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Devlog August


Hello everyone,

I wanted to sincerely apologize for the severe lack of content and communication. I had planned to make the next post one with an actual game update, but have continuously run into setback after setback and I don't want to keep you guys guessing and wondering if the project is dead or still in the works. 

TL;DR:

Yes, the game is still being worked on slowly, I have no plans to quit or stop production on the game. Recently over the past year/year and a half I've just run into many many issues regarding the game itself and in life and it has really made it difficult to work on the game and provide a decent amount of content. I am doing my best to work on the game in my limited spare time between my irl job and trying to balance my health, social life, friendships, and the game. I've got about half of the third in game day finished with the Mage, Fighter and Rogue majors with the most content so far. I still am working on Guardian and Holy Arts and then working toward merging the paths for end of Day 3 and all of Day 4. I've also been working on revamping the UI to try to make it look cleaner and more user friendly. I've also been updating the music room and added a Patron section (this may have already been in the game, I honestly don't remember what's new and old at this point).

Full Story:

As you know, the original character artist, Bullstorm, and I are no longer working on the project together so I went searching for a new artist who was interested in working on this project and found Wufric. He started working on the sprites for Silas including the edits with Sials' build and weight. Wu then had some of his own life issues come up and had to take a break from working on this to work on other commissions for a time so new art was paused, but I was still working on the coding and story aspects. 

At the end of December I got covid and my employer told me I was not allowed to work until I heard back from our FMLA team. I didn't hear back from the FMLA team for two weeks so I told my boss that since I had been recovered I was going to start working. When I initially got covid, my employer had a policy that would allow for two weeks of paid time coded as covid leave instead of us using our other PTO options. On January 1, while I was still out after being told I could not work, the policy changed to only allow for 1 week of paid covid leave. Even though I had initially been out during the previous policy, the FMLA team reviewed my case under the new policy and forced me to use all of my sick time for the year to cover for one of the weeks I was out. I have been fighting my employer since then, trying to get my sick time back. Then there were issues with work regarding masks and vaccines and American "mandates" regarding which vaccines were needed in order to keep your job, etc. So there were a bunch of hoops I had to go through in order to provide proper documentation of vaccination status, religious or medical exemptions, etc. 

In March/April I ended up in and out of the hospital and doctors offices for pain and lumps and possible cancer (thankfully it wasn't cancer) so I had a lot going on during that time. This summer, we got swamped with extra work due to not having enough employees for the amount of files we were receiving so we all have had to put in a lot of extra hours of work which had drained me more and I barely had any energy left to work on the game. The OT continues until now, but is at a more manageable level so I've been able to get a bit of work done on the game.

In July/August, my old PC died and broke down and I had to get a new one. During the transfer process, the back ups of the game and assets I had became corrupted and I lost a large chunk of code that I've had to rewrite and fix and update. Thankfully I've been able to get the majority of it back or rewritten now or have a way I can work around some of the lost art assets (original sprite PSD files), but it was still a major setback.

I've been responding to comments and questions on itch, twitter and different discord servers about what's been going on, but I wanted to make an official post detailing why there has been no updates or content. Again I want to sincerely apologize for the fact it's been a year since any game update and I have not had the energy or motivation to keep up to date with you guys as I should have. I also want to thank everyone for still checking in and expressing their interest and patience in waiting for more updates and information. 

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Comments

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(+1)

I'm glad your ok.  I'd say more, but its hard to say something that hasn't already been said. I hate the many undeserved frustrations out there.

(+3)

I never saw this! I'm just glad you're still alive. Happy about the project not being dead either of course, but chipping away is totally okay, especially bc it looks like there's been a lot going on. Priorities of course lean towards your own health in all its forms. Regardless, I look forward to the update whenever it is ready!

(+8)

Just do your thing buddy. Your health and stability come first. Great works take time. Sorry for the setbacks, the health issues, and the loss of data. That really sucks. I'm really happy to know even hardships like that don't discourage you from keeping going with this project! Best wishes and take your time ;-)

(+6)

Do it at your own pace, like you have so far. As for the pc dying thing, I always recommend having an external hard drive to keep an updated backup of important stuff. Can save you a lot of headache.

(+3)

As much as I love this VN, your well-being comes first. Thank you for informing us, matt. It's really appreciated and glad to hear there is still progress going on. Wish you the best of luck and take care :)

(+3)

no problemo like they say back home. Take the time for everything that needs it.

(+2)

Well, it's good to hear from you. Hopefully things will start getting better for you, and you'll have good news to share next time. Wishing you the best, and stay safe! :)

(+2)

Sorry to hear all of that... I wish you all the best ! No worries for the game, we'll wait

(+2)

Wishing you all the best in a terrible slew of bad luck and events. Hope you take care and things improve greatly for you!

(+3)

Holy shit that's insane, it's like hitting a rough patch for the duration of year or so, misfortune after misfortune. Really sorry for you. Please stay safe

(+3)

Shoo! :( Sorry to hear xou went through so much! I hope that bout of chaos is finally over UwU

Thank xou for keeping us up to date, and by all means, take xour time! n_n Xour mental and physical health is more important than our simpering desires for handsome furry men~ :p

Best wishes .3./ keep on, keeping on!

(+3)

Can't wait! Try not to burn yourself out and work at the pace you need.

(+2)

shit happens, we understand that. work when you can and do what you need to keep living, hope everything clears up and you end up ok!

(+2)

Good to hear you again! You got this

(+2)

Tack Your Time we Can All Wet

(+4)

you're not the only one, a lot of the vns ( a.e. all of them) i follow have been on hiatus, either way i want you and them to be oki, be your best to make your best

(+3)

also i will say in a lot of vns i always make a sub-conscious tier list on who to go for first, your vn is one of the few where i can't tell which one i'd want first

(+3)

Don't worry take all the time you need. All that we ask is to play the game in the end no matter how long it takes :)

(+2)

Thank you :)

(+2)

Don´t worry.

Just keep going and be strong 💪.

I be glady waiting.

(+1)

Thank you :)

(+1)

You are welcome 😊.

(+3)

I hope things get better for ya. Wish you the best of luck. 

Thank you :)