Release plans for Chapter 12 (Patreon)

Hi guys!

I've been rather silent after the release of Chapter 11's epilogue, but I haven't been idle. I've been focusing on writing Chapter 12 and my plan is to release new content at the end of November. But before that, I wanted to discuss with you guys the approach I'll be taking with this chapter's release cycle.

The initial plan was simple, releasing chapter after chapter, each one featuring both Lena's and Ian's POVs. As development has progressed, it's become clear that each chapter requires a lot more time and work, due to branching narratives, higher production values and personal fatigue, amongst other factors. That's why, inevitably, each new chapter seems to take longer than the one before. 

With chapter 11 I switched things up a bit, more out of neccessity than by design, releasing the Prologue, then the Chapter, then the Epilogue, which allowed me to pack quite some content I wanted to include. I've decided to go with a similar strategy when it comes to Chapter 12.

My plan is to release a sort of Prologue, that will finally cover the anticipated MMA tournament, aside from moving the plot forward with several character relationships, and will also have a scene you might not be expecting. My goal is to release this update before December.

After that, I will publish Ian's part of the chapter, that will depict the anticipated trip to Perry's Beach house. And once that's out, I will take care of Lena's part, for which I have some big events in mind.

I know releasing the full chapter all at once would be much better, but the scope of the game is simply too large and I don't want to starve my supporters for content. But the main reason I'm choosing to do it this way is for my own mental sanity: I've noticed that development cycles that are months long become really draining, for two main reasons. 

Being able to push out a new update is what keeps me going; I'm able to share the work with you guys, and the feeling of accomplishment is refreshing and allows me to get back to work with enthusiasm.  If it takes too long for an update to be completed, tension starts mounting up, and it can get pretty stressful, since I want to deliver and the goalpost feels too far away. When the chapter is as big at these last ones, seeing the mountain of tasks that I still need to complete before having a finished chapter can get pretty daunting, and no matter how much work I complete, it feels there's always a lot more to be done. I always feel a rush of motivation when I'm close to being done with an update, and why I always jump straight away into the next one eagerly.

These past few weeks I've been working on Chapter 12 and I've felt motivated and productive, so hopefully doing things this way will also contribute to speed things up, aside from making development more managable psycologically. 

So, hopefully you think my plan is a good idea, but if you'd prefer to wait until the whole chapter is out to susbscribe again, that's perfectly fine too. I'll keep working to make a game worthy of your time and attention, at least, that's what I'm aiming for! Thanks for all your support, past, present or future :)