June Update

I'm just going to cut to the chase (and spoiler alert: this is not the news that you wanna hear), but I'm putting Girl Games on pause for a while. Don't worry, billing is paused too - and will be until I get this update finished - but I can't in good conscience keep charging you when things are in their current state. 

Some background/explanation as to why I've made this decision. For a start, I've been working so hard on this game that, if I'm honest, I've been putting my real (read: paying) work second. I'm an erotica writer by trade, it's my only significant source of income, and since the start of this year, when I worked full throttle on Girl Games, my sales took a significant hit. So this month, I've had to face facts and get back to making some money, otherwise I'm totally screwed financially. It's not been an easy decision and I still plan to work part time on the game, but that really does mean part time - as in occasional evenings and weekends around the rest of my IRL existence. 

It's heartbreaking, honestly, because this game is my passion. I want it finished and in a playable state (God, I feel like I've written that sentence about a billion times in these posts!) more than anyone, but I just can't continue making it my main focus right now when the rest of my life feels like it's in the gutter. I hope that makes sense.

What's more, I've been feeling gloomy generally about how the last version was received, making me think all kinds of negative stuff like who even cares. It's hard to stay positive when honestly, save from you small gang of sweethearts, it feels like nobody even cares about it. The last update only got two reviews on TFGames and they were both so damn negative I couldn't stop thinking about them for days afterwards. Same with F95Zone. It just seems that every time I check the threads or whatever on either of those sites, it's people complaining or saying how bad the game is. Which isn't exactly much fuel to want to continue on it right now. 

Lastly, and this is definitely a fault of my own, I can't seemingly just stick to parameters - instead I keep adding in new features etc which cause me SO much more work as a result. A textbook example of 'feature creep' in other words. I've been trying to refactor the game, itself a seemingly endless cycle, but each time I come up with some newer, slicker technique, all it does is create more damn work for myself, and more panic that I'll never have it finished (while a voice at the back of my head whispers, And when you do, there'll no doubt be a bunch of bugs you haven't caught and its just going to get complaints and negative reviews anyway ...). 

Enough negativity. I want to finish up by saying HOW MUCH it means to me that you've all supported me thus far and shown that you care about this game. It's not over, I promise. I do intend to finish this version - and future versions - but I need to get my regular writing work fully back on track first, and I also need to take a little break from panic-loop of trying (and failing) to give you all something for your $ each month, otherwise I'm gonna have a nervous breakdown or something. 

So yeah, that's where I'm at. I'm so sorry it's not better news and like I said, I promise I'll be back. Until whenever that may be, billing is on pause, meaning you won't be charged a cent until I get the next version finished, bug checked and out. So feel free to stay subscribed in the meantime, but I'll totally understand if you feel like I've let you down or whatever. 

Dana x