Development Diary № 47 (Important news) (Patreon)

Hey, everyone! As you already know, I’ve set my sights on nothing less than a sequel to Bright Past. Starting today, I’ll be focusing on its development.

I’ve realized that working on several projects on my own is difficult: my efforts get spread too thin, and progress is slower than I’d like. That’s why Esterium project is on hold for now. I don’t know whether I’ll return to it later, but right now I want to focus on one game.

Today, I’d like to share a little more about Bright Past 2. The story takes place roughly ten years after the events of the first game. Alex Nash has achieved her dream, and Bright Past has become a cult band whose music a new generation has grown up with.

One member of that generation is Nika Vail — an eighteen-year-old arts college student and the lead singer of an up-and-coming band called Pretty Vice. She’ll be our new protagonist.

While Alex arrived in Jade City with barely any money or connections, Nika was born into a wealthy family and grew up with opportunities others could only dream of. But those opportunities came with other people’s expectations and a life already planned out for her.

The central question of her story is:

How genuine can your rebellion be if you can go back home at any moment?

Some familiar characters will return, too. But a lot may have changed in their lives over those ten years…

I’m currently working on a demo that will introduce you to Nika and show you how Jade City has changed. I’ll have more to share soon.

I also plan to revisit the first game from time to time to fix bugs and improve the translation. However, most of my efforts will go toward the new game.

I’ve also made a few changes to the membership tiers. Prices for existing tiers and early access schedules remain unchanged. Polls will take place occasionally rather than every month, as I originally planned. I also want to keep explicit images on this page to a minimum.

There’s also a new $50 tier with a special reward: your name or nickname will become a permanent part of the game world — for example, on a sign, in an advertisement, or as graffiti. I’ll choose the specific placement and format. This reward is granted once, regardless of how long you remain subscribed.

For now, I’d love to know: what was your first impression of Nika in the teaser?