Hey, everyone! Fae here, For our latest updates to Void Dreaming! While this month is a good one for the Patrons as they start out on Day 6, it’s also a milestone for the Itch build as we unveil a new feature for the VN in the form of SFW Mode! That’s right, you too will soon be able to enjoy Void Dreaming without Mizz’s junk hanging out, which should make streaming and Youtube videos much easier for people to make.
But we’ll get into that later. Let’s start off, as ever, with what’s new!
V0.06.00 Update Notes
It’s a smaller one like Day 5 started out with, but there’s a lot here to digest before the rest of the Day comes in a month’s time. And hey, it’s a short month too! You don’t have long to wait!
- Day 6 Part 1: Attend your shift - and maybe deal with the consequences you may have inflicted upon yourself yesterday - aboard the Void Dreamer. Work with Anwill to try and figure out just exactly what happened on his breakneck flight out to the fringe. Dive a little deeper into your own past than you’re comfortable with!
- SFW Mode: New options at the start of a read-through, either with the prologue or Quick Start, now give you the chance to select if you’d like to play in SFW Mode. Censor Mizz’s junk, experience the narrative satisfaction of romance scenes with tasteful fades to black that won’t make bystanders wonder how much of a freak you are, and otherwise provide yourself a work-safe (as well as stream- and Youtube-safe!) way to read and enjoy Void Dreaming! But fear not: if you’re interested in the nitty-gritty (or is it sticky-slippery?) naughtiness of the VN, a new option in the Preferences screen lets you toggle what mode you’d prefer on the fly. Sprites should update instantly, text may require a rewind.
- Background Additions: Specific backgrounds for a Bromm and several Caleia CGs have now been added!
- Credits Update: The credits for Void Dreaming are updated for this build as of the night before this update went live. Thank you once again to everyone who has rallied behind the project, especially this month. Your contributions all go directly into funding Void Dreaming, not my pocket, and I couldn’t do any of this without you all!
- Bugfixes and Typo Corrections: A few more bugs needed squishing, and the usual couple of typos slipped through as ever. The new testing procedures are working out well though, and should help this only become less obtrusive as we move forward.
Be warned that the SFW Mode toggle isn't persistent yet; I'm still working out some kinks with it, so you'll need to remember to toggle it whenever you load your safe to be sure it stays where you want it. It will at present default to SFW Mode being off, so if you really need to conceal Mizz's (lack of) shame, just remember to hit it in Preferences when you start up!
State of Affairs
January can eat my entire arse. Seriously, this month has been an absolute nightmare for me in general, but it’s also been a month where I’ve got a lot done. My mood’s swung wildly, between the project being well received, then pirated, then the outpouring of support, then frustration with progress, then a breakthrough on a long-term problem… it’s been a-fucking-lot.
But through it all, what’s changed in the last month? A lot, and mostly for the better for the project!
- Since the initial release, Void Dreaming’s various versions have been downloaded from Itch.io over 17.1k times now. The updates for typos and lingering bugs has definitely helped that number, as did, surprisingly, the distribution I didn’t ask for or want. That people are still seeking Void Dreaming out is wonderful!
- The project’s 5-star rating on Itch holds again! It’s still technically a 4.9 (4.91, thanks to new readers with mixed feelings!) the 324 total reviews include 308 5-star ratings. A lot more people this month have also written out reviews in favour of Void Dreaming; thank you so much to everyone who took the time and effort to do so! It really does help!
- I was scared about the Patreon support for Void Dreaming this month, but so many of you have turned up to show your support after the piracy situation that you turned it right around. We’re even up to 288 active subs now, and 34 of those subs are subbed at the higher Officer tier to better help Void Dreaming out. January was looking to be a downer month, but you’ve all rallied far more than I could have ever hoped for. From the bottom of my heart, as ever, thank you so much for helping support this project!
- On the Discord, we’re also now up to an almost overwhelming 667 members there. Such a massive jump can only be because of Void Dreaming being spread wider, and I’m always glad to have new people showing up to chat with the community there about the project, or whatever else is on their mind!
