Dev Report #34 (March 17th, 2024) (Patreon)

Yo! 

I hope you're all doing well! 

I'm not sure where to start with this one. It's been a while since I've had an actual post and that's because I've been stuck with the ending of Episode 13. So I guess I'll just sort've talk about what's been going on.

I paused pledges and aside from a few comments from me here and there, I've been silent as I try and work my way through things. It's been a rough month both dev-wise and just life-wise.

And when things are rough, I've had a tendency to feel really guilty about not releasing things and then I overpromise things and just share way too much and go down a whole self-sabotaging rabbit hole. I decided to not post while I felt overwhelmed this time.

I'm feeling better now but the simplest way to put what the current situation with the update is, is to just say that I've been dealing with a form of writer's block as well as a few other things.

After re-writing and re-rendering the same two scenes over and over again and getting super frustrated I reached a point where I needed to work on something else.

While these particular upcoming scenes aren't anything extreme, they're ones that I want to make sure I get right. I got to a point with them where I needed to take a step away as I stopped making progress and just kept spinning the tires without any traction.

So, I've been spending time working on the redo, character sheets, and I've been working ahead on Episode 14... just doing whatever I can to still be productive and make progress wherever I can.

The report has -ish beside the full update numbers as I'm still unsure about just how much I'll be including with the end of Episode 13. The numbers shouldn't change too much though.

The report has also flipped over to Episode 14 as that's how I'll be approaching the next release since the next one will include at least some of Episode 14. Working ahead has really helped to settle things for me and I like the update more with some of it included.

So, my current plan is to finish the next few things I have lined up for Episode 14 and then see how I feel about everything.

I know that's not exciting news but the dev reports are back so maybe I'll have something better to share next week, there will be a report every week on the weekend. These were some of the last teasers I had for Episode 13 that don't spoil things. Next week's will include teasers for Episode 14 content.

I truly wish I had more to share right now but the update is actively being worked on and will be released the second it is ready.

I'm taking everyone's advice and I do not plan on sharing any more release dates or targets until everything is finished and ready to be compiled and uploaded. I apologize for setting a target date in the last post that I was unable to meet. I thought things were ready and then I ran straight into a wall.

The update will now probably land somewhere in the 700-800 render range with around 20 animations but nothing is set in stone right now.

I know things have taken way, way longer than planned and I am very appreciative for everyone's patience as I figure it all out.

My only goal is to make an update that I think is good and I'm going to keep hammering away until things are at that point.

I'm getting closer every day and I'll have more to share soon.

This update will be released to all tiers at the same time, I've also started posting some of the character sheets I've been working on over on the discord. (Link your discord to your patreon or Subscribestar account to auto-join the server.)

They're being posted in alphabetical order, right now there is only Aditi, Alanah, Alexis, Anna, and Annie but I'll be posting more every day or two.

There will be a post here including all of the images whenever all of them are finished. I might do a post at the halfway point as well.

The redo report will be posted sometime after the update. I also plan on starting to post the daily tracker again on the discord starting either today or tomorrow.

Pledges have been paused for 5 of the last 6 months. I'm trying my best to do the right things, make the update what I think it should be, I've hit a ton of bumps on the road but we're going to make it to the destination soon enough.

But that's all I have to share for the moment! Again, I wish I had more positive news or something more concrete but the only promise I'm making right now is that it's being worked on and it will be out as soon as possible.

Once again thank you all for your patience and understanding. I truly appreciate it. Have a wonderful week and I'll talk to all of you soon!

♥