Progress Report - 07/13/2020

Dear Fans, 

I've recently released the new update! Version 6.1 of Avalon is out into the world! And with this release, there are some drastic changes coming. Because I just released Avalon, instead of a true-to-form progress report, I'm going to rant a little. 

Avalon didn't meet my expectations in terms of reception. I thought it would do a lot better. I know how that sounds because I know a lot of you really love it. In this niche group, there is a very linear way visual novels are typically designed and when you veer off of that expected mold, you get a lot of negative reception; I didn't do Avalon from the first person perspective, Avalon's traumatic assault was not well received and Byron being adopted is causing a lot of confusion and dislikes. 

I wanted to wrap up Avalon so I could move on to a project that would be better received but to be honest, I know Penny for Your Thoughts is going to run into similar disinterest. That's just how I write, I don't wont to shoe-horn myself into a specific style or plot because it would be an absolute choir to write something so bland. 

And with that, I'm not going to try to please everyone anymore. I love Avalon, it's so much fun to write and it's been such an emotional roller coaster. So instead of trying to rush through seven acts to try to get it wrapped up, I'm going to take a little more time with it. Especially in light of Leah. If she's well-received, I have plans to not only extend Avalon but I may also bring her into Penny for Your Thoughts as an important cast member too. 

In my head, I have ten Acts in mind which will allow us time to explore Leah and her interaction with the other characters and build relationships. But it may be more or less depending on what happens in Act 7 and Act 8. But I have been thinking a lot about Penny for Your Thoughts and I've got some really fun ideas. I put together a prototype of the main male lead. I'm going to continue rolling around ideas in my head and putting together prototypes of different things. I probably won't start working on it until early next year when Avalon is complete but by then, I should have the ground work laid out. I'm excited about the future, I really am.

After Act 6 is complete, I'm going to change up my routine in a significant way. Every Thursday, I'm going to take the day to practice a new skill. And this could be a new lighting technique, new code, new software, a new way to animate. Just something new so that I don't stagnate and plateau. I need to keep growing and that means I need to learn new things. But that will start after this next release.

On the note of the next release, I have some big scenes planned and they're going to take some time. Hopefully I'll have the next release ready by mid-next month but it could be early September. 

Thanks for the support! I truly have the best fans, I really do. I appreciate all of you!