To all of you. Thank you! [Update June] (Patreon)
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First of all, a huge thank you!
The last month was incredible. In just one month, I’ve doubled the number of patrons. This is a life-changing amount of support, so much so that I was honestly shocked for weeks and unable to find the words for what was happening.
Thanks to all of you, I was able to pay off a big part of my student loan. I am so happy that I am crying happy tears. Thank you so much for your support, it really helped me out! :)
The Baldur’s Gate pack is finished, yet Baldur’s Gate offers way more locations. I took a look at most of them, and considering the density of the locations, I could cover around 8 locations with just one bigger district. Overall, I think it might be doable for me to cover the whole city in just a couple of months.
Give me 5 more years and I’ll do the whole Sword Coast for you all. We’re getting there someday :D
Nonetheless, I am very exhausted. Putting the chandeliers AND the roofs on extra layers created way more work than expected but also brought up new ideas. If I want to continue that, I need to cut the time on other ends. There are still things I can automate to reduce the workload, and even more so, all my tools need updates to cover the new workflow. If I can manage that, you can expect more depth with my maps.
Also, my own campaigns are coming to an end this month. This means I will update to Foundry V14. After I get comfortable with it, my plan is to slowly go through the modules and update them. After that, I want to explore implementing the Levels feature for the maps where it makes sense. This will be a nightmare to do :D, but the result will be a dream.
About the Commission Tiers
The old system didn’t work out well, as the commissions were an addition to the themed packs and I overloaded myself with work. I stopped with the commissions in January and let them fade out.
As much as I like doing commissions, they take a lot more time to do. I didn’t want to admit it to myself, but the things I was able to achieve without them are incredible:
Finishing the Atmospheric Library Kickstarter with 50 maps in February.
Releasing the Master Compendium v2 in March, including teleporters, sounds and scripts for all scenes.
Spending the whole of April working on the Evil Guide Kickstarter, getting the maps for it done, adding more items and monsters, and handling all the other to-dos for a Kickstarter: designs, ads, and connecting with partners.
In May, with the 5 year anniversary, I reworked all the modules, fixed hundreds of errors and solved most of the bugs I had in the modules.
And then came the massive Baldur’s Gate pack.
All this in addition to the regular releases of 10 maps per month.
I am now facing a tough decision: if I really want to go back to doing commissions.
I like doing commissions. They offer limitations, the sparks for creativity, and a reason to try things I might not have tried otherwise. Yet if you are forced to do even something you love, it can become very draining.
In the end, I think it’s for the best to not go back to commission tiers. Still, I want to offer smaller and affordable custom map opportunities. The best idea I came up with is this:
With every map theme vote, I will put out my “want to do” maps for that month and how much they would cost. If any of you is interested, you can comment on the post or contact me directly.
I have so many things I want to try out and create, but without an external factor it is hard to get out of my comfort zone. I am very optimistic that this works out best for everyone.
Thank you again for being here, for supporting my work, and for making all of this possible. This Bird is tired but also more motivated than ever :)