Development Update - July 2022

It's been a long slow year thus far for an intense few reasons, and it's time to make some decisions and hope for the best.

Due to declining revenue, compounded by a still quite large number of loose ends generated by poor foresight and a general lack of experience during the early years of development, I have decided to release Solace Crafting from early access at the end of the month.

There's still a lot of work to do between now and then, and quite frankly for quite some time after that. But, long story short, I've run out of money to support myself continuing down this path, at least in this manner, and need to take the leap out of early access for a number of reason.

It's a difficult subject, because it involves so many different topics and possible outcomes. One major side of the discussion is that it would absolutely be better to continue polishing the game and get it to a more refined state to garner a better "first impression" on press and media that will no doubt at least look at the game. On the other hand, the cost of that could require me to sell my car, no longer be able to visit my family overseas for a while, and all of the stress that a very low-income lifestyle brings, along with the stress that puts on my friends and family knowing that I'm struggling to get by.

A big part of it is really just a want to do, or have done better, made smarter decisions early on, but those are hopes and desires, not actually related to the reality that I find myself in. Solace Crafting will always be my first "product," and something I will at least in some capacity no doubt be working on for years to come. It seems though that the likely more intelligent move for the near future is to for one, release the game, and very likely, to refocus the majority of my attention on to the next game.

As I state in the video, the release to me is very much going to be about judging interest based on how the sales go. If the release flops, it's probably not a good idea for me to spend the next 1-2 years trying to fix all the past mistakes and make it a better game at all costs. If even the release does alright, it may still not going to be enough to support development through however much time remaining the game needs with yours truly still behind the wheel driving solo. The third possibility is that game actually does well enough, all things in perspective of course, and I actually generate enough money and interest to be able to hire on some part-time help to improve the areas that need it most. Which one of these will come to be, I honestly have no idea.

I do hope that my long track record of trying to be honest, striving to uphold a strong sense of morals, and general effort to keep in communication with our community helps the majority of potential players understand that sometimes supporting a 15 dollar indie game can mean a lot more than spending thousands on a predatorily monetized game or company. There is always a handful of players that want a platinum shine for every dollar they spend, despite a sandwich tending to cost more than a game nowadays, but I've come to understand that just comes with the business. You can't please everybody.

Again, I wish that I had more money, I wish I had somehow magically had more experience when I started all of this, and I wish the game as is were all around in better shape than it is. I hope this doesn't come off as a big let down to anyone, and an extra huge thank you to everyone here on Patreon that has helped to get this project further along than it would have been able to without your support.

I have offered over the years Patreon rewards to get supporters names in the game via monsters, NPCs, or equipment names, and would like to hold true to that offer to anyone interested in redeeming their support. Please feel free to message me here or in Discord if this is something you're interested in.

I wish you and your loved ones safety and prosperity!