A Look back at 2021 and roadmap for 2022.

Happy New Year!

I went back and looked over what I had hoped to achieve for Dreams of Reality in 2021. My goals were very simple:

- Complete the development of chapter 2 and progress on the development of chapter 3.
- Investigate the feasibility of a Steam release.
- Get rich, retire on a Caribbean island.

Unfortunately, only two of those I managed to achieve, but there may still be a Steam release… Okay, I am of course joking. Let’s break it down some.

Chapter Two completed at the end of 2020. This meant I was able to focus on chapter three – as is always the case, each part update ended up being more work than the last, even when I say to myself “this part is not going to be much, so should be a quick turnaround”.

Chapter Three was always intended to have the build-up, and conflict resolution. I think overall splitting it into 3 parts worked better, although each part was a shorter update, the chapter is bigger than ch1 and ch2 combined.

More so for those that play multiple routes. I recognise that my decision to make each route  or path through the game just as viable as the next can cause some paths to feel shorter, especially if you’re only focused on one girl. The game is still in development, so my intention is that once completed the time spent with each girl should equal out overall.

Of course, Louise can be the exception to that, depending on your choices.

Chapter Three was released in its entirety and makes the completion of the first story arc – that of Sebastian, some of you will only be aware of one of his paths, there’s 3 possible outcomes in total.

But like most things in life, there’s always a bigger, badder threat, and starting with chapter 4 this will be the focus of the next arc.

Moving on, the Steam release – it will be happening, I cannot give a firm ETA as there are still a lot of hoops I must pass through before it becomes … a reality. The Steam version will be the first story arc, so chapters One to Three. I have spent most of the holidays working on the achievement system. Some examples of these you may have seen on discord. In addition to this, I have been removing any copyrighted music I do not hold a license for. This you will have seen in the latest update.

There is still more work to be done, but I’m close to taking the plunge. Steam can be a double-edged sword. I could put my game up there and it fails, or it could garner more success and support and allow me the creative freedom to push for better animations, better renders, and even being able to afford to license more diverse music.

So, what do I want to achieve by the end of 2022:

- Complete Chapter 4
- Complete Steam release
- Increase my patron support to 50
- World domination

I think it’s best to keep them achievable? For anyone wondering about the progress on ch4, I am already working on the bones of the chapter. Given the content of what’s happened recently, we could do with a holiday, somewhere warm and cosy, maybe invite the girls along – just go the beach, get away from everything… spend some quality time with the MC.

Finally, before I wish everyone a very happy New Year, I want to give credit to each and everyone of you who are reading this, weather you’re a paying support, or just a follower of my work – the messages you send me, and the interactions we have are a massive boost and honestly without such I do not think I could keep this up. Thank you.

Cenc