Hi, thanks for reaching out!
Wayfarer is not dead, it is absolutely being actively worked on. I am a solo developer, so making something of this size and scope does take a very long time. Delays happen. Estimates are hard to do in normal circumstances, but also because I am the only developer, if something happens to me (illness, injury, family emergencies, etc) then it inevitably sets the project back. 2023 was an extremely rough year and I am trying to get a handle on things and get back to normal development, but I also need to adjust what counts as "normal" for me so I can make this game without burning myself out.
I share progress reports every two weeks on my Patreon that updates patrons on what is happening behind-the-scenes, what is being worked on, and where things are sitting. I try to keep that information contained for patrons only. I don't tend to post updates here on itch unless it's a big announcement, but my development blog is active; I answer questions over there and occasionally do generalized updates.
Additionally, the Patreon build contains way more playable parts of the game than what you can play publicly. Episode 3 is about halfway done. I know it's a long way for public build players, but it is very important to me that I get the patreon build one episode ahead of the public (which means getting Episode 3 and Episode 4 done before this version of the game gets updated). Because Episode 3 is taking a very long time, there isn't going to be an update here for quite some time.