Progress Report #143 - May 2025

Hey lads!

This devlog won’t be as lengthy as previous ones since I’ve been dealing with a lot of personal problems lately (like really a lot). As I strive to be transparent about the project, brace yourselves for a less-than-cheerful update this time.

Initially, I planned to release UiTC v44 on May 31st and the next UiTC2:R tech demo on June 11th, but complications arose. The new dates are June 11th for UiTC v44 and late June for the UiTC2:R tech demo. Additionally, I won’t be releasing the UiTC2:R demo during Steam Next Fest this year. As is common with solo dev projects, when unexpected issues arise, everything stalls, and delays are inevitable. I’ll explain more at the bottom, but I’ll start with general info and the work done.

Here’s the Pixeldrain folder with uploaded videos.

For those who don’t know, Unaware in The City is now officially marked as "Playable" on Steam Deck! I’m also planning further improvements to enhance the experience.

I know I’ve neglected social media lately, and I apologize. Due to the delays, I’ve tried to stay focused on work, distancing myself from distractions and avoiding thinking about anything else. Sorry about that.

I’m attending Pyrkon, Poland’s biggest fan convention, with my family, so I’ll be absent from June 12th to 16th. It was a great break for me last year, and I desperately need time to recharge. I’ll likely be unavailable during this period, even on Discord, as I need to clear my mind. I’ll return to work on UiTC2:R on June 17th as normal.

I attempted to hire a background artist, so here are the stats. I started searching almost 2 months ago, contacting 28 artists and being approached by 46, totaling 74. Due to the NSFW nature and complexity of the work, most artists I reached out to either didn’t respond or declined immediately. Many who contacted me were unsuitable, as some had no background art experience, others were students looking for any gig etc. In the end, I seriously considered 4 artists and chose one who seemed the most skilled & competent for the job. Sadly, she resigned after a month due to a misjudgment of her availability. When I reached out to the other 3 - one didn’t respond, another was upset I hadn’t chosen him initially, and the last demanded an unreasonable fee. I wasted too much time on this. When people learn it’s an NSFW project or more complex than a typical visual novel (where backgrounds are mere fillers), while I require consistency and some serious thinking, many simply walk away or charge extra. Here's the background art she did before quitting to give you a better idea of what I’m roughly aiming for with the isometric style.

As promised, I worked on the v44 update for the original UiTC, which took a significant chunk of time. My workflow for UiTC2:R has changed so much that I kept breaking things and nearly bugged v44 by altering core elements. In UiTC2:R, I overhauled everything I found frustrating in my workflow from past years and tried to adapt to new rules, but for v44, I had to temporarily revert to my old methods, which was "mildly" annoying. If anything game-breaking occurs, please let me know, and I’ll fix it ASAP.

Anyway, v44 will launch on June 11th across all platforms (Patreon, SubscribeStar, Steam, and itch).

Now, onto the work done for the original UiTC:

The v44 update will add 2 new sex scenes:

1. Going on a date with Albert (after he becomes Jane’s boyfriend) felt underwhelming with just a BJ in the diner’s toilet. I’ve expanded it with 4 sex positions. It still uses the same Cum Gauge minigame as the BJ scene, but with updated dialogues.

2. The concept involves Jane visiting the hospital for a fertility check with her current boyfriend (all 4 BF variants are possible), and Dr. Braun is eager to assist in determining her fertility.

Jane can call her parents once a week (except in the Drifter & Mother backstories), and they will send her money and items, as loving and supportive parents would. These dialogues and items will vary depending on whether Jane sent her children home or not.

Beyond that, the update primarily includes bug fixes, some game optimization, a few corrected animations, and quality-of-life improvements. The official changelog will be released alongside the update.

Now, onto the work done for UiTC2:R:

Since I didn't have much time to work on UiTC2:R, this devlog will have fewer previews compared to previous ones.

I found a workaround to make UiTC2:R work on Mac, but it’s cumbersome and time-consuming. I’m unsure about its reliability or how well the game will perform, so I’ll need a better solution in the long term. From now on, though, Mac users can test UiTC2:R tech demos.

