Progress Report (Patreon)

Alright, overdue for a progress report. So...

Haven's Port

This is...mostly going well? Sort of? All renders are done for the 16 scenes of the build. So, that's good. I've processed them as well (mostly, I've got a few I need to process still, but I'll do that before crashing tonight). The 'sort of' bit is that I underestimated the complexity of the coding portion this time. Well, honestly, more the amount of code needed, rather than the complexity. Point is, it's taking longer to do the code and writing bits than I'd expected. I honestly thought the six days I had set aside for it was going to be more than enough, with some time in there being able to be spared for finishing the second short story. That's actually more time than I usually set aside for that part of things.

As it is...it's looking like it's going to be very tight to squeeze all the code, writing, and testing into those six days(4 remaining now). Like, tight enough that anything going more than a little wrong might actually result in a day or two of delay. Nothing all that bad, considering the deficit we started the month out with from Left Hand Magic's overrun, but I'm...aggravated with the possibility.

These constant tight schedules and overruns are wrecking hell on my mental health, which means I'm probably going to need to cut back slightly next month to try and get the stress levels under control. If I do, it won't be anything too major, and I'll announce it openly so everyone knows what's what. The most likely thing would be to cut out one of the shorts next month and limit the size of the Left Hand Magic build more than I'd intended. That last bit in particular is maddening, since it seems like Left Hand Magic can't get an update without something squeezing the size down. December it was the Holidays, February it was the whole shortest month of the year thing, and now it might be 'prevent Novus from having a stress-related breakdown.' But I'm trying very hard to take a deep breath and adopt the attitude of 'what will be will be, do everything you can, without causing more harm than good.' I'm really really bad at that. But I'm trying.

Anyway, that got off track. Haven's Port will either be on time or, barring major disaster, a day or two late at worst. Hopefully, it should be actually on time, though.

Short Story

This, on the other hand, has a very good chance not to be on time. That's frustrating, since I'd actually gotten on top of the short stories pretty well in the last couple of months, I think. But it's always the lowest priority, as most of you are well aware (or should be). It's not exactly uncommon for the second short of the month to be a little late. As much as I wish that weren't true.

I actually have gotten a start on it. But that happened before I realized how much more time than expected Haven's Port's code was taking. After I realized that, I frantically switched tracks to put all the time I have into Haven's Port. That means there's a pretty good chance the short will be late. Sorry folks, but I've never made any secret of the fact that the second short for a month is the lowest priority. So hopefully it doesn't shock and dismay you too much.