...jingle bells, jingle all the way… - *Cough-cough* - Oh, what the fuck! I’m not good at singing at all!

First of all, I apologize for my long online absence and infrequent replies. I got the flu at the beginning of the month, and a nasty one at that. It ended (I hope) only a couple of days ago, so I've been sick for almost the whole damn month. Game development, as you may have guessed, has been... slow. No, surely, I tried to work under the medication, but not that I was too productive. So the progress is there, but it's so modest that it's even embarrassing to mention it.

All in all, illness has thrown all my plans into a trash can. I was counting on December. I really wanted to release an update for the new year. For very... practical reasons. During the holidays, people are on vacation, relaxed, and visits to adult game sites are elevated. All of this together would have meant that the update would have gotten more attention, and I would have gotten a few or three new supporters. But no fate. Especially since I've lost almost 20% of my paid patrons over the last month...

Oh, well. Okay. What to do, with a month of work screwed up, the update still far from complete, not even the fact that I'm finally recovered, and some of the patrons are as those dolphins from the famous Douglas Adams book, like "so long and thanks for all the fish".

And I'm gonna do a pre-update is what I'm gonna do! Yes, yes. It's like an update, but not the whole thing. Part of it. For the patrons only. Tentatively in January (I definitely won't be able to make it sooner, thanks flu - you suck!). Pre-update will likely cover half of the planned update and at least resolve the cliffhanger at the end of the last update. Of course, I'd recommend waiting for the full 1.7 update, but given the circumstances, that's clearly going to take a lot longer now. So, those who can't wait will be able to play the pre-update.

Key points on the pre-updates concept:

• All saves there will be working saves, it's not a test build or anything, it's a full-fledged part of the game, just... a short one.
• For patrons only. Pre-updates won't have public versions.
• Regular updates aren't going anywhere, and will still have the same two-week difference between the patron and public versions. Except that there may be a few months of development in between.
• Pre-update will have a third number, for example, the next one will be labeled 1.6.5 while the full update will be 1.7
• I'll also add a notice to the game itself on the front page that this is a pre-update, not a full update. So that no one gets confused.
• If the experience proves successful and there are no complications that are not yet obvious, the practice of pre-updates will become permanent and I will add it as a benefit to all tiers. But for now, it is too early to do so.

So once again, flu, you suck, burn in hell. Dolphins don't fly away! This planet's not so bad...

And to all of you, have a good New Year's Eve and Christmas!