Hi,
I know many of you have been eager for more details since my teaser post, so here’s something to quench your curiosity. I’ll continue sharing fresh info throughout the journey.
Over the years, I’ve gone by many pseudonyms — most recently PleasureOnly. I’ve worked on numerous visual novels in just about every role you can think of: writing, rendering, programming—you name it. One of those projects was a game called This Time. I assisted ApocalypseToday with several Chapter 2 renders many moons ago and fully intended to continue, but scheduling conflicts with other contracted projects prevented me from doing so.
I had already fallen in love with the game, so I continued supporting it as both a player and a Patron. That is, of course, until ApocalypseToday vanished without a trace.
Like many of you, I was confused and deeply saddened—both by the uncertainty of what might have happened and by the thought that the story might never be completed.
As some of my contracted work wrapped up, I found myself thinking about this story more and more. I reached out through every avenue I could and contacted several mutual connections until, one day, I finally got the green light. I was given the two things I needed: first, the rights to the game and its branding, and second, access to all accounts and assets.
I know many of you are asking, ‘So what happened to ApocalypseToday?’ The honest answer is that I don’t know. The person I spoke with during this process was not ApocalypseToday, but everything was handled professionally and respectfully. Since my goal was to complete the transition of the project properly, I chose to focus on ensuring the handover was done safely and securely.
So what does this mean moving forwards?
Since none of my previous pseudonyms were player-facing, I’ve decided to continue under the name ApocalypseToday to keep things simple and consistent. From this point on, I’ll refer to the previous developer as ‘the original ApocalypseToday.’
Get to the point, what's happening with the game!
I already had plenty of ideas for the story, but among the treasure trove of assets I now have are the complete notes and conversations between the original ApocalypseToday and the most recent writer. I won’t spoil anything by going into details, but there’s more than enough material for me to faithfully honor the direction the story and its characters were headed.
As you know, the game was in the middle of a rewrite before the story could continue. Because of that, things are a bit messy—some scenes are missing entirely, and there’s a lot of work needed to get everything back on track. I’ve already begun tackling this. Some fixes only require small dialogue tweaks for better flow, while others need full scene re-renders. This means it’s going to take some time. I’m not setting any dates or timelines just yet, as I want to stay focused on the work itself. There may be stretches where you don’t hear much from me, but rest assured—progress is steadily being made.
The last thing I want to share is important. My plan—assuming Steam allows it and everything aligns—is to finish the rewrite and bring the story back up to the end of Chapter 3. This will then be packaged and released as This Time – Part One.
As a thank-you to all of you who have stood by the game, my intention is to make This Time – Part One completely free of charge. This includes all 'image packs'. Though remember, this is if Steam allow me to do so.
After that, I’ll be able to focus on Chapter 4 and beyond, which will be released as a standalone, paid product on Steam. The story will naturally continue from where Part One ends, and you’ll be able to carry your save data forward.
This approach lets players (hopefully) fall in love with the story at no cost before deciding whether it’s worth investing their hard-earned money. We’re still a good distance away from Part Two, but once we reach that stage, it will be released in small updates as an early-access title until Part Two is complete.
I’m aware that I’ve already put a lot of my own money into this project, and I’ll likely need to keep doing so for a while. I’m okay with that—it’s a commitment I chose to make. But if anyone feels inclined to lend a bit of support and maybe help move things along, I would be genuinely grateful. Donations are welcome on my Patreon page:
For now, I’m going to disappear back into the depths of Ren’Py.
Speak soon.