Hi all, well - the time is here for Build 3, this build is probably the biggest undertaking yet, so I hope people enjoy what it is in store.

Before I begin with the changes, PbS now has a discord server: I recognise that as a game on itch, it is impossible for it to grow if there is simply no means of a community for it, so now there is! Hopefully I don't end up regretting it. Link: https://discord.gg/Wr4EXyxG

I'll start with the art - because oh boy this one was a doozy, In addition to the 4 other sprites shown so far (Eric, Darren, Morrison, Robin.) I've also got 2 more new sprites to show you: Noland and Raphael! This was a huge undertaking and I'm really proud of the results. I'd like to still continue with improving all of my old art in the future and Chase & Morten are currently my aims to get done for b4.

In terms of new content, Well this build includes the first halves of ch2 for Stephen & ‘Vincent’ and then includes the final portion of chapter 2 common route content with Theodore ending at where the routes diverge again. This build also introduces the Li for Stephen and Lis Vincent's routes. So I hope you like them all! (Also reminder that there won't be any romance content with Vincent in his route, for those who wonder why he and Eric don't really hit it off at all.)

This update also rewrites the scene where Eric meets Darren during ch1, and makes changes to Morrison's character across the entirety of the whole game. 

I'll put more in depth reasonings in the changelog below: but the tldr is: Morrison was a flat character who was characterised entirely by him being an over the top, horny old guy. And it got in the way of what I was trying to sell with his character. He is still flirty but I put much more emphasis into his job and role in Eric's life rather than him being obsessed with Robin.

Now, for build 4: My main aim is to finish Raphael's ch2 to its end. And if possible, get work done to finish Vincent's. Since I don't have much of a headstart outside of a fresh new set of art assets for a lot of the characters, it is possible the next build is a bit smaller in scope.

You'll also get to meet a certain Bear next build, so look forward to that. (Or don't, I won't make you.)

Otherwise, read the devlog for the full list of changes and insight. And if you have any questions, find any typos or just want to chat, message me on discord @final_bear (Or just join the discord server, now.)

Otherwise, see you for the next devlog or if needed - a minor fix patch.

Changelog:

New stuff:

• 7 new character sprites, one for a new character (Orlando.) And 6 resprites (Eric, Raphael, Noland, Darren, Robin, Morrison.)
• A bunch of new expressions for a bunch of characters, you'll know what they are when you see them.
• First half of chapter 2 for Stephen and ‘Vincent’. And the next portion of common route content. I can't give a good word count, but I'd put it at around ~30k.

Writing Changelog:

> Rewrote the scene where Darren and Eric formally meet, mostly to improve flow and to have conversation come off as less awkward. While the general plot points are the same, the conversation was expanded and hopefully it gives a better real introduction of Darren. I'd suggest starting any reading of Vincent's route here.

> The start of Vincent's ch2 was redone from scratch, Vincent is now the one who tells Eric about his meeting and the conversation with Darren was changed to have better flow from the rewritten ch1 scene.

> Eric now mentions Robin to Raphael during Raphael's ch2, this has no changes to the plot - it just keeps it consistent with the other routes.

> Restored a cut joke on Raphael's route chapter 2.

> The scene with Noland and Pierce during ch1 has been updated a bit to address Noland's new appearance and to lead better into chapter 2, this has real no changes to the plot.

> Rewrote some lines of dialogue from some of the earlier scenes - this has no changes to the plot, it just makes it nicer for people reading for the first time.

> Morrison's character has been revised, he is still flirty, but his behaviour was just toned down in every scene he is in so he acts less like an over the top horny old guy. I've also put more emphasis on his job rather than be coy about it.

> I've also expanded his lore a bit, most of it at the end of the meeting.

> In addition, his relationship with Robin while still there was downplayed a fair amount.

I'd suggest reading the rewritten dialogue to get a better feel for Morrison's revised character, I'll generally try to limit doing things like this in the future since going back and rewriting a character is taxing and consistency is key but for the sake of the story long term and keeping everyone likeable, this needed to be done.

(Also a bit of this stuff for Morrison would've been expanded on during ch3 anyways, so no changes to the plot will occur because of this.)

> The first half of the scene with Robin and Morrison (aka, before Morrison uses his power on Robin.) has been restructured, Robin now acts a lot more clueless at the start of it - and the conversation now focuses more on Morrison telling Robin about Eric's disappearance in place of the… Weirdly out of place horny stuff, which has been toned down. No real changes to the overarching plot, but I'd suggest rereading it.

> Most of Robin’s comments towards Morrison’s character have been removed or toned down - for example he no longer says he only cares about Eric because Morrison had the hots for him, as that was just unnecessary.

> Stephen's comments on Morrison focus less on him being a sex pest and more about him being shady.

> Chase no longer calls Morrison a lech.

> Eric no longer calls him a ‘gay porn actor larping as a therapist’ and everything related to that was redone.

> During Chase ch2, Eric's comments on Morrison have been slightly altered.

General art Changelog:

(AKA, characters who had their art updated but not redrawn.)

> Pierce

• Small changes: Made him a bit taller, redrew his upper body and redrew his face and expressions.

> Vincent

• Very small changes: just adjusted his upper body proportions a bit.

> Stephen

• Stephen received some notable changes: his design is mostly the same, but he was made a bit larger (He used to be way smaller than the rest of the cast, this was just masked using renpy.), his body was redrawn to be less blocky and his shirt was recoloured to match Robin's new shirt colour since his old one looked quite ugly and it made for some nice visual theming with Robin. The Logo on his coat was also updated to match the new one made for Robin.

Misc changelog:

• New title screen to better reflect the current position of the story.
• Removed the cut in upon facsimile!Eric’s introduction as it looked quite tacky.
• The cut in of Raphael during his route has been redone.
• Replaced the BG used during Robin and Morrison’s conversation during ch1.
• All sprites are now displayed at a slightly larger size than before, and they are also all now displayed at the same size. Hopefully they get cut off by the UI less now.
• Fixed many Typos and formatting errors.