itch.io

It was a big motivator for me when writing the characters for them to act / react "realistically" to their character. For their dialogue and actions to feel like relatable people rather than just as fantastical characters in a story. I'm very happy to hear that part of the writing hit as intended. Thank you for reading!

Sorry for the long wait. I've talked about it more on my discord, but I'm happy to give a short update here on the Slums Sequel

Right now, The Slums first draft is, I'd say, 90% completed. The honest truth is it's been stuck at 90% for a little while now. Not at all because I've abandoned the project. I fully intend to complete it. But as the story reached its conclusion, I found myself, as the writer, in a bit of a slump justifying the sequel's existence. I want it to be a project I happily stood by and felt proud of, rather than something I rushed out.

The Slums 2, even at it's "90% completion" point is also at least 3x the length of the first game. Which is freeing as a writer to let me really explore more with the world and characters, yet such a large project to tackle on my own that dwarfs the first is definitely a challenge.

Another part of it was I wanted to improve as an artist and writer before tackling The Slums Sequel. For this, I tackled comic making as a side project. Something that forces me to improve as an artist and as a writer simultaneously. I'm at a point now of being able to balance work between everything.

A final less fun reason is I just hit a difficult point in my life at the time that I won't slog down the comment with. It was a significant factor, so I figured for transparency's sake, I be up front about its impact on the project's development time.

All of those things compounded in me making the decision to put The Slums 2 on the backburner, and work on it slowly for a long while. I hope you understand. It was about doing everything I can to make the second game as good as it can be.

The final bit of good news I can share is, I've been back on working the script regularly, and the artist and I are in talks of getting all the sprites finalized. It'll still be a while unfortunately, at least a year. I still need to do a number of pass throughs of the script, add in the sprites, and draw the backgrounds. 

But rest assured, the sequel is coming. There will never be a time I abandon the project. I truly appreciate the interest in it, and the love for the first game. I hope to be able to share more of it and maybe even a demo in 2026. 

Thank you for playing! I'm glad you enjoyed it

Thank you so much for the kind words! Progress has been slow on my next VN project, but I'm not going to stop working on it until it is finished. Comments like these help me so much, so I really appreciate it.

Do keep in mind, this was my very first big project. I did consider the idea of more interaction, but the work exponentially increases for a single dev like myself to add even small things like that. I experimented with the idea, but it would've easily turned a project that took me just over a year and a half to a project that would take me easily several years.

I have neither a team nor an inflow of revenue from this project unlike other VN writer teams. It's a passion project I make in my free time on the side of my life with really no help other than the very gracious volunteering of close friends of mine on some art.

I would love to create a more fleshed out project in the future, but realistically speaking those VNs you're comparing this one to were not only funded for with active donations, but they were also created by teams of people to handle the work load. 

I'm glad you enjoyed the writing. That's definitely the part I enjoyed the most with this all. If you happen to know anyone or you yourself want to volunteer to help with future VNs, I'd be more than happy to accept the help if the skillset matches. My discord is @needs_bear.

Please don't worry at all about donating. I am so grateful for you playing the game and giving such a kind comment. 

I released this project for free for that reason. I'm happy to know the story is reaching people in a way that is accessible for all. 
Thank you for playing and your support!

Thank you for playing!

I'm honestly so happy to hear your thoughts about the ending conflict and its lasting effects after! It's a type of writing I don't normally get to do, and I'm glad to know it landed the way I hoped it would. 

There is a sequel in the works now, but it's going a "released when it's ready" type project. I'm working on it on my free time as I can though don't worry! 

Thanks for kind words! Keep those questions in mind. The sequel game is in the works now being chipped away at. I don't have a release date, but I can say there is still so much more story to tell.

I've got it uploaded now. Check the downloads of the page to find it

Sorry for the late reply. I'll release it within the week. 

Thank you so much for the kind words!! Your support means a lot.

Don't worry. I'm actually working on a chapter 2 to the game at this time. The second part to the game however is *much* longer than this one, so it's taking quite a bit longer to make. I don't have a release date planned yet, but I am definitely continuing development on the sequel and I hope to have a demo out for it at some time in the future.

Stay tuned :D

This was more of a test of the engine for myself than anything. It won't be having any updates as is.

If you enjoyed it, hopefully you'll be interested in the full game I'm working on. The project I'm working on is The Slums which is a full game already released. There is a sequel to it in the works.

I'm very much blown away by the support the VN has received. Every little bit from nice comments, good ratings, sharing the link, and the donations help me so much in staying motivated and feeling so appreciative for the audience I have. In no way do I ever want to downplay that even just a kind comment or a few bucks thrown my way is immensely helpful and appreciated.

Speaking bluntly however, the donations themselves are definitely something I would not be able to live off, for that reason progress on the sequel and updates to this game are slow, as I can't spend as much time on them as I'd like. Though I won't let that stop me from pushing forward bit by bit towards releasing the sequel when it's ready. 

