To Be A King - Volume 1 News

A very large update for Volume 1 is here. You can read the details in the changelog below. Myself and my beta testing team have put a lot of hours into checking for problems, but no software is ever bug free. If you have any trouble or think you've found a bug or dreaded typo, please come over to my Discord and post a message.

A few of the biggest changes are finally getting consistent unlock of achievements on Macs, a big UI overhaul to make things easier to find and read through, notification banners to let you know about key events or results from your choices, a complete reworking of the music and sound effects to be better balanced, consistent, and unique to each of our lovely ladies, and you can adjust the font size for dialogue now in settings.

[h2]Changelog:[/h2]
Fixes

• Adjust points system (automatically converts old saves when you load them)
  
• Points balancing adjustments
  
• Various UI fixes and improvements
  
• SFX and music volume normalization
  
• Achievements now unlock properly on Mac and Steam Deck
  
• Corrected character romance display options in codex for Alessia, Tullia, and Juliana
  

Improvements

• Added optional introduction tutorial
  
• Added optional tutorials for areas of the codex
  
• Revamped codex with improved sections and consistency
  
• Notification system implemented for key events
  
• Alliance and diplomacy features added
  
• Adjustable dialogue font size added to settings
  
• Updated music
  
• New sound effects
  
• Sound effects customized for each character
  
• Adjusted Aelinia & Kaylan bedroom scene to be optional
  
• Adjusted Aelinia & Lydia pool scene to be optional
  
• Added loading screen
  
• Added code to support future releases
  
• Updated replay gallery
  

Old saves should still work fine, by the way, so no need to start over with a fresh playthrough. All these changes were made not only to fix issues and make some improvements, but also to get things ready for the next release of content. Four large chapters are coming on March 29. The store page for Volume 2 - Part 1 DLC is live, so go ahead and wishlist to be notified when it is available for purchase.

It will be a very busy March. As previously announced, I'm bringing the first four chapters of To Be A King Volume 2 to Steam as Volume 2 - Part 1. I'm pleased to announce a March 29 release date for this, as well as a walkthrough for the first part of Volume 2 launching at the same time. I need the extra time to add achievements, finish the walkthrough, and complete testing.

In the first part of Volume 2 you're going to find quite a bit of new content. In fact, while your playtime will vary based on your harem size and other choices, Volume 2 - Part 1 is close to the size of all of Volume 1:

• Nearly 5000 new static renders
  
• 23 lewd scenes
  
• Improved music, sound effects, and new lewd sound effects
  
• Revamped UI
  
• Optional tutorial
  
• Adjustable font size for dialogue
  

The good news? No need to replay the game from the beginning when you get Volume 2 - Part 1. Pick right up where you left off at the end of Volume 1. There will be some updates coming to Volume 1 soon, and those include the revamped UI, adjustable font size for dialogue, and the optional tutorial. That will be a free update for Volume 1 owners, and it will not require a new playthrough either. You can start fresh, if you want, but I don't think the changes will be that significant that most would want to.

The store page for Volume 2 - Part 1 DLC is live, so go ahead and wishlist to be notified when it is available for purchase.

Apart from that work, I'm continuing to finish up the script for the next chapter, as well as revising the outline for the remainder of the game's story. As the choices expand, I wanted to spend a bit more time making sure that things were balanced and all choices accounted for. Better to spend some time now before I write myself into a corner. We've got a lot left in our story, and some exciting twists coming with Volume 2 - Part 1 and in future chapters.

I'll close by saying that there are still a few improvements I am working on to make To Be A King a very smooth experience on Steam Deck. It is completely playable now, as long as you invoke the keyboard when you first start playing when you have to enter your name (you can close the keyboard after), and when you do a save. I played through it on my Steam Deck recently, and I've had some other players report their experience was a good one. I want to get the controller mapping fully implemented, and fix whatever is preventing the keyboard from automatically invoking, as it should. Don't have an ETA for those changes yet.

I'll start with an apology for the confusion I caused with my last announcement. I did not mean to mislead, but it is very clear that I should have adjusted that announcement quite a bit. I will make sure to be much more careful in the future.

Second, I really appreciate some of your suggestions for how I can reduce the wait for Volume 2 here on Steam. Here is what I plan to do in that regard:

• Finish some big code and music/sound effects updates for Volume 1, and get that pushed out within the next two weeks. These updates are not DLC, so you'll get them even if you purchased Volume 1 long ago. No new content, but a lot of quality of life improvements that I think you all will appreciate.
  
• Get Chapters 8-11 prepared for a DLC release here on Steam as a Volume 2 - Part 1 release. I'll need a bit of time to add in achievements, bug test, etc., but I do not expect that to take too long. It is mostly just artwork for the store page, achievement artwork, and some playthrough testing that is needed. You'll certainly get an announcement when that is ready for purchase here on Steam.
  

Look for an announcement when I release the improvements for Volume 1 (again, no additional purchase required for that), and then another announcement when Volume 2 - Part 1 is released as DLC here on Steam.

Again, thank you all for your feedback and suggestions. I'm getting to work on this stuff now. Have a great week!

- IT Roy

Chapter 11 is now available, and we are that much closer to a Volume 2 release on Steam. Only issue is that the story keeps growing a bit. I am back on a nice regular development schedule and already hard at work on Chapter 12's writing.

In celebration of Chapter 11's release, I'm running a sale of 15% off on Volume 1 here on Steam. If you haven't yet dove in, now is a great time!

Thanks to regular steady progress in development (finally!), I've set release dates for the next three releases. Chapter 11 ended up growing quite a bit, so I've split what was originally planned for Chapter 11 into two parts. What was Chapter 11 - Part 1, is now just Chapter 11. Chapter 11 - Part 2 will be Chapter 12, and what I was calling Chapter 12 is now Chapter 13. I am thinking that Chapter 13 will wrap up Volume 2, but I'll know more about that mid-year. Might need a Chapter 14 to finish out Volume 2. I've put the planned released dates for the next three chapters at the end of this post.

Progress is good on the next release. There is finally a good groove, and issues I run into are more easily dealt with now. It has been a very long road to get here, much longer than I expected or hoped for, but the render speed gains, as well as the ability to do things in renders that were never possible in Daz Studio (my old software) are making me very happy. It is going to be fun to grow more into the new software over the next few years.

The remaining chapters in Volume 2 are doing a lot of work for our story. There are some characters, like Alessia, Tamura, and Flavia, that we have not gotten to know much about. That will be remedied over the next three chapters. Also, there are several big decisions, like choosing your queen, that you will be making. For a lot of you, there are going to be many more save files over the next three chapters.

My final note is that we have a few more characters coming into our story over the next two chapters specifically. These new characters are going to present some interesting choices for you, and some may test current alliances. Just when you think we might be getting some normalcy.

I'll be back around mid-February with what should be my final development update before Chapter 11's release. Have a fantastic 2024!

2024 Planned Release Dates:

• February 23: Chapter 11
  
• June 7: Chapter 12
  
• September 27: Chapter 13