Blog XXV - 0.05.50 Update and November Retrospective

Hey, everyone! Faora here, and what a time to be! 2025 is just about done, so this time around we’ve got a big ol’ blog post for you to enjoy. Not only have we got the latest update notes and our usual transparency update, but it’s time to also talk a bit more about the goals for the year to come. We’ve got a lot to get to, so let’s not waste time and get right to it!

V0.05.50 Update Notes

Wondering where the bulk of the Day 5 content was hiding? Right here!

- Day 5 Part 2: The rest of Day 5 arrives with three time units worth of socialization with the crew of the Void Dreamer. Experience rec time with multiple crew members at different points and in different locations, take advantage of the extra time to work on your Skills a little, or maybe learn a few more intimate details about your shipmates. New Event scenes can be seen for the first time here for a variety of characters, including some very spicy CGs for those looking for them! In fact, this is the most spice that’s been added in a single day since… well, the Patreon launch build!

 - Credits Update: Once more, the credits have been updated to the point we were at roughly twelve hours or so before this update build went out. As always, my unending gratitude to everyone who chooses to help support Void Dreaming!

- Bugfixes and Typo Corrections: The usual bugfixes and typo corrections have been set upon with gusto for this update, including some cheeky little fuckers from as far back as Day 1! A pretty significant bug in Quick Start has been also been addressed specifically, where flags for meeting (and displaying in the Stats screen) characters wasn’t appropriately triggered. Surprised no one caught that, including me. I guess everyone’s enjoying the more granular prologue options!

It’s a much heftier update than the last one, that’s for sure. I hope that anyone who was disappointed last month finds themselves eating well this time around!

State of Affairs

2025 may not be completely finished off just yet, but this is the last blog post of the year proper and I think it’s a good time to reflect on how far we’ve come from launch. Void Dreaming has been growing by leaps and bounds, so where are we at now?

 - Since the initial release, Void Dreaming’s various versions have been downloaded from Itch.io over 12.7k times now. Given that we started with our first retrospective at lauding 3300+ downloads, it’s amazing to see how far we’ve come there!

 - The project’s 5-star rating on Itch also has held for the whole year now! Currently we’re sitting at what is still technically just a 4.9 rating across 272 total reviews (with a massive 258 of them being 5-stars!), in our first retrospective a month after launch we only had 133 reviews in total. Thanks again to everyone who’s left their thoughts and feelings on Void Dreaming there on the Itch page!

 - The Patreon support for Void Dreaming has recovered considerably from the drop off last month, but it’s more than that! A major milestone has been struck at the same time: Void Dreaming’s Patreon has now hit 248 paid subscribers (with 33 of them being at the higher Officer tier, too!), but also for a while we had, for the first time, breached the 250 paid sub mark! This marks a massive step on the journey to fund all of Void Dreaming from start to finish (and then what comes next!), and pretty much at roughly a third of the way to where I would ultimately love to end up. To have done that in less than a year is absolutely stunning, and I am so, so grateful to the supporters of the project helping me to make this a reality. Thank you all so much… oh! And again, to look at how far we’ve come, a month after launch we were at 136 paid subs on the Patreon… what a surge! That we’ve grown steadily all year has been something I am not going to take for granted for a minute!

 - On the Discord, we’re now up to a staggering 548 members there, up from the 225 we had a month after launch! It’s a delight to see everyone talking about their experiences with Void Dreaming, other VNs, and even just random stuff, and I hope that the discord can continue to be a friendly and wonderful place for you all to hang out!

- And finally, we have the Void Dreaming Bluesky page! We’ve gone from 670 a month after launch to just OVER a thousand followers, sitting right now at 1005! It’s been wonderful to share the fanart the project is getting there, as well as highlighting some other amazing VN projects for fans to check out. Thanks so much!

Transparency - November 2025

And now, it’s time to give the monthly transparency update! It’s the start of a whole new month, so where are we at now that we’re getting into December? Decking the halls? Mistletoe?

Writing and Programming

 - It’s been irritatingly slow going this month, as the combination of some health stuff on my end and my job demanding more of my time in the slide to Christmas break conspired to work against me. I no longer want to even bother with percentages for Day 8; that motherfucker will be done when it’s done! A lot of background programming has been refined; the Approval and Lust value is now updated in a more effective and efficient manner, as are a few other variables. Time consuming work, but it needed to be done! Still, Day 6 finalization has begun, Day 7 cleanup is ongoing, and Day 8 writing continues when it’s not driving me insane!

 - The writing for the January Patreon short story, Shadows, has similarly been a bit slow, but is progressing! I will have more time in December to actually get the writing and editing completed, so I’m okay with the way I’ve spent more time on Day 8 work instead of it. Well and truly on track!

