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Introducing the Supporting Cast of Bob's Story

Greetings Inmates!

It is once again time for our monthly devlog! By the way, we are currently participating in Eastern Game Fest 2025 and our game is currently having a 15% discount! So if you've been waiting for the perfect opportunity to recommend Back to the Dawn to your friends and family or purchase the game yourself, now is the time!

As we are nearly done with polishing and refining this game, we would like to thank everyone for your endless support and enthusiasm as we work on Bob's storyline. The situation both in and out of prison are turbulent and murky — and a life-or-death test is waiting to surface.

And it would be remiss of us not to introduce the moving parts of this treacherous plot.

[h2]Introducing the supporting cast[/h2]

[h3]Rocky[/h3]



Rocky the Shar Pei, Detective of the Investigation Bureau, aka Bob's handler. He talks constantly of quitting and retiring, but he's a workaholic who has never taken a day of sick leave or vacation. Of course, a superior like that isn't always "good news" for Bob. Even now, when Rocky has a cast on his arm, he still wouldn't let anyone else take over his duties as Bob's handler.

However, maybe that is because he'd always known that this undercover mission was something only Bob could shoulder. Not to mention, Bob has something he wants to speak to Rocky about...

Thinking back, when Bob met Rocky, Bob was still a cop in the capital's police headquarters. One day, while on his morning run, Bob saw a suspicious person carrying a bag and entering the subway maintenance channel. His police training urged him to follow after.

He would've never thought that it'd bring him to a group of terrorists who intend to hijack the subway. With no time to even hesitate, Bob couldn't call for backup and immediately entered a gunfight of one against many.

Just as he was running out of ammunition, one of the gang members turned against his gang and held his own leader hostage. Then a gunman emerged from the shadows, killed the remaining gangsters, and successfully defused the bomb installed at the bottom of the front carriage.



"You really know how to handle yourself. I'm Wesley. The middle-aged shar pei here is Rocky. We're special agents with the FIB. Thanks for distracting these scumbags, and for taking a few out for us, heheh."

After this incident, Rocky recommended Bob to enter the FIB, and Bob has regretted that transferal ever since. But there is no way to turn back the hands of time, is there? After three years and three years more of the undercover life, Rocky has finally agreed to transfer Bob back to being a regular cop. Under one condition: Complete one last undercover mission in prison. Fail, and both Bob's hopes to transfer out and Rocky's pension will vanish into thin air.

[h3]Hugin[/h3]



Hugin the Crow seems to have no real power as the Military Advisor of the Air Force, but everyone knows that he is an important military staff working under the President Austin of the Conservative Government. He was the one who promoted policies such as increasing the number of troops stationed in Aslovia and establishing large military bases. And according to the intelligence sent back to the Investigative Bureau, his recent surprise visit to Boulderton is not a mere social call...

[h3]Surtr[/h3]



Surtr the Elk is the youngest person ever to become the Deputy Director of the Investigation Bureau, and he is known for being thorough and decisive. When he was first promoted, there were some rumors and doubts about him. But after he proved them wrong, all dissenters became silent, and perhaps silenced.

And that is all for this month's updates! All mysteries shall be answered in the game... Get ready for the greatest test of loyality, lies, and truth!

Peek into Bob's Route — A Tale of Numbered Days

Hello Inmates!

Thank you everyone for your support during the Steam Spring Sale! As we enter the stage of polishing and refinement of Bob's storyline, some of the art we are currently working on might have spoilers so we won't be sharing as much animation.

But what we can share is the key characters of Bob's route! And don't worry — this is mostly basic background information and there will be no spoilers on the plot.

Without further ado, introducing... the Black Panther Route:

[h3]Bob, the Protagonist[/h3]



Bob was originally a police officer, but his exceptional capability was noticed by Rocky the Shar Pei, Detective of the Investigation Bureau. Bob was transferred to the bureau as an agent and assigned to big cases as an undercover operative.

In his numerous years undercover, his performance was stellar and he had never failed his missions, but he's also grown weary of such a life. All he wants is to don the police uniform again and return to being a regular cop.

[h3]Wesley[/h3]



As a fellow undercover agent, Wesley may be the only person Bob can call a friend. Even if the guy is kind of rude, arrogant, unpunctual, and really irritating. But their solidarity as undercover agents is what brings them together to Lou's Bar after closing time, where the two can be themselves for a while.

