Deadlines (sort of!)

REC/REW’s rewrite/remake (r/r) has just started…

Toddling.

The first day of the story runs smoothly in Ren’Py’s sandbox - though I had to wrestle with a couple of weird quirks running under the hood and hack together an adequately convoluted workaround.

But hey: it’s working.
Ain't that neat.

So - yeah, coming to the subject of this post. About time I lay down some actual plans for this project:

Target date

I’m aiming to bring the r/r online on Oct 22nd—REC/REW’s third birthday. The bare minimum for the release will be, the same span of the original demo (first story arc, first iteration, first 4–5 days - confused yet? Same here - and I'm the one actually writing it). Anything more than that is likely to involve booze and celebrations.

This is the one deadline I *want* to get right.

Demo scope and content

The final demo will include the introductory arc (reference absolutely intentional). Think of it as a kinetic version of the first arc - there'll be no consequential choices. Just the ride.

Graphic-wise, think of it as a stripped-down build: fewer sprite variants, fewer CGs, maybe also fewer embellishments. Depending on itch.io’s file number constraints for web builds (and the things one can actually put inside a web version), I might sneak in extras. That however will come with the development of the full downloadable version of REC/REW.

Legacy

The old build will stay online until the “full” release is ready. Maybe longer. Maybe even "until the rewrite gets to the same level of plot development" - you'll realise soon enough, the rewrite is going to be BIGGER.

That said, the general meaning of the above line is, "the faster I push updates, the less reason to keep the obsolete stuff around."

Free & tags

Starting from today, REC/REW is officially free. Not that I ever asked for money anyway. I'm also sending an email to itch's support, let's see if this is enough to get  my game out of the "de-indexed" ghetto.

I am presently leaving the NSFW/adult tags, but I’m seriously thinking of clearing them until the r/r actually includes sex scenes. And even then—those will be extremely rare, scattered, and absolutely not “fapping material.” (I mean… Ken Follett’s books aren’t shoved into an R18 ghetto on Amazon, and he’s way more explicit than anything you’ll ever see here. End rant about bigotry and dumb policies).

Tough stuff

I’ve been working on - and publishing - this game for a reason. So it’s about time I stop hiding behind my own finger. If this game exists, if it's here on itch... well, it’s because I want it to be read/played. And if I want that, I need to tell the world it exists.

Something I *HATE*. Writing the story? Cakewalk. Building it on Ren’Py, adding sprites, backgrounds, writing python code that can cause a BSOD on Linux? Talk about *fun*.

Telling somebody else about my game? I'd rather walk through fire.

Final disclaimer

This project is HUGE. And ridiculously ambitious.

I’m pouring every drop of my free time into it. But - a single person cannot be everywhere. I can't pretend to read 20k words around 2AM in the night and get EVERY typo, EVERY spelling error, EVERY grammar nightmare...

 If you find typos, glitches... even if you just want to drop a thought—please do. Every single drop matters.