Hey lads!

As promised, another long-ass report, as I want to talk more about Unaware in The City 2 (yeah, that's right, UiTC2). As some of you remember, back in the day I worked on Unaware of the World together with real-world friends, and it was our group project. But due to various circumstances (you can read more about it in the old progress reports), we disbanded. I wanted to try continuing the project by myself with some freelance graphic artists, and that's how, more or less, Unaware in The City was created. It's a direct continuation of UotW, so UiTC started at the same place where UotW ended. Now with UiTC2 things are much more... Complicated... It's another art update, yes, but done with different tools (Spine), so core code is going to be rewritten from scratch, animations remade from scratch, new character view angles (3/4 from front & back), Unity engine update (so a lot of conflicts with old features), rewriting old dialogues (mainly Kevin's Diner & Kinky Nymph), reworking stat & perk system, support for 64-bit Android, and optimizing it all again... It's basically a chain reaction because changing/updating one thing forces another change, and another, and so on. I could leave the current stat & perk system untouched, but I have a better (and easier to control) idea, and since I'm breaking everything anyway... Well, there won't be a better moment. Thus, Unaware in The City 2 is officially announced and we are aiming to release something playable (probably a demo first) on December 10th, 2024!

Before I go into details, I have an important announcement - because over 2/3 of my patrons are paying in USD on Patreon, I'm switching currency from EUR to USD to lower the fees. What will change? If you were paying in USD, you will pay less (I'm bad with fees & taxes, so I'm sorry about the lack of actual numbers!). If you were paying in EUR, you will pay a bit more. Other currencies should be unaffected by this change, but I'm honestly clueless about how Patreon is going to convert other currencies after the change. So if you want to support me in EUR, now it is cheaper for you, but if you want to do it in USD instead, I advise you to wait a few days. And because Patreon has higher fees than SubscribeStar, I'll go with $6 per tier on Patreon, instead of $5.50 as on SubscribeStar. Your prices won't automatically update, so you will be paying exactly the same amount as before until you cancel your subscription. I won't increase pricing after releasing UiTC2, and everyone who bought UiTC1 on itch will also get access to it for free!

Honestly, I thought that I would have quite a chunk of people canceling subs, so I'm really surprised that I got past 600 subscribers in total! Thanks a lot for the trust! I've already started looking for an additional 2D artist who will take care of all characters' clothes.

Lately, I'm trying to be a bit more communicative on social media, although writing posts on Patreon, SubscribeStar, and itch is really time-consuming, so I usually do it all in my spare time in the late evening (around 22:00 in Poland). Working on your own project requires you to focus on what's important and put some constraints, so you don't slack. And my wife gets really mad at me when I work late at night, so... I'm kinda trying to reconcile it all - work, communication, family.

I've started doing monthly (patron-only) polls on Patreon & SubscribeStar about upcoming sex scenes for UiTC1, so you don't get bored while waiting for me to release UiTC2. Already closed the June's poll, and you will get an option to relief the stress of hobos in the Bunker via the HJ & BJ. Then there will be a 2nd scene with fingering while standing in the shops's queue (1st one was with just touching), and I'm thinking about expanding the clothes shop event, too. And then for Bald Guys maybe something in the gym? Yeah, that's 5 new events, and honestly we overdid it... So for July we will add like 2-3 at best, because releasing UiTC2 is the main priority here.

I'll be working on multiple features for UiTC2, and if I can port any of them to UiTC1, I will. For example, for v37 I'm reworking the movement mechanics from scratch. Movement is now restricted to the X-axis (left and right), and I've added a nice quality-of-life feature seen in many games already - clicking on an object to interact while out of reach won't give you an error sound anymore. Instead, Jane will move closer and interact with it once she's within range. This feature is enabled by default and can be disabled in the settings. Oh, and I've also further optimized the game, so locations load faster and the game uses less RAM!

Here's a link with a preview on a new "move on interaction" feature, male sketch in all 3 views, and female walk animation: https://mega.nz/folder/ryxxEaKR#ao9DrnOESnwq2O3o6DGhRg

Ok, let's get into UiTC2 plans details:

Obviously, saves won't be compatible.

Depending on the amount of content we get to redo (writing & animations precisely), the game content-wise might be smaller, but we will make up for it with quality big time.

If you watched any of LustFire's videos, then you already know what we want to do with character customization (I also advise you to follow him on Twitter https://x.com/lustfire69). If not, we want to do something that you have never seen before in any NSFW game - a really powerful character customization, something much more than a simple boob size slider, but a feature that lets you, for example, customize both the height & width of multiple body parts! We can't go too crazy here because it will break animations, but I'm sure you will enjoy the results, as I'm already pretty excited seeing it in Spine ^^

We will expand The City with new locations that were planned since the start, which will help us add quests and characters, while the game will get a full world map with all planned locations already on it. I prefer answering people's questions with "it's not in the game yet" rather than explaining what locations are going to be added to the game. It should also give you a better scope of what I am aiming for in the finished project.

