Dev Log #15 - Happy pride month and Day 4 release date announcements! (1,000+ words!)

Happy Pride month, everyone! Shoutout to the queers, pioneers, and all who persevered 💪

But that's not the only thing I want to celebrate today. I'm also here to announce the dates for the next chapter of Love by the Water! I finished the last render (maybe) yesterday and have spent today and yesterday coding. I have a little left to do before I send it over to get proofread (hi Zach!!!!!!), but for the first time in.....................................6 months..............the finish line is in sight. When I finished the last (outlined) render, I immediately started crying. I've been working on this every single day of my life this year, and I'm just so happy it's nearly done lol. I'm really sorry it's taken so long. It's a long chapter (more on that later), but I'm also just not particularly fast. I try my best, but it's what it is. I just want to thank all of you who have stuck around and not given up on me. I really hope you enjoy it.

ANYWAY! The release dates for Love by the Water - Day 4 (Chapter 6) are:

Great Old Ones: June 10th, 2026

Sun Gods: June 13th, 2026

Lovers: June 18th, 2026

Public: June 20th, 2026

Please look forward to it!

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Tentative changelog:

• Words: 95,764 -> 141,234 (+45,470)

• Images: 9,494 -> 12, 303 (+ 2,809)

• Videos: 288 -> 350 (+62)

• Voice lines: 201 -> 260 (+59)

• Music: 93 -> 118 (+25)

• SFX: 467 -> 595 (+128)

• Fun new systems like a phone, hidden clickables, and even a little mini-game!

• Easter egg cameos from other AVNs!

• And still absolutely zero generative AI! Whoa!

If it isn't obvious from the stats, this is by far my biggest update yet. My previous update was 4,000 lines of code and 980 renders. This new update is over three times larger with more than 12,000 lines of script and nearly 3,000 renders. It's bigger than any previous release of mine, which have always been fairly large. This update includes scenes with (nearly...) every single character in the game and extends all over the island. If you enjoyed the early chapters of the game, this one is for you! It's very school slice-of-life focused after a few updates off of that theme. This means there's a lot of comedy and hijinks again and a good amount of H-content. If I had to put a number on it, I'd say there are around seven unique H-scenes with a variety of characters (but isn't the entire game one long H-scene with Wake being as handsome as he is?).

My game's cast is huge, so some characters up to this point have been relegated to the sidelines as their reasons for interacting with Wake have yet to materialize, and I think this update does a good job of making some of the visions for the future clearer. That being said, I want to be upfront with the fact that all of the H-content in this update is with characters who have already begun to form bonds with Wake in previous chapters. My game has a lot of h-content, but I like to think most of it makes sense for the characters. If two characters have had very little interaction before, they won't be suddenly jumping to that H-stage now, but a lot of them are finally growing closer. New relationships are developing while existing relationships strengthen, and they're all building toward what I think makes the most sense for the characters. In the past, characters like April or Ellie had little reason to interact with Wake, and I didn't want to force their interactions for the sake of it. I want the relationships to make sense, and I hope this update starts to make things like that clearer. It makes sense for characters like Kristina and Sasha to spend a lot of time with Wake, but characters like June or Billie have entirely different social circles and interests. My goal is to make Wake crossing over those boundaries feel natural in the scope of his overall story. There's a lot of moving parts to making 26 love interests work! It's my fault! I'm sorry! Thank you!

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General updates:

Discord: We hit 1,000 members on the Discord, guys! What an incredible milestone. Thank you so much for making my server one of the most fun, comfortable places in the AVN community. None of this would be possible if it wasn't for your kindness in there. I want to make special shoutouts to my goons Osko, Chaos, Contemno, Prinxess, AJ, and Brian who have been here since the absolute beginning and have never been anything but the kindest, most patient and supportive gooners around. I also want to mention newer friends whose presence has injected so much needed passion into the game's development: Kelly, Sassy, Riot, Zach, Dr. Weeb, Caranthral, MistaEdd, Miso, Warden, Icarus, Kway, Peter, and Moon. I love you all to death and the game only exists because of you guys. If I'm forgetting anyone obvious, don't worry, for I will kill myself. Thank you everyone for supporting me and turning this small passion project into something I feel like I'm doing with a community who cares about me.

More than anyone, though, I want to thank Pickle. The game only exists because of her. She designed the characters. She made the fun Patreon renders. She did the fun graphic design thing that became a staple of the game's visual identity. When I was stuck on a story point, she gave me the genius idea. When my computer broke, she paid to have it fixed because she knew what this game meant to me. When I complained about not having enough hair or clothing options for my characters, she spent 6 months learning how to make mods just to help me out. And, with this new update, she's even begun rendering entire scenes for the project! You might be 3 feet tall, but you're big to me. The absolute biggest.

Anyway, I made a special render to celebrate 1,000 members in the Discord server that I'll be posting soon. (Japanesely) Please look forward to it.

Patreon:

As always, there have been lots of fun posts this month!

• The reveal of Lonely-Gale's newest gun show, Lady Mary!

• Mallory pin-up (NSFW)!

• Sasha x Emma bikini beach day!

• Happy mother's day! (and the NSFW alt!)

• NSFW Pickle! :O

• and even more featuring Celia, Emma, and Bilie! Wow, this Patreon page is amazing! There's so much content! Tell your friends!

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Misc. and IRL:

This is already over 1,000 words, so I'll keep the rest short.

bye

.cure