Here we are at the rough midpoint of 2024, and I thought I'd write an update of how things are rolling by! A lot of different things has happened - a lot of personal developments, game developments, and not the least the constant clarification and further refinement of this project. Well, I'll just get straight to the point, as always, yeah?

Personal

If there is one word I'd like to summarize this years personal development; is that it's been (and is) a relief.

The situation with my living space dramatically improved as I realized that I needed to get away from the inner city to somewhere more quiet, and also make better use of my money. So, I moved apartments yet again, and set up my ideal workspace the way I exactly wanted - scouting out a calmer location and tirelessly working to renovate and modernize the living space - installing new electrical sockets, painting the walls, doing what I can with my physical body. It was very tiring, but in return, I do not need to worry as much about my mental and physical comfort anymore which was a persistent, overhanging worry up until now.

With that out of the way, the situation with finances and making a living was also hugely improved; thanks to the fact that my disability was finally recognized; and my basic life is now relying on government support. I guess that's how it turned out in the end. I never truly felt comfortable around people, or working a job, or even just using money with its own confusing realities to it. It's hard to explain. I just know I feel more rewarded with living my life the way that I want; with this project and with my friends; and having the money problem solved makes it so much easier.

Which brings me to how the emotional situation is. It's good. Despite the difficulties faced, I feel good - peaceful, hopeful, and positive about the future.  Comparatively, last year was much more chaotic and unpredictable, and the stability wasn't there. It is here now. I feel like this year has really given me clarify of what exactly my intention is with.. well, everything. Why do I work so hard on this game? The answer is obvious. I am empathetic. I want to contribute something that would be meaningful. Why do I bother to talk with the players and listening for feedback? Because that is the kind of challenge that I feel comfortable with.

In a sense, a lot of puzzle pieces in my life are falling together to spell out the thing I always knew was there but had trouble formulating. I write these logs, I share things about myself, I work on this game and I hold events because I simply feel driven to do so for my own enjoyment. Of course, it should be towards my own comfort level... which is also what this is all about. Working on Kemoverse is fun, it bring meaning and it's rewarding.

Development

Aside from the developing halting just a little bit, the goals and directions has definitely been clarified, and my goal is to finish the Alpha development this year to finally move to Beta. Just in case you don't remember, Alpha is for adding prototypes and experimental new content, and Beta is for refinement and adding story content. Another good result from the financial situation improvements was that my partner and co-developer can now come back to work on the game full-time, which is as perfect as it sounds.

Anyways, for Alpha, I want to wrap up all the prototypes and focus on the essential gameplay I have planned for the game. The progress has been plentiful over the years, with the design and evolution of the online functionality and the various farming gear, though accompanied with overscoping and burnouts. I mean, it's been fun, but if i were to do it again, I'd restrict myself even more to focus on the essentials. But this is the production result I have today and that's what I want to make use of.

For what it's worth, most of the fundamental systems are in the game already and basically just needs content such as story, farming produce variations and a greater gameplay challenge which is the intention of the Adventure mode area. So to finish Alpha, all I have to do is finish the remaining online features, finish the prototype for the adventuring mode challenge, and finish adding at least one synchronized lesson and see how it works in practice. Of course, that's not everything required to make a good game, but for the games' own good, I need to push things out. And be ready to adjust things. For example, a decision I made recently was that the game will have offline tokens, tweaking a fundamental game design assumption I had in the beginning.

For Beta, the plans became more concentrated. Story, Online, Foodraise, Adventure. All of these things have slowly gained an overarching meaning and point to them behind the scenes, so finding reasons or causations in the world is easier than ever. And as more and more story related things are added, the less I see the point of forced online mode aside from previewing things for funders - and even then, I'd imagine in the future that when the story is implemented enough, I'd place the unlocks behind story progression to motivate you to go through it, all in the name of immersion. And also, as we work together again, I have finally been able to teach her the inner workings to have a much, much easier time adding new items, equipments, objects, and such to the game.

So yeah, it has been slow and steady because I've been learning and doing a lot of fundamental basic game design and programming things, and the good news is that I'm soon done with all of that. I've been building up this foundations for many years; but as a result I know the game intimately. It's getting to Beta, and I'm confident the effort will have been worth it. Now I just need to get to work.

Purpose

What came to mind after all these years working is that this kind of immersion, this online flavored immersion, is the ultimate intention behind this entire project. It's not just a "What if Furries but seriously?", but a "What if this world with a furry theme was convincing enough that you could go online and make meaningful connections through its world?". Call it ambitious, but from my own experiences playing social games, this was the defining trait that was always missing from them.

And thus, it makes sense why I tend to call this design "Lore/World first". I prioritize worldbuilding, immersion, and accomodating the emotions over player retention and monetary gains. I prioritize having a genuine space and I'm willing to sacrifice personal comfort and money to do it. The only remaining question is about the resources - time, people, and effort. It hasn't always been the best used, but, well, what can I say? My heart was in the right place.

That was it. Thanks for your attention, and I'll see you in the Kemoverse.