Chapter Two First Preview (Patreon)

Here we go, the first look at Chapter Two!  Ten images from the first quarter or so of the chapter, plus two for the comparison of the old shader settings and the new that I mentioned in the February progress update.

We'll pick back up in the wake of Cerys revealing the player's Affinity to the wards.  Needless to say, they'll have a few questions.

Anwen's back!  Finals are over and Small/Mean Fry returns to a warm welcome.  I'm not sure if I've mentioned it in any of the other posts here on Patreon, but the next release will add a choice in in the first chapter to choose between 'Small Fry' and 'Mean Fry' for Anwen's nickname.  Saves from the Chapter One version made after the point where that choice was added will present the choice on load.  Note, this will happen every time a save like that is loaded, so if you have saves at particular moments in Chapter One that take place after the TV watching event with Anwen, when the next release comes around you might want to load them up, make the choice and then save again.  This will update the version on the save and you won't be presented with that choice again when you reload it.

We'll spend some time with the other Gryms too, of course, although Chapter Two will introduce one who isn't particularly enthused about our return.

And there will be plenty with our beautiful wards.  We'll get a little look into Orlaith's and Cerys's friendship, and how their younger selves looked, when we sit down to swipe through old pictures with the pair.  Leala invites us out to a nice, quiet chat alone on the Gryms' football pitch.  Absolutely nothing to be concerned about there.  On the wholesome side, Aerion cooks her first dinner at the manor, so we get a taste of homemade Orran cuisine.

The last two pics of Cerys are the comparison ones that I mentioned in the February progress update.  I used a scene from early in Chapter One to show the differences.  The first one shows the original shader settings and the second one shows the new.  Cerys is noticeably bumpier/grainier in the first compared to the second.  The hair shaders also tweaked the highlights a bit, but the colors remain the same.  I obviously quite like the new settings (otherwise why in the world would I be changing them?), so I plan on updating the old renders that would show the difference at some point over the next couple releases depending on when I have time.  I took a quick look, and it's only really noticeable on close-ups in warm lighting, so it shouldn't take more than a few days to update.

That wraps up this preview, I'll have the next one posted when I reach the roughly halfway mark on renders for the chapter.  That should also be when I make the decision about whether to release the chapter in two large parts or a single whopping one.  I'll probably create a poll on the matter beforehand, to at least see how folks feel.

Thanks for the support and stay safe!