Trembling Essence: ⚠️🛠️My old laptop crashed: Mini Update 🛠️⚠️

Helloooo guys, since we're a little more than halfway through August here's a little update into how things are going behind the scenes since my old laptop crashed on July 24th and I want to keep this situation transparent.

Were you able to fix it?:

Sadly not yet. Since the crash I've been troubleshooting as much as I can and learning new ways to make sure this never happens again. With that being said, after a lot of trial and error the SSD I was temporarily given is finally working and I was able to boot windows back up, the only downside is that my operating system isn't detecting my actual hard drive at all now so I'm still trying to figure out how to recover my data from it or at least make it detectable again.

Any good news?:

Well... I do have a little bit of good news but I CAN'T guarantee anything right now. I'm going to try out what I've learned through all of this and apply it towards the external hard drive instead since it didn't crash but "glitched out". I still have certain drawing files, pictures, screenshots, sfx's, music from the game etc. that are still accessible but I didn't transfer anything/reset it just yet which might've been a very good thing from what I've discovered so far.

What might be recoverable???:

1. All game development progress from March up until the July 24th
2. The "guide-mark" + other things I had written in my notes
3. Day 4
4. The new user interface for the game + resources
5. Some of Noah's Voice lines
6. Certain folders etc. / Anything I had saved on the laptop and not on the back up hard drive.
7. My drawing tablet program

For the next couple of days I'm going to try my best at testing this out and seeing what'll happen so I don't have too much else to say.

Anywho this is all I have to share until the next devlog at the end of the month but thank you guys so much for all the continued support while I've been trying to figure this out and being extremely quiet. Again, please remember to:

• Back everything up to a external hard drive, USB, etc. and not just to the laptop itself.
• Make sure you're not overwhelming storage on your laptop. etc.
• Take pictures of certain things you might need to come back to.
• Try to stay organized and don't give up!

To those that joined my ->[Patreon], You guys will get first dibs on the celebration once I'm able to recover stuff from my "old laptop" and when I'm able to finish the previous drawing winner.

If anyone has any advice or guide into fixing the issue regarding the crash/hard drive not being detected I'd really appreciate the help! :,,]

Trembling Essence Devlog 20: ⚠️🛠️Recovering my old laptop🛠️⚠️

Hi hellooo guys hope all is going well through the month of August, here's another transparent update on how things are going behind the scenes since my old laptop crashed on July 24th.

*There's been a small recent influx of support towards the game and newcomers while I've been very quiet so I'd just like to let you know, I post small sneak peeks giving basic updates about game development on here now so if you're interested in seeing the full in-depth progress update and/or even be in the credits of the full game, join my ->[Patreon!] It serves as a monthly-tip jar / game credit perk for those that would like to support the development of the game! This helps me greatly behind the scenes!🌻💛

Were you able to fix it now?:

I still haven't yet unfortunately. Windows is working on the "old laptop" through the SSD I was temporarily given which means it's still functionable but my operating system isn't detecting my actual hard drive at all.

After so much troubleshooting and trying different ways to recover my data/make it detectable again I went ahead and tried reaching out a bit further to get outside help again. After some back and forth it ended up turning into something where I'll have no choice but to take it to a shop which is a genuine last resort.

I found around 1~3 shops that I'm really hoping are affordable and trustworthy enough to help:

1. The first one is very reputable and are willing to troubleshoot it for free but they are very far away and if I do go with them it'll take them an extra 1~2 months to fix. :,,/
2. The second one looks promising and also does troubleshooting for free BUT I am unsure of the price or if they'll be able to fix what's specifically wrong with my "old laptop".
3. The third one seems decently reputable enough to fix the issues however the ratings are lower and I couldn't find too much information about how much things would be.

External hard drive testing:

In between all of this I tried what I've learned since the crash and applied it towards the external hard drive instead since it didn't crash but "glitched out" to see if anything would be recoverable.

Did it work?:

It did but everything that got recovered was in numbers and not organized by date so I'm still looking through all of it which includes several zipped files and a bunch of miscellaneous stuff mixed in.

Sadly I haven't found:

1. All game development progress from March up until July 24th
2. The "guide-mark" + other things I had written in my notes
3. Day 4
4. The new user interface for the game + resources
5. Some of Noah's Voice lines
6. Certain folders etc. / Anything I had saved on the laptop and not on the back up hard drive.
7. My drawing tablet program

With all of this being said, I'll give an update on how things turn out after getting my "old laptop" checked out at the shop and I am praying for a miracle that I'll be able to get everything back.

**In the case things don't work out the only thing I can do is start everything that I'm missing over from scratch which will take a good chunk of my time to go through AND I DO NOT want to accidently give myself another episode of "burn out" like I did earlier this year. If anything, I feel more tired than I do "burnt out" from all of this but at least I can recover from that quicker. :,P

Going into September I'd like to call it "Recovery month". Depending on how things continue to go I'll be doing a lot of cleaning up behind the scenes for a smoother transition into Day 4 etc. again so I'll try not to be extremely quiet this time around. :,]

Overall, thank you guys for all the patience and helpful messages while I try to sort this out because even though I haven't found what I've been looking for through the recovery files, this whole situation could've been SO MUCH WORSE had I not kept most of everything backed up on the external hard drive.

If anyone has any advice or guide into fixing the issue regarding the crash I'd really appreciate the help! :,,]

Trembling Essence: ⚠️🛠️My old laptop crashed: Final Update🛠️⚠️

Hii helloo guys, since we're halfway through September here's a final update about my old laptop that crashed on July 24th!

To those that recently joined my ->[Patreon], I'm still in the process of finishing the previous drawing winner but welcome! :,D

How'd things turn out?:

**To sum it up, my hard drive might be "dead" and it seems like I'm better off just starting over for now.

I ended up taking it to shop number #2. and #3. but I'd like to happily talk about #2. more. I went there expecting help from one person but everyone there went above and beyond to help troubleshoot my "old laptop" when I explained to them what happened. It was a fun learning experience watching everyone brainstorm different ideas on how to fix it and they even taught me new skills while I was there. In the end they basically told me that it seems as though the hard drive might be "dead" and even though it's possible to do Data recovery from it, there's a HUGE chance nothing will be salvageable and that it would be a waste of money if it doesn't work. They also said that the SSD being readable from the motherboard is a very good thing versus the whole laptop being useless. I actually ended up leaving the shop feeling a lot better and I just have to accept it and move on now. :[]

** For shop #1. I MIGHT try it out in the future depending on how everything goes with the SSD but they are very far away, it'll take them an extra 1~2 months to fix it, and with what I know now, I get the feeling they might tell me the same thing about it being a waste of money to attempt.

What happens now?:

Starting over basically! I don't feel as defeated about the situation like I did back when it first happened and all this means is I'll have to move differently from now on and take this as a VERY BIG LEARNING LESSON. It sucks that this crash delayed a lot of what I had planned towards the middle/end of the summer but at least the stuff I've lost are things I can mostly relearn/rewrite etc. and my external hard drive saved me from losing everything. I'm trying not to be too quiet but I've been focusing on staying on top of things and I can happily say I'm getting stuff done! >:D

I'm still in the process of getting things set back up and I was able to recover my drawing tablet program! My art style will be wonky for a little while since I wasn't able to draw since the crash. :[]

I also want it to be known that once I get everything back on track, Trembling Essence [New Update] will be receiving a small 🧰🛠️⚙️quality of life hotfix update🧰🛠️⚙️ sometime in the future! I'll post more about the details towards the end of the month! :,D

✨This is all I have to say right now but thank you guys for all the continued support, I really appreciate it!✨