Here I am at home, listening to rain sounds on my PC, windows shut, wearing my winter pajamas for the first time while the flame of the candle Alex lit dances patterns across the wall.

It's probably the most relaxing moment I've had in weeks. You should try it once in a while.
But I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here to talk about the crazy weeks I've been having and everything that's been done since.

First, this devlog's music preview

The track I'm leaving you today is from a soundtrack we made, and I've been listening to it nonstop because... it's for a new character I haven't shown anyone yet. So yeah, there's that, and they're already being written. But they won't arrive in the next patch. And speaking of which!

The next patch

Yes Viv, I stole the image you used on discord <.<

The next patch will have around 19k+ words. If all goes well, it'll release on the 5th, exactly one month after the last patch, which is why it's a bit smaller. But it'll only come out that day if we manage to finish all the proofreading by then (fingers crossed).

It may be smaller in word count, but in terms of presentation and substance? Ohh, I think it's going to get people talking, and I think you're going to love it. At least, that's the feedback the team gave me.

As always, I won't go into the specific content. Expect new story, several upgrades to the GUI and music, and a few Chapter 1 moments that got some touch-ups (small changes, but meaningful for first-time players).

The patch after

Yes... we can talk about it, because I already have... almost 5,000 words written for it. And even though some of it could already go into the next patch, I chose not to. There's a lot of work to be done that doesn't count toward word count or content: new sprites, updates to old sprites, remakes of certain backgrounds and CGs, coding and replacing old music... These are all slow processes that take time. So this (plus whatever else I manage to write this week) is my word buffer to make sure I can

What I feel about this

I know you might not fully get it, but for someone who started out writing 15k words every month and a half and can now write 19k words or more every single month... it's a really, really good feeling. A feeling of fulfillment.

The same goes for looking back at old content and "not liking" it, because now I feel I could do more and do it better. (I do like the old content and think it's good, just not in the same way as the new stuff. That's all.)
And I know I can only do this because I have people helping me in other areas.

There's Mark, who has been tireless in helping me with the GUI and with changes to some of the images (simple things for now, like expressions or gazes). But what he's managed to pull off? It's really something. I think he deserves his own little corner soon so he can talk about it himself.

Then there's Viv and Flux helping me with socials. They've been talking and brainstorming things for you all to do on Discord, Instagram, and X. Their help has been really important as well. And Viv? Still a crazy one reading all those 19k words, suggesting changes, corrections and catching typos so you don't catch as many <.<

And Alex. Even though he isn't as directly involved in the project's development, he's my right hand in life: the one who listens to me, helps me, proofreads, and who contributes the most to keeping our household going right now.

So yeah, this time I wanted to take this little space to thank them. Thank you for helping me do this.

And to all of you patrons who make it possible for us to keep going:
Thank you.

About the current poll

Now, about the poll on which fighters you want on the team, and more.

I couldn't reply to everyone, so I'm going to do a general roundup here of everything you said and what you think.

Clearly, just like me, you'd prefer that every character could have the same chance and relevance to join the team. Your comments and the poll results made me think a lot about this, but not only this. Let's focus on that first, though.

As time goes on, I don't think making everyone a fighter will be possible without a big sacrifice in other areas. For Season 2, this won't be a problem. The characters you know so far who can join the team, like Matt, Lucas, Zane, Diego, and Harry, will all have the chance to be on your team or not. I can do that, for specific reasons I'm not telling you just yet.
However, my concern goes beyond that, to Season 3 and beyond. Let me give you an example.

Matt vs Diego. That level of preparation is something I want to keep for the fights. But here's the problem. If you have 4 or 5 fighters on the team, that means that as Ren, you'd have 5 choices for a single fight. That would be fine if I weren't so detail-oriented, but I want to go into detail. What I did for Matt and Diego (I remember only managing about 1 critical moment per week because of how complex they were), if I had to do that for 5 possible fights, I'd never get out of there. So there are only two solutions:
Either I limit your choices in a smart way. Instead of 5 or 6, you'd have 1 or 2, but it has to make sense and not feel forced.
Or, by the time Season 3 comes around, the game has been successful enough that I can hire people to help me directly with those kinds of scenes, where that would be their responsibility.

