August Catchup!
Happy everyone!
I hope you are all doing well, I apologize for the lack of updates lately, I have just completed moving and am getting back up to speed.
This Milestone - What happened?
Due to moving and other things I haven’t had a chance to work on the project for a little while. This has given me a chance to look at the big picture more and make sure things are moving in the direction I want them to be. So here is the gist of what I am thinking and what it means for the project.
For the moment I am pausing production on Simulacra. With the move I am transitioning work and don’t think that I can devote the time needed to make a game that I am proud of and keep you all up to date. As you may have noticed, recently I have been flagging when it comes to writing blog posts, mostly focusing on making videos. Not having a Milestone report post or other update since late April isn’t acceptable to me. Doing all of this as a one man band is very difficult and though I am very happy with the way the game has been shaping up I want to be realistic with my goals and efforts. Simulacra is in no way dead, I am still very enthusiastic about the idea and definitely see myself returning to it. I hope that to be sooner rather than later.
Next Milestone - What’s going on next?
With Simulacra paused, I am being very careful with my planning. Professionally it appears that I will be starting several new contracts so it will be some time before I know how much free time that I have left. Currently my thinking is, if I only have a small amount of time, that I will continue work on very small portions of Simulacra, taking a small sections and polishing them, most likely paired with tutorial videos. If I have a larger amount of time, I may try to develop a separate smaller title from Simulacra. The thinking here is that taking a title through to completion will give me a better idea of the entirety of the process and ideally depending on its success, even help to fund portions of Simulacra. I have no disillusions when it comes to it being some kind of breakout hit, but setting funds aside would help to fund things like contracting music and other elements that are out of my talent pool. This would be something that I would not undertake lightly, should I choose this route I have already pencilled out a strict month by month schedule that would see the game released in about 6 months.
I hope that this isn’t a rude shock to anyone, as I have said before, I put a premium when it comes to transparency and wanted to be as clear as possible with the development of Simulacra. As always I value your thoughts and feedback, don’t hesitate to leave a comment if you have something on your mind. Whatever direction I take I will try to make a better effort to keep you all up to date.
- CJ
