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Hey, everyone. I hope you're all enjoying Spooky Month so far.

I unfortunately have some bad news.

The update is going to take longer to finish than I thought it would. Like, potentially a lot longer. I completely underestimated how much time it would take to make and render all of the visual asset variants (i.e. different belly sizes for Ruby, day/night and different weather versions of the environment, different variants of NPC getting nommed by Ruby on-screen), and I similarly underestimated the amount of code and—more notably—all of the dialogue and flavor text that needs to be written for this update.

To add to that, my mental health has taken a turn for the worse. As much as I hate to admit it, I feel burnt out, and the guilt of constantly having to delay this update is taking its toll on me. It's gotten so bad that I even had a full-blown panic attack the other night. So yeah, it's not good...

I kept telling myself that if I just work hard enough and for longer hours I'd be able to get the update done by the end of this month, but it's becoming increasingly clear that that's simply not possible. And after taking a step back and looking at the work I still need to do and the state of my mental health, I doubt I could finish it by the end of next month either. I think I should be able to have it finished by the end of December, but at this point I don't want to set you all up for disappointment by making any sort of guarantee that it'll be done by then.

I'm really sorry about this, and if anyone wants a refund, feel free to let me know. And if you want to stop supporting me until the update is done, keep an eye on the discord channel or the Aryion thread to see when it's done.

Now, while I'm no longer comfortable making any promise as to when exactly the update will come out, I can promise that I'll keep working on it to the best of my ability until it's done and that if you Ruby, you're going to love this update.

I can also promise that this is going to be the last update that's this big. I wanted Ruby to be the perfect end-game character, but that also made me way too overambitious. I want to go back to making one-month updates, and that's what I'm planning to do once this update is finished.

And don't worry, I'm still planning on adding more characters and making more existing characters into potential roommates, but that's going to be way more simple to implement than Ruby has been.

Again, I'm so sorry about this. I'm sorry that I keep letting you all down. And if you want refunds or don't want to support me anymore, I understand.

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Comments

Onyx Bunnler

It's all good loneclaw, at least know that I'll keep supporting ya

Eric Gaffney

My guy, I literally joined just so I could vote for Beatrice in you regular polls both here and on substar, everything else is just gravy to me. If you need more time to keep a clean head, then take it. There’ve been too many great artists and content creators who got burnt out and disappeared into the aether because of complications like that, and I know I don’t want you going the same way. Just keep trucking on and hit up the rest stops as you need them, we’re just along for the ride.

Desnucarrucas3000

Don't worry, we understand what you're going through. I look forward to meeting Ruby in the future and also to you getting better and taking better care of yourself. You're human like us and I respect you very much for your dedication.

connor

Take as much time as you need, I assume you’re working on this solo so updates like these can take months to make, and with what’s been going on in your life it’s very understandable, maybe if you’re able to some progress posts here and there showing scenes and renders of the update like you’ve shown here every week or 2 could help people who are a bit less patient but again don’t rush it’s normal for even triple A titles to have delays and such

TheRanger

Hey man, no hard feelings, take your time and if need take a vacation or a "me day". Life sucks right now, we're all feeling burnt out these days (ik for sure i am too). Then once your feeling ready to hop back into the saddle, do so when u feel ready, not when others ask u too. We can wait a little longer, dont run yourself into a wall for us, remember to take care of yourself when u need to