So in short, for now this isn't a problem. But in the future it might be, and things may have to change. Until then, I'll try to give you as many choices as possible in that department. Both on who is on your team, and your choice on who fights who.

But this conversation led me to something else:

Talking about this and reading your comments made me think about something else: romance, main characters, and main storylines. I already have all of Season 2 planned out plot-wise. I made those fun maps in my big notebook full of connections, reasons, whys, what's going on, what's going to happen, and so on. And I'm really, really happy with both what's coming and the new characters who will have to join this story. Which brings me to another point. For me to do what I want and bring this world to life, not every character can have the same relevance. I wish they could. Actually, when I started making this, I thought... damn, I'd love for every character I show you to be romanceable... But that's unrealistic if I want to fill the world with life. So I'm dropping the 8 main character romance idea I had.

Instead, for now, I can only confirm that Matt, Diego, Harry, and possibly Zane (because your reception of him was way too warm not to include him) are confirmed romances.

What does this mean? These characters will get more development, will be at the center of things most of the time, and will have romantic plots developing alongside the main story, which can, as always, change how the main scenes play out.

The remaining characters I still don't want to comfirm it or not (and this includes well-loved and much-talked-about ones like Lucas, Joel, Adrian, and Ace) may or may not have their romances developed, but I consider them main plot characters and probably the ones most inclided to have their romance developed as well (as well as some I still haven't revealed to you). Meaning that, one way or another, they'll get more screen time than others. Their romance might be opened or not, depending on whether you really love them, or whether I have something I want to tell or explore through that romance that I'd have a lot of fun with, in which case I'll go with it. So yeah, I'll keep paying attention, and we'll keep doing polls like this about who your favorites are, so I can get a sense of it and read your feedback (which I care about even more than the poll results). But do consider something important. In this story, characters may die, get hurt or leave TC for good. And that is something you need to expect (and perhaps fear a little <.<). Although I will always do my best ot make TC a story that warms your heart more than it breaks it </3

And finally, secondary characters. These characters can exist to add something to the story. They can be brief, like Nurse Joyce or the Disco Panther, with little screen time but with lasting impressions on your guys. Or they can be characters who add to other characters' backgrounds, like Mirra in the icecream shop with zane, or the old man at the little shop you can visit with Matt. But they're the ones who add life and depth to the world and to these characters. And they can absolutely gain more and more relevance if the story takes them there, or if you really like them.

In short, you'll see many more characters, many more lives, and all of them could develop into something more depending on your interest, their reason for existing in the plot, and my own interest as well (if it's not something I enjoy, unfortunately, I know I won't produce something of quality, so I can't force it).

And nothing stops me from going back later in the game to develop a character in more depth, give them more plot, more relevance, and even open a romance with them. I mean... if you all loved Darian (the guy with the little brother who robbed you <<), nothing would stop me from giving him more relevance from here on, or going back and opening new plots so you could spend more time with him.

So yeah, there's that. Expect a lot more life and also, if you'll allow me, deeper and even more complex characters from here on.

I think in the end, it's important to mention one thing. I'll use every tool I know and have developed to keep the plot from getting... scattered. What do I mean by that? I don't want you to feel like there's filler or side plots here and there. No. Just like in real life, everything is connected somehow. What or who you come across with will, one way or another, play a part in the main story of your journey through TrueClash or of other characters that accompany you in it.

And this one is a print from Julie I also stole heheh

So yeah, TC fam, we're here to keep making this bigger and better. And I really hope I get to tell you the whole story I have planned, stories that make me smile or cry just thinking about them. So yeah, my friends, I'll do everything I can in order to do so.

See you soon,

Zak