2026 RhodesMap

Get it? Rhodesmap. Because I'm RJ Rhodes.

Anyways, I'm going to talk about the plans for the rest of the year or so, now that Come Home Update 20 is out and the story is finished.

There are three major things to discuss here:

• Come Home: Complete Edition

• Happy Trails

• Patreon/Subscribestar

So let's get into it. This is going to be a bit of a long one, because I'm going to break down all of my current plans as clearly as possible, so that people can be referred here if they are wondering what I'm going to be working on next.

Come Home: Complete Edition

The Complete Edition is not a new version of the game or anything. I'm not going to try to sell you a separate version. It's just what I'm calling the finished product.

Right now, the story of Come Home is finished, but I don't feel like the game is quite finished yet. I want to add some more scenes, sex positions, dates, some more quality-of-life stuff, and other bonus features along with translations into other languages. Most of this new content will be Premium Edition only and will not be put into the Free Version.

My plan for this is to continue adding small updates to Come Home for the foreseeable future, until I'm happy with it as a whole, or until the support for the game wanes to the point where it's no longer a good investment of my time.

I won't be working full time on the game anymore as my primary focus is going to move over to Happy Trails. But I'll invest enough time to push out a small update every couple of months.

I'm going to let patrons vote on which scenes to include in these small updates. I have a pretty long list of scenes that I've been thinking about or that I think the game needs, to feel complete. I'm planning on putting a poll up week, letting the patrons vote on which scene is added in the next update. That doesn't mean that only the things patrons choose will be added - sometimes I'll add things because I think the game needs it, or because I want it as well.

Meanwhile, I'll also be working on polishing and cleaning up the game and getting it translated into other languages.

I'll be posting the first of these polls on Monday. I'm hoping to release the first of these small updates in April.

Summary:

• Come Home is still getting more content.

• The content will be mostly for Premium Edition only.

• Complete Edition is NOT a separate thing. It's just what I'm calling the finished Premium Edition.

• New content will be voted on by patrons.

• It will release in small updates for the foreseeable future.

• Translations are coming.

• First small update planned for April.

Happy Trails

Most of my energy has now shifted over into working on Happy Trails. It's my new baby and I'm going to be working full-time on making it happen. I'll be previewing a lot more about it in the upcoming months, but I want to give you all a rundown on what the game is going to be like, what the challenges of making it are, what my release strategy for it is, and when to expect it.

The Story

In Happy Trails, you play as a young person who just went through a bad breakup and lost their job in the same week. With no job, no relationship, and no idea what to do with your future, you decide to take a long walk through the woods to figure out what you want to do with your life. You're going to backpack along the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. On the way, you'll meet new friends, develop new relationships, and maybe fall in love as you struggle to complete your 2189-mile journey to Mount Katahdin.

The Gameplay

The game is primarily a Visual Novel, but will have some strategy as well as you must manage your inventory, manage your time, and stay healthy as you travel. You'll be deciding when to push and when to rest, managing backpack weight along with food and supplies.

Then there is the romance system, which is mostly just who you want to spend time with and advance your relationship with. As with Come Home, every character will be optional, but in this one, you can decide if you want to be friends with them or push things into a romantic/sexual relationship.

There will be a system in the game to follow and track where your friends are on the trail, so you can try to hike along with the characters you are interested in.

The Sex

This is a full adult game. There's going to be sex in it. There's probably going to be a bit less sex than Come Home, but it will be just as explicit and just as hot. You're going to have to give me some time to build up to it though - don't expect full orgies in the first release.

The Art

All the art in Happy Trails is hand drawn. Currently everything is made by artist Chocoleth, who I hired last year and we've been working together to make the characters and scenes.

Background art, I'm planning on being watercolor by various artists. I have not gotten to this part of development yet, so it may evolve into something else. It's something I'm still experimenting with.

Animations are going to be done with Live2D and almost everything will be animated in some way. Live2D involves taking the hand-drawn art that is broken down into layers and animating it through movement and morphing. It means that I can take a single image and use it for multiple expressions and animations. I'm hoping that the small breathing, blinking, hair blowing animations will help bring the characters alive even in simple conversation scenes.

The Release Strategy

This game is very different than Come Home and I'll be releasing it in a slightly different way.