Ace

Okay, I kinda suspected this months ago, but now it's obvious. You're caught up in feature creep. You need to stop and reevaluate. It has been months now with no updates. No bug fixes, no new anything, because I suspect you're trying to put in way too much in one massive update and you said it yourself that you're getting overly ambitious. Ditch working on Ruby for a little while, look at the bugs thread, fix some of those, and catch up on the months of no updates. If you have bug fixes already that are just sitting with the update and waiting to be released, release them. If Ruby isn't done, but the game can run, either A) Prevent players from accessing the content because it's completely unplayable, or B) remember that your game is a work in progress and we already know that and expect there to be problems with each update, or incomplete features, accept that and stop trying to make a completely polished finished product for this update. You're stressing yourself out with unrealistic objectives, and you're losing on revenue the longer you fail to put out *anything at all*. Like even I want a refund at this point. But I'm hoping you'll take this advice so we get at least something. Otherwise you're going to be trapped in this endless cycle until you crash out. Take it from someone who has developed video games and been around people who developed far more successful games. There's a certain rather successful indie game on Steam right now that you may have heard of where I did a little acting in. If you fail to put out any update, even bug fixes, that may be because of a variety of reasons, but what it tells your *customers* is that you're not actually working on it, even if it isn't true, because customers are not you trying to untangle the mess of code you made and wanting to go back and punch your past self in the face for entangling these systems in such a weird way to begin with. Trust me, I've been there too.

Lukauria

It's not a problem if the update doesn't come out until a certain time. Could be December could be next year what matters is your health. We will still be here. We appreciate all the work that you've been doing so far and how hard you try on everything. You're a trooper and if you need to take a break feel free. We will understand. Much love from us all. :3 <3

Arvid Rasmussen Westin

Take care of yourself first, you come first and we can wait because we know this update will be amazing so take your time and take care of yourself

Blueberry

As someone that has had many health issues in the past and present. There is absolutely nothing wrong with focusing on your own mental or physical health.

Andy whale

Oh no! The content will be delayed. It's the end of the world! /s No biggie my brother in belly. Think about other creators. Delays happen, you wait a bit longer, something awesome drops eventually. Don't beat yourself up. I personally would rather the next update drop in 2027 rather than you burn out and disappear or something. Take a month off or something if ya need to. We'll be waiting.

Iosw

Don't stress yourself out. Your true fans (like myself) will never as for a refund. Making video games and other digital art is very taxing in more ways than one. If you need to take a break, do so. Getting something done eventually is better than not at all.

lumbercrepe

its fine take as much time do like many other creators just go MIA and just drop an update out of knowhere whenever you think its ready lol people will always keep an eye out for these stuff especially when knowing its a MAJOR UPDATE. also if you think its too much you can always upload of ruby bit by bit in the game like adding her location then the next update we can see ruby but no scenes or anything and so on. just to show that alot of your fans that you're dedicated to it and always updating even if its a little tiny update that doesn't effect the game whats so ever if you do everything at once you'll be overwhelmed and get burnt out which i think thats what's happening right now. but the most important thing just take your time and enjoy the process and TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH!

Nora

It’s totally fine. Your work is high quality I understand that it needs time specially for such a big update. I have one suggestion though, you can pause other weekly photos to be able to only focus on the game. I’m not rushing, but maybe with less load it will be easier to finish the update sooner. If you yourself think it’s a good idea, you can for example make a vote for us to vote whether if we just hang tight and wait for the update or continue with the same routine. I hope everything goes well with your real life 😁

JadesJiggle

Your work is always worth waiting for and you’ve always been honest with all of us about it. It could even take another year and it will still be worth the wait. Focus on yourself, even if it means a hiatus or just pausing the game production for a bit, whatever you’re happy with we’ll support you

Lord Daret

Exactly! And do remember that once the update is released, you’ll feel that stress melt away in blissful glory. Any future updates (if you so choose) will merely be your little treats! Take it at your own pace and focus on YOUR needs.

Arnold Lancer

Hey man, mental health is serious. Please prioritize yourself. We all like what you make and most of us are more than willing to wait for it man. You can't rush it. Just take your time. Me and several other Patrons will keep patiently cheering you on from the comments section. I know I don't comment much but your work helps me get through long days. Thank you for that.

Spider Jerusalem

Don't feel guilty, dude, think of what you achieved. Take some time off and come back with a fresh mind.

Cody Underwood

Hey, don't worry about it. I'm just happy you're doing this at all, and even interacting with your community. Take as long as you need, and I'll support you here as long as I can.