"how goeth the struggle?" someone might ask, and to that I shall answer that, as someone somewhere probably said, it sure goeth.

gamedev is about 50% unforeseen delays by net weight, but at least this time said delays are not due to scope creep but to... TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. last year my main work rig at the time finally gave up the ghost after a good 10-11 years of faithful service, meaning I had to pause everything to get a work environment set up on my backup... and then wait a little longer until I was able to surgically extract my former main work rig's hard drive, because I did not want to have to redo the handful of maps I'd made since my last quarterly backup.

but at last I am currently in a situation where I can more or less work, and therefore have recommenced chipping away at the remainder of doumei work.

we are now in the final, like, 2% of gameplay, but as mentioned in previous devlogs those tend to come backloaded with lots of new asset requirements, so here is a breakdown of what actually remains to be made:

MAPS are now 100% complete.

MANUSCRIPT still requires about 3.25 scenes surrounding the final boss fight and ending. this is paused until assets are caught up.

BOSS PROGRAMMING is the current headache. 3 enemies still require their full suite of graphics (bespoke battlers, cutins and the like); 2 of those still need their movesets designed.

EVENT GRAPHICS go on the to-do list as needed and so I won't know the exact number still needed until the manuscript is finished. can we get a lol in the chat, perhaps even a lmao.

the good news is that not only have I got a mostly workable work environment set up, but that I have also got the most annoying bit of coding out of the way and have been able to implement a Certain Feature to do with collectables in its most ideal form rather than having to implement any scotch tape and spit workarounds.

the bad news is that while my work environment is workable it's not fully ideal for a few certain specific tasks, and will have to wait until my next Major Rig Upgrade... which I vaguely have planned for the near future.

"when is the game actually gonna come out tho..." LIKE I KEEP SAYING... WHEN IT'S DONE!!! estimating a timeframe when you've still got work to do is the most surefire way to make life go :^), believe you me.

"but feral... i am languishing... what am i to do without fresh feral fiction to eat..." some might be thinking right now. if this is you, then I have some hott recommendations for you while you wait!

for those of you specifically looking for some video james to tide you over, may I humbly suggest that you take a gander at insertdisc5's IN STARS AND TIME (whose playtester team I was on), GOODBYE TIRED STARS (whose japanese translation I provided), RIVIERA: THE PROMISED LAND (an old favorite of mine whomst just dropped on steam this year), POTIONOMICS (whomst just got a console release AND a huge update AND charming dlc), and/or SANABI? all are highly excellent and sure to keep you entertained for the length of their runtime.

for those of you who will take any medium, I recently finished a novel-length fic for an old oteep. it is strictly for grownups only and I would advise that you thoroughly examine the list of content warnings before reading, but if you would like some t4t m/m romant's you will surely like it.

also, i provided mangaka kinome with english translation assistance and a few full chapter translations for the kindle release of ROJICA & RAKKASEI (volume 1, volume 2, volume 3). this is a series that both grownups and non-grownups can enjoy, so feel free to share it with the grownups and non-grownups in your life.

finally, while I've still got your ear, I'd like to ask you to consider donating some money to my favorite palestine esims fundraiser in order to help the palestinian people keep the lights on in their time of need. even giving a couple dollars helps, so please do that if you're able.