sierralee
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July 2 Update
🕑 Added 2023-07-02 16:57:37 +0000 UTCI still have a series of memes and comics, but we're interrupted by more TLS fanart! This is another high priestess fantasy from genericname12345, hope everyone enjoys. ^-^
So, as you may have noticed, during April/May/June I managed to release TLS updates every month, just like old times. That "may" isn't purely rhetorical. No one (within my sphere of attention) seemed to care or indeed to notice at all. Negative inputs didn't decrease and people who complain about slow updates just complained about short updates instead, despite the fact that I was putting out more, and more complex, content than at any point in the game's history.
So screw it. I don't think I have the stamina to sprint to the end of TLS anyway, so I'm going to make the decisions that I think are best for my long term career. The primary incentive moving me toward completing TLS has always been my intrinsic desire to do so.
To be clear, I'm not announcing any long term delays here. We just go back to somewhat larger updates, each one trying to check off a major percentage of the remaining roadmap. The next update's checkmarks will be more unified than usual, resolving a massive loose end in a sequence of plot that, while technically optional, you will definitely want to do before the final battle.
I'll just balance things a little more. While I was pushing hard over the previous months, I wasn't courting burnout so much as a weird sort of reverse burnout: I could easily pour energy into creative work, but my mind just couldn't engage with normally low energy activities like watching shows. Not sure what the deal was with that, but it wasn't pleasant and it's probably not good to dwell too long in that state.
What else will I be doing? Some time writing, definitely. I probably won't spend too much time on Don't Save the Princess, but I'll begin delegating work to collaborators to get it moving. Probably not the Crimson Gray side projects mentioned last year, at least not yet. Likely some time planning post-TLS projects.
As I've said all this year, you can look at the roadmap and see how we're counting down toward the conclusion. I need to take care of some other neglected work, but before an unreasonable amount of time there will be another major TLS update.
Comments
Sierra Lee
Glad you liked her! Lilith is fun to write. ^-^
Q-Riff
Yeah, I stopped a few months back and replayed the whole game from the start this week. Gotta say Lilith is my new favourite character.
goi
I do like the fanart and yeah I was very surprised how fast the last two were didn't notice all three though yeah take the time you need for it above all else, even if that delays it in the long run, I mean yeah it sounds like this will be bad for you if you kept to this pace so refocus and take your time,
Jan Dietrich
Don't worry. I personally can understand very well that a consistently high creative output is unrealistic and takes a high toll in the long term on your mental health, just like strenous physical work does too. I usually just binge TLS anyway, in a very unpredictable rhythm. So I love having a ton of new content after not having played it for months or half a year even. Work at your own pace. Maybe it's my ADHD giving you leeway here, but I honestly think that this "I want it each month and I want X % more content" is completely absurd when it comes to a one woman creative effort. You're not a big game studio with several directors who can fill in for each other when one has a creative blockage or whatever. So take your time, I'll play it eventually sooner or later^^
Andrew Harding
Appreciated
Jeffrey Lebowski
I don't have the dialogue pulled up to check right now either, but its been implied that monsters (which seem like they might be distinct from other animals?) have been getting more aggressive and destructive over time as a result of various tower agents mucking about. I think the biggest part of what we did was tamp that aggression way down among sea monsters, hopefully in a non-Thanos-snap way that doesn't destabilize the global marine ecosystem.
Andrew Harding
Thinking back on the ending to Varia's quest, with apologies if I have misinterpreted (Unfortunately I don't have a save anywhere in the section to easily check): Did we just exterminate, Tanurak style, a bunch of deep sea species? I might avoid that on a replay.
[]
As an introvert, I generally never comment. But I've been watching the roadmap and keeping a vague mental note of time, and you've been doing absolutely fine. Updating at a rate normal among similarly high-quality/deep creators around here, while having outlasted most of them. And you've been at this so long that I have no reason to believe anything will change for the worse under your self-management.
Andrew Harding
I'd agree, almost everyone will reset on loss anyway. So while it feels a little odd that's all it does. Maybe one day if you're looking for a minor area to polish...
Sierra Lee
Ah yeah, I didn't make the fight losable because I was rushing and it's a lot of extra logic. My thought at the time was that most players are going to reset anyway rather than lose a day... I can get it changed if it feels wrong, though.
Sierra Lee
Yeah, I didn't want to mention it because it would seem more like an accusation, but player engagement definitely dropped with each fast release. This is a reasonable time for that in theory buuuuut I am currently not feeling like working on anything fiddly.
Andrew Harding
And a very minor comment on 0.68: losing to Esthera with Nalili results in a game over. This was a training fight, perhaps just lose the day?
Andrew Harding
As others have said, please don't rush - just because you're a game dev doesn't mean you have to crunch for months!
I noticed, but you caught me with a save not to date( so I couldnt check new content) and ensnared in another 2 games that were in my backlog for some time. I also tried to catch Up and decided I didnt like like the way my save was going, 90 hours into the game. Sorry that from your position only the negatives reach you
Jeffrey Lebowski
Sounds totally good to me, the recent pace has certainly seemed breakneck. Interesting reflections on how your work is affecting you, and it's cool your trying to keep in tune with yourself and actually adapting. I've definitely noticed the lower engagement after recent releases, which struck me since I always snap to attention whenever there's a release. Anyway, since it seems like there's a shift in your current workflow, is this a good time to restate the ideas of changing the crafting material for the Neutral Headband and giving Zelica an honorary harem listing, or should I keep that in reserve for later?
Sierra Lee
As I've written above, I don't want anyone to feel guilty! I'm deeply appreciative of the support everyone has given me over the years. Post-TLS work could be its own post. I have a saga-length science fiction story that might be a spiritual successor, but I have more character/world/plot ideas than certainty about genre/engine. I do have a post-apocalyptic concept that I think could be a fun interim. Also potentially more Crimson Gray or OEA games. The plan is to work on smaller projects while I do revisions/improvements to TLS, then after I've released a few of those, maybe launch into another massive one.
genericname12345
Oh wow, I didn't even notice how fast the updates were coming - I did feel there were more of them recently but the significance didn't really twig. I feel kinda guilty now for not noticing sooner / speaking up. Anyway, take care of yourself - your mental health is important, and burning out on work you love would be terrible. Take your time and work at whatever pace you feel is best for you. Also: Curious, but what sort of ideas did you have for post-TLS work, if any? I feel like I recall you mentioning post-apocalyptic once.
