Hey everyone!

I was hoping to have something to actually show for PANOPTICON's first year anniversary, but alas, I simply don't have anything substantial to release in time. I didn't want to put out anything half-assed just for the sake of celebrating a date! As a result, chapter two will likely not be out for a while longer (although hopefully before the end of 2024...?).

The demo has been up for a year, though, so I thought I'd at the very least share some of the content and changes that are in store for PANOPTICON when I can finally get it ready.

• Planned Updates for Chapter Two
  
  • The addition of chapter two to the demo for all players to explore.
  • The introduction of the final two major characters within the story!
  • A new memory mechanic that will hopefully offer some more player engagement and initiative in the rest of the story.
  • Further the story of the Recycler and Carter, and your relationship to them.
  • Further struggle to live your own life in the operator terminal room.
  • Explore the rest of the terminals available to you.
  • Start to face some of the consequences of your actions.

• Planned Updates for Chapter One
  • Accounted for a huge number of bugs, glitches, and inconsistencies in chapter one, such as ensuring that Carter doesn't repeat questions and the Recycler doesn't try to say your name before you pick one.
  • Edited some content for consistency. The Recycler's pronouns should always be they/them from now on.

• Planned General Updates
  
  • Thanks to Manon, I was able to replace the 'typing' effect with a new macro that should allow players to toggle it on and off! This toggle will also apply generally to ALL text animations.
  • Speaking of which, I was able to get some fun text effects working that will hopefully add to the mood of the game, provided they continue to work properly once the update is shipped...
  • Once all the written content is complete for the new update, I plan to spend a significant amount of time working on creating a new, better-looking UI and maybe implementing some more detailed options into the game. This is an area I'm less familiar with but I feel PANOPTICON desperately needs, so I want to give it some attention before I get much further.

Thanks for sticking with me for a year. I wish I had something more concrete to show instead of some promises, but it'll come eventually. There's loads of new content in chapter two with some really interesting and game-changing choices to make. I hope everyone enjoys it when I can put it out!