Heyo folks! Aaaaaand finally, here's our first Temptation's Ballad update in a long while. This is more of a maintenance update where I freshen up the game UI for the VN and other quality of life additions. For those itching for more story, I've added a new Min-Episode involving Cole and Wes that unlocks after finishing Chapter 1! The prologue of Chapter 1 has also been rewritten (you know, that exposition dump in the beginning with the weird poem) and now includes a sequence with 6 new CGs!

Changelog:

• Prologue at the beginning of Chapter 1 has been rewritten! The funky poem has been removed, and replaced with a short 473 word sequence with 6 new CGs!
• Temptation's Ballad has now received a UI overhaul! In the main menu, you will now find an updated title card for the VN, along with several new options including a Gallery, Chapter Selection, and a Mini-Episodes menu.
• Gallery page has been added, and includes all CGs thus far in Temptation's Ballad!..... except all the new ones added in this update. I'll add those to the gallery in the upcoming hotfix update ;;w;;
• CGs are grey out until you've encountered them in your playthroughs.

• New Chapter Select menu added!
• New Mini-Episode menu added!
• A new mini-episode "The Sheriff and the Rascal" is now unlockable after completing Chapter 1! (or just starting Chapter 2 in the chapter select menu). The episode contains a short story at 5,920 words.
• Contains a sex scene with 2 new CGs and 3 animated segments! This marks the first animation to be added into Temptation's Ballad :D

• New dialogue box and name plate UI!
• Added a auto-play, back, and fast-forward button next to the dialogue box! The auto-play button is togglable and lights up when active.
• The save, load, text history, and preference buttons have been relocated at the top right of the screen.
• An additional button dedicated to hiding the UI has been added. This should be a great QOL for folks playing on their phone!

• All 4 of Wes's sprites have been refined with clean lineart and cell-shading!
• 9 of Artemi's sprites have been refined with clean lineart and cell-shading!
• I plan to give all of Temptation's Ballad's character sprites this treatment over time. Unfortunately there will be some inconsistencies in the artwork while I make progress, with some characters having the new refined sprites while others are stuck with the old sketchy ones.
  
• Chapter 3 Character Glossary has been added! (Totals around 1512 words).
  
• 3 new glossary artwork cards for Maeve, Calder, and Agatha.
• 8 small glossary item illustrations.
• All 4 of Prince Cassius' sprites have been reworked and cell-shaded!

• Added a Replay button in the Gallery menu that allows you to replay select scenes throughout Temptation's Ballad! The scenes are unlocked as you play through the story. I hope y'all enjoy this new feature, it was a pain in the ass for my smooth brain to code QWQ
• Note: this feature is not retroactive and you may need to replay the story to unlock the scenes, even if you have current save files.
• Sounds are now muted when skipping through scenes. Your eardrums will no longer get blasted to smithereens.
  

Chapter 1 Revisions:

• Every scene in Chapter 1 has been combed through and updated with more sprite animations and jiggles that y'all have seen in my more recent VN updates. Sprites now move around more dynamically as well.
• More varied sound effects have been added where appropriate.
• Instances of the "surprise.ogg" sound effect has been reduced from 61 to 15 in Chapter 1. Your eardrums are now safer.
• The background art for the Grand Cathedral (both day/night) have been rerendered with the holy sword removed from its pedestal. That plot thread has since been cut from the story.
• The church kids in Artemi's introduction scene now make a bigger deal about her being the Bishop's child, and wonder about "aren't bishops supposed to be celibate?"
• A gentler version of Sidd's theme now plays when he talks about his mother in the fighting ring.
• Slight retcon: All instances in Chapter 1 where Artemi was referred to as "The Vessel" has changed to "The Reservoir." For plot reasons. (It's a secret tool that'll help us later).
• The cloaked figure now hates poor people slightly less. This was supposed to be a small thing in their backstory in the early concepts of the TB but I've since moved away from it.
• Artemi now properly electrocutes Sidd when trying to heal or buff him, as per protocol.