An Announcement (Patreon)

This announcement has the usual IT Roy brevity (meaning it is very long). I've been doing visual novel development for a short time, and yet it still seems like a long time. A ton of hours over 3+ years have a habit of making you feel that way. I tried to add up the hours I've put in, and I came up with a very large number.

My whole adventure into this world of visual novel development and 3D rendering came at a very strange time for me. My day job was more of a grind and less of the motivation it had been for over a decade. I still don't consider myself artistic, though I like to think I'm learning things like lighting principles, proper camera work, etc. During my school years, I avoided any art classes as much as possible. If you had told teenage Roy that he would be watching tutorials on the finer aspects of Rembrandt lighting, he would be very confused as to how his life turned out. Even now, don't ask me to draw anything. There are kindergartners with much more skill and a steadier hand.

Launching on Steam at the end of September was a milestone for me. A milestone I kept second guessing right up until a couple of days after launch. Even now, it is very easy for me to see all the flaws in To Be A King. Some I plan to correct soon, while others are just going to be there, short of a large time investment in redoing. Even then it won't ever be perfect. Considering I've thought about redos for many months now, it is probably good I have yet to take any time to work on that. The improvements are an ongoing process as my skills improve. Redos would lead to more redos months later.

Before I get to the announcement that you might already be skimming for, let me thank each and every one of you. Some of you have been with me since I started my own Patreon. For you long-timers, thanks for your early support and patience with release delays. How I wish development was a linear and predictable process. If you're new here, thanks for giving me your financial support and taking an interest in the game.

Now for the announcement that, about two years ago, I did not believe I would ever get to make. I'll be transitioning to doing this full time, hopefully by January 1, 2023. I've already been cheating a bit by spending more time than I should during the day and at night on To Be A King's development. So please don’t expect more frequent releases. However, I have plans to add some more things to the game that I've been holding back due to time constraints. In addition, going full time will remove another distraction and demand on my time. Not only should I have less stress, but my mind should be more able to focus on To Be A King (more than it already tries to on a daily basis). Thank you all again for your continuing support here on Patreon. I never would have reached a Steam launch without it. And, if you're one of those who hopped over here after playing the game on Steam, thank you very much! I hope you find the releases, special content, etc. that I deliver on Patreon worth it. All game content will come to Steam, as new volumes are finished.

My transition to this full time won't be immediate, as I have a rather unique job that I cannot just give two weeks' notice and quit. But I already have begun that transition away from it, and I am very excited to be able to devote my full focus to my work here in the near future. In the meantime, it does mean that I actually have less time as I finish that transition. The good news is that is a very short-term problem. Maybe we'll mark the official occasion of doing this work full time with a livestream involving Aelinia's special wine stash.

Thank you all for reading here to the end, and for your support! It means a great deal to be able to make something so fun (though challenging) my career for however long this thing lasts. I should do something special to celebrate, but more on that after Chapter 10's release. Spare a minute or two, and let me know how you found out about To Be A King in the comments.