Hey everyone!
I have an update to share: I'm currently putting development for Hear The Bell Toll on hold until my other game Starvester releases. Originally, the plan was to release HTBT late last year, but the demo build wasn't good enough to participate in the October Next Fest, so we pushed it to enter the February Next Fest instead. However, despite multiple updates and months of work, the reception of the game hasn't changed. It has some fundamental problems that I don't think I can currently work through, and I don't feel good about releasing a game that is not set up for a fair shot.
Starvester is still on track (still not locking in the exact date until very close to release!). It's also significantly more anticipated and well received than HTBT, so I feel like I should focus on it and make it the best it possibly can be for now.
So, now what? Well it's actually all good news. Thankfully I can survive even with putting HTBT on hold for now. Pretty Soon have been super supportive of the process and together, we have decided to void our publishing arrangement for HTBT. This allows me to again do anything I want with the game's IP, assets and code, and release it on my terms! So my plan is: After taking a couple of weeks break after Starvester is wrapped up, I will try prototyping and putting together a new demo (maybe another incremental?) using the HTBT assets and code! If you have any ideas about it, please lmk :)
Anyways, a bit unfortunate, but I guess that's how it goes in game dev sometimes. I definitely think this is the right decision to make, and I feel a lot less stressed and more motivated after putting my focus fully on Starvester. Speaking of which, there's some very exciting news coming tomorrow so be on the look out for that (wishlist Starvester and join the Discord to stay up to date!)
See you all soon,
- Shaun (dev)