Status update!

Good morning everyone. Just a status update on various aspects of the project for you to read over your coffee :)

• As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I will not be billing for October as I will be spending the month finalising some other work that I took on thanks to COVID fuckery. This will be the last time there's a month of no updates, as the end of this month is a hard deadline, so either way I'm done with it.
• I spoke with Tanutanuki this week about art, busy figuring out the how best she can tackle the work next year. Her life remains challenging at the moment due to an intersection of family and COVID problems, and she is nowhere near to working at her usual art output, but she was very clear with me about this back in May, so I am not concered. She has however promised to do her best to have the character design of Flax, the PC, done by November.
• There was no bio this week, but I plan to get one done by the weekend. There may not be polls going forward as the number of remaining bios is small enough that I'd like to pick them in a way that best elucidates the growing world :)
• I have ordered some work from a very talented artist for the game's core logo and related elements. I'll post sketches as soon as I receive them; the artist expects to start working on the commission in November. I won't be explaining the meaning just yet, as it factors directly into the long-term story, but I'm sure you guys will like it :) On a semi-related note, while Tanutanuki will be doing all character art and CGs (to ensure they are consistent) I will absolutely be using other artists as it makes sense for other work like backgrounds, standalone graphical elements in the world, and -- should the project's growth crack the relevant goal -- UI design. She has already recommended a background artist to me who's work complements her own in a way that I like very much.
• Come November, I will begin working on the first playable build, as mentioned a few months ago. All art will be placeholder for now, of course, but I don't see that as a problem. If anything, I hope it will let people focus more on the writing and give me even more valuable feedback on what works and what doesn't there :) I intend to have this done by December, and to have it cover my intended introductory period where you meet all characters.
  

Finally, thank you all for believing in this project. Slow starts are difficult to get behind, I know, and this has been a very slow one. But I think in 2021 things can finally start accelerating. My current expectation is for total development time to be between 2 and 3 years, so we're looking at a 2023 release date. Onwards and upwards!