General Update CW06/2022

Hey cat pack,

I felt it is time for an update from my side (settle in this is a bit of a long one).
You can scroll to the very end if it is too much and you want to skip the build up.

While I am still busy with moving and different other tasks, I wanted to announce something which I started and foreshadowed last year and now want to talk about a little.

About a full year ago I started this adventure in content creating, without any knowledge of coding, video editing, story writing, pretty much everything you can imagine related to this.
While everything I did until now was very fun an educational, my intention was to get into programming one day and create a "real game".

While "Unforeseen consequences" is tons of fun to write and also will find various more endings and eventually finish up, it is not what I imagined when I decided to start this.
It however was a good starting point to learn some in and outs and gradually play around with the possibilities of twine, html, css and javascript (and also more exotic ones like deepfake and other video editing tools).

Even though I invested tons of time and also feel like I got better on my own, I had a point where I "conceded" and came to the realization that being stubborn and "refusing" help only stands in the way of achieving what I really want to create -> a game.

Therefore I started contacting other content creators of games which I like/find inspiring and queried about how they got started, what their background is and any useful information about how to get better.

As also mentioned before, people like Huntermc provided me with tons of background info and links to how they learned, still though, I was on my own, and with the limited time I have on hand in my current life setup I felt like this is not the way to go if I want to bring this in the direction I envisioned.

So I took an additional step, first in planning out how far I am willing to take this and then in doing some research on the market situation.
By now you can probably imagine where I am going, but ultimately I felt like -> Why do it all yourself when there are people out there, trained and with years of experience, who can do what you do 100x better?

That's when I scoured places like "Fiverr" and other established sites for commissioned help on not only fixing my code but possible teaching me exact parts I am interested in (the combined 100+ hours of youtube and reading up on documents really didn't do it for me at this point any more).

After I finally took the decision that this indeed was something I wanted to pursue, I was ready to haggle on Fiverr.
Though I didn't find anyone with explicit credentials for Twine/Sugarcube I felt like having someone with Javacript and CSS knowledge would accomplish the job.

So I was getting started to contact several interesting prospects for the job, when suddenly I found a post tfgames that pretty much presented exactly the opportunity I was looking for.

HiEv, one of the moderators and an excellent creator of different guides on how to use Twine made a thread about the current personal situation and how some aid is required. You can find the post here (and are welcome to help if you are in the situation to):
https://tfgames.site/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=16329

When I saw it I felt like this was an opportunity for both of us.
Instead of going to a random dude on Fiverr and explain what I try to achieve and also possible what Twine is, why not go to THE instance on the website I am already publishing on and ask if there is any interest to help me in exchange for payment?

So after I created contact, I am happy to say we came to an agreement.
We struck a payment deal, I handed over the concept I have for my next creation, which hopefully will represent more of a game than just an CYOA, and developement started/we are currently aligning on the details of what I need/want and am struggling to do myself.

It may be some time until this one sees the light of day though, for "Unforeseen consequences" I was ready to release with a v0.01, which of course forced me to go forward rather quickly, and may have created sections I am now stuck with since they already have been released.

In the case of my new project I want it to be rich enough of content and defined enough in structure to the point that I am certain no major changes are going to happen and only content is missing.

So I guess long story short for this whole update:
I spent many weeks and month hopping between "Unforeseen consequences", research, testing and writing/planning out a new concept for an actual game while also exploring benefits short stories could have.

Since my last post I did still find time to proceed "Unforeseen consequences" (instead of short stories, which I initially though would be my next time invest) and there will be an update shortly after I am done moving and setting up my new apartment.

In the meantime I am coordinating with HiEv and am excited about the prospect of having this opportunity to work with the vast knowledge and great functionalities that can be added to my creations.

For now the agreed payment comes out of my pocket, we have a deal for a certain set of hours and an hourly wage.
Currently I can not say how many hours are required and how deep I will have to (or can) go for this.
Eventually there will be a post in the future (most likely not within the next 6 months) where I will decide if I have to deduct patreon payments and dedicate it to this expense.
Right now I can manage it though.

That's all from me for now, please check out the post and donate if you are willing and in the situation to.
HiEv really is a great asset to the community and a very helpful person.

As always stay safe!