Big Announcement

If you don’t want to read the whole post, there is a short summary at the bottom.

The update is now in active development

In the previous post, I talked about working on a bigger improvement for the game alongside regular updates.

Now this plan has fully moved into active development. I’m actively putting the new version together, and I’m planning to release it sometime in the 20s of this month.

I don’t want to promise the exact date 100%, because this update turned out to be much bigger and more difficult than I expected.

What I want to improve

The main goal is still the same: to make the game feel more complete, more polished, and easier to follow.

I don’t want to completely change the game or remove old content. Instead, I want to carefully improve what is already there:

• story

• characters

• UI

• older scenes

• locations

• the overall feeling of the playthrough

I want the story to feel more connected, and I want the player to have a better understanding of where the story is going and why certain events happen.

What has already been done

During this time, I have already reworked the main characters, made a big update to the main character, improved the MC’s apartment, and created a new beginning for the game.

I also reviewed the story and added a more complete storyline for the main character, so the events feel more natural and connected.

Because of this, a lot of extra work appeared. I had to rewrite or heavily edit almost all of the text, because after the story changes, many old dialogues no longer fit the new structure properly.

Current status

Right now, the game is already more or less playable, but there are still many bugs.

The text also still needs to be cleaned up, checked, and fixed.

On the art side, things are much closer to being finished. Most of what I wanted to make for this update is already done. I still need around two more backgrounds and a few smaller things.

The hardest part

The hardest part right now is putting everything together again:

• new story

• updated characters

• old content

• new scenes

• UI

• technical changes

• bug fixes

This is the part that makes me a bit nervous, because the bigger the update is, the more places there are where something can break.

Honestly, I don’t think I have ever worked this actively on a single update before. There is a lot of work, and I’m still afraid of being late, but I’m doing my best to make everything as good as I can.

Future plans

In the future, I still want to gradually improve the game: UI, story, characters, locations, old art, and older scenes.

I’m also still thinking about maybe trying to release the game on Steam someday, so I’m already trying to make the project feel more consistent and polished.

After the update is released, I also want to make some polls so you can vote on which characters, scenes, or locations should be improved next.

Early Access

I also want to remind everyone about the Early Access system.

I want to make supporting the game more clear and useful for the people who help the project grow. That’s why new versions will be available to supporters before the public release.

• Close Neighbor will get the new version about 8 days before the public release.

• Suburb Elite will get the new version about 16 days before the public release.

After that, the update will become available to all players for free.

I don’t want to make the game fully locked behind paid access. Public updates will still be released for everyone. Early Access is just a way to give something back to the people who support the development and help me make the game better.

Thank you to everyone who supports the game and follows its development. I hope you will like the new story direction, the updated characters, and all the changes I’m preparing.

Short summary

• I’m now fully working on the bigger update.

• I’m planning to release it sometime in the 20s of this month.

• The update turned out to be much bigger than I expected.

• I reworked the main characters, updated the main character, improved the MC’s apartment, created a new beginning, and reviewed the story structure.

• I had to rewrite or heavily edit almost all of the text.

• Right now, the game is already more or less playable, but there are still many bugs.

• On the art side, most things are already done. I still need around two more backgrounds and a few smaller things.

• The hardest part right now is putting everything together and fixing bugs.

• Close Neighbor will get the update about 8 days before the public release.

• Suburb Elite will get the update about 16 days before the public release.

• Public updates will still be released for everyone for free.

• I’m working very actively on this update, and I hope you will like the new story, updated characters, and the overall direction of the game.