Development Update: New Story & CGs, Sound Improvements, and Combat & Relic Updates

Hello everyone. It's been quite a while since I last put together a full development update.

About the Full Release Schedule

First, I need to share an update on the full release.

I previously said that we were aiming for a fall release. However, the remaining workload has turned out to be larger than we originally estimated, so we need to delay the release. I'm sorry to keep everyone who has been looking forward to the game waiting longer.

We are currently working toward completing the game around summer 2027.

There is still production work and testing to do, so the official release date has not been confirmed. I'll keep sharing the remaining work and our progress through development updates, and let you know once we have a clearer picture of the release schedule.

Development Progress

Some time has passed since the last demo was released. Since then, I've added 10 story scenes, drawn more than 20 new CG illustrations, and finished work on the defeat scenes for Chapters 4 and 5.

We've added and reworked many sound effects. We've also revisited the first two bosses, regular enemy behavior, and how the character feels to control. The relic system has undergone a major reorganization to prepare for future content.

Some of this is already taking shape, while other parts still need additional animation and UI work. Here's a look at our current progress.

New Story and CGs

The new story content will gradually reveal Inessa's past.

These scenes will unlock as you play through and clear the game. As the story progresses, new relics will also become available, giving you more combinations and choices in future runs. Souls brought back after completing a run can be used at the church to strengthen your Tarot cards and prepare for the next challenge.

The story is nearing completion, but there are still some scenes to add, so I need a little more time to get everything ready.

Alongside the new content, we've made many adjustments to dialogue timing, lighting changes, visual effects, and the way sound works with the animation. Some of these changes are subtle, but when you watch a complete scene, they affect its pacing and atmosphere.

I know that many of you are more excited about new enemies and new HCGs. But I think that only by knowing a character's past and understanding her personality can we gild desire with gold leaf, making it even more vile and dark^^

Of course, the new story also includes plenty of H content. Most of it is already finished, and we're continuing to add the remaining material.

We also plan to open the recollection room alongside the story. You'll be able to revisit stories you've unlocked and watch their scenes again.

Defeat Scenes in Chapters 4 and 5

Chapter 4 features a defeat CG with its own story.

Chapter 5 features an interactive defeat CG.

For this scene, I tried more complex animation and painted dedicated lightmaps so that the character would blend more naturally with the lighting and shadows in the environment.

The UI for this part is not finished yet. For now, it uses placeholder icons; I'll finish the UI later.

Sound Improvements and Reworked H-Scene Sound Effects

We've continued refining the sound in ThornSin throughout this time.

We've added the previously missing CG sound effects for many enemies, along with more audio detail for their different actions. We want each enemy's sounds to reflect its own characteristics and fit its movements more closely.

We used a large collection of recorded sounds, editing, layering, and adjusting them while repeatedly checking their timing and changes against the animation.

We've also rebuilt and reorganized the game's audio system. FMOD gives us finer control over when sounds play and how they change in the game, helping the finished effects fit more naturally into the actual experience.

Some sounds still need to be added, and we'll continue working on them.

Character Animation and Combat Feel

Character Animation Updates

I've added an animation for Inessa turning her face. Since it needs to work with different skins, this has taken more time than I expected.

Her attacks now also include more pronounced twists of the body. I think her movement looks livelier than before and better shows off the appeal of her body in motion. I also plan to add animations for sudden stops and changes of direction.

Controls and Impact Feedback

We've been adjusting the controls alongside the animation.

We've revisited the brief pause when an attack connects, known as hitstop, to give each hit more weight. We've also added input buffering for attacks and dashes, reducing situations where a button press goes unanswered because an action is temporarily blocked.

We've adjusted gravity during jumps, movement through the air, and landing detection. We've also changed the hit timing, hitboxes, and knockback values of many attacks.

These are changes that are easier to feel when actually playing. We'll continue adjusting the overall rhythm together with enemy and boss behavior.

Regular Enemies and Bosses

Regular Enemy Behavior

We've made a substantial pass over regular enemy behavior.

Depending on the enemy type, we've added or adjusted jumping, flying, burrowing, keeping distance, patrolling, and wandering, so that each type behaves more distinctly.

