- Season 1, Episode 5 | Part 1 is out for Steam. - 7 September 2026
Not a whole lot has changed from the initial Patreon update. There was a gallery bug that I missed in those versions along with a weird text issue that was making text description text for translation selection disappear. Both are fixed now and said fixes are live for Steam users. Will be uploading an RPA/hotfix for other versions. Will be added to the official public release.If you've been following along with devlogs and such, we've decided to move to smaller updates that'll be releasing faster than the longer, nearly year-plus updates before. This does a few things for us that've already been discussed. With everything seemingly ready to go, we're moving onto Part 2 now. Once all four (potentially five, but unlikely) parts are done, we'll be doing a large sweeping fix under the hood. This, as previously mentioned, will be another restart, but it'll ensure a cleaner transfer to Season…
- [Move The Chains] | S01E05.P1 | Play Sheet #20 - 30 July 2026
Day late. Sorry about that. Just got caught up with stuff yesterday and totally spaced it.There's nothing really new to update on the personal stuff. Last night, I took some time to see if I could figure out what was causing my 13700k to get so toasty. Came across MCE and PL1/PL2 settings in the bios thanks to a JayzTwoCents video. Let's just say it definitely worked. As we all know, Summer is a killer for rendering. Especially in the desert.Until last night, I was seeing upwards of 55C in coolant temp alone. Hasn't gone above 48C since. Even took Cyberpunk for a spin, which usually kicked the CPU to up around 85C-90C dropped to about 75C on average. I was concerned that there might be some tradeoffs with Daz performance, and at least as far as loading renders goes, there's no real difference. We'll see about actually making them, but I don't think there's going to be much change.Crazy…
- [Move The Chains] | S01E05.P1 | Play Sheet #19 - 8 July 2026
I figured I'd start with some personal life updates.Starting with the eye, it ended up being exactly what I thought it was. Just swelling due to rubbing it like an idiot. For those unaware, I do have RCE in both eyes. My left being far worse than my right, the latter of which rarely bothers me. After using Manuka Honey, most of my problems have faded (irritation, constantly feeling like something's in it, etc.), provided I use rewetting drops and night time ointments (shit's expensive, man...). But I do have flareups sometimes, and that was one of those times.Of course, someone took that to mean that I was delaying working on MTC when all I ever said was that it might slow me down for a few days. Which it really didn't. Anyways, all is good on that front. I'm actually feeling healthier than I have in some time, so I suppose that's a good thing.On the topic of the family member legal stu…
- [Move The Chains] | S01E05.P1 | Play Sheet #18 - 16 June 2026
I don't have an exact number of renders made right now, last I counted was 375, and I think I've done 10-ish today so far. Either way, we're roughly about 80% done with the 500 planned renders. Again, may or may not go slightly over that to close out the update cleanly. I don't think a hard cutoff would be appreciated even in this format.We're currently at about 4 scenes. Two of which are quite long. We've paused on the third scene as there will be animations, the same will likely be true of the fourth as well. It's more to do with the if/else stuff that'll come with those scenes and the alt renders needed for them.Total, I'm envisioning 6-ish total scenes for the update. Might put us closer to 600-700 renders, but some prep leading into the P2 is a bit necessary here.We've got 30-ish renders actually cooked and waiting, but shouldn't take too long to cook all the renders.As mentioned b…
- Minor Fixes #1 (that have been discovered for Episode 4) - 20 May 2026
Fixed broken achievement for #Feminism. You can either replay the update or wait until Episode 5, where I'll also include it there for those that would rather not buzz through the update. :) Fixed a broken/missing image, was just a wrong file name (humble instead of hum). I'm also aware of the Kara date bug (where you go out even if you don't ask her.). I could've sword I had an if/else there, but guess I just blanked on it. Variable will also be included at the beginning of Episode 5. Will be fixed correctly during a larger S1 fix that will prepare the game for a clean save transfer to Season 2. Yes, another playthrough. But it'll be a bit away. Still have to finish Episode 5 before that's even a thought.
