Progress Report 2024.05.28: Small Content Update

Hi all, 

I hope you have all had a fantastic month! 

To close out May, I am releasing a small update to the alpha build. This is not exactly what I wanted to release this month (as per usually I am overestimating what I want to get done; feeling optimistic about the direction does not necessarily match up with what is actually possible). I am still working on finishing the additional material, but since it is the end of the month I wanted to release what I have. 

The next update is extremely short—just one relatively linear scene with little variation in choice. The Playtesters are receiving this update at the same time, so it has not been thoroughly tested and you may encounter more continuity/grammar/spelling errors than usual. 

This update is a bit of a test run of how I do updates. For pretty much all of Wayfarer’s existence, I’ve been focused on updating slowly, but in mostly finished chunks so there is a lot to dig into. But this does mean that I typically miss my deadlines and it takes much longer for updates and patches to happen. I am always working on the game, but I worry that it doesn’t necessarily appear that way because there are such long gaps between updates. It takes a lot of work and time to create a game like this; coding the Episode 3 update last year took about 2 and a half months of work alone because it was over 300,000 words. 

When I have polled my patrons in the past, the results have always favoured fewer but larger updates. And I think that system does work and I have been happy with it, but I also dislike missing deadlines or feeling like I’m not progressing. I want to give this a try—it may end up being that I create more work for myself if I have to go back and edit things out, but on the other hand it could also mean that I feel like I am having forward progression. I also think that stopping to code sections every few weeks means that I don’t forget how to code and spend time re-learning it. That was a struggle with the April update since it had been months since I had last coded and I had to re-learn many of my systems. 

I can’t say whether it will be feasible to have something new every month (as I have never tried this), but it is something I want to try, even if it means updates are piecemeal.

If you have access to the alpha build or are considering upgrading your tier:
A reminder that the password changes on the 1st of the month. 

Other Updates 

On a more serious note, I would like to reiterate my stance regarding pirated and modded versions of Wayfarer, as well as addressing some issues that have come up regarding AI: 

Pirated & Leaked Copies of the Alpha Build

Distributing, re-uploading, and/or sharing Wayfarer’s password, alpha build, and other Patreon-only files is expressly prohibited. Modding is the game is not allowed as this fundamentally against the spirit of the game, and risks breaking it and making it unplayable.

AI

No AI training. Using Wayfarer or any of my written work to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. I do not give my permission for any of Wayfarer’s writing or characters to be used as a basis in the creation of interactive bots or custom scenarios. 

If you have any questions, please comment below. 

Thank you all so much for your support. 💖