Let's get this out of the way: I'll be delaying the public release of my game for quite a bit. Not because of any personal crisis or issue, but simply because it's not worth showing yet. Many assets are placeholders or not ready yet, a lot of bugs and gameplay issues are present, and the game simply doesn't look very polished to the point where I would feel comfortable showing it to other people, much less people I want to give me money. I will still be demoing the game next week at a local event to learn more about how good it actually feels to play for someone who hasn't been working with it for half a year, and get some feedback on what it needs to be ready. I'm keeping track of what needs to be done for the first major release, but the two biggest problems right now are lack of art and lack of gameplay content. Gameplay content I can add on my own, it just takes time. Art is much harder since that requires learning an entirely new skill, then ensuring that skill is at a good enough place to show it to other people. So that leaves me with the choice of learning it on my own, grinding every day until I can call myself competent at art, or paying someone else to do it for me. I'm currently working on the former, but if I want this game out in time I will likely have to have someone else draw it for me.

But progress is still being made. Some of the highlights:

• Rearranged entrance to be more inviting
• Added hint system for showing basic gameplay mechanics
• Added intro

I have a list of everything I need done before my public release, which right now is looking to be before the next Steam Next Fest next Spring. It's annoying and slightly demotivating, but I don't want to release something knowing I could've made it better, but didn't.

Game of the Week

One of the first games I remember playing growing up was Metroid: Zero Mission for the Game Boy Advance. I don't remember what my final playtime was when I finally beat it, but it was definitely in the dozens of hours (I was maybe 8 years old). Now I can beat it in about 40 minutes. It's short and sweet and plays very well, and that doesn't include the numerous ROM hacks that have been made it.