RL getting in the way (Patreon)
Content
[Abelius]: Hello guys,
Here I am, yet again, to relate my life to you people.
Ill be honest : not in my worst nightmares, I would have seen myself in late October, the year 2017, without a playable first version of LOK Rebirth.
When I left my regular job back in June, to focus on the project, I thought it would be ready for late August maximum. I even thought I would be able to return to my almost forgotten good habit of going downtown to skate and keep myself in shape. Hell, I even fantasized about getting myself a girlfriend! ?
And its possible that some of you remember a post of mine, just after launching the Demo, saying that wed reduce our working hours to 8/day
So much wishful thinking
Truth is, developers life is not as I envisioned one year ago. Moreover, RL gets in the way in forms I didnt think possible considering that I dont have a formal schedule now. Days are frustratingly short and even the act of taking your car for a quick checkup makes you lose a half if youre lucky.
Dont get me wrong: Im not whining about this lifestyle not being what I wanted. Im not looking back and I vouch Ill do everything in my power for seeing this project seeing the light and deserving the level of support that allows us to finally focus on it for good.
However, so much time has passed since June that Im starting to feel uneasy about my ability to pay my bills in the near future. Its not a critical situation because Ive got about six months before things start to get ugly, but the uneasiness it there all the same.
So Ive decided to accept IT freelance jobs that will occupy about a 33% of my time.
Good thing about that: Those pay well, so I wont have more worries about my financial situation.
Bad thing: It will delay development. Not so much as if I was working full-time of course, but as were also not talking about a part-time job with a well-defined shift, but a task that must be done in several days getting all my attention, those delays will be felt by you if you keep an eye on the Trello board.
And yes, Im starting this as soon as tomorrow, so its very likely I wont have v0.1 ready for October. ? Just to be clear about it and you can make your own decisions as Ive made mine.
At any rate, please dont take this as a plead for Give MOAR money!!. Its not. Were really proud already about our fan base and you have already broken all our expectations when we started the project.
Thing is, Patreon is about the masses supporting lonely creators as they produce niche works they both like. The more known is a project, the more possibilities it has to be supported if they deliver good quality shit. And I estimate about 1200 patrons for LOK:R to be enough for us being our sole source of income.
That means well need to :
1. Deliver a (playable) game.
2. Publicizing it.
Straightforward steps that should have been done long ago. Some may say even before having launched our Patreon but I wont lie to you on that: without your shocking generosity even from the start, I would have found really difficult to take the plunge and leave my job. So its kind of a Catch-22 situation (I know about the eternal Patreon debate )
So, in short, were not asking for you to increase your pledge, so the project becomes viable. It is already. Well continue doing it. Period.
But a decision had to be made so my RL could also be viable enough.
I know this will be a letdown and I'm very sorry. I just hope in a year's time we're all laughing about these difficulties.