Proof of Life #102: About Next Update and True Ending (Please read)
Hello guys and gals, N_Taii here. I've got a pretty important PoL Monday post today, which explains more in details what I will be doing in the from now on and gives more infos about the upcoming ending, the True Ending.
Long read ahead!
About HC2's development
1) Update 15 will come out on the 17th for 5$+ Patrons, 5 days after the first release.
2) About the True Ending: First of all, why is it called the "True" Ending, you may ask? Well, currently, the word "true" doesn't really bear any particular meaning whatsoever. When I made the first True Ending in HC1, the plan was that, if I ever made a sequel or a game using some of the characters of HC1, the True Ending would serve as the official settings for those characters. I wanted to make some kind of open-world sequel at first, but I gave up the idea because of the scale and it probably wasn't what people wanted to see. Still, I'm keeping this tradition of a True Ending for HC2 as well. You never know, the Celis, Noah, or Aywin might come up in another game one day. But as long as there is no sequel, you may use whatever ending you want and call it the real true ending. Nobody would be able to prove you wrong.
What will it contain? Mostly story. Actually, only story. One alternative outcome for some of the characters. This ending is the one I envisioned when I first started developing the game. Please, I ask of you not to have any particular expectations for this ending. What I mean by that, don't expect it to be like the one in HC1, or for it to be another revenge/ntr/happy ending. It's just one ending that I, as the developer, think is most fitting for HC2 looking back on everything that has happened. Although you may or may not agree with me, I hope you'll approach it with an open mind : )
3) Update 16 will be the last one for HC2. I know I said there might be a fifth ending, but quite frankly, I thought I'd have some time to work on HC3 in-between the endings when I said that. However, they took most of my time, so much that I had to extend the deadline for some of them. So I've decided to settle down for four ending so as to not push back the first demo release of HC3 too far in the future.
However, this doesn't mean I will rush HC2. I tried to find a way to incorporate some sex scenes into HC2's True Ending, but I simply couldn't. Instead, I found another way to bring you guys some of that spicy content you're looking for. I will dedicate the second part of the update to implementing new stuff into the already released endings and make the game better overall. New scenes, new story sequences, a skip into feature + a reworked tutorial are some of the ideas I have in mind. However, I will pin a new post on this page somewhere this week that will serve to collect feedback from you guys on what things you would like to see added into the endings. If you have some things you'd like to see in-game, you can start preparing a list already. But please keep it concise and easy to read : )
So, to summarize: Update 16 will have two parts. The first one will be dedicated to making the True Ending. Then, I will rework the endings and add some more stuff so the game feels as complete as possible for its last update. Since I don't know how much time this will all take and rushing the very last update is the last thing I want to do, Update 16 will have no deadline. But of course, I will keep you updated on the progress made.
About HC3's development
I talked to you in the last PoL about wanting to have the portraits made in pixel art, right? Well, I have found an artist I really like, and have sent him an email and a message on twitter, but so far I've apparently been ignored. Since I don't want to post any of his art on here without his permission, and because I don't want to hype you guys up before letting you down by saying it didn't work out, I will keep his identity a secret. Hopefully, I'm not being ignored on purpose...
*sigh*...This reminds me that one of the hardest part of this job is working with artists...
Anyway, sorry for ending it on a negative note. I hope you liked the news about HC2 though!
Have a wonderful week,
N_Taii