Hi all!

This update is to keep you all in the loop as to where we are with Episode 2.

I took the entire week off from my day job to get Episode 2 ready for beta testing which commenced on Wednesday this week.

I have provided the full episode to a small team who have been diligently working through all possible routes for Episode 2. One has even clocked up over 12 hours in a single day! (You crazy guy!) Another is playing through the less commonly chosen routes, to ensure that everyone can have a positive experience from the Episode, regardless how you wish to play it.

I am seriously blown away by how brilliantly they have worked as a team, and how patient they have been with me (those of you who have been here for a while and saw the state of Episode 1 when it released will know, my spelling is absolute ass, and my punctuation is worse…).

They have collectively flagged 6 game breaking defects (which are all resolved), 500+ spelling/grammar issues (which are all resolved), 200+ small graphical issues (still being resolved), and also pointed out a few continuity errors which might have had you scratching your heads a little bit.

It’s thanks to this team that Episode 2 will be released in a far better state than Episode 1 was and I feel genuinely blessed to have this small, but growing community around me.

I would anticipate that general beta testing will be complete within the next few days.

A few of the beta testers with coding backgrounds also helped me resolve the annoying relationship points popup which froze on screen when using the skipping function. Thank you to both the tester who provided the initial code, and the tester who sat with me in discord and patiently helped me thumb it in! You both know who you are.

Outstanding items:
- Steam Achievements (To be coded in and images generated)
- Gallery variables (I will code in the variables to unlock the new gallery items, in case I don’t get them posed and rendered in time for release. This way, if you’ve hit the variable, when I upload the patch for the gallery content, you will get them if you’ve unlocked them previously, you shouldn't need to replay the scene).
- Trailer
- Any further defects raised by the beta testing team

Release date:
I am planning on releasing Episode 2 before the end of the month, that's pretty certain. Right now, I have the 29th March in mind.

Steam has a process for new releases, which I didn't realise also applied to DLC. There is a 2-week review process. Essentially, where they review the code and content before allowing the it to be live. I've already prepared the Steam page, done the artwork, description, rating surveys etc, but I believe there is a requirement for a trailer. I have started creating the trailer, but obviously the game and its content/bugs takes priority over creating a trailer, so it's not finished.

With that in mind, I'll be releasing a short 'Teaser' trailer to meet the Steam Store requirements. I'll then be uploading a longer trailer later in the month after the rest of the work on the episode is complete (that takes priority).

Coding issue:
Along with the beta testing, I also hired a professional developer to review my code. Generally, it was fine, but he did point out that I should have been using 'default' where I had previously used 'define' for some of the variables, so those are now rectified.

I'll update again later this month before the release, once the package has been approved by Steam.

Thanks once again,

Nickle3DArt