[Mini Blog Post + Project News]

It's been a while and I've got a lot to share, so let's get right into things. Starting with the project status and what's going on there, then into the blog post as that'll add more context behind everything, but that'll be longer than this. ^^"

Obviously the project has hit a brick wall and we've been working on development when possible, but I think being honest, we've bit off more than we can chew, when it comes to what amount of work was needed to overhaul and setup the common route (Episodes 1-5). 

I've mentioned it in the past, but we've got a 25+ page document that covers just the game's main story/lore history alone, that we've been adapting into the game in a better paced manner. We've always had these plans since early on, but we realize the pacing of events linked to the main story are too far and in-between. The path we were on, we'd be looking at the near mid-route episodes before the main story fully kicked into gear.. 

We've been adapting this better throughout Episodes 1-5, so that about the midway point of the game as routes begin, the first climax of the story hits, followed by the second portion of the story unfolding towards the ending. 

The pacing plays out much smoother, to where by the end of Episode 1, the events players walk away with is the core foundation of the mystery behind Pembroke Academy, we're not given all the answers right away, but it sets the stage for the mystery and unveiling more than rumors of a pink werewolf that roams the grounds at night..

In short, we've been hammering out a lot to do with the overarching story and laying out better methods to keep track of the new gameplay choices and paths players can lean into. Some of that gets pretty complex by Episode 5, so we've found a better method of keeping track of the variables and laying the groundwork set our path forward. 

We've been juggling around some ideas for how to handle new game content moving forward, and once we have Episode 1 out in full for supporters, we'll be leaning towards dropping smaller bite-sized game update/downloads continuing into Episode 2. (Expect at least 2-3 written scenes per update)

Our hope with doing it this way, is that it's more realistic with my personal schedule to keep content flowing consistently, without running into these periods of roadblocks slowing development down to a halt.

Regarding the next game's public and supporter download/updates. We've had some setbacks in the past 2 weeks, so we're a bit behind where I thought we would be and I'll get into why those setbacks happened in the blog further below. (Out of my control)

We're realistically looking at these updates for the game to be ready in November, but we'd like to get some early demos out before then and share how everything's coming along ahead, a bit more step by step during our process if possible. To make up for the brick wall in our path the past few months, we're going to provide Episode 1 in a manner that'd accelerated into phases.

Phase 1 - Demos leading up to the release, offered to active supporters for 5 days exclusively, followed by the previous demo being provided to the public / non-active supporters.

Phase 2 - Release of Episode 1 in full, offered to active supporters for 7 days exclusively, alongside the public having access to the first 3 scenes. After the 7 days of exclusiveness, the public will gain access to the next 2 scenes for free.

Phase 3 - Over the course of 2 weeks that follows, the public will have full access to Episode 1. (Roughly 3 weeks after it's first given to active supporters) At this time, we'd be offering demos for the content in Episode 2 for active supporters, keeping the balance between supporters and public access. 

We'd like to offer longtime supporters with bonuses as we head into 2027, but for now we hope the phases above sound fair enough as we get back into the race, and off our butts on the sideline. ^^"

We'll be doing two posts per week on Subscribestar & Twitter moving forward again, although plans for Miki's Monday's Q&A are still on hold, as we're figuring out a better method to handle those. 

Apologies for the lack of posts and general news for a while, sometimes life tests you and it spirals out of control. Which leads us into the blog post. 
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Where do I even begin? I should start by explaining that the park I, and my parents live in (Separate places) is a half RV park and mostly mobile homes with a enclosed lanai attached. It's not a bad park with the community, but the company that bought the park out in recent years is known throughout the US for other RV parks and lawsuits, etc.

In the past, management would get on our case at my parent's place for the tiniest thing. One too many outdoor chairs around your outdoor table? That's a complaint, old shed that's been there untouched for the past 20 years and is suddenly a problem? Yeah, that sort of stuff.. 

It's technically their job, but there's a lot of selective favoritism floating around the park, where the official rules state, "No more than 2 sheds per unit." and yet, when they demand that my parents have to tear one of their two sheds down and they claim its being applied to everyone else in the park, and still months later, it still looks like only my parent's lost a extra shed..

Yeah, it smells like bullshit, and they've done this before with other things and sadly they've been targeting me lately. A few months back, the park left a letter at my door with 7 days to cure certain issues they saw with my lot, some were fair enough and others just felt like we were looking at two completely different units.. Because I couldn't find the magically hidden overgrowth of weeds around my unit.. ^^"

This has been a on-going battle, and I've been trying to gather anything to possibly get a investigation started on the park if there really is favoritism at play and unfair treatment going around, there's people and laws in place against that and I don't have high hopes with how corrupt things are.. But its worth a shot, even more if we're at risk of being kicked out with no backup plan until late next year.

The last time I had a letter was 2-3 months ago, and I did what was asked of us at that point, took photos and kept the letter aside with other stuff. Then nearly two weeks ago, they left another letter at my door, similar demands as last time that need cured on the lot within 7 days, or risk eviction notice of 30 days..

My main worry now, is that in the letter it states if they send a letter out again from now until a year from now for similar issues. They can simply skip the curing process, and just hand us a eviction notice to sell our place in 30 days (impossible) or pay thousands to get it moved to land that also doesn't exist, so they're really saying.. Lose your place, any investment, etc.

