Hello everyone!

I want to start off this devlog by apologizing for my lack of transparency. I failed to make an announcement regarding the end of my hiatus and instead changed the status of the project without clarifying. I have in fact been working on this since mid-May!

So regarding where I stand on releasing The Deadly Dawn, I have as of this week completed the script for Azira's route in Twine (which I did over initially coding it in RenPy so that I could get a feel of the branching story). To say that the game has become a bit more ambitious than I had anticipated would be... a bit of an understatement.

In total, Azira's route has 49 different endings, which is... a lot more than I was anticipating. Which is why I have decided to take a couple different approaches regarding the final product:

1. This game will be released in 2 parts

Now that Azira's route has been scripted, I would like to move forward and start working on it in RenPy and release it before Leo's route is completed. I feel like Leo's route needs to have more time to cook before I am satisfied with it, but I do not want to wait longer until the full product is released. That said, I do not have a date for when Azira's route will be released, because given the amount of content (not to mention that this is a point-and-click hybrid set up in a visual novel engine) it would be a disservice to the story I want to tell if I attempt to rush it.

Moreover on releasing it in 2 parts, given the size of Azira's route, I worry that the game might exceed the 1GB limit on itch. So I am debating on whether or not I want to quite literally split up the game in two parts (Azira's route, called "The Deadly Dawn: Trials", and Leo's Route, "The Deadly Dawn: Identity").

You can vote to decide whether The Deadly Dawn becomes 2 games or remains as one here. Personally, I am leaning towards releasing 2 separate games.

Regardless of my decision, the demo will always remain playable.

2. I will be charging for the game or games

I have made the decision that, since the game has become larger than I had anticipated, releasing it for free is probably not the best choice. Each route will cost $7, and if I am to release the game in full it will be a total of $14. As I stated before, the demo will remain up for everyone to play for free.

Moving forward, I ask for your continued patience regarding the release of the game or games. I promise that when Azira's route and eventually Leo's route is completed that it will contain my ideal vision for this game. This has been a passion project for a long time and I am excited to show it to everyone when it is finished.

Thank you!

- Sir Phantom