Progress Report and Current Status

Hello everyone! I've been a little quiet lately, and for that, I apologize. Version 0.9 took its toll on me, that's for sure. I've been slowly getting back to my senses after the craziness that was the whole Primrose investigation event. It's left me somewhat winded. Writing that beast gave me tons of respect for game designers who create puzzles and complex stories for a living (hang on, isn't that what I'm doing now as well?). There are so many moving pieces that must fit together perfectly for this story to make sense. You do not see all of it yet, but by the time you get the entire picture, I want you all to feel like the clues to what's going on were there the whole time even if you didn't see them, and that everything makes sense. I'd rather not be left with any plot holes, and that takes effort.

So, as I may have mentioned before, 0.10 is the next version. Sorry to anyone who thought the next release would be 1.0. That was never my intention. I should have numbered the game's versions differently from the beginning, but it is what it is. It's going to be particularly awkward when we reach version 0.15, a number I've technically already used (by the current numbering system, that version should have been 0.1.5) Don't look at these numbers as an indication of how much we have left before the game is complete. They merely represent how many updates we've seen since the beginning of this project back in September of last year. I estimate that we're maybe halfway through the story at this point, give or take. Some of the stories that have been hanging around since the beginning are now beginning to make sense, such as the murder of Truthsayer Merek. There's more to that story, but we'll get to it in time.

The plan for 0.10 is to fill in the blanks that 0.9 left. If you were one of the unlucky ones who failed to save Primrose in time, don't panic. You'll get another chance even after she's locked up. It comes with a cost, but it's nothing you need worry too much about. Adding this feature requires me to add alternate versions of a bunch of scenes from 0.9, but that's straightforward enough.

More importantly, 0.10 should also let you follow up some of the events you've just seen. At the very least, Primrose should be grateful to you for what you did (if you did it). I sure you've built up your relationship with her because that's going to pay off. 

With the amount of effort I had to put into 0.9 last month, I didn't really have the time and energy to show much appreciation towards my $10 and $20 patrons. I'll do my best to fix that this month. I have a couple of ideas rattling around in that skull of mine already. 

By the way, I don't know if Patreon sent out any emails about it or not, but we did briefly cross the $3500 goal at the end of May, though we're back at a lower level again now that pledges have processed. 32 patrons have pledges that have failed to go through for some reason or another, and that shows since Patreon automatically reduces the total pledge amount when that happens. 

Because of this, I don't really consider the $3500 goal successfully reached yet, but I think we can get there this month. I don't know about you guys, but I sure as hell want to see some of these side stories in the game at some point. :) Keep in mind that even if the goal is reached, I won't start adding these immediately. They are more of a secondary thing, but a fun one. 

That's all for now. Remember, I'm always available on the Discord server or by posting a message anywhere on my Patreon page, so feel free to share what's on your mind. You are all doing me a great favor by supporting me while I make this game. The least I can do is offer you some of my time and attention in return. 

Until next time!