Wesley isn't quite the same as Bob. Before Wesley became an undercover agent of the bureau, he wasn't a cop but a complete hooligan. He used to hang out in the Skidroad underground boxing arena while occasionally taking up unsavory high-paying jobs, from being a hired thug to being a loan shark and so on. That is until he was caught red-handed by Rocky, and introduced to undercover work. Money was money, and he needed that to take care of his younger sister, Marla.

Marla and Wesley grew up together in an orphanage. Wesley was a healthy and charming kid that caught the eye of many "good families" but Marla, born with a heart disease, was considered a burden. No one was willing to take this "bundle deal" and Wesley, not wanting to be separated from his sister, started to act up, becoming a detestable troublemaker. And just like that, Marla and Wesley left the orphanage when they became of age.

However, Marla's illness worsened with each passing year until she was spending most of her time hospitalized. The expensive hospitalization fees weighed heavily on Wesley and he was at his wits' end when he learned of the massive monetary reward for completing an undercover mission. He instantly accepted the job — after all, he had never been one to hesitate over a dangerous job.

Just this once, he says, because Marla's condition just keeps worsening, he just need to scrounge up enough money for the "big surgery", or else it will all be too late...

And that is all that we can share this month!

We hope this sneak peek has gotten you pumped for Bob's route! As always, we will continue working hard to present all of you with the best version of Back to the Dawn that we can offer. We are grateful to you for your patience!

For more exciting content and updates, remember to follow us on Twitter, join our Discord community, and check out our latest posts on TikTok. We can’t wait to see you there!

Discord | Twitter | Tiktok

Bob's Prison Fight, and the Carpark Gunfight is about to Go Down

Hello inmates!

Back to the Dawn is currently participating in The Storyteller's Festival, which lasts from Feb 18th to Feb 25th! So be sure to share about our game with your friends and family!




Lately, we've been receiving more and more comments from you requesting for game updates sooner. We completely understand everyone's eagerness as we are quite anxious to share the Bob storyline ourselves! We are incredibly hard at work, improving the daily conversations within Bob's route, and writing the penultimate act of the plot. So we'd like to share some of the progress we've made in February!


Panther vs Hippo

The rest of the content we will share here involves the new carpark scene we are currently still working on, so we cannot divulge too much. But we can share some gifs of character animations we have prepared!


Approaching with gun raised


Raising gun (back view)


Elk speaking

As always, we will continue working hard to present all of you with the best version of Back to the Dawn that we can offer! We are grateful to you for your patience!

For all the latest information and news, be sure to follow us on our socials as well. Can't wait to see you on the other side!

Discord | Twitter | Tiktok

Sneak Peek into Bob's Route

Hello inmates!

It is yet another exciting year for Back to the Dawn and we are working hard on completing Bob the Panther's storyline!

We would like to take the beginning of this year to thank you for your wonderful and patient support. As a show of appreciation, here is some sneak peeks of our work-in-progress!

Our more observant fans may have noticed from our devlogs that the art we are sharing is gradually entering the "prison break" portion of the game. While there is still a lot of work left to be done, we hope these snippets fills you with as much excitement as it does for us.


Pelican reading


New form of sit-ups


Assassin moves


Bird Chase Scene

On top of that, Back to the Dawn will be having an attractive 15% discount from 26 Jan - 9 Feb! So be sure not to miss it, and share about our game with your friends and family.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1735700/Back_to_the_Dawn/

That’s all for the January update! Once again, thank you all for your endless support, and we cannot wait to bring you another wonderful year of Back to the Dawn!

For more exciting content and updates, remember to follow us on Twitter, join our Discord community, and check out our latest posts on TikTok. We can’t wait to see you there!

Discord | Twitter | Tiktok

Steam Winter Sale Starts for Back to the Dawn!



Hello Inmates!

As 2024 comes to an end, the winter sale is upon us once again! And Back to the Dawn is here to join the festivities! Now is the perfect time to uncover shady secrets and break out of prison when you purchase Back to the Dawn at 15% off!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1735700/Back_to_the_Dawn/

In these busy days, it is all the more important to relax and recharge to maintain the drive to create. There were many creative works we were inspired by this year and we would like to share some of them with you.

Books: "Crime and Punishment", "The Age of Taiheiki", "The Myth of Sisyphus"
Movies: "Nostalghia" (1983), "Mirror" (1975), "La Haine" (1995), "Breathless" (1960), "Terrorizers" (1986) [my movie of the year]

Next, here's our December devlog:


A supper feast for guards working overtime


Shower scene for our fellow inmates


Investigating the surgical room


Secrets revealed in a diary (localization in progress)

And finally, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy new year!