Research Blog

WIP build r36.9 is now available to WIP backers.  This build contains the full set of functionality for chapter seven, however, doesn’t have much of the text to go with it.  This means you can now beat chapter seven with this build, but without the text to hint at the solutions, it will be very difficult to do so.

As always, it’s recommended to save to a different slot for WIP builds. Some of the text is copied into the save file, so some missing text will carry through save files if you play on WIP and then play on a Private build.

Most players will prefer to wait for the full Chapter 7 release before they play. Once the story text has been written, it will be a more complete experience.  But you may wish to try it if you want a sneak peak of what’s coming in the full Chapter 7 release, or to see what a chapter build looks like when it’s in development.

Steam Version Poll: I am currently considering adding Steam as a third location to subscribe to The Underworld (joining BMT and Patreon).  This actually involves a number of considerations, so I’d like to get the community’s feedback on it before proceeding.

Regardless of if you are a Steam gamer or not, please see this quick poll to let me know your thoughts.

Next Update:  The next update is coming along well — it’s taking longer than usual because the next update is Chapter 7:  Aquatic Aquarium!

As for release date, chapters always take a long time to make due to all the interconnected game logic and associated writing.  I try to avoid giving specific release dates because I’m terribly bad at estimating them.  Unofficially, I’m hoping to have it out within the next month.

The release cadence will be phased as follows for this release:

1. WIP Build – game logic only, no writing.  Not recommended to be played by anyone, but will release to curious WIP backers.  As per previous WIP builds, you won’t be missing anything by not playing this — it’s a lot of “insert text here” type interactions that won’t make much sense without the writing.
2. Private Build (Active Subscribers) – once writing is in and chapter is ready for play, it will be released to all active subscribers.  This is the real release of chapter 7, however, with any big update there will probably be some random small bugs (especially with save/load, as there’s always a couple weird save/load issues after a chapter release)
3. Private Build (Legacy Purchasers) – for legacy backers without an active subscription, chapter 7 will be available two weeks later.  It will contain all the same chapter 7 content as the active subscriber build.
4. As per usual for chapter content that occurs after chapter 3, this chapter content will not be released to the demo build.

This should be a fun chapter.  I don’t want to give too much away just yet, but I have some fun things planned for this one~

Patreon is delayed again for many users due to an API bug on their side.  I apologize for the delay!

If you are a Patreon backer and need immediate access, please back via BMT instead and e-mail me, I will refund your Patreon charge.

March 11th Update – It appears Patreon has finally finished updating their information for this month.  If you had a charge on March 1, but still don’t have access (and you already linked your Patreon account), please contact me.

For some users, Patreon processing seems to be extra slow this month.  I’ve reached out to Patreon support to see what’s going on, but in the meanwhile I apologize for the delay!

Update:  There is a known issue with patron status that Patreon is working to resolve.

Update 2:  So despite the above issue being marked “resolved”, I still see a couple people stuck in Patreon limbo.  I’m not sure how long this will continue, although it seems people’s accounts are slowly being fixed over time.

If your account is stuck, I’d recommend you switch to BMT, which does support instant access.  Note, however, that BMT does not support PayPal or AMEX cards.  If you want to do this switch, just subscribe normally via the researcher intranet portal.  Then send me an e-mail or Patreon PM with your game account name and Patreon account name so I can refund your most recent Patreon payment.

Again, sorry for this issue — I share your frustration on how unreasonably and needlessly slow this is.

Update 3:

• New patrons / Patrons whose first charge was in February:  Patreon is still working through this issue, sorry!
• Existing patrons / patrons who had a charge before February:  If you are not a new patron, your patron access should now be updated — if not, please try to relink your account. If after 30 minutes, you do not have access, please contact me.

Update 4 – Now Resolved (Feb 15th):

Patreon has fixed the issue, and now all backers who had a successful charge for February should now have access to the game. If not, please try to relink your account. If after 30 minutes, you do not have access, please contact me.

r36.01 is now released to backers and fixes an issue where the mermaid arousal text displays when not a mermaid.