Hello everyone, I hope this year has been treating you well! Here's a devblog on how the current Temptation's Ballad build is going, but first I'd like to make a quick update on my personal life.
Personal Life Update:
I've been struggling with ADHD for the better part of 5 years now, though I've never been formally diagnosed until recently. At first the symptoms were fairly mild and I thought I would be able to keep it in check with the usual methods. You know, reduce screen time, block all distractions during work hours, the pomodoro method, etc. Unfortunately my symptoms kept getting worse until it started negatively affecting all parts of my life, both social and in my art career.
I'm rather proud of the VN work I've managed to put out over the past few years, but most of it was done in very unhealthy cycles. Large swaths of unproductive time passed while I hated myself for being unable to function like a normal adult, followed by a frenzy of sleep-deprived days where I neglected my health to hit deadlines. As the years passed this just kept getting worse and worse. During this entire time, I kept beating myself up and felt like I wasn't trying hard enough. I'm sure some of you have noticed that I've been taking more and more time to push out updates, and for that, I'm sorry. I'm eternally grateful for everyone who continued to support me anyway.
After some talks with concerned friends, they encouraged me to finally get the help I needed. About a week and a half ago on Feb. 14th, I was officially diagnosed with ADHD and received medication for my symptoms.
The change in my life has been incredible. I finally had the focus to complete tasks during the day, and get restful sleep without feeling that I was wasting time. For the first time in years, I no longer feel like a ghost in my own body. In the mere week and a half since I started taking my medication, I've been vastly more productive and got more work done for my visual novels than I have for whole months. My passion for art and writing has come flooding back and I feel so empowered to continue working hard on Temptation's Ballad.
Now I'm just kicking myself for being stubborn and not seeking help earlier. Thank you all for your patience with me during these last few years, I'm so grateful! Going forward, I'm determined to push out more VN updates to you all in a timely matter and I finally feel like it's within my power. I'll work hard to continue earning your trust and support, thank you all so much! ;;w;;/
Temptation's Ballad Progress Report:
Alrighty, now that my ramblings are done, here's the status report on the next Temptation's Ballad build! I'm aiming to have the build ready for release sometime next week.
I'm currently working on 15 illustrations for the next update. I can't show any previews here since they're very spoilery, but they're all currently linearted and flat-colored and should be completed relatively soon. You can see the WIPs on the Discord's #sketch-dump-gallery channel, but mind the spoilers.
There's also 2 new character sprites and 1 new background in the works.
As for the writing, the update's currently hovering at around ~10,000 words, but I'm still in the editing stage so that may change quite a bit as I adjust the scenes.
Thank you all again for your patience with me these past few years! I'm very excited to finally be in the groove again and bring you more stories in Temptation's Ballad! ;w;/