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I've gone back and forth over making a post (or chain thereof) like this for some time, but always flaked out on some lazy excuse of "I like dropping things with no warning for the surprise factor," and "Being scared of accountability."

And, yeah, project jumpscare is fun for a while but I'm starting to feel left out of the cycle of teasing little bits of what you're working on for people to comment on. Before that felt pointless because I had no comments point blank, but now I've got a few eyes on my stuff it feels like a decent time as any to start. One game even got fanart. Wild.

I'm currently on the forth of this cycle, so I'm riding it and making a full deal of it. If it ends up I hate doing this I'll just stop and never acknowledge it again. 

Here's things that (should) be happening this year.

I'm Exhibiting at WASD Curios

Yeah I still don't believe this either, and ENGLAND ON FIRE got accepted into the WASD Live "weird" indie selection.

I'm going to be at WASD in person at the Curios booth from March 31st to April 1st. If you're going, feel free to drop by and say hi. I'll be handing out some pins if you do.

The PC Problem

As some of you may or may not be aware, I'm currently without my main PC. Most of my stuff was left with my parents when I moved down on a short let, and I am living in what feels like a closet right now and only have access to a chromebook that stutters trying to open discord. Lack of Windows aside, next to no computing power puts intensive game dev out of the question. It can barely survive bitsy once projects start getting chunky.

Fortunately, I'm completely unimpeded doing pure writing, which does work out nicely for me. The games I make spend well over 90% of their time in google docs, and only leave it to get shoved into an engine at the last minute. And for the last 10%, I'm lucky enough to work a job where I can fuck about for an hour on a stupidly powerful PC. 

The good: for the games you guys are used to seeing from me, I can make these mostly unimpeded, if not a little slower than usual. Once I get used to the new workflow, it should be business as usual. The bad: this locks me out of doing any complex projects, of which I had several I wanted to take a crack at. This is annoying, for now, but I have enough in mind to keep me occupied—

Until the PC Comes Back

I've got a series of Quinn & Flynn sequels in the works, and this will fill the gap until I get my PC back. Currently, it's looking like a series of 5 games including the first (and even as I'm writing this now, I'm looking at my notes and a tentative 6th). I'm also not making any guarantees that all of them will be released by the time my PC is back, but I will make a guarantee that the run will be finished, at some point, and probably later compiled in omnibus form.

The series is also headed into adult-only territory. There's going to be on-screen sex and no real way to dodge it that doesn't impact the narrative. My apologies if you were under 18 and wanted more Quinn content but also congratulations to the sickos who want more stories with cum.

The 2nd game is going to follow Elias' POV. What happens, you'll have to wait until it comes out.

Pun not intended. I just noticed this while proofreading.

The PC Returns

So, the PC is back, and now I can work on those bigger projects I keep mentioning. Right now, I've got two I've been rotating in my mind and getting increasingly mad I can't pull together.

The first, in full spirit of what inspired it, would be a not-quite remake, and a not-quite sequel, of one of the most popular games I've made so far. I had a whole stack of cut content I wanted to put in that I couldn't because of the jam time limit, and now I want to redo it from the ground up in a bitsy-like engine that's far more flexible. We might even see the old Spdrcstl Special and have multiple engines glued together. You'll have to wait and see what that inspires.

The second is going to be a Proper Game. As in, something with a play time well over a couple hours. It's a Narrat game and leaning hugely into the disco-like mechanics. I'm planning to have enough content to sell it for about 10 quid or so, with the obvious caveat that I don't give a shit if you steal it if you can't afford it.

You'll be a paranormal investigator, tasked to a rural town in Cheshire where, to no rational explanation, buildings have been disappearing. The big twist, however, hinges on how you approach the case. A sceptic in this town may get a completely different story to the superstitious. It's on you to see where belief takes you.

This is going to be extremely heavy, British, and Northern. CWs abound for this one.

Since we're on a wider timescale and I'm still unsure when my beloved returns to me, I have no guarantees I can make here. At the very least, I'd like the first game to be fully released by year end, and the second to have a demo that runs to the end of day one. Keep your eyes peeled.

Other Bits

This bit's a dumping ground. These are projects that have been floating around my head or I have some notes for down already. I decided to throw these here in case one or two make you go "Hey, that sounds cool, line it up next."

These, in no particular order, are:

• A wiki-style game a-la Excalibur. I'm planning one in the same universe and as compliment to No Saints Go to Heaven. The main problem is I've gone Motherfucker Unlimited on the worldbuilding of this setting, and beyond that being a task in itself is filtering it all through an in-universe lens. Happening, but a while out. And speaking of—
• No Saints Go to Heaven, in a full demo form. I still want to tack bullet hell quasi-rhythm game battles onto it and see if people like it. The problem being this requires a musician and probably a dedicated programmer who knows what they're doing, so this one may be out of the question for a while, as dearly as I love it.
• Something with the 12 Cannettes engine. It captivated me the instant I played it and I've been desperate to make a game. I've got something in mind already, but might wait for a jam to fully flesh it out.
• Something with Decker. Need to play with this to see where the limits are but I promised myself I would try it after having to pass on Decker Jam. Pending experimentation.
• A web engine. It will let you make point and click adventures in the same style as the Club Penguin PSA missions. I am deadly serious about this. Pending more web dev knowledge.
• A Len'en fan game. This is literally just that sentence in turns of planning, but I'll make one as soon as an idea comes around. I am very normal about Len'en.
• Something using King Gizzard's Polygondwanaland. It's CC0. Album of all time. Have to. Pending what I'm actually going to do with it.

Other Other Bits

Also known as "Stan has a back-and-forth debate over starting a kofi and/or patreon or not."

On one hand, it feels a bit iffy when I have a fulltime job. That money could be going to devs who fully need it rather than me, you know? On the other hand, people are free to spend their money how they want, and extra pizza money sounds decent.

If I do the patreon route I haven't got any ideas for it beyond it being a glorified tip jar that auto-renews. Maybe down the line when I'm working on a Proper Game that has enough meat for update posts it could be a bonus dev log. But if I were to start it up, like, tomorrow, it would be a glorified tip jar.

aight

I think that's about it, for now. I need to put a disclaimer that any and everything mentioned in this post is subject to jam inspiration, scoping, Shiny New Tool syndrome, random hyperfixations, explosions (figurative), explosions (literal), "I didn't feel like it"-itus, and other bullshit under the helpful label of Life.

With that said, Elias & Flynn is definitely happening.

Have a good one.