Infinite Stars - The Visual Novel News

Thank you to everyone who has been playing and rating Infinite Stars!
I've spent the week fixing typos bugs and adding some more content. (The start of Tabitha's arc is now in the internal devbuild, with more written but not yet coded content on its way.)

I've also been getting more of the music ready for new/existing content as promised. (If you're on the Discord's patron channel you might have seen a sneak peek of the new tracks)

I know I've been planning to take a day or two off after the launch, but I haven't found the time yet, though my wife and I are officially on leave today for the funeral. (I snuck away for a few minutes while getting ready and dressed to write this post!)

Happy Friday, enjoy your weekend, and thank you for everything!

It's Friday! And this is a special Friday because it's a RELEASE Friday!
That's right! Episode 4 - Part 1 is now live!

Update Edit: It's also a sad day for my family. I lost someone dear to me this morning, someone even dearer to my loved ones, and my heart is aching with them for our loss. I wish things weren't the way they are. I wish I could do more to ease their suffering.

Project Details:
167,666 words in total. (That's roughly the same length as the first two Harry Potter novels combined)
825 possible choices.

Patrons can get their version over here (win|mac|lin) or here (android), and everyone else can get the full game on Steam or Itchio!

Episode 4 - Part 1 continues the story after the dramatic conclusion from Episode 3.

It introduces several new characters, several new and redrawn backgrounds, several new portraits, several new music tracks, an overhauled story controller, a new free-roam mechanic, a new star system navigation interface, a lore gallery with unlockable entries, a system for players to load custom-made stories written by other players into the game, a seasonal event (Spooktober Heist), and nearly 40K additional words of content (some being intimate content for Kiaria, Lochem and Khalil).

It also includes two very special player portraits! Thanks to the amazing ladies from Wanderlust Games, you can now play your Mah'Abeu as a younger version of Damon or Ayame from Andromeda Six! (Seriously, if you're hearing about Andromeda Six for the first time– You're about to fall in love. Go check them out and support them if your wallet allows!)



We've been working extremely hard to bring this release to you, and while we've added a ton of new things, we would have loved to add more. Sadly, we had to draw a line in the sand and release what was available.

Some of the things that we could add before the deadline that were requested by our beta testers:

• MC is more knowledgeable about the Cephilusk.
  
• Added a location hint during free-roam sequences.
  
• Made Kiaria more Kiaria when dealing with current events.
  
• Your Mah'Abue now crafts the notice being sent to the crew.
  
• Several more personality options (with more on their way)
  
• Most free-roam scenes now have the crew members touching on or hinting at the current situation.
  
• Fixed some logic bugs with Sonia's scene.
  
• Adjusted Andreas' scene with an additional choice if he becomes too much.
  
• Added some additional logic and checks to the response you can give when the crew/your LI asks about how you are coping. (Might still expand on this.)
  
• Your Mah'Abue now has more control over how they handle Nikau.
  
• Added Lindi's music track.
  
• An additional scene for Khalil
  

Some of the things that we couldn't add before the deadline that will be added very soon. (over the next week or three):

• Implementing some more of the Beta Tester feedback requests.
  
• The start of Tabitha's character arc.
  
• A free-roam scene for Lebeny, along with an additional scene.
  
• Adding a scene with Matthias.
  
• Adding additional character expressions to some of the free-roam content.
  
• Additional music tracks where there is only silence.
  
• Missing Lore Descriptions, replacing the WiP notice with actual content.
  
• The new trailer for Episode 4.
  

Some of the things that we couldn't add before the deadline that will be added down the line. (more than a month from now)

• Additional backgrounds and characters.
  
• Continuing Episode 4, including the much-anticipated Matthias Elevator scene.
  
• Additional Lore items to unlock.
  
• More free-roam content, more character content (Reyna and more).
  
• Character relationship arcs for Raymond, Matthias, Veera and Tabitha as a prioity.
  
• Character relationship arcs for Cephilusk, Andreas and TBD a little further down the road.
  

