fate collide
Progress Report - Yearly roundup
Once again, I wish everyone Happy Holidays and in advance, a Happy New Year!
With the year almost behind us, I've decided to instead make a bigger report, both for some that might be reading any of my report first time, or some that just forgot about me and are now deciding to check back in and see where we are at the moment. I'll try my best to segment the post so you can freely check between topics you want to read.
Where are we currently in rework hell?
As of writing this, I've reached the last segment of ep2 rendering, so 200 left, plus the usual transitions, audio stuff, animation and bundling it together. Roughly 2 weeks since my closest team gets to Alpha test the EP2, just like they did for EP1 as well. So far, there is around 4 600 completed renders since I've started reworking one year ago. After that, the last third remains, aka Episode 3 (technically brand new extras will be slot into Ep4 for the lesser seen girls, but I count it all for Ep3 for easier understanding).
Isn't that slow? That's one full episode left?
Yes and no. Looking back at the year, episode 1 rework was quite seamless and I cannot complain on the timing. Besides the huge scare with my dad ending in critical hospital care for 2 weeks, I've finished Ep1 around middle of April, and all the major testing and fixes were implemented till 1st of May more or less. Five months for Ep1 was a decent pace I can't complain on. Episode 2 however... It's been tough.
As many know, I've moved out around June into another city. And while that is a very positive thing, it was much, much more demanding and time consuming than both I and my parents anticipated. From the move itself, getting adjusted, constant issues, electronics not working etc. But I'm no stranger to sub-optimal dev workspace, I literally developed as a traveling student the episode 4. Unfortunately, the other big impact on ep2 was my mental state. I've already talked about it in some previous progress reports, mostly around October I think. There is no sugarcoating, it's quite depressing working on a release for longer than 7-8 months without releasing it. There is no dopamine, no hype from players, no response, even negative from a release. Just silence, with occasional demands, and a few messages of support here and there. In those days where my mental combined with my home issues, I've had quite a bad workflow, sometimes barely scraping 10 renders a day, when my usual was 30-40. That left quite the impact on the time, as it continued for many weeks, which ultimately lead to ep2 being almost finished now, instead of, idk, October as initially hoped for.
I am, however, a bit better mentally lately, and I do hope and think the dopamine will start to slowly hit when I get closer and closer to release. I also want to thank here to the few devs friends I've talked about this, some which reached out to me on their own, as they themselves fully understood my situation, and understood what happens past the "usual" 6 months per release cycle. They know who they are <3
That's cute, release when?
Hah. Ok, jokes aside (some do write questions like that above), there is at least a couple more months till the Ep4.5 is ready. There is still 2 000 - 2 500? renders to be done, and even if I manage to get a grip on rendering speed, it would be impossible and unrealistic to expect in less than 2-3 months. That's the best I can say right now.
