The 'release a test as a standalone game' experiment worked pretty well so my plan is to carry on improving the engine and when it's ready to test again bundle it out with another mini-game. As I don't want to beat sharks to death however, I've made a little poll to see if people have any opinions on this one way or the other. If the results prefer something a little different to previously, I'll make a standalone with that theme.

The poll is on Patreon, but it's public - you don't have to subscribe to have a say. Just put in your tick!

I imagine the next build would be a couple of weeks away rather than months once I know what I'm doing, so shouldn't be too long to wait either way.

Poll: On this page right here

Hello Finatics,

I've made a test game for the new game engine I'm putting together for the update. It's a stand-alone shark adventure set in Five Thousand Fathoms High School, where your goal is to woo yourself another shark maiden.

Being a test it's a short game, you can get through it in about 15-20 minutes if you're not in a hurry. This being so I've decided to release it as its own feature over on Game Jolt and Itch. You might get a laugh or two out of it if you liked Shark Dating, as it is of course in much the same vein of puerile humour and nonsense.

There are 3 possible endings, two of them harder to win than the default 'bad' ending. It shouldn't take many mental gymnastics to work out how - heck, you might even get lucky first time!

There is a 'pay what you like' option if you feel like giving a tip for it - or if you're interested in seeing the endings uncensored, that's available on my Patreon page for $5 a month Patreons.

If you're a bit strapped for tips, no worries - just enjoy another little romp beneath the sea!

Five Thousand Fathoms High on Game Jolt

Or if you prefer, https://catfoodmcfly.itch.io/sdsxlftfh

Just a brief one - I've had some reports from people confused that SDSXL appeared to update itself/was offering an update that either never happened or didn't appear to change the game.

The game has not yet been updated and I haven't uploaded any new files, so I have to assume this was a Steam-related housekeeping thing.

Apologies if you had such a message and were disappointed to find nothing new. When I do make an update I'lll post about it on these notifications, so you can be sure if any more such notices are the real deal.

- CF

Hello. It's been a busy last couple of years, I've been studying Comic Art at University all this time, but never have sharks entirely left my thoughts. Well, they wouldn't really would they? And so I am pleased to say that Shark Dating Simulator The Full Release is finally on track again.

The entire thing has been re-written from the ground up! The update will be a completely new game, although of course Shark Chan and Marina will have made it into the reboot. There will be no less than 3 (OR ARE THERE) Shark Maidens to pursue in your new job as an underwater detective, as well as lots of new characters to work for/annoy.

We've also lost that ball dropping game. That was rubbish, wasn't it? No idea what I was thinking there. At least it meant we could shoehorn in a few ball gags, if you know what I mean.

To reiterate, once the first stage of the new game is rolled out, we will quit early access and I will continue writing the rest of it and updating in stages (it's not the writing, it's the drawing that takes the time). The price'll go up at that point from its bargain-basement cost up to something slightly less bargain-basement but if you've already bought it, no worries - you won't have to pay a penny extra!

As there may be folk who might miss the original incarnation of SDSXL, don't worry it'll still be available, as a separate program tucked into the game folders.

I've also been asked about Sharky nudity, as Steam have changed their policy on this since the original early-access release. I always thought of the game as more of a comedy with a bit of smut tacked on, but as this seems to be a popular idea (although some industrious folk in the forums have taken care of de-censoring some of it themselves), this will probably end up as an option - although for the sake of letsplayers and the sensitive, there will also be an option to keep the censoring on!

I've made a lot of progress this last while - I'm not going to start swinging promises about , but I intend to get this thing out to you in as short order as I can. I'll post up some screenies soon.

Until then, happy swimming!

- Catfood

Gills ahoy! I didn't intend to upload another update so soon as there isn't much change in the way of content yet but I hear there have been some virus alarm problems still so this build will hopefully be less of an issue.

If you previously had issues with the game refusing to run and throwing up a message about pixel shaders refusing to link, this too should now be solved!

As a bonus, some players have also reported the game running too fast. If you click the cog for the options, you will now see there is a 'VSync' option. Have this ticked for VSync to have your monitor take care of the frame rate (smoother) or if things are too fast, untick it to have the software do it (possibly less smooth, but locked to 60fps).

Carry on!

Gills ahoy! I didn't intend to upload another update so soon as there isn't much change in the way of content yet but I hear there have been some virus alarm problems still so this build will hopefully be less of an issue.

If you previously had issues with the game refusing to run and throwing up a message about pixel shaders refusing to link, this too should now be solved!

