Entropic Float 2: Land Of The Witch

October Update- Spooky Bundles and Formalized Progress!
about 1 month ago – Tue, Oct 08, 2024 at 05:59:14 AM

Entropic Float is featured once again in the Halloween Queer Stories Bundle- And if you haven’t grabbed yourself the Beloved Ghost DLC yet, it holds the elusive title as the one DLC in the bundle too! Support me and a whole bunch of other wonderful gamedevs with this mutual aid bundle, available at a suggested supporter price or a discounted price- Choose what you can afford! People both behind and included in this bundle were incredibly helpful with the Kickstarter nearly a year ago now, so show them some love!

On to the updates! When it comes to what I said I’d be getting done throughout September- I got the apparel photographed and posted, and the housekeeping updates pushed! These ended up basically being my September Update, since I shared the info about both at once. As for getting the EF2 demo onto steam- I made the small text edits necessary in the demo itself (as info about Kickstarter in the itch demo release is no longer relevant) but have yet to actually get it posted. Frankly, Steam confuses me at the best of times, it’s an intimidating task, and difficult to be motivated to overcome when the demo is and has been available on itch. We’ll get there.

Meanwhile when it comes to getting there, visual assets! While I’ve been working on them across the board for a while now, I finally had the opportunity to sit down and formalize the process a bit more. Up to now, I’ve been balancing in a lot of directions, and as a result, have just been fitting in what work I can. A lot of progress has been made without taking time to set up a way to measure that progress- So I can now say that we have 60% of planned talksprites completed! Here are a few of the latest ones.

Since talksprites will be used throughout the entire game, not having them all yet has served as the biggest roadblock to making proper progress on the game itself… That and everyday life of course, but point being, the more talksprite sets I finish the quicker implementation will go. While progress may look different than I expected it would based on my experience with the first game, I would still say that development is on track! It’s just on a different track than I realized it would be on. All is well!

My hope is to get up to at least 80% talksprites before the end of the month- That’ll be fifteen more, which isn’t a very daunting number if it’s the main thing I’m working on in my free time! All of my weekends this month are accounted for by some extra work I’ve picked up, but I have my ways of squeezing art in. I might not make another update until late November, but if you join the discord, I share all but the most spoilerific talksprites there as I finish them!

And what does November hold? Well, despite NaNoWriMo as an institution making some questionable decisions as of late… I’ve been participating in the event for over ten years and it’s become an important part of my creative process, so while I’m unlikely to track it on the official website this year- I’ll be writing. Memory seeking segments, to be specific, since those don’t use talksprites anyway! 50,000 words or more in the month of November, that’s still my goal. And that’s all for now!

Thank you for reading, and look forward to more big strides in development coming up!

August Update- Making Progress, More To Come!
3 months ago – Thu, Aug 22, 2024 at 09:26:50 AM

Well- July got away from me, but I did warn you all that could happen... Turns out that working two part-time jobs, running a small business, and near-solo developing a game all at once can be tough to juggle, who knew? (I knew, that's why I've been upfront about it all.)

Even so- Falling short in the project manager portion of indie development, with no July update, doesn't mean that I'm falling short in other areas! Here we have a portion of the sketches I've been putting together for some Objekts and CGs...

And some talksprites since the last update...

And, what the heck, how about a preview for one of shoii's CGs?? (Speaking of shoii, if you didn't hear, they've switched twitter accounts to "shoeechee")

Progress continues to be made~ In addition to keeping up the new art, there are a few specific tasks I have on deck for September. Photographing and making available the new apparel line, finally getting the EF2 demo up on steam, and pushing some housekeeping updates to various platforms. Nothing too exciting, but after a summer like this one, it needs to be done!

Until next time! Thank you, as always, for reading!

June Update- Physical Merch, Live Events, OST Additions
5 months ago – Sat, Jun 22, 2024 at 04:19:38 PM

The physical rewards have arrived! And if you're somebody with a physical reward tier, you have until 07/01/2024 (July 1st) if you'd like to add anything to your shipment: Whether Entropic Float related or otherwise, use the code ADDKICKSTARTER on my etsy store for free shipping (domestic or international!) to have items sent with your rewards package. Packages with additions will be shipped right away after purchase, the rest will ship out on 07/01 ~ Though, everything is ready to go, so if you already know you don't want to make any additions, just let me know and I'll get your package in the mail!

If you don't currently have physical rewards but see something you'd like in my shop, including this NEW Entropic Float merch printed for reward fulfillment (extras available while supplies last!) Just please don't use the coupon for free shipping, since it'll be an all-new package. US Shipping is free with a purchase of $35+, International with $70+.

I've mentioned Entropic Float Apparel coming in my next clothing drop- Apparel ships separately, and is always free shipping anywhere, so don't worry about waiting for that. And let me know if there's any kind of apparel you'd really love to see! Current plans are for logo shirts (the same design available on Redbubble, but higher quality working with a manufacturer), PJ Pants based on what Ame wears in the first game, and the T-Shirt that Touko wears in the Beloved Ghost DLC- But I'm happy to add suggestions if you've got your heart set on something specific~

The OST for Beloved Ghost is also now available on youtube, added onto the end of the OST playlist! With a new album cover, too. Beloved Ghost and EF2 are going to share this art, to distinguish their new tracks from those of the first game. There are nine new additions to the soundtrack now! Some of them might sound familiar even if you haven't been able to play the DLC yet- Dreaming Of Delights and Dreaming Of Destruction were the feature tracks in my yanderejam 2023 entry, and GHOUL GROOVE already appeared as the main menu theme in EF2's demo!

