Password Retrospective (2020) (Patreon)

Another year down and what a year to leave behind. Much like last year I figure now's a good enough time to reflect on how things went over the last year even if writing this will have taken longer than I would've liked thanks to dial up internet speeds. (And yes, we're talking that bad. Having lived through it, my god do we have it good now).

The Bad

It'll surprise no one that my biggest failing this year is getting the new assets up and running. Both on the front of UI as well as the new sprites, although they are still happening. As people saw with the last few peeks at the new save system and alike, it's happening but with everything else that needs to be done it's just not getting done fast enough.

To a lesser extent this applies across to the UI but I hope to roll that out early into next year with the tidbits that I've been harvesting off Eddio over the second half of the year gone. Just to tidy up a few things and smoothen out some transitions but it should help things look nice. If I play my cards right, I can make them for 1080p, downscale them for this version and then we're golden for when everything becomes HD.

The Discord server has had... issues. Mainly minors causing grief by interacting with those of age in just very not appropriate manner. I get that people not 18 or over are going to play Password, I can't stop that, but don't flaunt that you're a minor or get other people in trouble because of it. The less headaches that I have to deal with, the more time I can put towards making Password after all.

The Good

500 patrons! I didn't want to make a post about it when it happened because it was barely there but it seems to have stabilized. Although that number will dip as Patreon does its usual monthly thing deducting money and pledges and alike. Still, it's incredibly flattering that people think that much of Password so I'll continue to try and give you your money's worth.

Fan art has been out of this world this year, too. Including two small animations in full 3D! It's always nice to see art that's true to the characters as well, and that's the stuff I'm more than happy to share about. So if you have drawn anything and haven't tagged the Password Twitter account yet so I can share it, please do! Granted, it might need to wait until I'm back at home and on my computer proper.

Stuff to come in 2021

It's hard to say where we're at with anything physical given the state of the world but it's... a possibility. There are some turbulent times ahead for myself at home so I can't promise anything yet. Just know that I'm hearing the requests for an OST and merch and you're not getting ignored. 

On the topic of non-physical things, I'll be starting the treatment for Password 2's first draft. Yes, there'll be a Password 2. For those that have heard about it on the server, you will know more but I'll release actual work on it when I have the time and something more solid to show. As far as what I can tease, everyone that's played up to the end of current content has seen the protagonist(s) that the story will focus around.

There's not really a whole lot to openly share here as a lot of what I'd like to show just isn't mine to share. I'd heavily recommend checking out the Discord if you haven't already, have a look at the fan-art channel, maybe say hello as most people are fairly harmless.

Here's to a (hopefully) better year than the one we're leaving behind and I'll see you all in 2021 for the first update in January.