As always, despite the hours and hours and heaps of financial resources poured into the project, Infinite Stars is still entirely free! If you like what we are doing and can afford to show your support, please consider joining one of our paid Patreon tiers!

Infinite Stars wouldn't be nearly as cool as it is without the support of our amazing Patrons who believe in us!

If you can't afford to support us, that's cool. We still love you, and having you enjoy our game fills our hearts with joy! If you like the game, share it with your friends or give us a positive review to help with the visibility algorithms.

Have a peaceful weekend, enjoy the release, and go hug one of your loved ones!

It's Friday! That means it's almost weekend! It ALSO means that the wait for the next Infinite Stars release is almost over.

God willing, we'll have the release ready before Valentine's day!

The Beta tester feedback has started rolling in, and the results are fantastic. Everyone seems to love the upcoming content, and the majority of the issues are small and easy to fix. I have about two pages of beta tester requests that I'm trying to implement, mostly stuff like the option to react like this when that happens etc.

That said, if you are one of the remaining Beta Testers who hasn't yet played through the content and given feedback, time is running out! For those of you that have given your feedback, thank you so much! We're humbled by all the kind words and constructive feedback!

I don't have too much more to share without spoilers, but I can say that we're working day (and sometimes night) to get everything done! I'll leave you with this screenshot from Episode 4 while I get back to the tester feedback…

Hay, Hoy, It's Friday! That means devlog time!


This week has been much of the same– we're working super hard on the next content release!

All the planned main story line content for this batch has been coded. Most of the expressions have been done. I'm still working on the lore items for the game, which is coming together nicely! We're planning on having a total of 20 unlockable lore entries on release, with many more to come.

Talking about the lore items, here is a preview of what they'll look like once unlocked.

Just look at that gorgeous artwork by Grace!

Tae is working on two surprise player portraits for all of you.

Stoffies is busy finishing up the last of the old backgrounds.

Crowbie is still on a well deserved break for the next 2-3 months.

Trix was invaluable in helping with the story controller for the system navigation screen!

This isn't a mockup, this is the actual, in-game system navigation screen that we'll be using more and more for future content. If you were a Captain or Admiral patron during the planning phase, you'll notice a play on your name somewhere on the screen!

I'm writing and coding like a madman, and I'm slowly shifting gears to focus on the launch preparations.

We've got 6 new tracks in the making, and I received the first track's draft earlier today. It's looking promising.

If you want to be considered as a Beta Tester for the upcoming content release, please apply over here! We have limited spots available, so don't wait too long!


In other news, some of you might recall our Spooktober 2023 Visual Novel Jam entry, and as it turns out we finished in the top 2% (4th place!) The jam entry was coded as a HRM (one of the player made mods that Tabitha can run as a simulation) and we'll integrate it into the full game as a triggerable seasonal event during October/Halloween.

As you can see, it's been a busy week, made possible by all of our amazing fans and patrons! We love you all to bits!
Have a fantastic weekend, stay safe and I can't wait to share the new content with all of you!

It's Friday! Depending on where you live!

Another successful week is behind us! I've been so busy working on the new content that I lost track of time, hence the later-than-usual devlog post!

This week has been mostly about coding. We made some changes to the story controller, allowing it to be more flexible. I also worked through the spiderweb of branching choices, adding the logic and correct routing. (Without getting too technical, thanks to Trix, we can now seamlessly move from free-roaming to the story, back to the free-roaming mid-story and then back to the story again without hassles. We've also changed the way the scenes get prioritised. There are a few other functions we have yet to start using, but I'll talk more about them once we start doing so.)

We also added a few new locations onboard the Tabitha where these scenes occur. (In some cases, like the Hangar, we added a navigation button so players can go outside the main story!)



From a marketing point of view, we're ramping up for the release, and we have a few things planned that should delight you. The cat isn't out of the bag yet, but if you've played and loved all of the free sci-fi/romance/adventure visual novels on the market (there aren't many), you're in for a happy surprise when we launch!

That's it for me! I have a busy day ahead with a half-day-long meeting starting in a few hours, but I hope the rest of you have a relaxing and meeting-free weekend! Stay safe, be kind, and do something fun!