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September 2025 Monthly Update
🕑 Added 2025-09-06 05:52:21 +0000 UTCHello lovely patrons!
Welcome to our newest monthly update where we update you on all things Two and a Half Studios. As always, these will come out every month on the 6th (AEST).
It's been another busy month (as always...), but this time we have a major reason... both A Date with Death and Willowmist were accepted to take part in the PAX Australia Together Lounge! Yay!
But that means... we have to have a demo ready for Willowmist... ๐ luckily we're well on the way to getting there, which means that THIS MONTH, you'll be able to play the very first beta for Willowmist! Hopefully, at least, the first 4-5 days, but we'll see how I go (currently wrapping up the programming for day 3!).
But more on that below:
A Date with Death
Japanese Translation
We're preparing to release the Steam page for ADWD1 on Steam in Japanese on Tuesday, for a full Japanese release in October! We're really excited to finally have this out in the world. At the moment, we're still going through editing passes, but each one is getting smaller and smaller, so luckily it no longer takes up big chunks of my days.
Voice Acting
Currently, all voiced lines have been cut up by our editor C.L, who is now going through to pick takes and implement. We'll still end up with some retakes by the end of this, but hopefully only a small amount!
Like we mentioned in previous months, the Japanese recording can't start until we have all lines in English ready to hand to them, and the script is through the editing stage. With that in mind, we'll likely release the English VO first, then come back to the Japanese VO so as not to delay the release. We're still working out the kinks, but we'll let you know when we know more!
PAX Australia Together Lounge
Like I mentioned above, A Date with Death was accepted to be in the Together Lounge at PAX Australia! We'll have our printouts, some cool new decorations, and likely a couple of freebies (like badges!) so feel free to stop by and pick some up.
A Date with Death was actually featured there last year too:
The Willowmist Emporium of Antiques and Curiosities
Art
We've now finished up all solo CGs for the demo! We're just working on one last group one and another character ๐
Here's a little preview of Kael, who you'll meet towards the end of the demo:
Once we're finished with Kael and the group CG, we're going to go back and add a couple of new expressions and outfits to already completed characters. We'd like to add PJ sprites for the protagonist, at the very least!
Saedee is also now working on finalizing the initial "item art" that will serve at stock for the store. We'll have more of that to show soon!
Programming
Script wise, we're now wrapping up the programming on day 3 of the demo. Along the way, we've made changes to the level up system, the store running system, and the dice rolling system. There's a lot of back and forth on getting everything working smoothly together.
We've also added the new "item sold/item obtained screen" and are currently nearly finished on the "relationship rank up" screen:
Please ignore that everything is still candleholders... we're waiting on the final item art to implement, haha.
A customer! The game, depending on your skills and abilities, will pick a certain number of customers per day from a pool of potential customers, who all have their own "wealth". They'll come in, take a look at your stock and your pricing, and either leave without purchasing anything, buy something for the listed price, or haggle. Above is an example of the haggling - it'll also help you get an idea of how much your antiques are really worth!
As you play through characters stories and events, you'll slowly rank up their relationship level. At certain levels, you'll also get buffs/new abilities.
Screenshots
Writing
The majority of events for the Willowmist demo have now been written! Like I've mentioned in previous months, you'll use a schedule to decide how to spend your time - from sorting out the storeroom, to cleaning, to attending the store, to going to auctions, and more. For many of the actions, you have a chance to receive a "random" event which can have both good and bad(ish) outcomes, depending on your stats and rolls.
Any character can turn up in an event, so keep an eye out for some fun little side adventures!
Beta
A beta will be released for Willowmist THIS month! We'd appreciate you checking it out and letitng us know of any bugs/crashes you find along the way. More will be shared soon!
A Date with Death 2: REMNANTS
A Date with Death 2: REMNANTS is a sequel to A Date with Death we've been working on for the past 6+ months, though much of that time was on preproduction planning.
A quick reminder: this announcement is for patrons only. This will not be announced outside of Patreon until December. If we see news leaking about this game to the wider community before then, we will not be able to show previews here, and that would be disappointing for everyone. Please keep your excitement to our Patreon or the Patreon channels in our Discord.
Story
Last month, we shared the first look at the story for ADWD2, but in case you missed it:
Congratulations, youโre dead!