We’ve been tackling animation-related issues for a while, so I had to overhaul how Spine animations are managed in the game. This involved reworking the entire system and reconnecting all animations (over 250 in total). As of writing this devlog, that work is complete. So yeah, a small setback in the grand scheme of things.

I’m currently working on multiple aspects simultaneously: the Diner Cooking Mini-Game (focusing on the Kevin grope mechanics), the Seduction Mini-Game, and preparing the game for an isometric view. There’s still a ton of work ahead.

I also created a simple, rough UI for displaying and editing stats, skills, desires, and other data. It’s functional but very unpolished, so I won’t share it publicly in its current state. However, it’s already in the game and will be usable in the June tech demo.

What’s more, we’re changing the game’s soundtrack. Although instead of creating a brand-new main menu theme, we decided to re-score the existing one. I’ve grown pretty attached to it over the years, and I doubt anything new would truly satisfy me. I’ve uploaded the updated version along with the other videos (though it’s still not final).

Ok, onto the actual sneakpeaks:

There’s still some work left with adding clothes and integrating everything with the animations, but here’s the final look of the default male body from the back view. If everything goes as planned, it should be usable in the June tech demo. Anyway, once we have back view finished, we can finally focus on adding actual content, so more animations, clothes, faces and so on.

We previously showcased the shirt-rolling-up animation, and now here’s an early sneak peek of pulling both shirts and pants up and down. You can check it out in the uploaded footage.

This one (even though it’s still early in development and missing a lot of stuff) already has its core concept mostly fleshed out, so I figured I can share a bit.

The idea is simple: deal with Kevin however you like. There are Strength-based abilities that get the job done, like Slap interrupts & stuns Kevin, while Elbow ends the Groping Mini-Game entirely. However, both will make Kevin angry. So you don’t want to deal with his groping crap? Just elbow the motherfucker and focus on your work.

Agility-based abilities have no negative consequences, but they’re less reliable and focus on minimizing the groping instead of stopping it. Charisma-based abilities let you manage Kevin’s Lust, whether you want to calm him down so he doesn’t take things further, or you want to escalate the situation faster, it’s your call.

There are also long-term plans for more advanced interactions, like voluntarily undressing (Exhibitionism) or turning the situation around and taking control (Corruption). Or… You can ignore all of it and just play like none of these mechanics exist.

Since it’s an RPG, abilities will scale with Jane’s stats and need to be unlocked first - but don’t worry, they won’t be hard to get. You’ll have multiple ways to learn them, often without specific requirements, like overhearing a gossip, getting advice from a diner client, learning something at the gym, etc.

Just a reminder: this is still a very early WIP! Also, the footage is recoded at x2 speed.

As I mentioned above, I had to rewrite how Spine animations are handled in the game. It’s been shitloads of work and broke a lot of things along the way. On the bright side, one of the benefits is added support for animation transitions (in some cases), along with a much smoother process for adding new animations (requiring less setup time). You can check out a short test video showing transitions between idle and walk states in action in the uploaded footage.

So... If you’d rather avoid a lengthy post from a very tired and mentally drained NSFW developer, I suggest stopping here.

Some time ago, our landlord decided to sell the apartment we’re renting. Now that the weather’s warmer, we have 1-2 viewings per week with strangers poking through our rooms, wardrobes, and drawers. Finding a new, affordable place to rent around here is nearly impossible, especially since many landlords are hesitant to rent to families with small children. So it’s "a bit" stressful.

Instead of continuing to search for a rental, we decided to sell our old apartment and use the proceeds, along with a bank loan, to buy a new place. The monthly loan payments for a 30-year term would be comparable to our current rent. We hired a real estate agent to handle the sale of our old apartment and a credit advisor to assist with purchasing a new one. I absolutely dread paperwork and bureaucracy, avoiding it like the plague whenever possible. As of writing this devlog, our old apartment is sold, and we’ve found a new place we’re interested in. If all goes according to plan, we’ll move in around September or October. I know, I just paid off one loan to fund this project, and now I’m taking on another, but that’s just how things always go for me. Fun fact - if we sold our old apartment and didn’t use the money to buy a new home within 2 years, we’d face a 20% tax penalty.

