Heart Fragment News

New updates include:

• Minor typo & bug fixes
  
• Fixed issues with the timeline showing some events twice
  
• A few exceptionally large CGs were reduced in size, hence the large update to replace those assets; while the update size might be a bit of a nuisance, it helps save disk space in the long run
  
• Added in prep for the Book Two: Belief Fragments DLC so that when it is released, there will be no issues with loading up the new routes
  

Thank you all for the patience!

A ton of new & high requested features are now available, including:

• Art style selection between "style a" and "style b" for more consistency than the previous version
  
• A male MC variation
  
• Option voice acting for Xani / the MC provided by Jessica Spencer (feminine voice) and Jerron Bacat (masculine voice)
  
• Extra scenes & options to build romance prior to the endings
  

[h2]Art Updates:[/h2]
The number one requested feature / update was more art style consistency. A lot of people found it off-putting that the style of the CGs was so different from the sprites. While Momoriin, the original sprite artist, was unavailable to work on CGs, the help of amazing artists Drulle and Saigogogo has allowed for a new version of CGs that match more seamlessly with the original sprites.

For those who already love the CG artstyle, you can select "style b" to see sprites & CGs both by the lovely artist who did the original scenes, Mintstea! You can also switch between the two styles at any time during gameplay, and both styles of any unlocked CG can be viewed from the gallery menu.

[h2]Main Character Variation:[/h2]
As unlocked by our amazing Kickstarter backers, you can now play as a male/masculine version of the protagonist! It was highly requested that pronouns be interchangeable, and indeed they are. You can switch the protagonist's appearance, voice, etc at any time while you play the game.

This difference is not just cosmetic. A lot of scenes (especially in Clive's route and the upcoming Book Two release which includes Shannon's route) have dialogue and choice variations depending on which version of the protagonist you play as. And if you want to take it a step further, you can also turn on option MC voicing as well!

[h2]Book Two Progress Report:[/h2]
First off, I want to offer a huge apology for the release delay. A lot has been happening, both in my personal life, general health, and my work life. As the sole writer of Heart Fragment aside from a few additional scenes provided by Nico H (developer of Entropic Float), any issues that I face directly impact the speed I can work at.

Book Two: Belief Fragments will still be available this summer (2022). Lana's route is finished aside from end programming + beta testing, and Shannon's is nearly finished being written and will then be moved into the programming stage as well. I really appreciate your patience with me!

Lastly, if anyone runs into any issues with the new update, please feel free to contact me any time, whether it is by email ([email protected]), the Steam community page, or even commenting right here on this update.

Have a lovely day, everyone!

A few small updates & fixes:

• The kitchen background at the protagonist's home is updated to an original background
  
• Fixed an error in one of the nightmare sequences that appeared when on Clive's route
  
• Added nightmare dialogue variation in some spots that change based on certain endings
  
• Some flashbacks were added to Kay's route
  

And a few progress updates for the next release:

• NaNoWriMo was a success, with 50,000 words written throughout November! Act Three and the endings in Book Two are all that's left, then programming & beta testing can start
  
• We reached not one but TWO stretch goals on Kickstarter, which means we've unlocked a bunch of new features starting in Book Two: epilogues, more CGs, more voice acting, a male MC variation, and lots more to come
  
• Anyone who missed out on getting the merch from the Kickstarter will be able to preorder them through an online store that'll be set up later this week
  

[h2]The Heart Fragment: Complete Edition Kickstarter ends in just 3 days! We're 100% funded but working towards some amazing stretch goals. [/h2]



Here's a recap of the how, the why, and everything else you might be asking:

Q: I already own the game. Will I still be able to play all the future content?
A: Yes, absolutely! Book Two, Book Three, and the Finale will still be available to all who own Book One as free DLC. The bonus of backing this Kickstarter is that you get the future group ending DLCs for free, early access to future releases if you back a tier that includes it, get some bonus merch, and a chance to help Heart Fragment be released as quickly as possible + reach some stretch goals.

Q: What will the Kickstarter funds be used for?
A: Right now, I'm paying for most assets out of my own pocket. This will let me get the remaining assets for Book Two, Book Three, and the Finale. In other words, I'll no longer be at a net loss with the creation of Heart Fragment. It'll also allow me to release the future parts much quicker than I could otherwise. +

Q: What is the group ending DLC?
A: These optional DLCs will be included free to anyone who backs Heart Fragment on Kickstarter, and will cost approximately $2 to $5 each after that. They will be released after Book Three. The full list of group DLCs is:

- Clive & Shannon (branches off of Shannon's route, adds 4 new endings)
- Kay & Clive (branches off of Kay's route, adds 3 new endings)
- Clive & Jasper (branches off of Clive's route, adds 4 new endings)
- Jasper & Shannon (branches off of Jasper's route, adds 2 new endings)
- Natalia & Jasper (branches off of Natalia's route, adds 3 new endings)

Q: The campaign talks about an option to switch art styles, but I own Book One and haven't been able to find it.
A: This option will be added along with the release of Book Two in March.

Q: What merch is available?
A: There's digital merch, including the OST, artbook, wallpapers, and full HD copies of all CGs and physical merch in the form of double-sided acrylic chibi charms.


Q: I only want merch, not another copy of the game. Can I do that?
A: Yep, just choose the add-on tier and you can customize what you get with your order!

Q: Why two art styles?
A: The number one thing that people were displeased with during the release of Heart Fragment is the inconsistency between the sprite art & the CG art. Many people said this ruined the experience by breaking immersion. That's why CGs are being made to match the sprite artwork, and the CG artist is doing a version of the sprites in their artstyle. It would be unfair to both artists who put so much hard work into their art to have them removed entirely, which is why the option to choose between them is being added instead.
You can switch between "Style A" and "Style B" at any time during your gameplay, as demonstrated below:


Thank you all for your support! Much love!

Two important quality of life updates just went live!

• Right-clicking the skip button instead of left clicking will use the "skip to next choice" feature. Based on my testing so far, it seems to also work as a "skip to next unread dialogue" button, but I'll need to do a bit more testing just to double-check that before I upload the patch.
  
• StarxSocial posts now show up as a full social feed! Since you don't always have a good chance in-game to be prompted to check for new posts, as the routes go along and the characters you add on StarxSocial continue their lives alongside whatever actions you take, they'll make social media posts in their own time. You can click the "heart" next to their posts to like them and get a bit of bonus affection for some of them.
  

Additionally, 3 out of the 6 acrylic charms for the Heart Fragment merch tiers have been revealed so far. Here's a look at Clive, Jasper, and Shannon!



Follow Heart Fragment on Twitter and/or Tumblr or join the Heart Fragment discord server if you'd like to see the charms as they are revealed! Tomorrow will be Kay's reveal.