In the depths of the Underworld, Grim Reapers keep the mortal world turning, ferrying souls to their rightful afterlives. But after rebellion tore through its streets, the old order is broken. Reapers are on the verge of extinction, numbers dwindling, and unclaimed souls are slipping through the cracks.
You are one of the few newly-created Reapers - a blank slate with no past, no name - assigned to Unit 29R alongside a fellow recruit and your team leader. On paper, you're expected to follow the rules, learn quickly, and guide the souls of those who have passed on.
Your true mission - to help recover what has been lost.
As you grow closer to your teammates and forge bonds among the remaining Reapers, questions begin to take root in your mind.
If you forget who you were, are you still the same person?
Is who you once were more important than who you've become?
And if memories make a person... what does that make you?It's time to begin training, 0213!
You'll be playing as 0213, a brand new Reaper assigned to 5012's team - Unit 29R! ADWD2 follows after the Rebellion ending of Beyond the Bet, and the Underworld is in disarray - the corrupt have been overthrown, but now the leftover Reapers are dealing with the repercussions of suddenly not having a stable stream of new Reapers. Souls are falling between the cracks, and there's no solution in sight. On top of that, 5012 has his own secret mission he's unwilling to share with his two new recruits - but maybe he can be convinced.
A Date with Death 2: REMNANTS spans 21 days in total (14 days per full playthrough) - a 7 day common route, then a 7 day route for each love interest. You've met 5012 before, but we also introduced the second love interest, who we'll call 0204 for now, just the other the day:
Writing
We've moved on to writing day 4 of the game, with day 5 and 6 now fully planned out.
A few little teasers - A in this case is 0204! This is early on, on the first day of the game. Our reluctant trio is slowly bonding... maybe?
Art
We're excited to let you all know that we've finished up with the MC character creator! We do plan to add some extra options soon, too, once we wrap up some other demo work.
(Ignore his arm going over the text, still fixing it!)
ADWD2 will feature a color picker! You'll be able to use this on hair, eyebrows, lipstick and eyes. We also have a slider for skin color.
On top of that, we're also still working on the mini-sprites that will be featured in the "walking" sections of the game. Here's a look at 0204!
Fuyuure is currently working on side character sprites. This game will feature a heavy emphasis on getting to know the various residents of the Underworld on top of romancing either 5012 or 0204.
Here's a tiny preview of a certain duo who happen to be guest characters. Some people here might recognize them - do you?
Programming & Screenshots
We're currently still refining day 1 in engine - adding in additional expressions, animations, etc. At the same time, I'm also working on implementing new screens and UI - namely, I've been working on the save system and programming in sprites:
Beta
We hope to release our first beta for ADWD2 next month. This will likely be just the first day of the game - the full demo will be the first 3 days. Keep an eye out!
Kickstarter and Future Plans
Our plans for ADWD2 are as follows:
Announcement in December in the ADWD anniversary week celebrations.
Demo in February for The Storyteller's Festival.
Kickstarter in March.
Full release by December 2026.
Plans can always change, but that's the current idea. The Kickstarter will fund the free base game as well as the paid expansion DLC. You'll also be able to pick up some physical goodies and other digital rewards, which we'll start showing to you next month.
Astralis Publishing Title - The Inn Between
Events
The Inn Between is participating in the Steam Cat Awareness Sale over on Steam in two days! If you like cat-related games, go check it out when its live :)
Support the Game
You can support the The Inn Between by wishlisting on Steam, following the team on Patreon, or following them on Twitter!
Astralis Publishing Title - The Last Rose
Demo
The demo for The Last Rose is out now over on Steam!
Support the Game
You can support The Last Rose by wishlisting the game on Steam and following the developer on Twitter!
Misc Announcements
A Date with Death Winter Sweater
There's just a week left to grab the ADWD Winter Sweater, which will be delivered in time for Christmas!
Focus for the next month
Willowmist - Event writing, demo programming, beta release.
A Date with Death 2: REMNANTS - Writing day 4, finish editing of day 1, UI programming.
Comments
Tscherri
Time to save up for the kickstarter already :>
DuskDragon1701
I see that butterfly cloak - if Iโm right I might have an aneurysm and simply perish
