[~December News Post #2~]

What a crazy headache of a weekend! >.< If you aren't part of the Discord or read the mini updates in the past 2 days, don't worry! I'll briefly explain what's going on and get everyone up to speed and see about getting the next amount of content out for v0.20's series ideally before it's too busy with Christmas... *Checks calendar* ...Already coming this weekend into next week. ^^"

Let's dive into what happened this weekend and why we didn't get more content out as planned this past weekend.

[What do you get when it's Winter + no power to the house? You get a frozen Bridget!]

Forgive me, not really in a joking mood still as I'm trying to process how backwards things are here in the Midwest. >.<

This past weekend, we lost power suddenly and we've tripped our circuit breaker before while running heaters even carefully in recent weeks. Which results in just having to give it a moment and flip out switches on the breaker back to normal, be mindful not to overload things with only having important stuff plugged in or in use.

This time however... No matter how many times we messed with the circuit breaker, power just would not come back on.

In the middle of Winter, this isn't the time to have this happen naturally. So, with no other options at hand. We (My Brother, his gf and I) packed up what we really needed and our dogs, before heading over to our parents place to stay with them for the past few days. (Luckily)

During that time, I only had access to my phone, some spare clothes, toothbrush, etc. You get the idea... We didn't need to sit around in a already icy cold house and try undoing our computers or other devices just to bring them back in a few days later or however it would've panned out. <.< It was one of the last things on our mind to stress about in this situation.

So, let's speed up my rambling to make it shorter. ^^" Finally, first thing on Monday. We called up a electrician, but they wouldn't be able to get out to the house until Tuesday. (Still better than any later.) A bit later that same day on Monday, one of our Dad's friends threw out a random thought.

Asking if we've called the power company people to check from their end. Which wasn't even a thought in our heads, because our bill wasn't due and even if it was... They're not legally supposed to turn people off during Winter here in the Midwest. (As far as I've read.)

Anyways, we called the power company and they couldn't get a reading on our meter remotely and decided to send out a tech last night to the house. After waiting for a while, the tech called us and informed us that the main line leading to the house was burnt out. Alongside this, he asked if anyone had been digging around recently, because it seems that was the cause for things happening.

(This is when the backwards processes in the Midwest part kicks in.)

I'm no construction expert, so if you have some background. I'd love to understand more, because here in our city... They decide to do these city construction projects starting in November, mere 3-4 weeks before it's super cold out or could snow on them. In past years, they've redone sidewalks this late in the year, fixing up the roads, you get the idea.

I just assumed you'd expect this kind of stuff to take place during Spring or Summer, even into Fall. But starting something midway in November? <.< Maybe that's normal?

Either way, back to the main point. It dawned on us, that 2-3 weeks ago. They were out digging up and laying down new internet lines for a new service in the area, so one and one clicked together...

The tech let us know that they'd fix things last night with a temp fix to restore power in the mean time. But in another week or so, they have it on file, that they're coming back out to fix the main line and upgrade it as well to better handle our power usage. By this point, it was dark and we didn't want to head back to the house to check, then sort stuff out with heating the place up and bringing our dogs back, etc.

So, we waited until this morning and well... I wouldn't be able to fully type out all of this from my phone. ^^" Kind of telling that the tech and people at the power company managed to pull it off last night thankfully. Really can't thank them enough, more so the tech out in the dark and cold, even if the pay is well worth it. He doesn't know how grateful we are for him handling things in such a quick manner. <3

I've rambled on enough, but I'm tossing this out early in the morning to alert everyone in case the silence was worrying, knowing that we had plans to get stuff out this past weekend as well. >.<

[That's great news! Not to sound like that guy, but...]

More v0.20 content is coming! I can't promise anything today, since we've just got back to the house and we're keeping our fingers crossed that everything stays on with no other issues until the main line is fully replaced.

That doesn't mean I won't get some stuff done now that we've got power again of course! I'm looking to get some stuff done today, but we're trying to heat up the place again. Then, make a trip back to our parent's to pick up our dogs and sort out some normalcy in our day, but I'll be sorting out stuff and will keep everyone posted for new content.

I have to check with our editor and programmer about the content in question, since we have part of the art needed that we were waiting on. There was some fixing up on dialogue text on the script for this scene as well to pair up with the art, so it shouldn't be a huge undertaking... But with the bulk point of the holiday season being here. I can't give the green light on anything until I chat with them today and we see how things pan out, because they have plans and a personal life too. ^^"

End point. We'll get more content out soon! The planned content in question would leave us with the last 3 scenes to wrap up v0.20 completely and so... We hope to deliver that as well before January, but don't be surprised if the last 3 scenes aren't out until the first week of January.

(What could also happen. We could toss out one of those last 3 scenes before January, just to get anything out and keep things flowing along.)

Sorry if it seems a bit chaotic with our releases from November into December. It's been one heck of a send off to 2023 with everything going on from Patreon's purge situation, exams/finals, holiday season and still trying to deliver content in some fashion. ^^" It's not been easy, but hopefully with any content coming out again. It's a sign that we're sorting out the issues to leave behind us in 2023, with hitting 2024 with full force... Er, let's say steady force. XD

I think steady force and pacing on content releases on a monthly rate is what you can come to expect. Just understand that v0.20's episode 5 is our last big episode in the common route before character routes begin. This means the expectations on how "big" content is moving forward will be a bit more modest? But it should still feel like we're delivering the same quality content and improving things to keep the game development moving at a steady pace.

With that, I've rambled on much more than I was originally hoping... ^^" Thank you all for being more than patient with us! (Despite it feeling like life is trying to trip me at any chance given. :S )

~Messy Studios