The lady in charge of management in the park is the core issue and I honestly suspect with them tearing out a ton of mobile home units in the past few months, along with overhearing two ladies discussing plans to get more ripped out by next Spring.. I fully believe the company that bought the park is looking to convert it fully into an RV only park.

It's the only thing that makes logical sense and aligns with everything else going on, they're selectively picking on people with these letters and once they have enough history on them for literately anything the lady deems out of place.. They can jump instantly to eviction notice, after the place doesn't sell in 30 days, the park claims the rights and soon after that, they tear the place apart and fill the lot with gravel so it's converted for RV's just like that.

We've seen it happen with a Brother and Sister duo in the park, their two places they had were torn down despite being really well maintained and not what you'd expect when you hear "mobile home" because there's some really fancy work put into a lot of these.. 

With the recent letter, I told my roommate I was done with this BS and if they're going to toss a letter at us every 3 months on the dot for overly picky stuff, simply to kick people out of the park and convert things into an RV park.. Then, I'm not giving her a reason to ever reasonably give me a letter while we're still here in the park for another year at most. Keep her off our back's entirely..

Weeds need cleared? Plants and excess pottery/plants hanging around outside? Say no more! All of it's been cut down to the root and all the greenery is gone. 2-3 outdoor decor items are "clutter"? No problem! We've bought those indoors, there's no yard decor, no greenery, it's very clean cut and boring looking. Paint touch-ups? I inspected our place multiple times and we must be on two different planes of existence, because outside of a very subtle tiny spot I saw that was chipping paint, mostly blocked by a tree in the way.. There's nothing even remotely needed to be painted.

The list goes on, and I basically want absolutely zero reason for a letter to appear on my door again while we're still in the park for a year. If they pester us with another letter in 3 months from now, and it has anything to do with what's listed in the previous ones and there's nothing that really needs done.. (Or they skip the next letter, straight into a eviction one) Then, I have photo proof of how my place looked in the past year, previous letters and demands, etc.

Ideally, I just want to be left alone and I think that's the motto for many people, especially when your "home" doesn't feel like home anymore. It's really sad to see how in such a short period of time, this park went from easygoing and everyone helping each other out to feeling more uptight, private and shut-off from each other. (Granted its the off-season, with the active season now starting in the coming weeks.)

Still, many people who have lived here for decades are trying to sell their places now, rent them out, get anything out of their investments and leave before it all crumbles. The sad part is how many places were up for sale nearly 2 years ago when we first moved in, many of those are still on the market unsold and the number of new listings in the park just keeps rising..

I'd be more shocked if we're still in this park a year from now today, because the rate of things going on here just seems full pedal to the metal for them and their plans.. 

Our plan right now is up in the air a bit, but we're possibly looking to at least put my place up for rent while trying to sell it. (Move back in with my parents awkwardly) Then, later do the same for their place if possible, put a down payment on a house nearby. (Ideally no HOA agreements) And you'd think the park suffers from HOA issues based on what I've mentioned, but as far as I'm aware.. We're not in a HOA zone, it's just management being sneaky and everything.

If all goes to rough plan, my parents plan on getting a house and putting my name down on it with them, since ideally that'd be their real retirement home and later I'd have ownership to decide what to do at that point in life. They're looking for a 3 bedroom, so if my roommate wants to stay here long-term or even visit for a month here and there, she can still have her own room, etc. 

That's the main issues in the past months, where the park has been relentless and trying to juggle helping my parents, getting day to day things done, chores, etc. Often, I'm lucky when I get more than 2 hours at my computer to sit down, settle on the sofa before bed, and so on. >.< 

There was also electrical issues with the place a while back, about a month or so ago.. Not as important, but just more costs sunk into this place that's on rocky waters as it is.. Basically the short of my electrical issues is that randomly one night, power went out in the lanai and turning lights on caused them to blow instantly, the ceiling fan speeding at double the speed, etc. (Was a open neutral issue)

The guy who came to fix the issue had to replace a very old J box that was no longer the original guts and its a surprise the thing hasn't combusted.. $750 down the drain to get that J box replaced entirely with a solution that should last a year or so, ideally with one inspection next year to be safe.. But the original J box didn't even have outdoor rated outlets for the main power traveling into the home.. Like, I'm not a expert with electrical work.. But even I'm aware that outdoor rated outlets exist for a reason. (Especially in a high humid and wet climate)

Honestly a investigation on the park would probably do everyone some good, because I'm afraid of what other oddities the park allows to exist. (Their maintenance workers normally do light repairs on things, or old timers with skills.) Just never know if there's another 2-3 decade old J box situation just laying around in the park or worse issues that I'd imagine falls on the park's duties to maintain.

(Even more when past lawsuits in other park grounds the company owns were for similar issues and fines, etc.)

I could go on and on, but it's just been stressful lately with juggling a lot of things at once, and simply not enough time in a day to realistically get everything done. I'd like to stay hopeful it'd be quiet in the park for me and my parents after this, but I'm sure they'll find other ways to pester people. I'm curious how the snowbirds react, or if the park even attempts to go after any of them in the coming months, or if they bend the rules during the active season. (Including bending the rules against burn ban periods, security guy being told by upper management not to pester some snowbirds who had a active fire going during burn bans..)

Just really insanity lately and I can only hope for some peace from it all for a while, I'd much rather get lost in my writing and project work than what's going on in the park, etc. :S