Another month. Another opportunity. Even if its one I cannot male the most of unfortunately. University will thusly begin soon so my time will become even more limited. But I can atleast appreciate that it will not be a time wasted. Theres plenty to learn as I pursue my literature degree for another semester. Though I dont set any clear cut goals for this reason. It always hurts to not be able to make some actionable progress. Even if there isnt necessarily an expectation of one. As though I am failing someone.
Regardless. I do wish you all a much more exciting month this September!
Last month I set out to try and scaffold, outline, and code the entirety of a new WIP I have in mind. It is safe to say I fell well short of that (Only 4 Chapters out of what I think will be 8 or 9). However, I feel that has more to do with the fact that I underestimated the amount of debugging, coding, and side routes Iād make for myself. So even though I didnāt meet my goal, August felt very productive.
The goal this month is similar: Finish the playable outline. That may be me being overly optimistic again, but as long as progress is being made thatās what matters. Iām enjoying the gaming aspects of programming and the fact that the entire narrative is taking shape, even if only in my head and in placeholder text. Iām excited to see it come together and hopefully share it here on the forum soon.
To everyone else who is working, thank you all for your insights, words of encouragement to each other, stories, challenges and triumphs. It is always encouraging to see the amount of support everyone has for one another. So thanks for that, and happy writing everyone!
I also reccomend Eikas: A community Chef. It felt like putting on a warm blanket and sipping warm hot cocoa on a cold winters day. It felt like coming home after a shit day at work and getting to sink into a hot bath. This game is DELIGHTFUL.
Well, here we are in September and my goals are to finish beta testing by mid-month, and submit my game to Hosted by the end of the month Wish me luck, I can use all of it I can get lol! I hope everyone has success this month in their goals ~
I try to in general take a marketing tact for big posts that way it provides plenty of transparency in development without giving spoilers if I can avoid it!
āIf you think I will bend the knee to a glorified Space hamster-wannabeā¦ā
His robotic eye twiches like a cobra stripper lap dance in Supra alpha.
Be careful in the delivery ${name} you pounder to yourself shuddering around to add your Dramatic performance;
āIt also made sense in my situation.ā You whistle head low. Your smile a candid warmth Your eyes a cold void and your hand slightly touching the laser granade in your knee pads.
āIt will certainly a cursy to die for, Rodent.ā
This is the only paragraph I achieve today after several hours of struggle.
I have just wrapped up beta testing and line edits for Ink and Intrigue. It will go to the copy editor next. All I need to do is one more read through (which is a decent task considering the word count) and then the game will be finished!
Iām not sure if Iāll get the files back from the copy editor this month or next, so my goal for this month is to focus on life and take a bit of a breather. Iāve pushed so hard I really need it.
I had a sudden realization that I actually have completed two whole CS games. Granted, theyāre tiny games - the combined size is smaller than some peopleās prologues - but they are completed games. Insert a suitable saying about how small things matter too.
Also I got feedback from my professor, yay. And the āthis is rubbish, write it againā I was dreading did not materialize, double yay. (Itās mostly some typos and technical fixes and the like. And some ??? from my note-to-self-fill-this-later reference markers.) Now to put the finishing touches on my thesis. This is really happening!
Question out of curiosity for anyone who can answer: Iāve seen some mention of contractual deadlines before for CoG/HC authors, but I donāt think Iāve ever come across anyone specifying what if anything happens if you do not meet said deadlines?
Gotta make sure I get in the rest of my commentary then; lifeās been a bitch. Iāve really enjoyed your work and Iām positive you donāt need anything like luck. But Iāll be crossing my fingers for you anyway!
Iām trying to be realistic for September. My parents are visiting (I havenāt seen them since emigrating and wow, I miss them) so Iāll obviously be spending a lot of time with them rather than writing. Preferably, I finish my seventh chapter of Villain Juice, but Iāve also created a bit of a snarl for myself.
I sort of realised that pacing wise, itās gonna take forever to start particular romances if I donāt offer a jumping on point in this chapter. Iād blocked out the end of this chapter for a chance at one specific character, but Iām starting to realise it may be better if it functions for one of four options. ā¦but that means I have to write them, and I know from experience how much work that adds.
I dunno, maybe I should stick to my guns and just accept that some of the options hit the ground later than others rather than trying to force it. Iām trying to learn from my mistakes where it comes to branching and adding too much to my workload
From my and my wifeās experiences: weāve rearranged our deadlines without fuss, and/or have had kind check-ins from our editors if we fell off the radar because of life issues. Itās very flexible. For all my games, Iāve needed to move my milestone deadlines around a bit because of other obligations or a chapter becoming longer than I expected, and itās always been fine.
Between you and me, Iāve blown my deadlines multiple times to absolutely zero comment, save for an email asking if I was okay.
I suspect theyāre less hard-and-fast schedules and more a legal backstop to make sure you do eventually fulfill your contractual obligations one way or another.
I have a sneaking suspicion that given the way those contracts assume word lengths, those deadlines were calculated at a time when the average chapter was much shorter than some of the behemoths more common nowadays.
Wish me luck, I can use all of it I can get lol! I hope everyone has success this month in their goals ~
Take your time, life comes first and your feedbackās well worth the wait
