Cicada Springs v0.9.6.0 | A Weight Gain Story Simulator

Hello, my friends! I hope that February has treated you well.

I was worried that this month was going to be an "invisible" update, given the framework that I've been establishing in the background of Cicada Springs. And personally, nothing makes me sweat more than having to say "trust me I've been working, bro".

Luckily, while many of the changes have been in the background, there's definitely new content here and new content coming as we move forward on the end-tracks of development.

Let's get into it, because we've got a lot to cover.

Cicada Springs v0.9.6.1.

Will I need to start a new save file? 
I think you should! I worked hard on this introduction scene!

Are there any known bugs?
Kendra and Margot still cannot accept the Hot Bo-colate or Blueberry Frappe. They're written and coded to, but they won't physically accept the item. It's a dumb thing, but it's known.

There's an Introduction Scene now.

The biggest visible change to this update is that there is an introduction scene involving you, the player, and why you are doing what you are doing in Cicada Springs.

This introduction scene not only adds context to what you're doing, but also to the endings that will start rolling out next month.

You are an intern for (a heavily fictionalized version of) Bobo, a character I've used from time to time when representing myself in these games. Essentially, you are tasked with gathering notes and information over the course of a thirty-day period so that a fully-fledged story can be written about those characters.

This replaces the old character-selection and will loop back around for the ending cinematics, telling a complete story (or five) with each save file.

So what are the endings going to be?

Much of this month was spent deliberating on how best to stick the landing while also giving you all something new. These past few updates have been refining and polishing everything, making it all look good. But I want to give you all something a little different, and now that everything has been finalized I'm finally able to give it to you.

I didn't want you to go from character to character, or get locked in a cutscene going from map to map. I want each ending to feel like something you've earned, and something that plays to my strengths. And finally, after closing the hood on my popped RPG Maker MZ, the way forward is clear.

Each character's ending is going to be a series of Visual Novel-style cutscenes that tell the scope of that character's story. How you've influenced it, how the other characters' have influenced them, and all other factors at play like SPECIAL tasks and (in at least three cases) whether or not you're friends with another character.

Essentially, after playing for thirty days, your reward will be a much direct, comprehensive retelling about how you've made Alex, Charlie, Clover, Kendra, and Margot fat.

• Higher friendship levels will allow for different options in the interactive endings as the story is told.

• Higher fat levels will allow for the story to continue further, reaching into higher weights.

• Special questlines will lead to the Secret Endings I've been so jazzed about, via the correct choices .

• In some cases (mainly involving Alex, Margot, and Charlie) having high levels of friendship with other characters will allow for smaller branches to occur as well.

And it's all starting next month with Alex and Margot's endings.

Final Thoughts

This update has been a long time coming.

For the past two months, I've been writing and rewriting dialogue. The months before that, I was bug-hunting and connecting dots and redesigning maps. And to everyone who stuck with me (or even just tangentially kept track of what I was doing off of Patreon!) I want to say thank you.

I've tried to make it a habit to tell you all how appreciative I am of your patience with this project. I knew going in that Cicada Springs would be a much different project from my previous one, Coven of Calahree, but I never would have expected that there would be several hundred, if not a thousand, lines of dialogue for me to juggle and play with and edit and format... and that's not counting getting all of the graphical bits and the switches and triggers and variables... it's been a alot!

As we shift gears out of the meat of the game and into the thick, juicy carrot at the end of all your playtime, I want you all to know that I'm going to try and give you something really, really neat. Something really weird and really fun and really, really fat.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, you're all the reason I'm here making games and writing stories like this. And I love you for it.

Now then, without further ado, here is your latest update to Cicada Springs

[Click to Download]
($5 patrons and up!)