It's Friday.

I'm working from a coffee shop today because of reasons.

We're at that weird development stage where lots is happening, without being able to share anything interesting about it. So today will focus briefly on what I've been busy with, and then we'll look at a few upcoming things that I'm excited about!

We've made some progress with enhancing the story controller running in the background. I honestly can't thank Trix enough for all of her help. She's been amazing. So has Tae with the character artwork, and Stoffies with the backgrounds.

I've been working on several scenes at once. The new story controller is going to pay off in spades! Some scenes you can look forward to down the line: (Spoilers ahead so maybe just skip over the italicised paragraph if you prefer surprises.)

I've been working on some dinner dates with Lebeny (plural) and I also started writing a second intimate scene between your Mah'Abeu and Lebeny. Raymond reads some children stories for the camera recorder so Lunar Command can use it for propaganda back home. There's a scene where your Mah'Abeu walks in on Matthias while he is busy painting his starship figurines, and another scene with Matthias where he draws your Mah'Abeu (either your portrait as friends, or nude as more than friends.) There are several other scenes also in various stages of completion ranging from idea to first draft.

Spoilers are done from here. Yay.

Now, for some of the stuff that I'm excited about! Tae has increased her availability to me, and we're working on a few surprises, mostly related to animations during the intimate scenes. I know, but wait– I don't want to oversell/overhype all of you, so rather don't expect too much! I'd much prefer to exceed your expectations, so if they're low, you'll be helping me out!

There was a Discord poll about the possibility of having your portrait picture show up during dialogue when your Mah'Abeu talks. The portrait will be static without changing facial expressions for technical reasons, but even so, it seems like the majority of you would like this, so I'm working on that. I'll also try to include an option where your Mah'Abeu's portrait doesn't show while talking for those of you who like the current implementation.

While my focus has been on the dynamic story content, Tae and Stoffies have been working hard to bring more minor animations into the game (Like the moving stars background with the Observatory and the Corridor redraw.) The biggest constraint is still budget, but I feel I've been able to stretch the available monthly funds quite responsibly. (As a side note, 100% of the Patreon funds have been going straight back into tools and assets to further improve Infinite Stars. I'm no longer using my savings to fund the project which is fantastic, all thanks to my patrons! Even those on the smallest tier help tremendously!)

On that note, here is a teaser of two new characters your Mah'Abeu will meet further down the line, with a full version here for all Patrons as a thank you! I wasn't planning on sharing them yet, but I wanted to show all of you where your money goes!

There are a few other surprises planned, but I don't want to reveal them all at once.

I'm also considering hosting a live workshop for those of you that are interested in creating your own stories for Infinite Stars, where we'll work on our mods together on a live stream, and you can ask any questions and get help with the implementation. If you're keen on this, let me know in the comments/Discord, and we'll look at some time slots.

Have a fantastic weekend, practise gratitude and be kind to those around you! Oh, and don't forget to have some fun! <3