Hey everyone, Fae here! What a bloody month (in some ways literally) May has been. A lot’s been happening behind the scenes, both with me and with the project, and yet we endure! I’ve got some great news coming up, but we’ve got update notes to deal with first. Let’s get into it!
V0.07.50 Update Notes
Day 7’s second part is now available to Patreon supporters! What do we have to look forward to here?
- Day 7 Part 2: Confront Lyda; some Raels may have a little more to get off their chest than others! Establish your situation aboard the Knightmare and, with a little help from your friends, plan to upend that situation and recover your freedom.
- Credits Update: As ever, the credits are now updated with the Patreon supporters for the project as of the night before the update went live. Thank you again to everyone who has and continues to support Void Dreaming!
- Bugfixes and Typo Corrections: While there’s been fewer and fewer typos and bugs to eradicate, the scale of Void Dreaming means I’ll never really be rid of them! Another day, another round of fixes to various little issues still lurking in the code. Nothing major to note, thankfully!
State of Affairs
I mentioned in the last transparency update that May, especially early May, was going to be a lot for me. And it was! Despite almost half of the month being eaten up by health concerns of various flavours and intensities, I’m content to say that I’ve managed to get enough done this week to make me… well, content. Not happy; I’d need a lot more done for that! Nothing to kick myself over, at the least, and we take those.
But before we get into that, let’s look at how things have changed this month for the project!
- Since the initial release, Void Dreaming’s various versions have been downloaded from Itch.io over 21k times now; whew! Interest in the project does seem to have surged somewhat this month, and I hope everyone who’s been checking it out has enjoyed!
- The project’s 5-star rating on Itch took a beating this month, but remains intact! We’re technically down to 4.86 due to that massive influx, but we caught some one star reviews in all of that (from accounts just made, which is… irritating) and it’s affected the overall rating a little. Unfortunate, but these things happen; can’t please everyone! Out of 389 total reviews though, a whopping 363 of them are five-star ratings! Glad to know that the majority of readers are really into this story!
- On the Patreon we’re back up again this month; updates will do that! Currently we’re sitting at a total of 305 paid subs to the project, with 44 at the higher Officer tier! That’s put the monthly Patreon income at AUD$2.26k at the moment. Once again (and not for the last time), thank you to all the Patreon supporters who help to ensure I have what I need to pay my artists!
- The numbers are up on the Discord, too! We’re sitting at 804 readers on the Discord now, and it’s actually been incredibly busy of late! It’s only going to get busier with these updates and all the chatter, and we’ve had some awesome fan art being shared there, too! If you’ve not checked it out yet, now is a wonderful time.
- And lastly, we have the Void Dreaming Bluesky page. We’re sitting at 1145 followers, ready to get info about updates with Void Dreaming, other cool projects in the space, fanart, and more!
Transparency - May 2026
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 June?
Writing and Programming
- DAY 8 IS DONE. The writing is done, the programming is done, and all that’s left of it is some assets that are missing. It’s a massive load off of my mind, but that doesn’t mean I get to stop. If anything, I now need to work harder; I’ve got stuck into Day 9 writing and it’s coming along much faster, though whether I can hit the pace I want to is going to remain to be seen. I can definitely hit the pace for the project’s release cadence though, so that at least fills me with confidence! I’ve also nearly finished the writing for the next Patreon-exclusive short story for next month; editing will begin soon, and then back in full to VN work.
- The testing team has been an amazing help this month as well, making sure that the 0.07.50 Patreon build is ready to rock and roll. They’re going to be a lot busier in the next few months, though; Day 8 is going to need a lot of work, so they’ll be getting stuck in a lot earlier than they normally would do. It’s going to be a big one.
Art Assets
- Rico’s finished up some key reference materials for Void Dreaming, and I intend to get him to work soon on some new background art that we’re going to need in the months to come. There’s a lot he’s done that you’re all yet to see, and I can’t wait to spring it all on you!
- Vallhound has managed to tear through a lot of work this month for Void Dreaming, including some big CGs. Unfortunately, his own health issues are putting up a little fight right now; we’ll talk about what that means for the project closer to the end of this blog post. He’s still going to be hard at work, but I’m not going to put him out when his body needs to heal.