The biggest issue we’re facing is that our kids aren’t getting along. Our older child is very envious of the younger one. We naively hoped they’d play together, giving my wife and me a bit of a break, as we both grew up enjoying time with our siblings. Instead, our plan backfired, and we’re constantly babysitting them. They’re too young for kindergarten (almost 1 and 2.5 years old), and my wife and I are against hiring a stranger to babysit. The older one is so attached to me that I can’t leave the house without her, and she won’t go anywhere without me either. My family helps us almost daily, but not around the clock. On top of that, I have 30 one-hour rehabilitation sessions scheduled for the older child between June and September. Leaving the house with my disability is possible but challenging, and preparations to do so are quite time-consuming.

Another "great" thing is that my disability status expired. I couldn’t extend it while it was active, so I had to wait for it to lapse. Now, I’ll hear back in about 2 months regarding an appointment with the medical board, which will likely be another month after that. In other words, I’ll be without my disability status, its benefits, equipment, reimbursements, and other support for 3 months. If I relied on social welfare instead of working, I wouldn’t receive any payments during this time either. I won’t dwell on the fact that I had to make multiple trips because a doctor (from a minority group) repeatedly filled out the paperwork incorrectly. And don’t worry, I’ll have to go through this same ordeal again in a few years, if I even get the disability status renewed, which is never guaranteed. A few years ago, when I applied for a $125 monthly government benefit, I had to navigate a mountain of paperwork and visit their doctor. He declared I wasn’t disabled because I managed to show up for the mandatory appointment, as if a truly disabled person in need of that "generous" sum wouldn’t be able to make it. People wonder why I choose to run my own business, which is practically a death sentence in this country due to all laws & taxes. Simply put, relying on the government is even more hopeless. Welcome to Poland!

As you know, my project is free of political bullshit, and you’ll never see me discussing my ideology, beliefs, or support for any politicians. I’m here to make games, not to shove my "truth" down anyone’s throat. You’re probably as sick of seeing politics everywhere as I am. But after the recent presidential election in Poland, it feels like people have lost their minds. Imagine someone randomly asking who you voted for, and there’s a 50% chance your answer will be "wrong" (like in the old days when hooligans quizzed you about your football team allegiance). If you voted for a different candidate than they did, things can spiral. You might even lose friends or family over it (I've seen it countless times recently: "If you voted for X, then fuck off my friend list"). What the hell is wrong with the world? Suddenly, having different opinions or views makes you a greatest enemy? Sorry for bringing politics up, but I’m struggling to process the insanity I witness daily.

Regarding my former background artist (Lefty Lai), who also worked on UI and mini-games, he ghosted me in early April without any explanation, right in the middle of a project. Despite being active on his other projects, he completely stopped responding to my messages across all channels. Yeah, we had worked together for 3 years. Game development, especially in the NSFW space, is full of disappointments and unreliable people. It brings back memories of when the Unaware of the World team fell apart, or when a team member stole the source code for one of my SFW projects back in the day. At this point, I no longer have a background or UI artist, so only my character artist remains, and this will definitely impact development.

Unfortunately, there’s also been some messy family drama lately (nothing health-related, don’t worry). While I’m not directly involved, I’ve been dragged into it. Sorry for being vague. I’m open about my own struggles but prefer not to share personal details involving others, especially family. This is going to consume my time and keep me in a foul mood for a while.

To sum it all up, progress on UiTC2:R will slow down noticeably in the coming months. I’m not optimistic about things improving soon, as you can see, there are simply too many overlapping challenges ahead. I just hope things don’t get worse. I’ll keep working, and progress will continue each month as always, but at a slower pace. Sorry about that.

Despite everything, I still enjoy working on UiTC2:R. It’s not just my job but also my passion, with plenty of exciting features to develop. However, I’m overwhelmed, and it’s hard to focus, which is impacting my efficiency and work quality.

Right now, my goal is to finish v44, attend Pyrkon, get a much-needed mental reset, and dive back into UiTC2:R. I’m exhausted by everything happening lately and desperately need a break - not from the project, but from life itself.

If you've managed to keep up with my bullshit until the very end - thank you from the bottom of my heart!

As a reminder - here's the Pixeldrain folder with the uploaded videos.

Cheers!