v0.2.5 Plans & It’s No Longer the ’80s – Harmony Trailer (Music Video)

EDIT: RE-UPLOADED

Hello everyone,

It’s been a little over a week since the release, and I’ve been working on the project nonstop. In fact, I’m even more focused than before. The best way to move forward is not looking back. I don’t hold grudges, but I don’t forget the people who placed rocks on my path. They have their own tactics and I have mine. Mine is to fly higher so they can’t catch me.

As I promised before, I will always do my best to bring you the highest quality story and visuals possible. Of course, I’m not an AAA studio, but I have my own vision and I’m confident in my story. What’s in my head and what I deliver are not always identical. There are technical limitations, but on a smaller scale, I can make it work.

I hope you like the video. Harmony is absolutely fire in this update. I love her. And this track is SO GOOD. Big thumbs up to Demon Studios.
Expect a lot of Mariana and Calysta content as well.

Today, I want to share my plans for v0.2.5. These ideas are not completely final, but this is the direction I’m aiming for. If you don’t want spoilers, please stop reading below.

(All the images have been uploaded as attachments. You can download them in full quality there. They are also included below in the post.)

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Zoey’s Mission

After everything that happened in the last update, Zoey is still struggling. She’s trying to adjust to her new life while dealing with Calysta’s constant attempts to corrupt her. At the same time, Harmony stands firmly against Calysta, reminding Zoey that there is a better path she can choose. This internal conflict will continue until a certain key event.

Meanwhile, Zoey will keep searching for Rachel, all while pretending that everything is normal. She’ll continue going to work and dealing with customers as if nothing is wrong. I don’t want to reveal too much, but the cast for Zoey’s mission will include Homeless, Proper_Brain’s new character who is one of my godfather tier supporters, Pedro, Mariana, Harmony, and Calysta. You can probably imagine how Zoey will gather information, and I plan to include multiple ways for players to reach that goal.

Valeria’s Mission

I currently have two different ideas for Valeria, and I haven’t decided which one to develop first.

In the first idea, Victor visits the restaurant with their new fashion designer, Scarlett. However, the homeless guy also joins them and makes things much more difficult for Valeria. My original plan was actually to make the homeless guy the new fashion designer, which would have been a funnier twist. Still, I really want to include Scarlett in this storyline, so I need to brainstorm it a bit more.

In the second idea, Valeria wakes up to a new day but is still trapped in nostalgia. She isn’t feeling well and decides to visit Melody's house after 20 years. Unfortunately, her bad luck follows her once again, and her car breaks down because of Evan. She ends up walking through the gas station again, but this time Buck’s son appears, and it seems he has taken over the business. She’ll need a new car yet again, and for a brief moment, it feels like she’s back in the past.

Eventually, she finds Melody’s house and the motel, but nothing feels the same anymore. From there, she begins 'gathering' more information about Melody from the motel manager. Personally, this second idea is my favorite. However, I still need to find a way to include Scarlett or Ashley, so I’ll continue thinking about how to balance that.

80s Valeria’s Mission

This one is my absolute favorite. Valeria and Melody wake up to someone knocking on the door. It’s Melody’s father. He tries to force her to come back home, but when she refuses, he tells her she has two days before she’s kicked out of the house. He also says he’ll be staying at the motel. A heated argument follows.

Seeing Melody cry completely devastates Valeria. Without telling her anything, Valeria decides to handle the situation on her own. She secretly plans to visit Melody’s father. For Valeria, there will be two options: either she pays him off with all her money, or she handles it in… alternative ways. What happens after that is something I don’t want to spoil yet.

Harmony's flashback
This will be a continuous scene that reveals dark secrets from Harmony’s past, and they are directly connected to current events and certain characters. There is a huge story behind all of this, but I want to reveal it piece by piece so their personalities and motivations become clearer in your mind.

With each update, I will show another critical moment from Harmony’s life. At the same time, this will also highlight Calysta and their ongoing fight in the Neon City. That’s what Harmony calls it for now, but I will find a proper name for this place. It is basically a realm where souls cannot escape and are trapped. You can think of it as something similar to purgatory, but it is actually something different. And Calysta is a goddess there, consuming souls and corrupting them. She basically brings hell to that place.

That’s why Zoey didn’t truly die. She died in one of those caves, but her soul didn’t reach the other side.( This information is already included in v0.2.4 through postcards and items, so nothing new is being spoiled. )

There are still many details missing, and I know I can develop these ideas even further. But this should give you a clear idea of what I’m planning.

There’s also one more character, Ryder (Hanbo’s character). I haven’t officially revealed him yet because his storyline needs to be rewritten, I want to introduce him properly.

If I can include him in this update, I will. If not, I’ll save him for the next one.
Known Bugs:
The game is broken on some web platforms. Zoey’s side quests are not starting because the web version is using a broken mobile build. Basically, I have two separate versions right now. I’ll combine them in the future to eliminate this problem for good.

I’ve also received reports about some minor bugs in the game, and I’ll fix them all together in v0.2.5.
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I’ll continue grinding, and now you know what I’m planning. I hope I can achieve everything I have in mind and deliver a large update. I don’t want to give a release date, but it won’t be less than five or six months. It will probably take longer. My goal is to reach 2,000 images and at least 100 animations.

You might wonder why it takes so long. Working with DAZ isn’t easy or fast, especially if you’re aiming for a certain level of quality. Besides that, I have my own life as well. I don’t want to burn myself out, because that wouldn’t be good for anyone. I’ll keep working at my own pace and try to finish it as soon as possible. Occasionally, I’ll keep making trailers. After all, music and beautiful girls go well together. And every song made for the game has a meaning, because each one was created for specific characters.

Some of the songs contain hidden hints about their past or future, while others directly reflect their emotions. Sometimes a song can say more than I can write in the script, and I think that’s something good for the game.

I’m also streaming on my Discord most nights, so feel free to join whenever you’d like, especially if you’re curious about the process or why it takes time.

Thank you all for your support, and take care of yourselves.

Demon Sound – It’s No Longer the ’80s (OST for The Restaurant) (Vimeo)