As a bonus, some players have also reported the game running too fast. If you click the cog for the options, you will now see there is a 'VSync' option. Have this ticked for VSync to have your monitor take care of the frame rate (smoother) or if things are too fast, untick it to have the software do it (possibly less smooth, but locked to 60fps).

Carry on!

Greetings, fincest-fans. You'll be pleased to hear that the second story writing is now underway! Now the game's 'world' is set things will get a little more interesting with Nurse Chan. It's difficult to say the time-span on the second story being available (especially as the laptop I used to write the game on has died and I'm borrowing other people's computers to do anything), but I'll do my best to get it out ASAP.

An interesting question I've been asked by a few people now is - any chance of a male shark adventure? I'm definitely putting that one into the mix. I'm even considering, early days though it is, making a Shark Dating sequel with beefy gay male sharks only. We'll see!

I've never been happy with the 'happy ending' scenes in the game as they are now. While I can cartoon the main characters OK, I'm just not too hot on the shexy-stuff. To this end, I'm putting some of the money I'll get from sales of SDSXL back into the game and hiring myself an artist to draw some much better saucy scenes than I ever could.

Which leads us to the final popular question: will there ever be a nude patch? When there's something worth revealing - maaaaybe!

If you'd like to see extra bits of concept art etc. as I'm going along, you can always join my Patreon. There's no tier levels - as far as I'm concerned a Patreon is a Patreon.

https://www.patreon.com/sdsxl

Alternatively, if you would like to keep me going and chuck a bone my way on top of the dollar the game cost you but you aren't one for long term commitment (you sly dog, you), I also have a ko-fi account.

http://ko-fi.com/catfood

"Sea" you soon!

Greetings, fincest-fans. You'll be pleased to hear that the second story writing is now underway! Now the game's 'world' is set things will get a little more interesting with Nurse Chan. It's difficult to say the time-span on the second story being available (especially as the laptop I used to write the game on has died and I'm borrowing other people's computers to do anything), but I'll do my best to get it out ASAP.

An interesting question I've been asked by a few people now is - any chance of a male shark adventure? I'm definitely putting that one into the mix. I'm even considering, early days though it is, making a Shark Dating sequel with beefy gay male sharks only. We'll see!

I've never been happy with the 'happy ending' scenes in the game as they are now. While I can cartoon the main characters OK, I'm just not too hot on the shexy-stuff. To this end, I'm putting some of the money I'll get from sales of SDSXL back into the game and hiring myself an artist to draw some much better saucy scenes than I ever could.

Which leads us to the final popular question: will there ever be a nude patch? When there's something worth revealing - maaaaybe!

If you'd like to see extra bits of concept art etc. as I'm going along, you can always join my Patreon. There's no tier levels - as far as I'm concerned a Patreon is a Patreon.

https://www.patreon.com/sdsxl

Alternatively, if you would like to keep me going and chuck a bone my way on top of the dollar the game cost you but you aren't one for long term commitment (you sly dog, you), I also have a ko-fi account.

http://ko-fi.com/catfood

"Sea" you soon!

Greetings! Shark Dating Simulator XL has recieved its first update. This includes:

* Minor corrections to typos in the text
* One correction where the wrong avatar appeared when you first met Shark Chan
* Gender option added, and small gender specific changes to the story made
* Graphical improvements
* All assets now packed and protected in a single executable with 3rd party software, which also compresses the game from 140-ish meg down to about 34.
* Save point function added
* Shark Chan's 'happy endings' now feaures 8 different graphical results, 4 for male and 4 for female. These are placeholders - another artist has been commissioned to render some better ones!

When you start this new build, you may notice an icon that says 'CONTINUE' left of the start game icon. This is actually your gender-choosing icon. It looks like that for reasons of not wanting to erase your preferences file, so just give it a click and it will then work as intended.

As ever, any bugs or features you want to chat about please visit the game's Steam forums.

Best of luck!

Greetings! Shark Dating Simulator XL has recieved its first update. This includes:

* Minor corrections to typos in the text
* One correction where the wrong avatar appeared when you first met Shark Chan
* Gender option added, and small gender specific changes to the story made
* Graphical improvements
* All assets now packed and protected in a single executable with 3rd party software, which also compresses the game from 140-ish meg down to about 34.
* Save point function added
* Shark Chan's 'happy endings' now feaures 8 different graphical results, 4 for male and 4 for female. These are placeholders - another artist has been commissioned to render some better ones!

When you start this new build, you may notice an icon that says 'CONTINUE' left of the start game icon. This is actually your gender-choosing icon. It looks like that for reasons of not wanting to erase your preferences file, so just give it a click and it will then work as intended.

As ever, any bugs or features you want to chat about please visit the game's Steam forums.

Best of luck!