Elspeth's Garden will be a Trilogy.

I think I've come up with an optimum way to distribute this project.  By breaking the project into 3 parts I will be able to truly maximize the limited resources that I have, not to mention that the feedback I get from the first segment can be used to greatly enhance the subsequent sections (rather than have the entire 15-hour or so experience suffering from a fundamental design flaw -- it's better to get feedback and catch things early).  Also, with the way consumers expect lower prices even with their RPGs (see Breath of Death vs Aphelion), you just have to design around the lower price point after all.

So the breakup will be the following:

1.)  Book I - free (covers about 5 hours).  This will serve as the shareware aspect and demo replacement.
2.)  Book II - covers the next 5 hours.  I'll probably sell it for 4.99 in the beginning.  I will have it ready to go when Book I is released, but I will tweak it first based on feedback from Book I to know what my audience wants.
3.)  Book III - covers the final 5 hours.  I will have a prototype when Book I is released, but will await feedback from Books I and II to make sure that the epitome of gameplay is reached.  Also probably will sell for 4.99.

I will have to split the levelling system so you play as different characters and in new environments for each Book.  That means they don't really get to level up much (probably max would be Level 5, seeing that even a full-length SRPG such as Valkyria Chronicles have your team at just Level 15 by the end game).  The upside is that there won't be much balance / grinding issues since I can really tweak the stats to the minutest number, since the difference between Level 1 and 5 is not as big as, say Level 10 and Level 40.

I will also have the opportunity to release each episode for a small price (~1.99-2.99) for the Android marketplace.  I sincerely hope this would be a wiser move than selling a full game for the 'expensive' price of 5.99.

Another upside is that I can really concentrate better on 5-hour playtesting sessions rather than 15-hour ones!  And most importantly, having a set of 3 self-contained games gives me 3 times the opportunity to market the franchise!

After Book III is released I can overhaul Books I and II and release an improved Special Edition complete package -- free for those who bought Books II and III of course!  If I can get additional help, I'd like the complete trilogy set to be in full HD 720p and using a full 3D engine, using the actual models instead of prerenders for smoother animations.