to the time.

Apart from all that: enjoy :) Flax's adventure continues...

Changelog

• Finished third day (and thus the entire introduction). New words: ~90,000.
• Started using new text formatting, with inline dialogue tags for more expressive scenes.
• Added encounters (or introductions, if you've not met them) with: Xhenxe, Ta'kom, Nabo, Rhangani, Suri, Advik, Viraj, Dalarius, Kierie and Werner.
• Corrections for Rav, who loved being a hare so much he still was one in some places.
• Editing improvements to past scenes.
• Many, many new sex scenes.
• Prepared things for the meat of the game.