Big one this week. I tried to get the latest tactics patch up before this post hence I am late, but it's taking a little longer. Expect it tomorrow or day after! Mac version included.

The Tactics girls are now renderable in StrongGirls Studio!

If you're on Ultra, go and play with this right now.

The 18 girls from StrongGirls Tactics are now available in the Studio. This isn't the VN model with different prompts bolted on: it's a unique model trained specifically on the Tactics cast, so the girls actually come out looking like themselves, in their own art style. And for those of you who wish Tactics was a porn game, Well the model can make your dream scenes a reality. Model is fully uncensored of course and lives on my local hardware. Complete privacy and no rejections ever.

I've also added a custom girl field for the Tactics style. So if you want to build someone who isn't in the roster but still fits the world, you can. Make your own tactics girl, at whatever muscle size you like. The model is trained on fantasy environments and the 18 girls.

This is the thing I've been most excited to hand over. Go make something ridiculous. Here are some renders I made:

Studio access: https://stronggirlsvn.com/studio

Studio also got FASTER this week with a file format swap from PNG to WebP so images are 7x smaller but byte identical to the png files. It means images are delivered faster and wastes less of your bandwidth at no noticeable quality loss. WebP is a standard modern image format that nearly all apps and webpages support/use.

Wishlist StrongGirls Tactics on Steam!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/5076520/StrongGirls_Tactics

I'm going to keep asking, because it keeps mattering. Wishlists are the single number Steam uses to decide whether anyone ever sees this game. It's free, it takes two seconds, and it does more for the game's chances than anything else you could do for me.

If you've already done it: thank you, genuinely. If you haven't, now's a great moment :)

Tactics: what happened this week

Steady progress, and one thing worth calling out.

Local video generation is working!! That's the headline for me, because it means cutscenes are no longer an expensive special occasion. Expect a lot more of them. The new game intro cutscene is in, and so is the chapter 4 Black Knight encounter which was suggested by you who have played the game already, with more to follow.

Teaser/example https://youtu.be/h9q-q_9wUbY

Alongside that: more music tracks, six new story plates tons of story polish, voice is fully caught up with zero missing lines, and a big round of alpha feedback went in covering the resource bar, calendar, battle prep quality of life (units levels always displayed), Enemy AI move costs (enemy won't cheat anymore hah!), muster tiers properly showing the muscle level of the girls.

The upcoming patch will also let you sandbox in the game without progressing the story so you can level up and play around without being progress blocked just because the alpha build ended.

A LOT of my time went into getting the MAC version working It's been a ton of work. I might be close to cracking it. For those of you who don't realize: Tactics isn't a renpy game, it is made entirely in python from scratch so the engine is completely authored for the game. Which means there is no convenient launcher to just click 'build game' for mac.

The game gets better every week and that's exactly where I want it to be right now.

StrongGirls VN: the Akira side story

The fan-voted Akira side story has made progress too. It's due in October but I didn't want to leave it to last minute.

Akira's sprite set is in and she looks great. Her shop at night is a new background. Story CGs done and Blue who helps with the renders has also made all the growth and transformation pics.

"If it's so close why wait until October?"

I got some DMs asking me this. Truth be told I've been going on 200% effort all summer now to deliver chapter 7 and Tactics. Planning a week off in September. I hope that's cool with you!

Tier changes incoming on SEPTEMBER 30TH! and what they mean for you

This is something I've been meaning to do and now that I am managing a lot more under the StrongGirls brand, and just finished two big releases, it's time to change it up a bit.

If you're subscribed right now, your price does not change. Ever, as long as you stay subscribed. Nothing is being taken away from anyone. IN FACT I plan on giving more.

Here's what's actually happening.

Base tier, currently $5, becomes $8 for new patrons only. Current $5 patrons keep $5 permanently while subscribed. The base tier now includes StrongGirls Tactics, with access landing September 8th, AND I will make NSFW Friday posts available to the base tier, which used to be Super Supporter only. That means if you are base tier, starting next month you will have access to 2 years backlog of NSFW Friday posts woo!

If you've been lurking and thinking about joining, join at $5 before September 30th and that's your price for good.

"But wait, if NSFW Friday is for everyone, what about Super Tier?"

Super Supporter, $10, is closing to new signups. All of you who are already Super can keep the tier and the price permanently. It becomes a founding tier that nobody new can buy into, and it'll stay visible as that on Patreon and in Discord. And it's getting more, live this week:

Super Supporters will get access to StrongGirls Tactics with the newest patch and the Mac build when it lands (tomorrow, or Wednesday depends on how my mac build runs),

plus Super Supporters will get access to StrongGirls Studio at 100 renders a day. Nothing removed, only added. Super of course still has voting access to polls for side stories as well as the AI companions Hino and Kaori.

Ultra Supporter, $15, is completely unchanged. Same price, same benefits, 250 renders a day, First access to everything always.

So the short version: $5 bought one game, SGVN.. Now that same game is a 40+ hour experience so $8 buys a 40+ hour visual novel and a tactical RPG, plus regular playable side stories and regular patches to tactics.

Sounds fair? Let me know below, honestly. My goal is to reward you for your support and hope you understand that you won't be charged more, only new members will.

If you're wondering why Super is closing: honestly, it sat in an awkward spot. Ultra was always the better deal, and I'd rather have two tiers that both clearly earn their price than three where one is hard to justify.

TL;DR

- Ultra tier: the 18 Tactics girls are in the Studio now, on their own dedicated model, plus a custom girl field for the Tactics style

- Everyone: wishlist Tactics on Steam, it's the biggest thing you can do for the game : https://store.steampowered.com/app/5076520/StrongGirls_Tactics

- Tactics now has working local video generation, so expect more cut scenes! Maybe the return of StrongGirls web series?

- TThe Akira side story is coming along nicely, due October

- Tier changes: if you're already subscribed, You won't be charged more. New base tier is $8 from Sept 30 and includes Tactics. Lock in $5 before then if you've been meaning to join

- The $10 tier closes to new members and gets Tactics plus Studio at 100 renders/day this week. Ultra is unchanged

Thanks for being here, as always! Stay tuned for the patch and super access to studio. I'll make a post.

-Jon