Project Finances
- As mentioned earlier, the Patreon membership is up this month again and has pushed toward a new peak. I fully expect to see it go up again in the month to come; second part updates do seem to bring a lot of people back, and the Itch builds bring some new readers up and in as well! Still, this does mean that we’re looking at another pretty good month for the project; the funds on track for the next month are in line with what I need them to be so that I can secure specific and important assets down the line in the months to come, including the core sprite updates that I’m looking forward to. These won’t be replacements, but new sprites for expand the expressiveness of the cast. If the Patreon holds or grows, securing them should be well and truly in hand, and then I can move to the next big expense coming up. Bleh. If it does slip however, as mentioned last time, I’ll have to reevaluate said big expenses and what I can get done. We will see, but I’m optimistic!
June’s Goals
- Day 9 Part 2 complete, or as close as possible.
- Finish draft and editing for July short story update.
- Begin preparations for Day 8 testing.
Upcoming Main Updates:
Jul 4th: Short Story Tabula Rasa (Patreon Release)
Aug 1st: Day 8 - Inviolate Part 1 (Patreon Release)
Sep 5th: Day 7 - Covenant (Public Release), Day 8 Part 2 (Patreon Release)
Release Plan Status: Subject To Change*
Wow. That sounds ominous, but don’t panic! Let me explain.
Firstly, fear not. Void Dreaming isn’t going anywhere, and the current release plan is still something I endeavour to stick to. However, this wouldn’t be a transparency update if I wasn’t being transparent with you all about potential roadblocks coming up. We have one.
I mentioned above that our sprite and CG artist, Vallhound, is going through some health issues right now. While there’s nothing to worry about, he’s had to take a break from his art recently in order to recover. I don’t think any of the readership of Void Dreaming, or I, could possibly begrudge him that. I don’t think I’ve met, or even know of, any artist who works as hard, as fast, and at as high a level of quality as Vallhound. His work is inspirational to me, and I dearly hope that he’s aware of just how much his work is appreciated by you all as well. If not, I will most certainly be reminding him! Oh, and just for clarity, I’ve also made the offer to forward him the money for the upcoming sprite batch that I mentioned in advance, to help with expenses considering that without his art, Vall is also off work. At time of writing he’s thanked me for the offer and said it’s not necessary, but the offer is an open one.
This next bit here is the project-important stuff though, people.
The reason I’ve changed the release plan status above to “Subject To Change” is because I do not want to release Day 8 content without the key pieces of artwork that Vall is going to be providing for it. If for whatever reason Vall isn’t able to get it all done in time, I will be delaying the release of Day 8 Part 2 and suspending all Void Dreaming updates until such time as he can. This will include the Itch builds, to maintain the incentive to subscribe to the Patreon once the matter is resolved and regular updates resume.
The Patreon will continue to receive updates in the meantime! If I have sufficient warning that the release schedule will have to be suspended, I plan to have additional Void Dreaming short stories ready to go to cover the period of time necessary to ensure Vall is able to recover and can comfortably get back to his art; if you think I can’t tell more stories in this setting, you’re dead wrong! If I do not have enough time to prepare and implement alternative options for the Patreon though, I will be suspending payment collection on a month-by-month basis until either Vall is able to resume his art, or until I can produce a sufficient volume of work as to justify starting it back up again. It’d probably only wind up being a one month suspension because I write fast, but it’s worth putting out there.
While this all’s not the outcome I want, it is a potential outcome that must be accounted for. Thus, it’s also something that decency and my own code of ethics demands that I present as up front and early as possible to you all. By Vall’s own admission, nothing should be changing; the work that’s already in progress should still be finished in good time and well before it’s necessary. I, however, always plan for the worst case scenario and work back from there.
TL;DR: There may be some delays to Void Dreaming in three months’ time due to giving Vallhound more time to recover before getting to work on more project assets. Not guaranteed, but advising you all the same. No need for doom and gloom yet!
Anyway, that’s all still months away. For now, Day 8 is finally done on my end (and thank goodness), and Day 9 is well and truly underway. The rest of the year should be smooth sailing for the project if we can get over this irritating little hump, if not incredibly busy for me one way or another. I promise to keep everyone updated as best I can on the state of things as soon as I know anything, and I look forward to getting a lot more work done whether or not there winds up being a hitch in the release cadence. This project is important to me, but it’s not as important as ensuring that those involved in it are given the care and effort that they need to live.
For now though, there’s a lot to enjoy! Thanks everyone for reading Void Dreaming, and I hope you enjoy today’s update!
Until next time, stars guide you.
- Faora