Hello, fellow netrunners.

Updates

We dropped a large update on our patreon with more “in the weeds” details about development pacing, with the summary being that we are aiming to release build 2 in late January. However, due to the holiday season and personal commitments across the team, the build may be delayed into February.

Chapter 2 itself will see Ravy diving into the thick of String Zero’s plot, and leaving behind the more sedate worldbuilding of chapter 1. Suffice to say, his day will not be getting any better.

Things to look forward to (but are still subject to change):

• ~18,000 words
• 4 new characters, one of which we’ve already teased: “Crown.”
• Many new music tracks, backgrounds, sprite variations, etc.

Thank you everyone for your continued feedback and support!

Bringing the Heat Public Release

We’re happy to announce the public release of our first in-universe podcast, “Bringing the Heat,” which you can find on our youtube channel.

From the youtube description (full credits available there):

Brought to you by the “String Zero” (SZ) universe, “Bringing the Heat” is series of in-universe, radio-style broadcasts dueling between the professional journalism of Nu Lios News (NLN) hosted by Sliavinnefiang (“Vinny”) vs. the more sensational style of ICE News (Instantly Communicated Exposures) hosted by Zhonny Inferno. “Bringing the Heat” is Zhonny’s show.

As the lore and universe of the SZ visual novel is dense and complex, we thought it’d be a fun idea to expand on the worldbuilding in different formats. This way, the visual novel itself won’t be bogged down by details that aren’t integral to the immediate plot, but may still be helpful and interesting to fans.

To that end, “Bringing the Heat” will expound upon events that occur within the novel, hint at upcoming story events and characters, and explore details for which the novel simply doesn’t have the time or space. That said, this podcast is entirely supplementary, and will not include any details integral to understanding the primary SZ narrative.

Which is not to say “Bringing the Heat” has no story, as each of these news networks and their hosts have certain goals, agendas, …and loyalties.

We thank you for participating in this little experiment of ours. “Bringing the Heat” is a living project, and so its presentation may change as we receive interest and feedback. We look forward to hearing what you think.

A “Behind the Scenes” version of this podcast with extra goodies will be released by Icefang separately in the coming days.