It is time to enter another phase of development. Tinydark is mostly a solo dev operation. Me, Vael Victus, with an occasional helping hand from a friend or volunteer. Soon I'll become a father for the third time; as of writing, my daughter is expected in the coming days. Development will slow down considerably for a  while. See the roadmap for details.

Untitled Roleplaying Game (URPG)

The dream is alive and strong. We saw some big updates this year and I'm pleased with the playerbase's reception and engagement. I'm making something important, which is what I've sought to do since I started game dev in 2007.

I wish I could say open beta is coming in 2023, but it just won't be possible with my plans for Bean Grower and Black Crown. Everything on the roadmap will be chipped away at over the coming months, and then I'll pause for what I call The Slow Quarter.

The plan is still the same for URPG: what we're playing now is an inchoate world; I have some plans for persistence in open beta, but you'll have to start fresh. But we're at least 15 months away from anything like that. :} The beta will take place on an island, six races will be playable, and then when we're ready for release, decay will rapidly set in and make an island of ruins, and the main play continent will be where the final version takes place. Oh - I do want to find a name for the game in 2023.

The Slow Quarter

For the past four years, I have had an unwavering commitment to Tinydark, breaking for six weeks in early 2020 with my first daughter, and then a three-week break in February 2022. Otherwise I have been fitting development in wherever I can, and that usually comes at the cost of my personal free time and fitness. It's become clear that this is unsustainable and when I made the decision to delay Black Crown for another year, it came with the acceptance that no matter how much I burn myself, there is simply not enough time in the day.

Balancing:

• Three kids
• Lead developer at my 9-5
• Contracting on the side
• Personal fitness and sleep

Is going to leave me with even less time. I'll actually burn out and become bitter if I don't start caring for myself. So, I'll be taking some time to slow down and do some technical things that really should be done during this time, as well as catch up on the videogame backlog. I'm couchbound with the baby all November to catch up on the TV shows I've been neglecting...

Technically Speaking

I'll go into the technical details on my personal blog at some point, but I've largely been coding blind to errors, particularly ones in the user interface. This, plus my breakneck development speed shunning QA, have given me a reputation for making a lot of bugs. Yes it's an alpha, but we're also reaching our two-year anniversary soon. Alpha is no excuse for some of the errors I made. I need better systems in place, and that's what going to be happening.

Some parts of the code also need refactoring; it's been over three years since the initial refactor, and the aforementioned dev speed has sometimes meant "I'll make time for that soon" becomes "it's been months, I've really got to do that" and it still never gets done.

I'll close out by saying the volunteer effort has gone well so far, and it's great just having players in the engine making the actual game, no code required. I'm very appreciative of their efforts. And we're only a small group of people! I haven't marketed or really spread the word myself. Whether you're no longer active or still active today, I'm happy you signed up and checked out what I've been building for so long.

Until next post,
Vael