 - Bugfixing has similarly been an ongoing matter, and I’m glad to be knocking out still more of the bugs, typos, and animation errors as the readers on the Discord find them. Void Dreaming has so many branches and variables that it’s impossible for me to keep track of them, so to everyone reporting issues, you have my constant frustration. Also my gratitude! But also also my frustration.

Art Assets

 - Rico continues to work his backside off on new backgrounds! There’s some variants of existing backgrounds, but also a bunch of new stuff I can’t wait for you to see. He’s really working his arse off!

 - Vallhound has so much to do! And thanks to the money from the Patreon, I can afford to get him to do it all! There’s a lot of work to be spread out over the next twelve months, from CGs to a slew of new sprites I’ve worked up over the last week for him to get started on soon… very exciting things I hope to get him started on shortly!

Project Finances

 - The Patreon has bounced back dramatically from last month’s drop. Not only has the upward trajectory of the project’s finances bounced back dramatically to AUD$1.84k per month at the time of writing, as mentioned above we cracked the 250 paid subscriber mark for the first time for the project! Thank you all, again, for helping make this project viable!

December’s Goals

 - Ideally, finish off all Day 8 content (ha ha ha)

 - Lock down and test Day 6 Part 1 build for February release on Patreon

 - Finish writing and editing of Shadows for January release

Upcoming Main Updates:

Jan 3rd:  Short Story Shadows (Patreon Release)

Feb 7th: Day 6 - Inflection Part 1 (Patreon Release)

Mar 7th: Day 5 - Mendacity (Public Release), Day 6 Part 2 (Patreon Release)

Release Plan Status: On Target*

I am eyeing that asterisk up there. I’ll be very glad when it’s been annihilated and everything is back where I want it, but until then I’ll be glad I still have everything in place to handle updates for months upon months to come. This is exactly why I’m glad I did so much advance work before I even released the first build of Void Dreaming. Gotta be ready for any unforeseen fuckery… or foreseen fuckery that fuckeries to an unforeseen degree. Like Day 8. Grr.

Still, my irritation shouldn’t give you any cause for concern. I’m frustrated, not panicked, and I’m still feeling confident in my ability to make up for the elongation of the Day 8 work. If nothing else, it’s just additional fuel for me to get this work done; I want to see how you all react to it, after all!

Forward Planning - 2026

So now we know where we’re at, and what’s in the immediate future. That’s all well and good, but what about further ahead? Well, just as promised, it’s time to show off the long-term roadmap and what I’ve got planned for the year ahead. Let’s take a look!

Quarter 1:

Jan 3rd:  Short Story Shadows (Patreon Release)

Feb 7th: Day 6 - Inflection Part 1 (Patreon Release)

Mar 7th: Day 5 - Mendacity (Public Release), Day 6 Part 2 (Patreon Release)

Quarter 2:

Apr 4th:  Short Story Kindling (Patreon Release)

May 2nd: Day 7 - Covenant Part 1 (Patreon Release)

Jun 6th: Day 6 - Inflection (Public Release), Day 7 Part 2 (Patreon Release)

Quarter 3:

Jul 4th:  Short Story Tabula Rasa (Patreon Release)

Aug 1st: Day 8 - Inviolate Part 1 (Patreon Release)

Sep 5th: Day 7 - Covenant (Public Release), Day 8 Part 2 (Patreon Release)

Quarter 4:

Oct 3rd:  Short Story Obligation (Patreon Release)

Nov 7th: Day 9 - Enthalpy Part 1 (Patreon Release)

Dec 5th: Day 8 - Inviolate (Public Release), Day 9 Part 2 (Patreon Release)

It’s a lot of work, to be sure, but I think I’m up to the task. As I’ve been saying for a few blog posts now (including above, as well as to anyone who asks), Day 8 is absolutely my bugbear. It’s been a nightmare to get it into a workable state and even now I know there’s still niggling bits and pieces that I need to program in and write around and some supplemental variant lines and segments that need to be added. Day 8 has been the worst time I’ve had while working on this project. Well… the worst time I’ve had while working on this project so far. There’s harder work still that lies ahead of me!

But for the moment, I feel like I’m in good shape. 2026 will be all about getting myself back ahead of the writing and programming curve, and doing my best to stay ahead of the workload I’ve set for myself. It won’t be easy, but I’m committed and stubborn and just a little bit stupid. Why else would I do this to myself in the first place?

For now, it’s been a hell of a ride. There’s so much left to do, but I can’t waste too much time on this blog post. There’s work to be done, and I need to get to it. I hope you enjoy this update, and I hope that the new year sees Void Dreaming ascend to greater heights.

Thank you to all my readers, all my Patreon subscribers, and everyone who shares word of Void Dreaming around. I just want to entertain people and create cool things for you all to enjoy, and it’s because of all of you that I can feel like I’m doing exactly that. Here’s hoping I can live up to your standards and mine to make Void Dreaming something as special as it deserves to be.

Until next time, stars guide you.

 - Faora