Build 5: The Negative One

This update marks the end of what I would consider to be ‘book one’ of the whole story. This is the halfway point.

So many things change with this update. Questions are answered, but more take their place. We’ll finally see what truly waits in the darkness of the Blackzones. It’s time to learn about Soulcreek.

This is easily the most significant update so far, perhaps with the exception of what will eventually be the final release. It’s a massive turning point in the story, and everything will change after this.

• Days 6 and 7 added. Both new days round up to 45k words, bringing the total to 180k.
• Re-written introduction. The opening sequence has been revamped completely. Some lines have been kept or moved around and some parts have been totally redone. You can meet Loken and Byte all over again, with an added CG! After Drevonia and Takhi enter the scene, things play out mostly the same.
• 2 new CGs. One is present in the re-vamped introduction, and another appears on day 6.
• 2 new character sprites. Both Barrow and Miya, two minor characters that were previously only described in text, now have sprites with expressions. Miya’s dialogue is mostly the same with a few additions. Barrow’s scene has been totally re-written, and there is now much more to his story!
• Expressions for Orion. It was criminal that the leader of the Mating Troupe only had one face! Now, he has expressions! These have been added to all his scenes.
• Tweaks to the original script. Small additions or edits have been made throughout. In particular, the pacing in which Alex realises he is attracted to Loken has been dialled back. Now, it isn’t introduced until the very end of day 1.
• All sprites re-sized. This is to improve their quality when they’re zoomed in and reduce the file size of the game.

Some extra things to note!

1. Day 7 contains 496 sound effects! Remember, don’t play Soulcreek without sound! You will miss out on half the experience!
2. There is no NSFW content or nudity on days 6 and 7. So streamers shouldn’t have to worry about censoring anything on the new days!
3. Unfortunately, due to the sprite re-works and the huge rehaul of previous content, save games will result in MASSIVE sprites and odd behaviours in the script. For this reason,  saves from previous builds won’t work for build 5. Use the chapter select function after starting a new game to get back to where you previously were.

And finally...

I can’t thank everyone enough for all the support you’ve been giving just by being there, drawing fanart or just telling about about the VN. In particular, thank you so much to everyone who has donated on KoFi to help fund the project! Thanks to you guys, we were able to get Miya and Barrow’s sprites, Orion’s expressions, an extra CG and better backgrounds in just this build alone. It all really does make a difference!

As always, if you want to keep an eye on the project then the best way is to follow me on twitter! 

You can also join the discord server here! I'm pretty active there, and I'll be doing a few Q&A streams on there this coming month if you want to ask any questions about Soulcreek, hear my rambling thoughts about the story or just hang out! Come and say hey!

That's all from me. I hope you guys enjoy this major turning point in the story, and I can't wait to share what comes next!

Take care of yourselves!

-Ryuo