Dev Log - May 17th, 2025
4 hours ago
Hey everyone, it's time for another dev log!
So, the infamous Chapter 7 has finally been released! Thankfully, most of you seemed happy with it, which was a huge relief. Before diving into what’s next, I want to take a moment to reflect on the last dev cycle and shed some light on what went wrong and why it ended up taking so long.
The biggest issue? Poor planning.
At the start of development, I jumped right in, excited and motivated, creating scenes and rendering before I properly tested everything. I bought a bunch of assets without checking if they worked well together. Spoiler: they didn’t. My hardware struggled with the environments, HDRIs, and various other assets. This led to constant crashes, painfully slow renders, and just an overall frustrating experience. Production in those first two months was brutally slow.
The technical issues completely derailed my creative workflow. I was so bogged down trying to fix things that it became hard to focus on the actual storytelling. Once I got things somewhat stable, I realized another problem: the chapter was too long and had way too many scenes. I decided to cut it down and focus on just a few key scenes but then it felt too short and unfinished. And despite having a ton of renders, they weren’t being used efficiently; many were only on screen for a moment or two. All of this boiled down to a lack of storyboarding and proper project management.
And then came the content concerns.
After finally putting a rough version together, I had a few friends in the industry give it a look. The consensus? Some of the content was too extreme for platforms like Patreon and
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. I reached out to a couple others for feedback, and they agreed, it needed to be toned down. Now, I know some of you are probably thinking, “But I
want the uncut version!” Trust me, I get it. But after playing both the original and the edited versions, I genuinely think the changes made the story stronger. Some of the over-the-top moments just didn’t fit the tone of the game and came off as a bit jarring, even silly.
Add in the usual life distractions and personal delays, and you’ve got a perfect storm of setbacks. But now, Chapter 7 is done and dusted, and I’ve learned a lot from the chaos. It’s time to reset and get back on track with Chapter 8.
About the timeline.
I’m not going to be sharing specific release dates anymore. I know we all love having something to look forward to, but after what happened with this last release, I think it’s healthier to just say:
“It’ll be ready when it’s ready.” That said, I’m aiming to return to my usual three-month release cycle, so ideally sometime in August—but no promises.
I took a few days off last week for a mini vacation with my family, and it was exactly what I needed. A chance to unwind, recharge, and come back feeling refreshed. Now I’m excited to dive into Chapter 8.
Here’s what to expect.
Kathryn will be front and center in this chapter (I know a lot of you will be happy about that). The dancing scene with Pat is going to be a highlight, and I can’t wait for you to see it. It’ll vary quite a bit depending on whether Luke joins the outing, along with several other choices that will have major consequences for the story moving forward. There will be four other scenes in this chapter as well, and I’ll be posting teasers in the coming months for those who enjoy sneak peeks.
Here are a couple of renders from Chapter 8.
Any guesses what’s in those bags Nate’s carrying?
As always, I’ll say it again: none of this would be possible without you. Your support means everything to me, and being able to create this game truly is a dream come true.
Thank you so much.
Bobby
