Dev Log 02-Nov-2024

Hello!

Before I start with the update, I wanna let everyone know that I'll be on vacation for the next two weeks and I wanna completely disconnect, so I'll probably be back with an update in 3-4 weeks. The reason I need to disconnect completely is because I'm just not doing great overall and I feel like I need this.

It's been about two years since the first release of Zero End, and more than two years of working after work and during the weekends. Even when I took vacation time in the past, I'd take it as an opportunity to write, outline, plan the next part of the game. The result is that I'm very burnt out. I have been ever since Day 4 came out. You've probably noticed that updates don't happen as often and progress isn't as fast as with the other releases. It's because this self-imposed rhythm has been affecting my physical and mental health, causing problems at work, and pushing me towards substance abuse to cope, which just made it worse.

This isn't me abandoning the game, just in case anyone's worried. This is me saying I need to slow down. The first step to that is a two-week vacation. When I get back, I'll set a more workable schedule and take the needed time to deliver the best experience. I still love the story, I'm still excited about it--maybe even more than I was at the start, since a lot of things are coming to a head in the finale for chapter 2--I'm just mentally and physically exhausted, so it'll take a bit longer. But it is coming.

And that's probably a good time to segue into where we're at. I'm very nearly done with the first phase of the release and ready to move on to the next phase. Because this release is structured differently and can be approached non-linearly, I can't really give more details, but what's done is good and playing through it feels nice. There's still some improvements and polish needed before I can consider the first phase complete, but it's close.

I hope you're having a wonderful day and I'll see you after my vacation!

--SR