Haldane

Progress report: v0.14

Added 2025-06-30 09:29:30 +0000 UTC

Hey everyone,

We're just over two weeks into development on Secret Dawn v0.14, so it's time for a report. Things are starting to click into place, and it's exciting to finally reach this part of the story.

I'm always looking for ways to improve various aspects of the game. As mentioned in the changelog for v0.13, the 3d lighting setup got improved. I'm very happy with the results, and new visuals are turning out great. Unfortunately, though, it's also making rendering processes more resource-intensive, taking its toll in terms of development time.

For the past several months, the development process has looked something like this:

1) Writing update arc, outlining narrative scenes
2) Designing mission mechanics, other game mechanics
3) Writing scenes
4) Rendering, animations, audio, mapmaking, sprites
5) Implementing missions and playtesting them, programming other game mechanics changes (Link, Memories, inventory, etc.)
6) Implementing narrative scenes, map interactions, etc.
7) Polishing scenes, bugfixing and playtesting the update for any remaining time

There is plenty of back-and-forth, adding visuals or rewriting dialogue as needed. Since rendering and animation help shape the scenes, I try to handle that early in the process. This time around, there have been more crashes and computer issues than usual, so I'm only about 50% through step 4 when I'd normally be almost done with it by now.

I've planned for setbacks and might be able to make up the lost time in the weeks ahead, but the release date is more uncertain than usual. I'm trying to make sure it will be more or less on schedule (mid July), but a delay is possible. If it gets delayed to July 26 or later, I'll pause billing for the month. Sorry I can't give a firmer date, but that's the nature of the process.

As always, thank you for your support! Super-fans can expect a collection of extra visuals from last month soon.

Best,
Haldane