Happy sort-of, possibly still Friday!

Writing has been going well, both Infinite Stars and the sealed-with-a-kiss jam entry. Most of my time this week has been focused on Infinite Stars, but with the jam deadline coming up next week, I'll shift some of my focus towards that. Our newest two writers have also started working on their respective projects (Project Syndicate and Draegan Herald, both of which have not been receiving the TLC they demand until now), so we'll have some more updates soon.

I also realised that an Infinite Stars release might be sooner than later due to how the story is structured. It was taking longer than usual, and looking into it, we've kind of 'over' written. We had planned a release point, and somehow, we overshot it. That means the original planned content is about 4/5ths done, AND the next release after that is also 2/3rds done. Usually, I would say meh, we're so close we might as well wrap up the entire episode, but it's been a while since the last release, so I'd rather return to the original planned release and then have a shorter dev cycle for the release after the next one to finish Episode IV.

I also have some fun artwork to share for sealed-with-a-kiss! We swapped some sprites around, and I can now show you the final version of the Captain:

The other crew members for the game are all done, and we even have our first-ever CG scene. I'm not a huge fan of CG scenes (I prefer theatre of the mind), but it's mandatory to qualify for the jam.

On the personal side, my partner is travelling overseas for work, and we're saying goodbye to each other this Sunday. It's only for a week, but it will feel like forever. It's the longest we've been apart in 10 years. I'll also be solo parenting for our little one during that time. I dread their inevitable tears from not understanding where my partner is, but we'll get through it.

On a more positive note, 2025 has started off great. I've been getting more work done (day job and Infinite Stars), and I feel pretty good and hopeful inside my bubble despite all the changes and uncertainty in the world right now.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, Patreon has been nagging me that I need to update our tier rewards and pricing, as we haven't done so in nearly 4 years. I'm working on that. I'm planning to introduce the new pricing structure (and tier rewards) from 1 March 2025. I hate inflation; I hate paying more for my basic necessities than I did last week or the week before that. I hate having to increase prices and being part of the problem, but the reality is I have to. We'll add a new tip tier at the same price as our current 'ensign' membership. Most tiers will see a $2-$3 increase, which is quite high (percentage-wise) on the lowest tiers and quite low (percentage-wise) on the higher tiers, especially if you divide it by 4 years to get the average annual increase, which we haven't done for the past 4 years, and I hope not to do again for at least another few years. It also means that you'll be seeing a short reminder about this every week until the increase does happen, as I don't want to blindside anyone.

That's it from me. Have a beautiful weekend, be safe, and try to remember that everyone you interact with is dealing with something, so be the catalyst for kindness.