Developer Log 11 - We're Back, Baby!

Greetings, passengers of Flight 172!

It has only been nine days since our last update regarding the system failure on my rendering rig, but I am thrilled to announce that we are officially back in business!

I am heading to the PC repair shop today to pick up the machine. According to the technicians, the entire issue stemmed from a motherboard and BIOS software crash rather than physical component failures. They were able to resolve it by performing a full motherboard and BIOS reset followed by a complete stress test. For those who are hardware gurus, that explains why the DRAM diagnostic light was triggered during the initial POST check.

Because no hardware or RAM replacements were needed, the shop only billed for their standard diagnostic fee, so that is VERY good news. This was a massive relief compared to the cost of buying new components in the current market.

A Note on Transparency

You might be wondering why I sounded the alarm so quickly last week. Combined with my limited hardware knowledge, when the diagnostic indicators pointed directly to memory failure, I wanted to be 100% transparent about what that could mean for our timeline. If the RAM had truly failed, replacing it would have stalled rendering work for months.

I am extremely relieved that the actual fix was simple, quick, and far less costly than anticipated.

This situation also highlighted a key area for improvement in how Patreon and SubscribeStar funds are allocated. Up until now, all project support has gone directly into commissioning custom code, purchasing 3D mods, and acquiring new assets. Going forward, I plan to set aside a dedicated "Rainy Day" buffer fund to ensure the project can easily cover unexpected hardware maintenance or emergency repairs without interrupting production.

Thank you all so much for your understanding, patience, and support while I sorted this out.

Now, back to the Security Gate!

Safe Travels, Grizzlebubs

Developer Log 10 - Oof Greeting, passengers of Flight 172.

Considering our last developer log was only two weeks ago, this is an unplanned and unfortunate update.

Over the past few weeks, my rendering rig has been giving me on-and-off Blue Screens of Death. It was concerning, but it had not completely stopped my work on Flight 172 until now. Late last night, when I went to start a work session, the machine refused to turn on entirely. No chimes and no BIOS screen, just the lonely whirring of the fans.

While I work in software development, hardware is definitely not my strong suit. After opening up the case to check the motherboards' Power-On Self-Test diagnostic lights, the POST indicators pointed to a DRAM failure. In hindsight, the RAM was likely degrading over those two weeks, triggering the periodic BSODs until it finally gave out.

Given the current prices of RAM, rendering work on Flight 172 is going to be on hold until I can afford a replacement set. Because of this pause in production, I will not be able to fulfill upcoming SubscribeStar rewards on schedule and will be pausing membership billing for the time being.

This situation thoroughly sucks, and I am really sorry for the delay this will inevitably cause.

Safe Travels, Grizzlebubs

Developer Log 09

Greeting Passengers of Flight 172!

Back on May 15th, I shared some mixed news regarding our production timeline: the original airport map simply did not meet the quality standards I want for this game. The great news is that after receiving our new, highly detailed map, I jumped straight into re-rendering all the early airport scenes.

As of today, the final re-renders are officially complete! We are now 100% caught up to where development stood before the map pivot.

Production Downtime

While waiting for the new map to arrive, time was far from wasted. Beyond the UI overhauls mentioned in our last update, I pushed ahead on off-site renders, including the full introduction scene for our loveably anxious Dani Roberts and the start of her journey within Flight 172!

Update Progress

Total Render Count: 330(+65) Total Animations: 15 (+2) Total Dialogue Word Count: 20,516 (+2,623) Total Text to Speech Words Spoken: 11,733 (+2,122)

You may notice the progress tracker has been simplified to a single "Overall" percentage rather than being split across several categories. This change is simply meant to streamline at-a-glance progress updates for everyone moving forward. And, let's be honest, those percentage numbers were mostly guesstimates anyway!

Refining the Opening Scenes

Our recent focus centered on rebuilding the sequence from the initial drop-off all the way through check-in using the upgraded environment.

Revisiting these scenes provided a great opportunity to apply new skills and polish details that were previously missed. Growth is a continuous goal for this project, and I hope the visual jump shines through in these before-and-after renders!

The upgrade also allowed for subtle narrative improvements. The original map only featured a single, basic check-in counter, whereas the new layout includes a dedicated information desk and multiple check-in lines. Adjusting the script to fit this layout allowed me to patch up a few minor plot holes that were previously forced by environment limitations.

Where do we go from here?

With the past fully caught up, we are heading straight into uncharted territory.

Next up is scene preparation for the Airport Security Gate. This is easily the largest and most complex sequence of the prologue, featuring four distinct narrative branches split across Grace, Charity, and Julia.

This section serves as a major test case for how branching path choices will be handled throughout the rest of Flight 172. I firmly believe in testing limits to see what works best for the project. Moving through this scene will help determine whether this level of multi-branching is sustainable, or if future choice trees need to be streamlined.

Thank you all for your continued patience and support while getting the foundation right. I am beyond excited to dive into brand-new content with you!

Safe Travels, Grizzlebubs