I also want to improve the world's immersion by being able to interact with various objects, like you can already do with graffiti in the elevator or with the park's bench. So I would like to hear your suggestions on what you would like to see from such stuff. I want the game to be enjoyable (to some extent) even without porn elements so that the gameplay itself doesn't feel like a chore. Yeah, mini-games would be an answer, but not something dumb as "click as fast as possible for 60 seconds"... The problem is, I never enjoyed fishing in games, leveling up professions in MMOs, and such, so I could really use some help with ideas here.

Since all kinds of people play my game, from those who can die in The Sims to those who beat Dark Souls on a dance mat, I'll be adding something like difficulty settings. I tried balancing the game in various ways, but some people always complained. So I'm going with the "Fuck it, I'm out, balance it yourself" approach. But more seriously, I will need to experiment with it, but the idea is to give you lads some control over gaining stats, skills, money, etc., something like up to 2x faster/slower, so whether you enjoy the grind & slow gameplay, or quick access to sex scenes and Jane becoming a whore within days, etc. - you will be able to choose.

Stats & skills will work a bit differently. I want to get rid of numerical values for stats and stat tiers every 25-50 points (like in the LW case), and instead swap them with something like perks that will get unlocked after meeting the requirements. For example, the cleanliness stat will be removed, and if Jane doesn't wash herself often enough, she will get a "Dirty" effect that will work similarly to the old low cleanliness stat - some NPCs will refuse to talk with her. She will need to accumulate a lot of "dirt" first before gaining the effect. Tissues won't remove the effect, and working hard won't trigger it in the middle of work, etc. And you will get to see dirt stains on the body. Another example would be lewdness and getting corruption levels. All sexual acts will progress a bit towards the Corruption perk, which once unlocked, will change Jane's personality in the same manner as reaching 50 LW before, while for leaving without underwear you would need another perk - Exhibitionist. Before, reaching 100 LW allowed Jane to access everything, but it didn't make sense that being more lewd would automatically make you into exhibitionism, being skilled in sex, or enjoying BDSM or femdom, etc. Now it will be distinctive from each other, slower, more immersive, and RPGish. Innocent & shy girl without any sex experience, but being into exhibitionism? Yes! Virgin who is only into anal? Also yes! That's one of the main goals for UiTC2, but I'll reveal more info as we work on it.

I will have to rename stats, skills, traits, perks, buffs, etc., because we will be removing and reworking a lot, to go with quality rather than quantity. As you create your character, you will still get to choose backstory, blood type, etc., but also a few bonuses (that can be picked only at the start) and a difficulty setting. Then as you play, you will unlock permanent perks by meeting their corresponding requirements. Also, there's experience gained for every single action that can be used to further upgrade Jane. And lastly, temporary effects (similar to buffs) that can be either positive or negative and will be gained by playing correctly/wrongly, like for example being dirty, catching a cold, or sleeping in a comfy bed. So current negative traits will be removed and injected into backstories & temporary effects.

We want to rewrite all scenes and put much bigger emphasis on story & choices, but also on slow corruption and doing quests. I know, seeing "slow corruption" usually makes people think "oh, another project 5 years in development without a single sex scene," but not in this case, as my game already had sex scenes from the start, and they will appear normally with the engine update. We will stretch the scenes, so you won't get into sex with Rick so quickly, but you will still be able to work in the brothel or use the glory hole. I want you to get to know the characters first without rushing to the sex scenes. Back in the day, the game had not enough content, so I rushed with adding sex scenes, but there's plenty of content already to start doing it the right way. You will get to encounter NPCs around The City instead of only through random events and will be able to talk with them about some stuff (check the hospital's Janitor added in v36 for a reference).

Some changes that I can do safely will be added in the upcoming updates (like the v37 character movement remake), but any bigger features that will break your existing saves will come out in UiTC2.

Ok, I wanted to share so much more with you, and this post is pure chaos, but t's another long-ass one. As always, I'm open to any suggestions, and I hope you are at least partially as excited as we are about the future UiTC2 release :)

P.S. In June, I'm experimenting with new meds that are supposed to cause a lower amount of kidney stones but also give me more energy. It's been only a week, and it might be a placebo effect, but I am indeed feeling better overall, so hopefully they work.

P.S.2. Together with my family, I'm going to the biggest convention in Poland - Pyrkon (this year MindaRyn will be there, for example), so I'll be out Thursday-Sunday.

Cheers!