Hello everyone! Sorry there was a long pause between devlogs again. There’s lots to talk about in this one, so I’ll get right to it.

First off, as always, I’d like to thank people for continuing to support the game. I really didn’t expect to hit 20k so soon, but now the demo has already passed 22k. And not only just downloads, but there’s so many kind comments and ratings every month. It’s amazing just how much has happened since earlier this year. I really wasn’t prepared for how big the game would get.

I’ll be honest. Things haven’t really been progressing much the last few months. I was drained and just not on the top of my game. I don’t want to release a subpar project, so I put many things on pause. I also need to look after my own health. Development is headed in the right direction now, but I do appreciate the patience of all who have been waiting since the last update.

In order to help boost the timeline, I have decided I will no longer be working solo on the writing. My pal Sage has been added to the team as a co-writer! Some of you will probably recognize them from the server. I am so very thankful to them for being willing to work with me on this project. It would mean the world to me if you all treat them as kindly as you have treated me.

And if you enjoy the current writing style a lot, please have no fear. I will still be in charge of the story and the final edit of all the scripts. This will greatly shorten the wait time for the full game and be a huge relief to my workload. There is a lot of cool stuff being added to the script, and we are both very excited about how the writing is progressing!

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Hi everyone! Sage here. Hope you’re having a lovely day so far.

For those of you who know me already, hello again! If you haven’t joined us on the server, I’m happy to briefly introduce myself here. I’m a twenty-something with a deep love of writing, reading, gaming, and iced matcha lattes. Visual novels and interactive fiction have a special place in my heart and I have so much appreciation for the developers who create these amazing stories. Thus, I’m incredibly happy to be collaborating with Squid on this project. Like many of you, I’m such a big fan of the demo and am truly grateful he’s given me the opportunity to help bring Invite Me In to life! Please rest assured that I am and will continue to be working closely with Squid’s vision while supporting the writing stage of the development process. This is his story to share with everyone, and I’m here to see it through as he intends it to be written. I’ll also endeavor to participate in future devlogs and other updates we share with the player base to help keep you up-to-date on our progress!

That’s all from me for now. Feel free to say hi on Discord sometime! ♡

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Now that we're getting back into the swing of things, Sage has gotten started on the early drafts of later scenes while I'm in the process of wrapping up, editing, and creating the art assets for scene 2. Because there is still quite a bit left to do before we're ready to release the next scene, there is not currently a deadline for the next major update. I'll be sure to announce it here when we're getting close to releasing the next portion of the story.

But if you want to keep track of things in real time, the best way is the join the IMI server. I am taking an indefinite break from social media, so the server is the only place I’ll be to really answer questions and give frequent updates. 

This is a winter-themed drawing of Devyn I streamed on server to celebrate 20k! I hope you all like it!

I just want to say thank you once again. I really don’t think I could keep coming back to this project if it wasn’t for the kindness, positivity, and support from you all. Keeping showing that love to other games out there too! 

Progress:

Writing - Scene 2: 65%

Programming - Scene 2: 25%

Background Art - Entryway: 50%

Background Art - Hallway: 10%

Background Art - ???: 5%

Background Art - ???: 5%

Background Art - ???: 5%

Background Art - ???: 5%

Sprite Art - ???: 0%

Sprite Art - ???: 0%

CG - Scene 2: 0%

Other/Misc - Scene 2: 0%

Writing - Scene 3: Started!