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Thanks so much for the feedback! I totally get the concern about complexity. It’s something I’m always mindful of, both in terms of development time and making sure everything stays manageable. That said, I’m still hopeful about pulling this off!

One thing that’s actually helping is my switch to a 3D version of the game. It might sound counterintuitive, but developing tools to speed up my workflow has made customization a lot more feasible directly translating from Blender to the game engine. In the Ren'Py version, pre-rendered 2D sprites actually slowed things down since some steps had to basically be done twice. With the 3D version, that’s no longer an issue, and it opens up even more possibilities for customization.

Android performance is one potential hurdle, but since AoT’s tech demo runs okay-ish on a seven-year-old device, with some focused optimization efforts I’m optimistic it’ll be doable. I don’t want to drop Android support because of the large player base, but if I ever had to stick with the Ren'Py version as a worst-case scenario, customization might just be slightly reduced. (Probably more fixed outfit options instead of fully modular clothing)

As for the branching, later storylines will indeed converge more than the demo intros, with some key character-specific moments alongside common events, instead of fully separate paths. So while there’s a lot to do, I’m super excited to keep testing things out and refining it all. (Hopefully not too far in the future) Thanks again for the encouragement. It really means a lot! Hope to see you around for the journey. 😊