nottravisgames
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What the devil is going on?
🕑 Added 2019-05-01 11:15:24 +0000 UTCSo just what is going on?
A good question.
Like most problems in life it's both simple and complex in equal measure. But like all good stories I should start at the beginning.
So as you know I was struggling with the animation and the file size at the end of March but I'd been offered a ton of solutions and it was really just a case of deciding which one worked best. As I was working on this Chapter Two went out into the wild and the reception from some quarters was apparently not great with problems ranging from the complexity, too much realism, setting and Lord knows what else.
I'll confess this rattled me a tad as I started to wonder whether I was actually making something that had an audience given the hours it takes (in the end I decided I did, and if people didn't like it that was their problem - it's obviously just not a game/story for them. There are other games more suited to their tastes).
So why the delay - and why the silence? Especially given how chatty I usually am. I mean even when I screw up I usually blabber on regardless either here or elsewhere, no?
I've wrestled with how much to tell you about this for the past few days since I came back as I try to balance the need for you to have as full an explanation as possible and the equal need for me to be able to retain my own anonymity should someone who knows me breeze by. I was tempted to play safe and say I'd been abducted by space hamsters or my hard disk had failed or some other reason but that would have been an outright lie and didn't sit easy with me.
Well, I have another job - and this one required me to go overseas for a few days. Nothing terribly exciting but it pays the bills.
Except I fell ill whilst overseas. Actually, I must have already been ill before setting off but the visible symptoms didn't show until day two out there. This is where it gets tricky in how much to tell you.
It's nothing "Icky". Not really. Just a simple childhood disease that when an adult catches it can be far more serious. It's also hugely infectious. This latter part meant I was stuck abroad as the flight carrier refused to have me on board until I had a doctors note stating I was no longer a risk. A quick trip turned into some three weeks of being mostly stuck in a hotel room and trying to deal with an overseas medical service and insurance claims...
To cap it all I then picked up something called Pneumonitis (sp?) as a side effect which joy of joy I still have. So, I'm signed off work, ill as a dog still and trying to recover from the entire mess. (My God, the kitchen...you should have seen the fridge after being left alone for three weeks. Actually, strike that. You don't want to see, or smell, what an unattended fridge is like. Not at all.)
But why the silence? Well, simply I didn't take my own phone. I just had work kit with me. I'm allowed to make calls on it so why carry my own kit that I wouldn't use. After all, I was only going to be away for a few days...
Of course, just having work kit meant I couldn't let you guys know. Anyone who works in a modern office environment or has to use their employers IT kit will, more than likely, be subject to the usual warnings about inappropriate use etc. In short, they keep an eye on where you visit on the internet - which could have been more than awkward. I did briefly toy with asking my friend who playtests the game to log on and drop a note but having her do a patreon post would have meant she would have access to messages and things - and when you've written to me you weren't expecting someone else to be able to read them so that didn't seem right either (of course in retrospect I could have asked her to make a patreon account and post a message as a follower rather than use my account but this didn't occur to me until about five minutes ago...).
So what now?
Well, you'll have seen I've frozen the page for the moment. I didn't want to take any money for May not with me already being behind and still being ill, so there's that at least. I'll confess it's slightly crushing, although totally understandable, that I've lost so much momentum but not a lot I can do about it sadly. Going forward it's as follows.
- Get better
- Get Chapter Three out (which will go to anyone who should have had it in March or April at the tier they paid for regardless of whether they are still a patreon or not)
- Deal with correspondence and messages
- Do the bulk of Chapter Four bar poll decisions and Bored Pilot etc
- Reactivate the account
- Carry on!
Comments
I dunno - you might just be a really good actress!
Nottravisgames
I had to watch foreign television for weeks! That -was- terrible! ;) But thanks :)
Nottravisgames
I have getting better top of my things to do. Promise!
Nottravisgames
I am so sorry! Especially after you did some testing for me too!
Nottravisgames
Thank you, appreciated.
Nottravisgames
Thank you, and I apologise hugely for the mess.
Nottravisgames
The doc signed me off for until the end of the month, but 0.3 was pretty close. It only really needs a good solid day to wrap it up. But I won't over promise. I reckon start of June is likely (of course if I get bet better quicker then that's a different story!)
Nottravisgames
Have I ever been sane? ;)
Nottravisgames
Thank you, most kind - and I apologise for any concern caused.
Nottravisgames
Will do my best! And sorry for the silence. It was as frustrating for me I promise!
Nottravisgames
Well, the far off country bit was right at least! :D
Xsandman78
Look forward to 0.3 then once Notty is back fighting fit.
I am so glad you're back in touch... and so not glad you're feeling poorly. Future tip: holding your breath until the doctor clears you to travel never works, and only ends up inflaming your lung tissue. (That's the real cause of the pneumonitis, isn't it?) Looking forward to the next round of insanity, as long as you maintain your own... I mean... as long as you stay... sane? ;)
NanasBananas
Yaaay, you're back! It's good to know that you're alive, and planning to stick around! :) It sounds like you've been through quite an ordeal. I gotta admit, of the various scenarios I had in mind regarding what could have happened to you, stranded in a foreign country without your phone wasn't one of my guesses. So you beat my imagination on that one... I also have no idea what what you have is, but I hope you're at least relatively okay and that you'll get well soon. Sounds to me like you've caught enough bad fortune for the time being. Please try to only catch good fortune from now on, m'kay?
Philipp
I appreciate the honesty. I had assumed you took the game-money to start a new life in a far-off country! ;-) Take care of your health and get well soon!
noted
ooh welcome back hope you feel better soon, i know this must've been a bad experience but i gotta say i'm glad nothing actually terrible happened.
Quinfax
Like I've said before. when it rains it pours. Geez. Sorry to hear about all the mess. Hoping you get better first before anything else. Excelsior
Miss Bumhole
And you've won me back. That's all I truly wanted. Some communication from you. At least we got a detailed explanation.
Thank you for taking the time to clarify things. Wishing speedy recovery.
Sulring Durgul
Damn comments, cannot even edit them.... I was gonna say take care of your health first, the rest can wait.
Sulring Durgul
Glad to hear you're OK - sort of.Get better, dear
Huitieme
It's good to hear from you! This past month may have felt harsh for your patrons, but it obviously was way worse for you :/ Take care of yourself :)
GhostPhil
Glad to hear from you. Just take your time and get better 😊
Frosty1979
Glad to see you are back. Just do things at your own pace, and when stuff happens just let us know earlier next time. Meaning keep your private phone with you. ;)
