Posted December 08, 2022 by Cryswar
Wanted to let you know that I'll be experimenting with how updates are released. I've been thinking about this for a while, but there are two main reasons to pull the trigger now;
One, Steam dev ToS makes it very clear that you're not supposed to release the game for cheaper/free elsewhere, in order to not screw over Steam players who paid for the game. It's not enforced consistently, but it's not something I can safely ignore.
Two, bluntly; I'm running out of time and money. I've been working on this game for free, more than full-time, for two years now. I don't make any money from it - it all goes into commissions. I love working on Divine Dawn and refuse to give up on it, but I gotta pay bills somehow. If I have to get another job, updates will slow down.
I would rather do the opposite - make this work, bump up the quality and speed of content and commissions, and put out a REALLY good game; there are going to be 5+ hours of content in the next update alone.
That said, I also want Divine Dawn to be as accessible as possible to everyone, even for those who can't or won't support the game.
So. The plan right now is that the paid version will be one update ahead of the free version. Buying the game on Itch (or eventually Steam/other storefronts) will (hopefully) guarantee all future updates, even if the price changes, while Patrons of any tier get the latest version along with other benefits.
Hopefully that'll work as a balance, but depending on how it goes I may adjust things further in one direction or another. In a perfect world, Steam will work out well enough that I won't have to worry about it again after next April.
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Now, I know I already wrote way too much, but I wanted to dip out of the professional-sounding stuff for a bit to add a personal note.
Ever since I was a kid I wanted to be an author - the next Tolkien, JK Rowling, Frank Herbert. Same as basically every other kid, I also wanted to be a game developer. Messed around a little in the like, 2005 version of RPG maker and realized it was too much work LOL.
So this game has really been a mixture of both the dreams I gave up on a long time ago, thinking I'd never be good enough for either of them. It's obvious I have a ways to go on both, as a writer and as a dev; all of Divine Dawn's history has been me realizing 'oh fuck this is harder than I thought.' I'm not that bright LOL, and had no experience with game dev, writing for people, or telling a real story like this.
But sticking with it anyways has been very fulfilling; the idea that even if it's not perfect, I'm still creating something.
And I gotta be honest, the part that really gets me is seeing people enjoy it. Knowing that I'm not just screaming into the void, that even if I'm not gonna be the next CoC or BaD there are still people who unironically enjoy Divine Dawn and want to see more of it.
So I just want to thank everyone here, whether or not you end up paying for the game. The community here has been wonderful, it's really nice to see people just say "hey I enjoyed your game" even if they don't dump their life savings into the game, and really helped me put my soul into the game even in the many times the intrusive thoughts come back and I wonder why I'm still alive.
As I said in the previous message, I do want to find a decent middle ground that works for as many people as possible. Thank you for being patient with me throughout this journey so far, and hopefully we can go much higher!