I've started noticing negative reviews claiming that the developer has abandoned the project. I have no idea how people come to such conclusions, but oh well.
The game is not just not abandoned—it is being developed around the clock. Since frequent and small updates turned out to be impossible, I ask for your patience. However, in return for the long wait, you will receive much more content than originally planned.
I have decided to release not only Scarlet Yar and its surrounding lands but also the winter mountains, Cold Yar, and even part of the Dark Forest. This includes a massive chunk of the story (over 60%) as well as a ton of additional quests.
Right now, I am in the process of polishing and refining the quests and their texts. My main goal is to send the texts for voice acting as soon as possible, but for that, I need to finalize the quests: finish those that are still incomplete, test the ones that are ready, and ensure that everything is in order with the texts and objectives. Often, during testing and development, I have to significantly change the text or the storyline—removing certain details or, on the contrary, adding new ones.
Voice acting is actually the main reason I can't release updates frequently. I need to send as much text as possible, but before doing that, I must be sure that it won’t change later. Because of this, I have to complete as many quests as possible before starting the voice-over process.
And since quest development is a very tedious and time-consuming process, it takes up most of my free time, which is why I can’t show much gameplay content. Initially, quests are created without final polish—temporary models are used, locations are incomplete, and these elements are only replaced at the very end, after sending the texts for voice acting. This is why I haven’t been showing much, even though the amount of content added to the game is enormous—from new quests to a complete overhaul of the combat system.
At this point, 85 quests have been written, of which 50 (including those in early access) have already been programmed and implemented into the game. For the next update, I need to program another 20–25 quests, followed by another batch of 20–25 for the next update. This will push the total quest count beyond 100. For comparison, Gothic 1 had around 100 quests, and those who played it know that this is quite a lot for a relatively small world.
Once the quests are complete, development will speed up significantly, and I will be able to showcase more content: screenshots, videos, combat system changes, new enemies, bosses, and more.