Weekly report Jan-1, 2024

Happy new year 2024!

I will give my all to make the alpha version publicly available this year. Since all the labor-intensive character sprites are complete, if we focus on bug fixing, it might be possible to realize it in the early part of this year.

This week, due to New Year's events, I will only provide a report on participation in Comic Market. I apologize. Regular production will resume from next week!

# Comic Market Report

I had been steadily preparing ahead of time for this event, but there was a lot of new information that emerged at the last minute, and as a result, I was working on it until just before leaving for the event. Since the schedule of the printing company was tight, I won't be able to confirm the books I made until they arrive at my booth at the venue. As you know, many people who know me are living abroad, and I was uncertain about how many would come to this Japanese event. The reason for the flurry of Japanese tweets the day before was to promote as much as possible to attract customers.

On the day, unfortunately, it was raining, but thanks to careful preparation, the booth setup turned out to be satisfactory as I had imagined. However, one thing that felt unexpected was that the A2 size posters I had on display seemed smaller than I had thought. I don't know if there will be another chance, but next time, I would like to prepare an A1 size super large poster.

Just before the event started, there were many people waiting in front of my circle's booth. Since my location was near the entrance of the venue, I thought they were just lining up at the starting line. However, as soon as it started, they almost all headed towards me. In an instant, a long line formed, and my brain was confused by the situation beyond my expectations. I was fortunate to have a friend helping me, who came alone. He directed the line, replenished the products, and handled the accounts for me. Even then, at first, we were short-handed, and there was a strange situation where I had to ask customers to help restock the books. Since it was impossible to manage hand-to-hand, for those purchasing multiple items, I asked customers to take them home on a self-declaration basis. Some people occasionally said, "I'm cheering for you," which was very moving and encouraging.

The cards sold out first, but then I noticed something strange. I expected many people to buy sets of books and cards, so I ordered almost the same quantity of both, but for some reason, there were far more books than cards. I thought it might be a shipping mistake by the printing company, but many customers also bought multiple cards, so the truth is unclear. I was too busy to calculate how many were sold. The specific number is still unknown, but it clearly exceeded the amount for a complete sellout. Well, it's better than having too few.

I was approached by a company with gaming platforms in Japan and Taiwan during the event, but I couldn't publish it outside of itch.io due to the rules, so I felt sorry inside.

With only a few books left and the last purchaser receiving the displayed posters as a bonus, I realized I had no samples left in my possession. I regret not keeping at least one. Since my friend had to return on the same day, we decided to dismantle early and have a year-end party. I can't feel the reality due to being so busy, but it was an event that lasted about two and a half hours.

Helltaker has been public for over three years now, and it was heartening to see many people looking forward to Hellversus. I am filled with a strong desire to release it to the public as soon as possible, and this has given me fantastic motivation for production.

On the other hand, it was also sad incdent.

In Japan, there was a major earthquake with a magnitude of 7 on the 1st, so it's not a good mood to celebrate the New Year. We pray for the safety of those in the affected areas.😞

That concludes the report. I hope this year will be a good one for everyone!