We've also fixed the issue where the snail would suddenly turn around in the middle of an attack. We're checking and correcting these slightly odd movements one by one.

Reworking the Boar Guardian and Albedo

The first two bosses received more focused adjustments.

We've revisited the Boar Guardian's charges, pounces, and phase transitions, as well as Albedo's pursuit, jumps, and transitions between skills. These two were made quite early in development, and looking back now, there was still a lot we could improve.

We've repeatedly adjusted the movements before and after attacks, landing positions, and attack intervals. We want players to be able to read their opponents more clearly and judge when to dodge and when to counterattack.

Relic System and Mod Support

Relic System and Editor

We plan to include over 100 different relics in the full version.

As the number of relics grows, so do their connections to combat, character abilities, and exploration. We've reorganized the relic system, gradually moving settings and effect rules that used to be scattered throughout the code into each relic's own configuration and script.

The new system handles effect triggers through a shared framework and tracks each relic's state separately. This makes it easier to create effects that change with player actions, combat conditions, or exploration progress. It also gives us more room to experiment with interactions between relics.

We've added a dedicated editor for reviewing relic settings, adjusting effect values, and checking descriptions in one place. We've also reorganized how relics are recorded in save data and how pickups and purchases are handled.

Foundations for Relic Mods

We've added a system for loading external relic content packs. Custom relics can use the same effect API as the game's built-in relics.

We're also organizing the JavaScript API and a creation guide so that players with some scripting knowledge can make relic mods. The available features and supported scope will continue to develop along with the game.

This round of work has mainly focused on migrating existing relics and preparing the foundation for expansion. We'll continue checking how they behave after migration and gradually add new content.

Stages and Other Development Progress

We've continued making and adjusting parts of the fifth area, story rooms, and the skills, animations, and effects associated with Freya and the Girl in Black.

We've also added to and corrected the revival flow, some items and shop content, and UI displays.

Other work is harder to show directly, such as updating the engine, reorganizing the maze-generation code, and improving debugging tools. These changes mainly help make future development and troubleshooting smoother.

There are also things we're not ready to show yet. An unrevealed new boss and its H animation will have to wait for a later introduction.

A new masturbation event is currently in production as well. The CG is already drawn, and the animation is still being made. I'll show it once it's ready.

Upcoming Development Plans

The remaining workload is larger than originally estimated, so we've had to postpone the full release. I'm sorry to keep those of you looking forward to the game waiting longer.

We still need to add some story scenes, animations, and UI elements, and work will continue on the unfinished audio. At the same time, we'll test the existing content as a whole, check how combat, relic effects, and scenes work together, and fix the issues we find.

The new release date is not yet confirmed. I'll share more once the remaining scope of work and testing progress become clearer. Until then, I'll continue sharing our progress through development updates.

Some of the visuals, effects, and values shown in this update may still change. Please refer to the version released later for the final details.

Previews

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A Few Personal Notes

It's been a long time since the last development update. I also want to apologize for not keeping you properly informed about how things were going.

During this time, I kept thinking, "I'll write an update once I've finished a little more," and tried to leave as much time as possible for development. But every time I finished one task, I moved straight on to the next, and the update kept getting pushed back.

Looking back now, even if I'm working on the game every day, you can't know how far along it is unless I share that progress. Leaving the people who care about this project waiting for news is something I should have handled better.

I've received many good suggestions and kind words of encouragement throughout this time. Even when I haven't been able to reply right away, those comments have helped me keep going. Thank you for your trust and anticipation. Going forward, I want to share more of the changes happening during development, rather than waiting until everything is ready before reporting back.

As much as I wanted to finish everything in one go, the actual workload has been much larger than I imagined. Sometimes I can't help thinking, "Did I start with too big a canvas...?"

Still, the stories, characters, and scenes I've introduced here are all things I wanted to put into this game. Watching them gradually take shape makes me glad I kept going.

Having come this far, I want to see it through properly and put the finished game in your hands.

Thank you for continuing to care about this project and for waiting. I'll keep doing my best.

ScarletPaper