Posted May 12, 2024 by Rotshild
Before we get to visual novel, I need to discuss some of my current real life circumstances, because there's a good chance they will affect the future of Super-Nova, at least in the short-term. My country--Georgia (not the American one)--is having a bit of a time right now, with mass protests against some decisions by the government. I won't get into the details of these political processes here (but I encourage you to read up on it). The important part is that these events directly affect my dayjob (I work for an NGO), and if things don't go right, I'll be out of a job... very soon. As in, probably by this July, if not earlier. Naturally, this means that I won't really be able to focus on VN development at all. Before even getting there, though, there have been instances of verbal and physical attacks on protesters and generally people opposed to the government, including, in one case, on my coworkers, and there's a possibility things will escalate further.
What does it mean for Super-Nova? I can't say. There will be a new Superfang build for patrons soon, and hopefully we'll continue normally from there. However, if things do escalate, or if my dayjob becomes endangered for certain, there could be a hiatus until everything is sorted out. There's a lot of uncertainty right now. My hope is that none of that will come to pass, but who knows at this point. There will be a lot of considerations. Even if I could focus on writing and coding during that time, it'll just not be financially viable for me to be dedicating any time to visual novel development. I'm immensely grateful to everyone who has ever subscribed to the patreon, but it simply isn't enough for me to even consider going into this fulltime, nor do I anticipate it ever getting there.
I've been hesitant for a long time to ask for any sort of donations for myself that wouldn't be going back into Super-Nova development costs, but given the circumstances, I decided to set up a Ko-Fi account. If you've enjoyed my work and feel like dropping me a tip, I'd be grateful for even the smallest of donations. But don't feel pressured to do so, I appreciate people just reading and enjoying my work. On a related note, though, if I really am out of a job for a while, I could consider doing small writing commissions (y'know, of the racier kind) if anyone would be interested.
Like I said, at least for the next build, the development process is going fine. Patrons currently have an opportunity to secure slots in an YCH background/CG. If there are slots left open by Monday, the public will have an opportunity to take them on a first come, first served basis. There will be an announcement about it on our Twitter should that be the case, so consider following us there if you haven't already. HOWEVER, given what I said above, it obviously wouldn't be fair to make this kind of offer if the visual novel would go on a potentially indefinite hiatus. So I will most likely not be taking any payments for this until my situation is clearer (and, consequently, work on the CG won't begin until then). Patrons, if you're reading this, I wish I could've made this decision before posting the YCH sketch at all, but things have changed a lot in just the last couple days.
All that heavy stuff aside... for the builds going public right now, we have updates 0.10 (Baron's route) and 0.11 (Superfang's route). I'd recommend reading the Baron update first. The updates feature:
As always, it's highly recommended that you use the Chapter Select feature to access the latest content. This will ensure that all of the Extras, especially the Character Profiles, are displaying correctly. Please make sure to report any typos or bugs, preferably on our Discord server.
Until next time, when hopefully real life is less of a mess.