It will be a direct sequel, 1 or 2 years after the first part.
Maria, Lucy, Amy, Laura and Sarah
They are still the main characters, and from the images that he published 2 years ago, they will be an active part of the gang (it is not known if the one you choose in this game or the MC founded his own and now they are his partners and personal guard) .
It is not known, apart from the characters in the house, which characters from part 1 will return (there are many, so there will surely be 4 or 5 and he will put it to a vote), most likely they will be the women of the gangs.
And already, we know that the MC will end well together with his family and a new or known gangster is going to want his head in part 2.
He is not going to change Renpy, it is his favorite source of bugs and excuses to milk his patreons.
For my part, I recommend you not to have high expectations and finance it, Beggar has already shown that he has lost his passion and that he does not meet his own deadlines. Play this update with the bugfixes or wait for it to finish (I don't recommend it) and forget that at some point I will release part 2.