Welcome to the first devlog for South of the March! 

I'm thinking about doing something a little different than I did with the devlogs on The Salt Keep. With those, I generally tried to focus on a particular feature or topic, which I'd still like to do as much as I can here, but I think it put more time between updates because I wasn't sure what to say, especially in periods where I was mostly writing. It seemed pointless to give an update like, "yep, still writing!" This time around, I'm going to aim more for a schedule and try to update regardless of what's been happening. Tentatively, a weekly Monday update. If it works out and feels worthwhile, I'll do the same once we move into the full-sized project.

STARTING PROGRESS

For an opening update, I just want to give a summary of where the game stands right now in terms of completion. In short:

• It's in a playable state already. The screenshots you see on the main page are from gameplay (as opposed to mockups), so the main skeleton of the game is assembled. 
• The writing is about halfway complete. I chose a rough mid-point in the game and created a fleshed-out and fully-written prototype up to that point as kind of a proof of concept, and the rest is outlined and in progress now.
• In terms of actual dev work, there really isn't a ton left to do. There are a few systems that haven't been implemented yet -- shopping, in particular -- and the biggest technical hole remaining is the save system, though if all goes according to plan, the engine (Ren'Py) should be able to handle that without any customization. In theory, none of that is too major.

WHAT'S LEFT

The biggest remaining pieces are more on the creative side than the technical side:

• Art assets. There's still a lot of placeholder art even in written portions of the game. The visual language and style is pretty well-developed at this point and it doesn't look like it will take a particularly long time, but there is obviously a lot more art than there was in The Salt Keep, so it's still a bit of a learning experience.
• Soundtrack. This is more of an experiment. Performing and recording music isn't brand new to me, but for a game (or any kind of soundtrack) it is. I've already tested implementation, so I don't expect any problems there, but I'll definitely be sharing some soundtrack samples down the line to see what people think. 

IN CONCLUSION

I hope to have this completed much more quickly than The Salt Keep, hopefully by spring of 2024. That said, I likely won't be able to put out an official release date on it until I get a little bit further into the unknowns, especially the soundtrack. Keep an eye out for updates!