G'day Scrappers! I hope you are all doing well
As announced on the DefectGaming Discord Server - I am making a News Post here to announce the future of Scrapping Simulator
Scrapping Simulator started it's Steam Journey in late 2020 and has been a non-stop grind of development, research, support etc, to get it to where it is today, prior to this grind it was just a hobby that I really enjoyed doing in my spare time.
Without getting too much into the meat and bones of it and trying to stay on topic of Scrapping Simulator - Toward the start of this year, I'd made an announcement that I needed to get Scrapping Simulator done and move on asap, as I could sense my mental state declining and things were looking pretty bleak, not so much for Scrapping Simulator, but more so for me personally.
After facing the inevitable mental breakdown a few weeks ago, shutting everything and everyone out and giving myself some time to reflect on my many bad decisions in life, I've come to the realisation that working on Scrapping Simulator day in, day out, while life around me is just falling apart and crumbling is not sustainable. The plans for Scrapping Simulator are going to be changing in order for me to have a sustainable life and even be able to create Games in the first place, because there is certainly no future for Scrapping Simulator if I become homeless or worse dead trying to chase this dream.
Announcing personal things, or even just being present for that matter in any online setting is a means to open up for scrutiny, despite a handful jumping ship moments after the Discord Announcement and some egotistical remarks and assumptions made to belittle me during my worse was a bit of a kick while I'm down, but I mean it's the internet after all what more can we expect, regardless I thank anyone that showed support in this incredibly tough time.
At this stage my idea toward the games development is to get it to a more sustainable state that has minimal bugs and all working current features rather than constantly trying to add more and more, such as fixing the Chem Station and other Main Game features, all to an acceptable working standard. As well as fixing the Comma Bug for Euro Players if possible (If not, Euro Regions will no longer be able to purchase Scrapping Simulator, as it's unplayable in most cases, until further diagnosing can be done).
By a 'Sustainable State' I mean that the game can stay in this state, where I can be less active for a bit and get my life in order and things will be okay enough for the game that I don't need to dedicate 12 hours a day toward it.
With the next Update of v0.38, I had already crammed a bunch of new Features and Bug Fixes into it before my breakdown and it has just been sitting in limbo since, but as for the planned Updates/Patches for v0.38 most are checked off and are ready for public release, however a few Bugs and Issues are still present that are delaying the release and I haven't yet had the motivation to open Unity since.
As for myself my plan is to spend Weekdays seeking Full-Time employment, going to the Gym, Getting out more, spending time with Friends and Family, working on improving my Mental State and enjoying life.
As for Scrapping Simulator my plan moving forward is to have Saturday as a 'Support Day' answering questions, giving support, responding to Bug Reports/Suggestions etc and having Sunday as a 'Dev Day' that will involve actual progression on Scrapping Simulators development until it reaches that 'Sustainable State'.
Once Scrapping Simulator reaches the 'Sustainable State', a Duplicate Build of it will be made, one being the 'Sustainable State' that will be available to the public which may receive the occasional bug fix if needed - And a Private Build that I will chip away at to reach v1.0 Full Release in a private manner, without the added need and stress of trying to maintain the integrity of Save Files each and every update, chasing Log Files when things go wrong, creating monthly Patch updates/Announcements and so on.
This is certainly not the end for Scrapping Simulator, either way I am going to finish it and get it to the goal I want it to be at regardless of what happens, just that the path to get there is a little scattered at the moment, nevertheless I've got to focus a bit more on myself and stop letting this whole Game Dev thing consume my life.
Updates and News Posts will be pretty sparse once the v0.38 Update and subsequent 'Sustainable State' Updates that follow come out, however if the Care and Want is there for it I may create some Sneak Peeks into the progress of the private v1.0 workings of development progression, to allow for some feedback and suggestions on the progress, though if there's no demand for it, then there is no need for me to waste time doing so.
I thank you all for your support and sticking around for Scrapping Simulator's development and hope to see as many possible on v1.0 Release Day
- Happy Scrapping!