As for progress on EF2 properly? Well... To be perfectly honest, I've barely been at home this month, and when I was, I was mostly sorting out the shipment and getting etsy listings up, so I don't actually have any smooth new assets to show you right now. I've been working on a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff! Planning out puzzles, plot moments, brainstorming in the car about how to code the randomization processes. There's a lot I can do when I'm not at my home computer, it's just not stuff that I'm really able to... Show off progress on visually.  Oops. 

The upside is that most of what I've been doing away from home is work! Lots of it! My day job is a bit unconventional, so I should note that the hours I'm scheduled and paid for are typically longer than the hours I actually spend at work, but on paper I worked 60 hours last week and am scheduled for 70 next week. Even knowing that's more time than I actually work, it's shaping up to be a lot, considering my health... But it's alright. Working harder on a given month just means I can afford more time off to work on the game in a different month, and I thrive in sprints of focus.

 The other upside is that I should be able to create quite a few visual assets in the last couple weekends of June, but I wanted to get this update out sooner rather than later for the sake of anybody who wants to take advantage of free shipping with their reward package.

Finally, I also have a few live events coming up! You can come say hi at my artist table (Nico's Fan Niche) if you're attending Springfield Comic Con, Connecticon, or Terrificon this summer. I'll also be at Otakuthon as an attendee myself! As you can imagine based on that lineup, my July update probably won't be too exciting either (Especially with artfight going on- Add me! I'm Nhitori!) but of course, I'll still have some fun stuff to share with you all.

Thank you, as always, for reading!

May Update: Midnight's Requiem Complete Edition, Backer Rewards, and EF2 Progress!!
6 months ago – Sun, May 26, 2024 at 09:44:09 AM

Leading with the most exciting part! Remember when we hit the stretch goal to have Stephanie's VA record the full version of Midnight's Requiem, with the lyrics that Prinxe wrote? Well, I've finally uploaded the result for your listening pleasure! Of course, the Renfield Future track will be up next, but I have a bit more to do on that one before I can share it, so enjoy Stephanie's wonderful vocals for the time being!

Now, Rewards! The physical rewards are IN PRODUCTION right now, at the manufacturer~ They're on the way! If you missed out on any, there are a limited number of extras of each new design coming my way. Digital Rewards meanwhile- I've finished commissions for backers who are also receiving physical rewards. If you got digital rewards only, your art is still on the way! I took a small step back from working on rewards after getting the manufacturing order in, to focus on the game itself for some time, but it shouldn't be too long until you see yours too.

And last but certainly not least- Progress! My original roadmap has proved to be a bit difficult to follow, as development on this game has been tougher to chunk up in a linear way. Turns out that happens when you're making 99% of the visual assets yourself!

Here's a preview of just a few of the EF2 visuals I've been able to complete since the previous update~ Things are going well! Hopefully next month I'll be able to finally sort out getting the EF2 demo onto steam and start shipping out some physical rewards to backers, along with continuing to add to the catalogue of images!

As always- Thank you for reading!

April Update- Physical Reward Designs!
7 months ago – Mon, Apr 22, 2024 at 07:01:35 AM

Hi everyone! It's been a minute, huh? Sorry about that! After releasing Beloved Ghost I got to work on merch designs, but other things kept coming up, getting in the way, and well... If you've played the first game, seen the themes of this series, it should be no surprise that I do tend to give myself deadlines that get thwarted by my health. Even right now, I'm writing this update with a pounding headache...

Still, progress has been made! I'll be sharing the merch designs later in this update, along with a link to preorder individual pieces if you missed it during the active campaign. Besides the merch, I've been getting started on commissions- If you're expecting one, get excited! This along with the usual work on Entropic Float 2 itself, of course... And events! I amazingly got to meet a few fans of Entropic Float at Connecticut Gamer Con earlier this month, and if you'd like to join their ranks, I'm confirmed to be tabling at Holyoke Pride in June as well as both Springfield Comic Con and Connecticon in July! 

Now, on to the designs! These are the new merch items available in reward fulfillment, but it's not too late! If one of these items wasn't in your reward tier, or you couldn't afford it as an add-on at survey time, or you just didn't realize till now that you want it? Preorders are still open on my etsy shop until May 13th!

Let's go smallest to largest here- The key for the stickerpack! This will be included with the stickers, and the stickers will be included with every physical reward tier. If you'd like the stickers, but only bought a digital reward and don't plan to preorder anything else, just reach out to me~ Especially since I can ship them with STAMPS for CHEAP INTERNATIONAL if you're willing to FORGO A TRACKING NUMBER! Every stickerpack contains ALL of these characters~

Next up, the aluminum pin badges! These eight add to the eighteen already available which reference EF1 endings. Four for EF2's endings (hm, I wonder what these could mean?), one Beloved Ghost badge in the Mesteri Moas, one more EF1 badge with The ~LUMP~, and two additional EF2 badges with the Possum Pal and CROWNPRIMROSE campaign badge! These were offered with most physical reward tiers, but can also be preordered for just $3 each.

New acrylic keychains! These, likewise, are in addition to the existing four that have been available since the shop first opened. Shinjiro, JJ, Cobalt, and Renfield were all requested by specific backers at survey time! They're $8 each to preorder, if you're just now realizing you want them as well~

Acrylic standees! Little guys to stand on your shelf or your desk or wherever! 50mm circular base, 90mm tall, these secret fullbodies are always included by the wonderful Soyokaze when commissioning titlescreens~ It's $15 to preorder a small friend.

Last but certainly not least- Throw Pillow Plushies! 40cm in size, these are shaped pillows with the designs printed on them in a plush fabric. We're not quite big enough to go full-blown plushie, but these things are still super adorable! These were only included at the highest reward tiers, so if you'd like to get your hands on one of these, it's a $25 preorder!

That's all for now! As always, thank you for reading, and I'll update you again soon!