- Season 1 | Episode 4 is Live. - 19 May 2026
Thanks for holding out. That especially goes for anyone at this tier. This kind of support goes a long way in keeping the game going. And after waiting this long, I wish there was more too. But as said already, changes are coming to prevent this kind of wait again.There's lot of thing I've played around with this in update. Much of it being AI. Not to take over the game or its animations, or writing. But as a tool. Stuff that can take simple still renders and give them a little motion. The only scene that seriously made use of AI animations was certain scene later on. Most should be able to pick it out rather quickly. Like I said, it's simply to give a little extra life to certain renders. Largely in the closer/transition scenes. AI music is affordable, and far less tedious to find quality in. Yeah, some of the lyrics might be eh, and it might be a little formulaic. But it beats spendin…
- [Move The Chains] | S01E04 | Play Sheet #14 - 30 June 2025
There's some news, mostly good, but it's mostly been chugging away at renders. Have had a busy few weeks at work, but such is the case for a full time job and a hobby project. We also have a website in working order now, with (more or less) live tracking of progress. Which can be viewed here: https://missftn.com/move-the-chains-play-sheets/A little side warning on the site - it hasn't been optimized for mobile at all yet. It's still basically a broken mess. So, for those that can't see it, here's a screenshot:There's also some movement in regard to translations. Maybe not in the way I wanted, but movement nonetheless. But more on that below.As you can see by the screenshot, we're right around 1,300 renders. Which, ideally, puts us over the halfway mark. This is a very LI-centric update in getting to know the background of some of the LIs, specifically some of the ones that haven't gotte…
- Update for missing achievements that were supposed to get added in 3.5. - 15 February 2025
When going through the checklist for 3.5, I added the achievements to the code for the Steam version of the game. But I never uncommented them in the code. It's not a big issues. If you want the achievements, replaying through Episode 3.5 should give you them. Most of you should have a save from Episode 3 in the autosave given how short the 3.5 was. There's also a variable snuck in there as well. I've also changed the define code for Renee's character from 're' to 'ren' as 're' was conflicting with RegEx. Shouldn't cause any conflicts unless you happen to save on Renee's dialogue line in Episode 1. Which should be fixed with rolling back a bit. Sorry for the all the little bugs in this update, and thanks for putting up with them! I'll be trying to limit them in all future updates! :) So, the short of it is that you'll need to replay 3.5 from an Episode 3 save. If you're just starting th…
- What is Episode 3.5? - 11 February 2025
3.5, for those who weren't following very closely, is something of a QoL update for myself that also attempts to fix some of the longer running issues. Such as the gallery/scene replays and character page. While you can find it in the game in the extras menu, here's the changelog for 3.5: - Finished (mostly) the character menu. Likes/Interests to be added as you get closer to LIs. - Updated Music Room for faster attribution (for S01E03 and following, Episodes 1+2 will come later). - CG gallery and Animation/Scene Replays should work fully now (play through Episode 3.5) - Fixed Stats screen. - Fixed exit methods when returning from Main Menu and Quit screens. - Fixed some consistency issues, others remain and will addressed. The beef of this update was the character menu, obviously. Likes have been left blank as I felt it'd be better to add as the player gets closer. They won't have much…
- 1/11/2025 Glossary Bugfix - 12 January 2025
Sorry for the spam. Glossary bugfix should up and working now. As for everything else, please refer to the previous news post to this for more information.
- S01E03 is Live (see before playing, short post). - 12 January 2025
Sorry for the (again) delayed update, even if it was out of my control. I've gone through a quick playthrough before posting this. Just to make it clear once more, you will need to restart for this update. However, with all the backend work, there should be no more restarting barring any catastrophic bug that I missed. A known bug at the moment: Glossary definitions aren't working in S01E03. If you click on one, just rollback. I'm working to see what the fix is. Edit for Bug: Bug has been found. Will be updating in a few moments. Anyways, here's the changelog: - 2,160-ish Renders - 22 Animations, SFW and NSFW - Fixed Achievement + Gallery bugs (hopefully) - Implemented Superstar Traits - Heavy spell/grammar checking. Episode 1+2 still need a pass. - Other general updates (glossary, etc.) An update should go out soon-ish with a bugfix for the glossary definitions.
- Regarding Episode 3 Update (Not my fault) - 10 January 2025
For anyone looking for the update on Steam tonight, it's totally out of my control right now: Minutes prior, they told me to set up "Authenticator" before the build could go live. Then they say this once I do it. I've messaged support, but from my experience, Steam's support is slow to say the least. It'll probably be live before they actually get to it. The game is already uploaded. The moment I'm allowed to make the build live again, it'll be up. Hopefully they get back fairly quickly. Sorry for the inconvenience, but it's kind of out of my hands.
