The dev does specifically warn players on the very first screen that the release should be considered an alpha build of the game and that old saves won't work. I would suggest playing every 3rd or 4th update at least at this point. Then, if you do have to start over at least you won't have to as often.
Can you post a screenshot of what your gallery looks like rn? I can see what's missing and help you out with getting it finished.
Why is your directory path for the game so long? EIGHTEEN folders down? Also, that looks very strange; you have a long set of subfolders followed by double backslashes three times at the end. I haven't the faintest how you got all of that, but my guess would be you have too many subfolders and Ren'Py doesn't like it; maybe the double backslashes are also part of the problem. Can you eliminate maybe at least fifteen of those by installing the game much higher up in the document tree (so maybe only 3 levels down or something)?
Since it's near the beginning of the game, I assume you've not loaded an older save to try it. Did you have a compressed or modded version at all? I never got any error myself, so I'm not sure what would cause that.
I'm playing this game for the first time. I have compressed versions
It might be a problem with the compressed version, then. I used the standard, uncompressed copy and didn't see an issue. Maybe (Asenaris), the compressor, can be of some help.
