[Progress Report]: 30th of April (Patreon)

Hey everyone,

The Early Build version for Superheroes Suck 1.525 is currently uploading as I write this. The final event count is three, one shorter than I wanted, but a brief visit to the hospital put me far enough behind that I just barely finished the Chrys event tonight. She had a few more renders to be done after the animations, which then turned into many renders as I wanted to flesh out the outcome a little more.

Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to all of you who reached out to let me know that it was okay to not hit the mark during this development cycle. I always knew that it would be a shorter one; the work trip took out more time than I thought. I hadn't factored in jet lag on my return to the country, and the unexpected health issue this week swept out the last little bit of flex time I had. I'm fine, also. I only mention it because of how it affected development. I am otherwise in good health.

All three events that were done were Sandbox events, meaning that they will have very little impact on the story at this time. I estimate roughly four to five minutes of content. From that, and given the problems, I can see why I also received many messages about possibly delaying the release or just folding it into the next update. It's on that note that I would like to talk about why I didn't.

When it comes to long-term development, putting out a short-term update is easier for me than delaying the release date. A shorter update is still promised content delivered on time, whereas a delay impacts all future updates. To me, this is especially important when it comes to the sandbox events. Sandbox events are also typically the Poll events. Those are events that you have voted for and want in the game. It's important to me that I get those to you, even if those are the only things I can deliver, like in this case. It's better for my mentality and helps keep me grounded.

I consider myself an author as well as a game developer. That's a neat little benefit of making a visual novel, you can claim to be both at parties, assuming you have the time for them. Regardless, it's very easy, I've seen, for people in my field to fall into a routine of, "it's done when it's done" and then they close the doors. I would like to be more transparent than that. I can honestly say that I've given my all to Superheroes Suck, and that everything in it was the best that I could possibly make it with the skills I had at that time. However, I did all of these things knowing that I could do them within a certain time frame. Meeting those goals is a way for me to keep motivated while pushing myself to create more great content. Missing those goals is difficult for me to process. It's something I will get over, but I know some of you would like my thoughts on this update. There were a lot of things outside of my control this time, but that doesn't mean I'm one hundred percent okay with the outcome.

I'm okay with the events themselves, though. They turned out quite nicely. 

I guess, to summarize, I'm fine, if a little frustrated, and I will be back to work next week fleshing out the final Sandbox Overhaul update. I've got big plans for the story and I want to tackle it as soon as possible. I understand if many of you would like to opt out of playing 1.525 and simply waiting for 1.500. That's perfectly viable, and all of the content will be waiting for you.

Thank you for all of your support,

~Solace