Will we get another update this year?
That's still my hope. Progress for me comes in spurts (heh). I get stuck on something technology or story-related, and momentum slows down. But after I finally find a way through the problem (or just a way to circumnavigate it), the renders and the renpy code start magically spooling out.
For example, I hit a wall early last week. The images weren't looking the way I wanted them and the story wasn't unfolding how I wanted it to. Very frustrating. So I watched some youtube videos on DAZ and got some ideas on how I could improve the renders. Then I replayed some great games and got some ideas for better ways I could use renpy. All of a sudden, stuff started progressing very fast.
And, of course, MVB is my hobby, and progress is largely dependent on real-life demands on my time.
Bottom line: I'm about 30-40% done with the update, but I feel like I have the story/renpy framework all squared away, and that's huge. Moving forward, most of the time I spend will likely be rendering in DAZ, which can be surprisingly petulant. RL work is going to get intense for the next few weeks, but then it should let off for awhile. It's very possible that the next update will be done by the New Year and that's what I'm shooting for, but I can't promise anything.
But the continued interest and kind words help me keep going!