Hello everyone! As the year comes to a close, I have some wishes to share and some news to announce.

First and foremost, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you for your support. A special thanks goes out to those who have provided me with the opportunity for improvement, particularly my dear patrons and Afdian friends. I am also thankful for the kind individuals who have taken the time to offer constructive feedback on this game. It's challenging to grow without criticism, and your input has been invaluable. Additionally, a shout-out to my friend Black_Red for his incredible support and work in helping me enhance this game.

I appreciate each one of you, and I wish you all the best for the upcoming year and beyond.

Now, let's delve into something important.

As many of you may already know, I've had concerns about the game's reputation due to its use of HS2 models, as well as the difficulties I have to go through to make things work in StudioNeo2. These difficulties have led me to reconsider my development approach and contemplate Lycoris's future if I continue with HS2/SN2.

I am someone who enjoys learning, evolving, and avoiding stagnation. If there are ways to enhance my work, I am committed to making those improvements. This project was never intended to be a one try speed run; I knew that over time, I would accumulate knowledge to develop something I can be proud of. Just a year ago, creating my own models and maps seemed impossible, but after months of study and practice, I made it happen. A piece of advice for those learning modeling: don't give up when faced with challenges; practice, absorb knowledge gradually, and don't strictly follow tutorials… improvise.

Now, the point is, I've decided to transition to Blender, a more user-friendly and creatively liberating program. Don’t freak out; this won't be an abrupt change, as I still have work to do on the models. The next update will likely still use HS2 models, but the transition is underway.

Blender offers more flexibility, optimization, and eliminates many time-consuming issues I encountered with SN2. I already explained it on itch, but to give you a quick example, it takes me 10 hours to make a map, 5 to texture it, and minutes to test it in Blender for amazing results. In SN2, the same process plus 5-7 hours for porting, testing, adjusting textures (due to SN2 light limitations), and making it compatible with characters. For those who may not have noticed, in many instances, characters do not cast shadows on the maps. The reasons include: SN2 light lacks (or at least I couldn't enable it) bouncing light from sources, except HDRI, which is bad; SN2 light doesn't handle roughness textures very well inside maps (perhaps due to refusal to learn Unity), and there's no control over shadow softness.

Blender can handle all of that and much more.

I'm also exploring a new method to improve the flow of each chapter, making updates longer and the time I spend on renders shorter. I have an idea in mind, but I still need to test it, and I plan to do so during my break.

Oh, regarding my break… well, it won't exactly be a break since I'll still be working on Lycoris. However, I intend to dedicate this time (the month of January) to testing my new idea, working on Blender projects, and addressing various issues. So, for those financially supporting this project, please take that into account.

Enough of my rambling… today is a day for celebration!

These renders are from Blender, showcasing a prototype model of Mirai. It has room for improvement, but I want to assure those concerned about drastic changes (lonely neet) that I aim to maintain a semi-realistic anime style.

For more questions, feel free to ask directly or use a specific channel in Discord. Wishing you all a Happy New Year, good health, and plenty of Mirai in your life!