Cisco here with a dev update for August. And, er, July. First off, I'm experimenting at the moment with using [url=https://www.patreon.com/CiscoDonovan]Patreon[/url] as my main community hub. It's completely free - the idea is you Follow it to get updates and content from me. There are no backer benefits. I write about this a lot on Patreon itself but basically I'm trying to work out where my internet home is. Steam is the best place for Private Dick - but for other updates from me, including other games, it's not really appropriate. I also prefer to post concrete stuff rather than vagueposts on Steam, which is a major reason I don't post many devlogs or updates here. I'd rather just post releases. Anyway, this update is an edited version of what's available on the Patreon. And really I just want to assure my Steam followers that i'm still here, dev is ongoing, and everything is fine. But the unfortunate theme of this update is that development right now is slow. Writing, coding, marketing, art, voice, music, all have slowed down significantly. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42879931/752f28682304c504f820cd552aae94ea17f5cb5d.png[/img] [i]New social media art from Hygienic Cat [/i] Community management has been on my mind a lot lately. I've never really had a great internet home, but Twitter was at least my [i]favourite[/i] home. I've not quite broken the 1k followers threshold and growth has really stagnated. But since the Musk takeover my Twitter experience has gotten worse and worse. I now want no part of it. I've also been super busy with contracts. I've got a new game coming out soon which took more time than I expected, and my main work has kind of exploded in complexity and time. This usually isn't too much of a problem - even if I'm not working on the game, I can usually ensure my team of artists, voice talents and my composer have plenty to do. But lately I've been struggling to even hand out and review work, so the pipeline has taken a hit. I've also lost, temporarily, three of my key artists (arguably four actually). I've brought some new blood into the team, but it takes a while for them to get up to speed with the game's requirements and style. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42879931/3edcbcff566b048fc7abcc12632bcc7ced6549b0.png[/img] [i]Concept art for Mona, a new character[/i] It's not all bad news though! First off, while my release schedule is in freefall, there's no hesitation that there will be an Early Access release of Private Dick, and I'm sure it'll be in 2023. October is very achievable, although I make no commitment to that (content is not the only consideration here). Secondly, this week I have FINALLY, after months of wrestling with it, drafted out the ending of June's case (working title: Hard Knock Wife). I've been sweating on plot details for this for a long time and just haven't found the time, energy or mindset to get it sorted. But sorted it is - I feel like I've slain a dragon here. Also I've got loads of voiceover through, which I'm editing and plugging in now, with more work going out to actors soon. Plus I've got over 80 social media images from Hygienic Cat now, each of them a piece of art in its own right, and I'm excited to integrate them into the game. So onward we go. I'll try and post a short update here in September. If you want to hear more from me remember the [url=https://www.patreon.com/CiscoDonovan]Patreon[/url]! Cisco [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42879931/11e371a428d05daf395c66d8672997c70c00eb72.png[/img]