Look, I’m not sure what happened. I took my eyes off it for two seconds and here we are. I’m sure it will be fine. It just needs some rest, then it will be up and frolicking around again like normal… right?
The later stages of development are a real rollercoaster. Working towards an update is usually tiring, but you’re fed this constant dopamine loop of progress and nice, clean numbers. That rush is intoxicating. This stage, however, feels like pulling your fingernails off with a set of Fisher-Price “My First Pliers.” Bug fixes and final refinements are slow and tedious, and it is a real test of patience, which I am not exactly known for.
The good news is that testing has gone exceptionally well. No major issues, just a few bugs here and there, all of which are fixable. I am really close to a fully stable build.
The bad news is that I still have four animations to finish. These are improvements to the animations from Episode One. I know they do not directly impact this update, which makes them hard to justify right now. However, for many people, this will be their first time playing the game, and this is something I need to address before getting Episode One onto Steam.
I am choosing to handle this now so it does not slow down development of Episode Four. The final episode of Season One will be much bigger and will require an inhuman amount of effort, so I cannot afford to have these hanging over me at that stage. I will get these animations done as quickly as possible. My goal was to finish them alongside testing, but I may fall slightly behind that target, so I wanted to be transparent about it.
My goal with Moonlight has always been to tell the best story I can while creating an enjoyable experience. The truth is, animations are hard, and I have improved a lot during this update. That said, I cannot tolerate leaving the older versions in the game. It would genuinely keep me up at night knowing that something like that could affect someone’s first impression, even if it does not impact the story itself.
I did not really want to go into this much detail, but I have always been straight with you guys, and I will continue to be. Thank you for supporting me at this early stage of my journey.
Also, shout out to my boys on Discord for keeping me together during this phase.
Peace,
Bat