The game will be broken down into 10 updates. Each update will take you a bit further along until you reach a specific point of the trail. Each update will also have a selection of new scenes available for each love interest.

I don't plan on distributing it through Patreon/Subscribestar. This means that patrons/subscribers will not be getting the game along with their subscription like Come Home has been. I'll be selling it through Steam, Itch.io, and maybe GoG or other storefronts as well. It will be a one-time purchase of $19.99 and that will get you every update.

Unlike Come Home, there will be no "Free Version" of the game either. There will only be one game - no seasons, no chapters, no DLC planned. One $19.99 purchase gets you the whole thing.

I am hoping to have the first release out before the end of the year, but I currently don't have a date in mind.

Summary:

• Happy Trails is a game about hiking the Appalachian Trail and finding love along the way.

• It will mix Visual Novel gameplay with a strategic inventory and time management system.

• It will contain explicit sex, though not in the same amount as Come Home.

• The art will be hand-drawn 2D over watercolor backgrounds, animated in Live2D.

• The game will release over 10 updates.

• The game will be available at Steam and Itch.io, and will not be distributed through Patreon/Subscribestar.

• One time purchase of $19.99 - no DLC, seasons, or chapters.

• Hoping for first release before the end of the year.

Patreon / Subscribestar

With Patreon and Subscribestar, I'm going to be focusing more on behind-the-scenes looks at the making of the game, as well as preview images, bonus images, and my personal life. You're also going to get to vote on content for the Come Home Complete Edition, for the next little while that I'm making the game. And you'll get access to those updates as well.

I've been doing bonus images three times a month for a long time now - that's going to be reduced in the future. Doing bonus images for Happy Trails will be more difficult, as they are 2D images made by an artist who is not me. The artist gets paid for every image that she makes and I don't want to divert her time away from working on the game. I'll still be doing some bonus images for Come Home for a while, but I feel like I've done so many at this point that I find it difficult to come up with ideas sometimes. So the bonus images are likely going to be reduced to 1 or 2 a month and in the Bonus Image Rolldown, there will be less images rolling down than usual.

To help replace this, I'm going to be including more preview images, more behind the scenes content on the making of the game, and probably a little more about my personal life as well.

Here's my plan for now.

• Mondays - RJ Ramblings returns (my sort of diary about what's going on in my personal life)

• Tuesdays - Weekly poll on Come Home Complete Edition Content. (2-4 polls per month)

• Wednesdays - Bonus Image Rolldown on the first week. 1-2 bonus images throughout the rest of the month.

• Thursday - Behind the scenes posts (2 per month)

• Friday - Weekly Update

I'll be changing around the tiers a little bit in the upcoming months to reflect the slight changes in content - this is what I'm thinking for now:

• $1 Tier - (I'm going to bring this one back) - This tier gets you access to just the weekly reports. You won't get access to the newest Come Home Updates from this tier any longer.

• $3 Tier - Access to the newest update for Come Home, Weekly Report, Rolldown Images, Weekly Poll.

• $5 Tier - Newest Come Home update, Weekly Report, Rolldown Images, Weekly Poll, RJ Ramblings.

• $10 Tier - Newest Come Home Update, Weekly Report, Rolldown Images, Weekly Poll, RJ Ramblings, Behind the Scenes Posts.

• $20 Tier - Newest Come Home Update, Weekly Report, Rolldown Images, Weekly Poll, RJ Ramblings, Behind the Scenes Posts, new Bonus Images.

Please let me know if you have any issues with these changes or you have any suggestions. I seriously would love to know if there's anything that I could put on Patreon to make you guys happy and keep you subscribing. I love my patrons and I want to keep giving you all content worth subscribing for.

Conclusion

So this is my plan for right now! I'll be moving over to this new schedule starting next week in March, so look forward to a Ramblings on Monday, the first Come Home Complete Edition poll on Tuesday, Bonus Image Rolldown on Wednesday, and a Weekly Report on Friday. I'm also going to be posting a Q&A on Saturday - so if you have any questions for that, put them down in the comments.

I hope you're excited about all the new stuff on the horizon. Come Home is still going to be getting some good content and Happy Trails is honestly closer than I thought to being ready for that initial release.

Thank you all for your continued support and please let me know if there's anything that I could do to keep you as a patron. Love ya!