Itch.io is telling me that it's been 42 days since I last did a devlog.

This is true.

BUT WHY?

I have been so, so busy that I've been behind on literally everything. Every year, I usually work as staff for a large event in my country. What this means is just over 2 weeks onsite doing the pre-build and getting the event site ready for the 3 days of actual event, then a few days of teardown after. This put me in a part of the Scottish Highlands for 18 days with very little mobile signal, so I was completely cut off.

The knock-on effect of that was that I had a lot of work to get done before I could go. I had 3 model painting commissions to complete, a mobile app to fully test and write test documentation for, my van wasn't quite ready for such a long period away, so I needed to install a new water system, check the gas wasn't dangerous, finish insulating, check power systems and get the diesel heater apart and serviced.

For the game, I was working on setting up version control for expanding the development team and working through introducing a new dev to the game.

All in all, I had planned to write an update here before I left, but in the end I was right down to the wire, only getting the last commission in the post while driving past the post office on my way up north.

So, some announcements:

First, there's a new person working on the game. He spent the time I was away testing and playing the game to give a nice buglist and recommendations for the game going forwards. I've spent the whole development mostly single-handed, and other than a few user suggestions, I've been stuck in my own rut. This is an opportunity to get a new perspective from someone who can see how the game works in development, and I think we've got some good ideas for progression, a few plans have been changed due to them being bad ideas or not really possible without years of work. More on that in the future.

Second, I do other stuff online that isn't this game, and the line between Patreons joining for that stuff and joining for the game is getting really fuzzy, and with a new member on the team, there's the issue about how you split the Patreon income, so I'll be hopefully setting up either a patreon or other similar service specifically for game supporters. The actual service will depend on what content we want to include, as some allow a bit more leniency on subjects.

Third, once the wages from the event come in, I shouldn't need to struggle so much for a few months, so I'm hoping to plough a lot more time than I've been able to into game development. As much as I enjoy making this game, I'd also like to move on to some other game projects. With all the will in the world, working on the same thing for almost 2 years is a bit wearing.

Fourth, I think there needs to be a bit of a change in how development currently works. Possibly things like streaming a bit while working on the game, or stuff like that. More updates, demo stuff, I don't know. Suggestions welcome.