[Status Report #5] Sicae - Episode 7 (Patreon)

[⚠️WARNING: EXTENSIVE RANT AHEAD]

Hey everyone,

Yeah... I know I said the last status report was going to be the final one, but I need to get this off my chest. This post is public and isn’t really a full status report. It’s more of an update-slash-announcement.

So here’s the deal. My PC might’ve finally tapped out after years of being pushed to the edge with heavy workloads. The trouble started right after that drive failure I mentioned, just a few days after a clean restart. I’ve had to send the PC to the repair shop, and I haven’t had access to it for almost four days now. Because of that, development is on pause.

At first, the issue was on and off. But every time I pushed the system with demanding tasks, like 3D work or even just gaming on my break days, the Blue Screen of Death showed up like clockwork. It kept happening for weeks until it became a total pain. I finally called for backup. Big thanks to Altimos, one of my admins, who helped me troubleshoot. We did a full wipe and system reset. Twice. But after a few days, the same issues came creeping back in.

Things only got worse from there. System files started acting up, error messages were everywhere, and random shutdowns kept happening. Then, while I was editing an animation in After Effects, the PC froze completely. I had to force a restart, and when it booted up again, some drivers were gone, including the audio. The Event Viewer was flooded with errors. Not just a few — thousands. And some of them were critical.

That’s when I gave up and sent it to someone who actually knows what they’re doing.

After a bunch of tests, the tech was finally able to catch what might be the culprit. They said it’s probably the motherboard, though the GPU or CPU could also be at fault. Alti and I actually suspected the motherboard early on, but we didn’t want to jump to conclusions. Looks like we should’ve trusted our gut.

There’s a chance this whole mess is also what caused the drive failure. So instead of trying to push the Sicae update out and risking even more damage, I’m taking care of this now. Who knows what it might take down next? Maybe my HS2 drive? I’d rather not wait and find out, especially with MBML next on my list.

Right now, I have no idea how long the repairs will take. The tech is still checking if other parts were affected. The good news is my data is safe and sound.

So, what am I doing in the meantime? Not much. Without my PC, I’m grounded. I have a handheld console-tablet hybrid, but the most I can do with it is write, post, and port small assets.

Since I’ve been forced to take a break, I’m using this time to rest and finally get some annual health checkups done. I just had a chest x-ray for my previous TB case, and it came out clear. My blood tests all came back normal too. The doctor did mention that my body isn’t as tough as it used to be, so I need to take it easy more often. Will I? Probably. At least I’ll try.

Now for some dev news. I was nearly finished with the climax when everything came to a halt. There’s still a bit left to wrap up. I can’t give you exact numbers right now, but last time I checked, we were sitting at over 6,000 lines of code and close to 1,000 renders — specifically around 950.

Render progress is about 80 percent complete, and finishing that is the last major task. But until my PC is back, there’s no moving forward.

The render I posted isn’t some kind of guilt offering for the delay. It’s just something to keep you excited about what’s coming. All I ask is for your continued patience and understanding while I get things sorted out.

Thanks for reading, and for sticking around through this mess.

-NiiChan