- S01E03 Release Dates - 7 January 2025
It's been a minute. First and foremost, I'd like to apologize for the wait and thank you for the patience. Had a lot going on near the end of the year (not an excuse) that delayed the release a bit, but we're here. Finally. Aside from fixing up some sfx and a final playthrough for bugs, we're ready to go. There was a lot of lessons learned with this update, and some things that'll be changed going forward. Specifically in the case of workflow. For this update, I basically prepped all 2100+ renders and then just rendered them all at once, then did all the writing, then did all the music, and so forth. Going forward, I'll likely be doing this on a per scene basis. So, for example, Scene #1 is going to be rendered, written, and postworked before moving on to Scene #2. This might extend the immediate development time a bit, but I think it'll overall be faster and cause less burnout this way…
- Regard the lack of promised update. - 7 December 2024
If you've read the community thread, you've already got a solid idea of what's going on. However, I'll share it to the general public (both here, obviously, and on Patreon/SS) who don't venture to those parts. Why is the update late? Those who read the post on the 30th might've read (and comprehended) the rather vague point near the bottom: "But it's because I have to go back home (family issues) for a bit. Depending on how it goes, I might share more. I might not. It's a bit personal, so I hope some of you can understand. I won't be back until the 3rd, though. So, it'll be released then." Obviously the 3rd came and passed. That family issue was my sister being hit on her way back from her kid's school. Was in and out of consciousness for a while, among a number of other issues. Our (biological) parents aren't in picture, so it's just me and her. That's why I went back home originally,…
- Official Release Date + Notes on Episode 3 + Future - 26 November 2024
While it certainly didn't blow up, I'd call the launch of Move the Chains on Steam thus far a success. While I don't know if I'll be quitting my job just yet (I'll need to see what I'm making month to month before I start contemplating that.), this very much removes the financial burden of Daz assets and other purchases that need to be made (music/licenses, icons/svgs/etc., and things of that nature.). I've read all of the positive and negative reviews, and I've taken the criticism some have brought forward. All of it is appreciated, but it's nice to know many are enjoying it. Gives you that bit of extra motivation. So the basis behind this post is transparency, and something of a roadmap for what's going to happen in this release cycle. Where are you now with progress? Rendering was done a while ago, and there's about three more scenes to write (one being longer, the rest are shorter.)…
- News on Episode 3 with Today's Upcoming Release. - 15 November 2024
If you haven't read the Play Sheet posted on another site (that I can't mention here). I was unable to finish up Episode 3 in time for the release date. That being said, I'll be releasing the game today as planned with the already finished Episodes 1 and 2. Episode 3 will be out by near the end of November! 39 of the 40 scenes (2100+ renders) in Episode 3 are currently rendered and waiting for postwork. Of said 40 scenes, 12 are unwritten. Most of which are fairly short however. Should have them done in the next couple days and will send out for proofreading while I working on the music/postwork/etc. I hate to use work as an excuse for not hitting that deadline I set for myself, but the university > work transition into full time (especially during election season) was kind of brutal for me. Just trying to be transparent for the sake of transparency. I appreciate your patience and I'm s…
- After further deliberation. - 9 October 2024
Sorry for the spam to anyone following this. After having several reaching out, along with a couple comments about holding off the release until Episode 3 is ready, I've decided to push back the release date to the 15th for now. We'll see where I am with progress in two weeks and decide from there. However, the release WILL be soon after that. if not right around it. We'll see. Again, thanks for the patience and for the understanding. Wouldn't be able to do this without you guys! - MF.
- Quick Update Regarding S01E03! - 8 October 2024
The release date of Move the Chains is now firm. It will be November 7th. However, progress on the status of Episode 3 has been slower than expected. While it's still early, and I'm working my ass off, I fear I won't hit the deadline for Episode 3 meeting the Steam release. I'm currently writing quite quickly, but I still have 2000 made-render waiting to be rendered + music + graphic assets + postwork + proofreading + editing. So, while I'm working hard to meet the November 7th deadline, I might not meet it. I won't be pushing the release any further, however. Meaning, it'll be the game as-is. Season 1, Episodes 1 and 2. That all being said, even if I miss the deadline/release for Episode 3, it won't be long until comes. No promises. No hard dates. I just wanted to post this for the sake of transparency. I'm working at a pace that retains quality, so I won't sacrifice quality for a slig…
- Current S01E03 Progress + New Release Date - 17 August 2024
So, I've been going back and forth with Steam since June getting things right. Between the week-long wait times for each issue/message/etc. between us and working on the game, it's taken a bit longer to get to this point than I would've liked. That being said, the current build is finally approved. I've started reaching out to curators already and hope to gain at least some momentum from that before the October NextFest. I've had a fair bit of IRL drama the past couple weeks, but I'll spare you all from that since it's basically over with now. Below you can find the current process for Episode 3. We are at nearly 1600 renders. Leaving us about 200 more to go for the main story. Will still have an unspecified number left for the fundraiser game, but wanted to save that for last. Episode 3 is going to be in the ballpark of 2000 renders, give or take. The renders are rendered yet, as previ…
- Ep. 3 Progress + Soft Release Date + NextFest | MTC Devlog #1 - 20 May 2024
I'm aware I'm probably a little late in posting this, but better late than never, eh? For those that don't/can't/won't follow outside of Steam, I generally post Play Sheets, which are generally just progress reports with current progress and what's in the pipeline. For the sake of not making you read an entire book, I'm just going to post the progress chart I update daily on my Patreon page (which is free to see, along with said Play Sheets.), along with some quick notes on a couple of the more vague parts (Note, if you can't see the full image, then Right Click > Open Image in New Tab should bring up the full image in another tab). We are currently at 627 renders (approximately 20-ish more after today, but not entirely done yet.). They currently aren't rendered yet, to be clear. They, however, are all posed, lit, and ready to be rendered in batches. Likely not overnight due to the heat…
