itch.io

Hey, thanks for the feedback!

I definitely understand the concern, but I'm here to emphasize that I'm here for the long haul! Chapter one has been fully planned out since the beginning of the summer, there's been no additions or changes since then. I know exactly what the update will include and am working hard towards completing it!

I agree that in hindsight I shouldn't have said "soon" but the state of development was very different at the time I wrote that and I truly thought the update would be out soon. At the time I was working fulltime on Wildwood while I was in-between jobs and progress was going incredibly well. Unfortunately that progress slowed down immensely once I got a new fulltime job at the end of the summer. (As much as I would love it, my personal projects are nowhere close to paying my bills.)

I was finding it very difficult to balance time working on this and time working on my fulltime job. There was a period where I was testing different time management strategies to see what was most effective. It took a while, but I think I've finally found a workflow that allows me to make acceptable progress while still balancing my fulltime job and overall life responsiilities.

Additionally, development has taken a while because I'm trying to future-proof my game as much as possible. That includes code optimizing and building systems that I can re-use over the course of the entire game's development. Additionally, this update will be including an improved UI system that will be tracking all the game statistics such as your bond level with the characters along as hosting a gallery and other bonuses. This UI is being built to be used and updated throughout the entire game's release cycle so once it's complete for this update, it will require very little, if any, maintenance going forward.

Finally, I also tend to be a bit of a perfectionist, which has had the effect of lengthening development time. I get really obsessed with small details in renders that bother me and I sometimes end up re-doing a render multiple times until it's perfect. While I do think it's good to have an eye for quality, I also do realize it can be a problem and am working hard towards managing my obsessions over little imperfections.

My current goal is for an early 2026 release, with Chapter 1: Part 2 releasing shortly after, as it is already fully planned out, just needs to be written and rendered. 

I don't mean for any of this to sound like excuses, this is simply an update on the current state of development. Hopefully my answer is able to address your concerns. I truly love working on this game and have no plans to give up on it!