Ripping the Band-Aid Off: Dev Progress, Wildfire Skies, and English Milds

Whenever I sit down to write one of these posts, I’m always a bit anxious about how things might be taken out of context. Over the past 10 years, I’ve had hundreds of DMs from SR7 asking, “Why didn’t you say it more clearly?” even when I’ve tried desperately to be clear. The truth is, I’m often writing these based on limited information, and sometimes I just can’t share more than I know at that moment.

That said, the past couple of weeks really forced us to rip the band-aid off.

I want us to be the best creators of "porn cape shit" in the world. To get there, we have to fix a lot of legacy issues. That process upsets some people. Some leave. But just like Jean Grey in Phoenix Resurrection, we’re going to rise from it. A lot of what we built was on shaky ground, and it was only a matter of time before we had to fix it. That’s why I’m genuinely excited about the Ren’py direction and finally getting a proper SU experience into your hands alongside a team dynamic that works.

On the development side, we’re inching toward the alpha stage, which is a new experience for us. Starting next week, we’ll be locking in more of the structure and getting a solid estimate on asset needs. That’s huge if we want to stay on timeline and avoid those dreaded “oh shit” moments. Honestly, the reason we’re even this far is because of the intense planning we did early on.

Brainstorming is always fun. It’s easy to dream up cool stuff. But turning those dreams into actual production is where the dread can creep in if you don’t plan properly. Thankfully, the excitement is still running high, even as we head into the inevitable slowdown phase of production. I’m hopeful our planning will help us maintain this momentum.

Now, enough of the dev talk, let’s get a little more personal.

It’s officially summer in Canada… though it doesn’t really feel like it. We just had the second driest May in over a hundred years, and wildfire season is already brutal. A week ago the sky was orange, and I was getting legit headaches just being outside. Smoke in Winnipeg isn’t unusual, but it’s rare for me to actually be affected by it. The air quality warnings this year are no joke.

That did give me an excuse to binge Clarkson’s Farm and drink a few pints. I’ve been really into English Milds lately. I finally beat Ghost of Tsushima (can’t believe I ever put it down) and picked up Kingdom Come: Deliverance on sale. Henry’s journey is great, but playing in short bursts means progress is slow, especially when bandits keep kicking my ass.

For reading, I’ve been grinding through a business book I thought was about mindset. Turns out it’s just a bookkeeping system. After that, I’ve got a recommended book on financial analysis lined up, should be more up my alley.

SR7’s been getting back on the bike lately. If you didn’t know, he’s a serious cyclist. Goes for hours at a time. I don’t know how his taint survives it. His favourite time to ride is around 2 a.m., bombing down residential streets toward the big city park. But May’s been cooler than usual with single-digit nights, and the smoke has made any routine impossible. Ride at night and freeze, ride during the day and choke on the air.

He’s been following the development of Schedule 1 and playing it a lot. If you know him, you know he loves games where you make your own story: Kenshi, Satisfactory, Valheim, and now Schedule 1. He also watched the new season of Andor but hasn’t really said what he thought. My guess? A classic SR7 review: “It was alright.”

So yeah, that’s where we’re at, waiting for summer to actually show up and grinding away on this next build. I hope you’re enjoying these more personal dev blogs. They were requested, and honestly, I’m enjoying writing them.

Talk Soon
Smokeshank