0.10 Tentative Release Date (Also: Jammies) (Patreon)

Greetings! It's about time to put a date on the wall for 0.10's release, so here it is: December 22. This is a tentative release date, so it's possible the release will be delayed, but even if there is a delay I don't think it will be by much. I want to have 0.10 out before the end of the year for a whole host of reasons, I think it's doable, and I will be trying very hard to make it happen. Announcing a release date is primarily a tool to make sure I make it happen, so you may want to take it with a grain of salt... but not a whole shaker full.

This post is pretty tl;dr, and mostly involves talking about my troubles managing the project's complexity and how I'm trying to get it under control. This directly relates to me announcing a tentative release date. Later, I talk a little about Alex's cute pajamas :)

Planning Projects

I hope you'll forgive a (not so) brief segue into productivity software, but it's kind of related to me putting a date out for the release. I've long struggled with how to manage the tasks involved in developing the game. I really like some parts of the 'GTD' method, where you have one central place that you dump every task into, kind of a 'second brain' so that your real brain doesn't have to worry about keeping up with all the little things or worry that you're forgetting something. There's a lot of software you can use for this; the best I've found for the way my brain works is Omnifocus, which is unfortunately an Apple-only program. It's one of the biggest things I've missed since switching to Windows; I've tried other programs, but they just don't seem to work as well. They now have a web app, so I tried switching back to Omnifocus, and between the web app and my phone I've been pretty happy.

The problem I've found with even the best task trackers, though, is that they don't really let you see the big picture. Developing a game solo is a fairly complex undertaking; there's a lot of moving parts, a lot of different kinds of tasks (art, programming, writing,) a lot of things that depend on other things being done, etc. I've went through most of the 0.10 development cycle having literally no idea when it would be done, even though I've known - in a broad sense - what most of the tasks involved were. This is bad. Without something or someone saying "You should really have task X done by Friday," it's very easy for task X to take much, much longer. (See Parkinson's Law.) And, generally speaking, it's not like the extra time makes the output better - it can actually make it worse.

Now, Omnifocus is sufficiently powerful that you can do a certain amount of scheduling with it, but it's really meant to help you manage a whole bunch of "down in the weeds" tasks rather than help you put together a number of higher-level projects into a coherent plan. And to get the project management ability it does offer, you'll spend a whole lot of time futzing about with individual tasks in the software, which is really just a form of procrastination.

What I really need is something that lets me see the big picture, gives me some idea of how long I should be spending on each project, lets me see how far along I am in the overall plan, and gives me some idea of when it'll be done. This sort of thing exists, and it's called project management software. Probably the most well-known example is Microsoft Project, which combines the user-friendliness of a nuclear reactor control panel with the charm of a trip to the DMV. This sort of software is usually really complicated, because it's intended more for projects like - well, building a nuclear reactor - rather than building a game with ginormous futa dongs. Because of this, although I've long thought I needed something like it, I always thought such things were way overkill.

And MS Project definitely is overkill - or at the very least, it's ugly and complicated and I hate using it. But since switching back to Omnifocus for tasks, I remembered that the people who make it also make a project management program: Omniplan. Like a lot of Apple-centric software houses, Omni Group puts a lot of thought into usability and UI, and it's much more pleasant to use than MS Project. I actually used to use it a little back when I was on a Mac (which coincides with the time it didn't take me forever to get out releases, though I don't know there's a causal relationship there.) I no longer have a Mac, but the iOS version is surprisingly useful and not all that complicated for what it is. I put together a plan for the work remaining on 0.10, put in relationships among the projects, time estimates for higher-level tasks, and BAM! There's a Gantt chart.

Gantt charts won't get work done by themselves, but they're pretty useful - even for a solo project (of sufficient complexity.) Without some kind of structure, a problem you can run into is that it begins to feel like a never-ending morass of code snippets, sprite tweaks, renders, and writing-about-the-writing, with Good Idea Fairies always hovering nearby, trying to lure you into a deeper part of the swamp. But with a plan and schedule, you can say: "That does sound like a splendid idea, and I'd love to follow you into that giant tar pit, Miss Fairy, but I've really got to wrap this up so I can start retexturing these humongous futa dongs." It's also helpful to see that, although there's a lot left to do, even more is already done, the end is in sight, and it's inching ever closer.

To be clear, I'm never going to put out a substandard product just because that's what a schedule says. I'll take as long as it requires to get releases to where I think they need to be. But what I'm trying to do is find the minimum time it takes to do that, rather than let release cycles drag out interminably. Having a schedule of work should help with that - or at least not hurt - so I'm going back to it.

Jammies

Moving to more important matters, Alex now has pajamas. And they're pretty cute. They're what Alex is wearing in the new H-scene, and I liked 'em so much I just had to make 'em a separate outfit. I haven't yet worked out how they'll be introduced into the game, but I went ahead and did the character view renders for them. So, you can sleep soundly knowing that Alex will be sleeping soundly, except for that telephone pole that occasionally keeps poking into his/her rear.

Conclusion

Before Christmas is the target, and I'm going to try like hell to meet it. There's still a lot to do, but I can see the end now - if only on a screen - but even that helps a great deal. I'm sorry it's taken as long as it has, and I very much appreciate the extraordinary patience you've shown. Thank you very much for your patience and support!