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A Happy New Year to all of you! 2024 was a crazy year, at least for me. I suffered a few losses, but also gained new followers, subscribers, and even new friends. It was an emotional roller coaster a few times as well, dealing with mean spirited reviews from people who really don't care whose feelings they hurt while trying to write (what they think) is the most entertaining and clever review of all time. Deciding to simply not give a shit about that anymore was probably one of my better choices this past year. So, mean people... write away. I have no fucks left! LOL. On the subject of reviews though, there are good ones as well. And I don't just mean good reviews awarding me 4 or 5 stars. I mean negative reviews with 3 or fewer stars, but not written in a way that attempts to get attention by seeing how clever they can be demoralizing the dev.
Anyway, moving on. 2024 was a very busy year for me. I did manage to release Serenity Chapter 2: Episode 3 (version 0.3) in March. Then Last Human: Episode 4 (version 0.7) in August. That was 5 months of development time from one release to the other. And we're looking at a definite Serenity update to release in January for sure, again, 5 months from the previous Last Human update. So, it seems that is becoming the pattern for my releases. Considering my full-time job and how that keeps me away from development quite often, and looking at how often other solo devs release updates... I'm not really doing as bad as I think. For 2025, I have resolved to never stress about the long development time anymore. In fact, I want to remove every stress-generating thing in my life that I can this next year and focus that energy on the games, and my work in general. This past year, too much energy was wasted on stressing about stuff I had no business stressing about. I can't tell you how unhealthy stress can be physically as well as mentally. Especially for a creative person like myself. It can ruin your creativity.
Looking ahead for Serenity Chapter 2: This has been my main project for quite a long time now. As I said in a post recently, Serenity has more haters than lovers. And I'm okay with that. Haters think its cheesy, cringey, badly written, etc... And they're even right about some parts of it. But my honest opinion of my own work? I love Serenity. The very definition of the word is what the game is about. Problems are resolved too quickly? Hell yeah... don't mess up my serenity with bullshit. Don't hold grudges. Be forgiving and understanding. This is the problem with the real world today. People get offended about everything and let all of it bother them. Why? Go back to your serenity. That's what the game is about... but yeah, also a lot of sex. And why not? Serenity can only be improved on with some beauty and sex. So, I put as much of it as I could in there. The fact that some people hate it or make fun of it is funny to me because they miss the point. They're too proud to admit they love the peace the story brings. It's turned into a 'guilty pleasure' to them LMAO. And I love that. I may not be making 6 figures a month on it, but I don't care. I'm rambling though... the future of Serenity looks a little like this - after episode 4 is released, I have 4 more episodes planned and then that will be the end of chapter 2. At that point, I'll be putting Serenity aside to focus more on Last Human, and I'll also focus on releasing 'Camilla'. Keep reading for details on that...
The Camilla Conundrum: I've made it NO secret that I don't write (those kinds of stories). I'm not into that. There are SO MANY (of those kinds of stories) out there already, the market is flooded with them. But even if I had an idea for a story, I am just not into the idea of it. But what do I do? I go and create the Serenity MC's sister and make her (arguably) one of the hottest characters in my arsenal. Granted, at the time, I wasn't really thinking about that. But I did want her to be fairly pretty. I had no idea the feedback I would receive. People love her. I got so many messages and feedback on Camilla that I decided I should do something about it. So, I started putting together a storyboard for a small game (for now simply named 'Camilla'). The story will take place before the events of Serenity Chapter 1. The MC will be a new male (NOT related to her). You will meet Camilla in college just as she is starting to realize she has some interesting abilities. Camilla lives with Demitre (her father) and he has not yet become a villain. But he has abilities and knows that Camilla is growing into hers. There will be a couple of side girls, but NOTHING like Serenity. We're talking maybe 3 side girls at the most. I am writing her as a cross between goth and 'good witch', who likes to dress in extravagant and sexy outfits and gets a lot of attention from everyone because she's so 'different'. What I've written so far in building her character in the game might be some of my best writing so far (I'm hoping). Her personality is really going to be front and center here. And the side girls, well... they'll all bring something to the table. This will be a single game with episodes. Obviously, we all know that Camilla eventually leaves to enter the void and join her father at 'The Castle'. I debated with myself how to end Camilla, and I don't think I want to do a story that ends with her leaving you on earth. So, it will be a happy ending but based on knowing that she will leave at some point.
Looking ahead for Last Human: Episode 5 is the next development phase for LH. There are just 2 'pets' left to sleep with (Alaina and Queen Tessa). Episode 5 will mostly be focused on that of course. But the Aurora is being prepared for its main mission, which will finally begin during episode 6. The captain, his main girls - Alexis, Natalie, Dezzy, Kalina, and Alaina... plus the side girls, Aury, Chef Amanda, Mary and Echo... will finally leave the Pantherian system and venture out... 'out there... somewhere'. And this is where the various adventures will start happening. They'll run across weird and crazy stuff that affects time, some of the girls' personalities, the Aurora itself, as well as some things affecting the crew in sexual ways. I am also working on adding a function where when you are in your quarters, before you go to sleep, you can look in on one of the other girls to see what they're doing. Sometimes it might be something sexy... or you might just find them quietly reading a book in their datapad. Episode 4 hinted at some mental connection you have with each of your 'pets' as you sleep with them. Once you've done that, you can feel what each other is feeling... essentially, you get to be 'in her eyes' feeling and seeing what she is for a few moments. You'll understand it better by the end of episode 5.
This has gotten pretty long. But I wanted to give you guys at least enough information to make the long year-end post worth your time. I want to thank my subscribers/patrons for the financial support to keep doing this... as well as those who simply joined to follow the stories and enjoy the process. Here's to another successful year of growth and more great content that I hope will continue to improve with time. Happy New Year to all of you and your families. I wish you all the joy and serenity in 2025. I love you all, ...Fire
