Q2 Check-In

So long time no chat, Patrons! Just wanted to check in and give you all a look at what I'm up to right now since it's been a bit of a quiet time for BTA recently.

Basically, June was mostly a wash. I had a week-long trip at the start and then I had Origins and the BTA 4-year anniversary last week. Between those was a lot of planning and experimenting with what I want to be doing going forward. Additionally, I've been throwing time into my podcast series, Radio Free Butte Hold, that I'm running over on YouTube (link right here: https://www.youtube.com/@realbloodydoves) which has been eating into BTA dev time. I'm also playing around with a few new ideas, including BTA-themed merch and a BTA-themed tabletop-style Technical Readout, which is also eating into my days. Finally, I've got a lot of personal stress at home right now which is also wearing at my willpower to work on BTA. That's all quite dire sounding but don't be worried. I've got more ideas for BTA and want to get another patch out sooner than later, I'm not done with modding, not by a long shot. Just wanted to give y'all a view on what's been going on behind the scenes and why BTA has been a little quieter.

Going forward, you can expect to see BTA/BD-themed merch (not sure which yet, possibly both?) in the semi-near future. You can also expect that Technical Readout this year sometime. The podcast will be continuing on as well since I'm both enjoying making it and folks seem to be enjoying listening to it. I want to explore bringing the podcast to different platforms as well but am not quite sure how to do that. It's on the list to look into.

As for BTA proper, I do have some plans for that. We have the major Periphery Tech Mechs update coming (a solid hundred+ new mechs with the new Periphery tech as well as our recent Periphery Tech contest). I have plans for a pair of new late-timeline factions (the Fronc Reaches and the Calderon Protectorate) to make an appearance. I want to come back to the Sanctuary Worlds and have them do more things around the Periphery, maybe stir up trouble with the Taurians a bit more, that's always fun. I also want to make another mech or two for the Sanctuary Worlds, there's a few models left in the CAB I can make use of I think to expand their rosters a little further. Finally I have some larger plans for another expansion to the Mechbay. Patch v16.0's major Mechbay overhaul really opened up some new options for me to explore and I'd like to dig into those more seriously. One idea isa generic "quirk" slot for quirks not tied to equipment such as the Spider's No Ejection quirk. Another one is a special mech "capacity" for superweapons like the Railgun that require both a hardpoint *and* a capacity amount (this would let me further differentiate chassis and variants, something I am a huge fan of, and would give players something new to chase after to get those superweapons into play).

That's what I got for you today, folks. Just a view behind the curtain and a look at what I'm up to. I'm still alive, promise! Also, keep an eye out for a second post from me here soon talking about Radio Free Butte Hold a little more and how you can help me with it.

Have a good one folks and as always, thanks for the support! Y'all help keep me doing this and I appreciate it more than you can know.

BD