Unfortunately I don't have the licensing / money to post this game to steam. It'll be staying on Itch.io for the forseeable future for those reasons.

I do have a Twitter, @needs_bear, and hey I really appreciate the offer

I do have a Patreon actually! It's linked at the end of the game in the credits. Though honestly no one ever really subscribed to it or donated that much. It would be nice for the ability to get funds to spend more time on future projects. 

I definitely would. Actually early on (about a month after the game's release) I did have someone offer that exact thing. They showed me some samples and even made a menu theme for the game. However since then, they've completely dropped the project and have not kept in contact so I assume they're just too busy to continue it. 

As of now, I'm not comfortable with the game being reposted. However I am totally okay with a fan-translation of the game being sent to me for me to post myself to add onto the main game's post. (I actually have a Spanish-Translation in the works following this exact route)

Though if there is a Russian-speaking only platform / social media network that would reach a wider audience than itch.io, I am definitely open to reaching a middle ground on it. I do just want to personally talk to you or whoever is wanting to post it somewhere else before anything like that is done. If you want to talk about it, add me on Discord. I'm open to discussing it all :D (Discord: needs_bear)

I'm definitely going to keep at working on the sequel as I can. I have zero intention of ever abandoning it. Though as you say, it is very rough to juggle life, the vn, as well as my own art / social media. For that, progress is slow on the vn as I can only work on it when I have the free time too. I'll definitely keep at it though and it'll be released when it's ready.

I'm glad you enjoyed it so much! On the ending, I really wanted to make sure this vn stood on its own as a complete experience. (Even though I am writing a sequel, I wanted to make sure this one felt complete and stood on its own) I think too many out there just never get completed or have such a bad twist at the end that it doesn't really feel satisfying. That was something I was very much wanting to avoid in mine, so I'm so glad to hear that worked out! 

I greatly appreciate the support and the kind words about the game. Don't worry about your English by the way. Your English was great!

Hearing everyone be so invested in reading the vn like this is so heart warming to read. I really do appreciate the fact you all played the game as well as liked it enough to leave such great comments.

Your English is great by the way! Don't worry I completely understood you, no problem. Thanks for playing the game

I'm really glad to hear the story gripped you so much! It's really rewarding and amazing to hear such great compliments on it all :D

I actually do have a mini project on the side to address this. It'll be posted to my twitter @needs_bear when it's ready.
Though there's no ETA on it as the main artist for Ember, Plaster, and Aaron is busy juggling work, life responsibilities, and the project. I won't spoil anything, but this was something I planned as an additional story to the game to help show a bit of Plaster's side as well as his current fate after the ending.

Really appreciate that!

Thank you! It was a big goal of mine to make sure the whole story was packed densely with emotion and character even if that made it a shorter game, so reading comments like these always feels really nice in having that pay off.
A sequel is on the way! I already have the story all planned out, and now it's just grinding away at it. While I do greatly appreciate the kind words, do not worry. The sequel will be free to everyone to play all the way through the same way the first game was :D

Hey thank you so much for that! It's so amazing to hear from everyone how much they enjoyed this story. It's a passion project of mine that I really hoped would reach my audience in the same way I felt making it. Don't worry about the donation. The fact you played it and enjoyed it enough to leave such a kind comment is definitely enough!

Thank you! All the kind comments I've gotten have helped a ton with keeping at it and grinding out the sequel :D

Thank you so much! Rest assured, I have a sequel in the works. Though life is getting in the way, so progress is a bit slow. I'll definitely still be working on the sequel until it's ready though :D

Thank you so much! I really appreciate the kind words. 

Thank you for the interest! Good news is the sequel is currently in the works. Progress is a bit slow, but just like this game, I'm going to chip away at it as best as I can in my free time until it's done!

I'm so glad you gave it a chance! It's always super flattering to hear that the story was that compelling. Thank you for playing the game and leaving such a kind comment.

Thank you! I am currently working on the sequel to the game, though it's still very much a work in progress. There's no estimated time for when it will be completed. I'll be working on it in my free time as much as I can. 

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it! 

Thank you so much for the kind words! It's really flattering to hear such high praises for this project. 

From here onward, I've made the demo build private. I've had unfortunately a few people confused between the release build and the demo build. (It's not their fault. I set up the games in a confusing way due to me being new to posting to itchio) With the release build existing and being completed, I figured there is no reason for the demo to exist anymore.

Thank you! I'm really glad to hear you enjoyed it. 

Thank you so much! I appreciate the interest in the sequel. I'm currently working on it in my free time while I juggle real life responsibilities. I do have the entire story planned out and work has already started. I'll be honest though, this next story is so much bigger than the first that I don't know how long this will take. It's a huge project to take up as a solo dev, but I'm going to keep at it!