- And finally, we have the Void Dreaming Bluesky page, where we’re now up to 1069 followers! I look forward to having a lot more to share about the project there in the months to come, so I do hope you’ll follow along there for any news about what’s on the way for Void Dreaming!
Transparency - January 2025
It’s time to give the monthly transparency update! It’s the start of a whole new month, so where are we at now that we’re getting into February?
Writing and Programming
- I have worked my arse off this month, despite everything around me doing its level best to go to shit. Significant Day 8 progress has been completed, and I actually feel almost on track to be done with it on the schedule I’ve set for myself more recently. I’m still not confident enough to lock it in with all of you, but if everything goes well I should be able to have Day 8 done but for minor tweaking by the end of the month to come. And, of course, there’s the breakthrough I had regarding the SFW Mode toggle; getting that sorted out came as a complete surprise, and I’m thrilled I was able to buckle down and get it implemented. It literally took me a day of doing nothing but torturing myself, but it’s done!
- Bugfixing has been minimized as a result of a much more robust testing and beta process. Thanks to not only my existing testers but also the two new members of the team, snagging most typos and catching a lot more bugs than we ever have before. The few that snuck through have been crushed with extreme prejudice, and I’m confident moving forward in the efficacy of the test group!
Art Assets
- Rico’s had a lot to do this last month, and he’s been getting stuck into a lot of the backgrounds for upcoming Days. For Patrons who have noticed a couple of missing backgrounds, those should be in place no later than the 0.06.50 update coming this time next month. Good stuff!
- Vallhound has also been set to work, and there’s a lot of really, really cool CG and spritework that’s in queue now. Get used to hearing that this year; I’m going to run this poor boy ragged.
Project Finances
- I was terrified that the Patreon would go badly this month, and for a long while it seemed like it was going to do just that. But with news of the pirated versions of Void Dreaming doing the rounds, I have been utterly, completely astounded and astonished in all the best ways at the generosity of the readership. The Patreon arrested the loss of numbers that it was seeing, and has risen to a record high of 280 subs that’s brought in just over AUD$2k. All of this means that the project continues to go strong, with enough money to meet my goals for the year. More growth will ensure I can do more with the project, but that so many people have come together to support the project this month makes me unwilling to dare ask for anything more. You’ve all been so wonderful, and I hope that I can continue to justify your confidence and support for Void Dreaming. Thank you so, so much!
February’s Goals
- Conclude Day 8 writing and core programming.
- Coordinate testing of Day 6 Part 2 beta build for Mar release and fix any discovered bugs and typos.
- If time permits, begin the writing for April’s short story release.
Upcoming Main Updates:
Mar 7th: Day 5 - Mendacity (Public Release), Day 6 Part 2 (Patreon Release)
Apr 4th: Short Story Kindling (Patreon Release)
May 2nd: Day 7 - Covenant Part 1 (Patreon Release)
Release Plan Status: On Target*
As much as I’d love to kick that asterisk away, it will linger for probably all of 2026 at this rate. Even if I get Day 8 done by my current schedule, I’m going to have to work damn hard all year long to get things back to where I want them to be. Fortunately, I think I’m completely capable of pulling that off. We’re still months ahead of where we need to be for releases in terms of writing and programming; Day 7 is writing and programming complete and is just waiting for art assets to be ready to go, and once Day 8 topples I’ll have the much easier Days 9, 10, 11 and 12 to worry about. That’s a lot of work, but it’s not going to be anywhere near as hard as Day 8.
So despite everything this last month, my confidence is up. The Patreon support has been positively buoyant when I needed it the most, the reception of the wider readership has been heartwarming when I felt myself fading, and my drive to make certain that Void Dreaming is as good as it can possibly be is not only reinvigorated, but supercharged. Part of that is my own enthusiasm and masochism, but so much more of that is you all cheering the project on. Your enthusiasm for Void Dreaming is everything to me. Thank you so much for sharing it.
So while 2026 hasn’t got off to a great start for me yet, I’m optimistic that the only way to go is up. We’re on a good trajectory, and I look forward to not only meeting my goals with this project, but exceeding them dramatically. There’s a lot to get done though, so I’m going to go and get back to it now!
Until next time, stars guide you.
- Faora