Hi everybody. I hope you're all doing well. I wanted to post something here as it's the best way for me to reach out to all of you.
I wanted to briefly talk about the future of Summerland and it's progress moving forward. This game was a project I started for fun my senior year of high school, and that's what it continued to be all the way until completion. I did it almost entirely because I just really like to make games. Aside from that however, one of my main goals in making this was to cope with my own anxieties surrounding death and the inevitability and unknowns that come with it. Being able to box all of these big thoughts into a small, fictional world that was easy to digest really did help me come to terms with a lot of my world views. Obviously this isn't exactly what I think happens in death, but it just made everything seem a bit less scary.
I uploaded this game for free once I started college because I thought that maybe someone else out there may get the same comfort from playing it as I did making it. It was also just something that I was really proud of and wanted to share with people. And to all of you that have played the game, I sincerely thank you for taking the time to play through what I worked hard to create. For those of you who have donated to my one-man studio, I'm truly grateful.
With that said, I think I need to take a step back from working on Summerland. I've thrown myself entirely into making this game the best it can possibly be for all of you playing, but with that I've found myself having numerous sleepless nights, episodes of intense anxiety and panic, and it feels as though my mental health is currently at one of the lowest points it's been in a long time. I understand that the game has some issues, and I don't want any of you to think I've been ignoring the complaints. The simple fact is that I don't really know how to fix a lot of the problems you all are having. I understand that there are some technical and performance issues that have prevented some of you from enjoying Summerland, and for this, I am truly sorry. I'm not a professional developer, and I don't have the experience or know-how that I need to get the game in a state that is expected of me. It's all become incredibly overwhelming, and it almost feels as if the anxiety I was looking to curb by making this game is worse than it ever has been.
In addition to this, I've experienced attacks against me, not only as a game developer but as a person. While these have been very few and far between, it still hurts to know that some of you feel this way. For this reason, I also feel that it may be best for me to take a break from my socials that are directly linked to my game studio FYRE Games.
I do want to thank many of you again for the support of me and Summerland. It's been great interacting with a lot of you and I wish you all the best. It's just all becoming too much.
Don't worry though, I'm not going completely off the grid. I'm still going to be active on my personal instagram and tiktok. I'll also still be reading and responding to the emails you send. I just need to step away from this game for a bit. I'd like to spend some time working on other projects of mine and maybe jump into working on some more music as Auric Echoes (yes, I'm Auric Echoes). What can I say? I'm addicted to making things.
I do really hope you all understand my decision. I'm sorry if this comes as disappointing news to anybody, but it's something that I feel I have to do. At the end of the day, I'm still really freaking proud of Summerland. I think its an awesome game even in it's current version and I'm really happy with how my work paid off.
Please let me know if you have any questions or just want to reach out to say hi. I think I'm going to go for a walk. Take care everyone!
- Conner Rush
