1 00:00:01,600 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 1: Hello. So I wanted to release a quick, um, developer commentary, uh, just to talk 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:10,840 Speaker 1: about what I'm up to and what's coming up next. Uh, you may have noticed that there 3 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:15,980 Speaker 1: was no episode released, uh, last week. Uh, that's 'cause there's some, there's some 4 00:00:16,020 --> 00:00:20,600 Speaker 1: real crap going on in life right now. [laughs] You know, it's fairly painful and 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:25,420 Speaker 1: depressing, but, you know, that's part of life. Uh, but rest assured, it is coming. 6 00:00:25,700 --> 00:00:30,160 Speaker 1: Uh, working on it now. So I expect that this week's episode will be done, you know, 7 00:00:30,260 --> 00:00:35,860 Speaker 1: probably released by Friday, maybe midday Friday. That's the current plan anyway. So 8 00:00:35,940 --> 00:00:40,920 Speaker 1: that story is called Everhouse. Um, I'm not gonna go into any more detail. You'll 9 00:00:40,980 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 1: just have to listen to it. Um, so yeah, I wanna take this time to talk about, a 10 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:52,160 Speaker 1: little bit about what's coming up next. So we have four more stories in this 11 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:58,220 Speaker 1: short story format before we move on to a longer format where I take one story and 12 00:00:58,260 --> 00:01:03,360 Speaker 1: play it out all the way to the end. So roughly novella length, uh, for the stories. 13 00:01:03,420 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: So these stories will almost certainly be two from the 12 that you will have heard. 14 00:01:09,700 --> 00:01:14,620 Speaker 1: So by April, by the end of April, roughly the 28th is what I'm targeting, we will 15 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: have all 12 stories done, uh, and then I'll move on to picking one of them to sort 16 00:01:19,320 --> 00:01:24,480 Speaker 1: of flesh out and really polish. So yeah, that's what's coming up. So we've got four 17 00:01:24,540 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: more stories after this week's story. So those stories are Valaxis, 18 00:01:30,900 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: Soulbinder, Mortal Steel, and Imagiserum. Uh, 19 00:01:36,860 --> 00:01:40,820 Speaker 1: so they're all pretty cool. Uh, I wouldn't work on it unless I thought it was cool. 20 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:46,940 Speaker 1: Valaxis is a... So that'll be next week's story. That 21 00:01:47,100 --> 00:01:51,760 Speaker 1: is based on another idea I've had for a very long time. This is a more traditional 22 00:01:51,820 --> 00:01:56,500 Speaker 1: fantasy world. It's one of the more complex magic systems I have. Um, it's pretty 23 00:01:56,560 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: cool. Uh, we'll see where that goes. So that'll be fun. Uh, and then 24 00:02:02,060 --> 00:02:07,580 Speaker 1: Soulbinder is after Valaxis. It's got a very cool magic system as well. 25 00:02:08,180 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 1: Uh, again, all of this is pretty high magic, usually pretty hard magic systems, 26 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:16,820 Speaker 1: meaning that the magic rules make sense. It's not just wave your hand and something 27 00:02:16,860 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: happens. So Soulbinder is after Valaxis. Uh, that'll be, 28 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:28,360 Speaker 1: uh, a little more of a serious story. Again, it'll be a fantasy world. Um, 29 00:02:29,060 --> 00:02:34,320 Speaker 1: again, kinda targeting a sort of steampunk era world, right? Sort of early 30 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: industrial revolution, maybe slightly earlier than that in terms of time period. So 31 00:02:39,820 --> 00:02:45,460 Speaker 1: that'll be a, hopefully a touching story. That's the goal for that one. We'll 32 00:02:45,540 --> 00:02:51,380 Speaker 1: see. And then to do a complete 180, after Soulbinder, this'll be probably coming 33 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:56,660 Speaker 1: out, uh, April 22nd. Uh, so Soulbinder will be coming out halfway through April. 34 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:02,020 Speaker 1: Mortal Steel should be coming out the week after, uh, roughly April 22nd. Mortal 35 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:08,100 Speaker 1: Steel is the complete opposite. [laughs] It is a dumb, fun story. Again, this 36 00:03:08,140 --> 00:03:13,860 Speaker 1: is one I thought of a long time ago. Uh, to give a teaser for this one, it's 37 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:19,860 Speaker 1: robots versus demons, and that's literally the notes that inspired this story that I 38 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:23,920 Speaker 1: wrote in a notebook a long time ago. It's hard to get cooler than that. 39 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:29,420 Speaker 1: [laughs] So that'll be dumb fun, uh, and I'm gonna enjoy that. 40 00:03:30,220 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: It'll be a nice change of pace. And then wrapping up our 12-story session 41 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:41,540 Speaker 1: on April 28th is Imagiserum. Uh, this is one of... I intended to do this, 42 00:03:41,860 --> 00:03:45,260 Speaker 1: do this one pretty early on, but I kinda got stuck, uh, where I wanted to go with 43 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:49,580 Speaker 1: the story, so I'll have to figure it out by then. Uh, but Imagiserum is one of the 44 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:55,520 Speaker 1: more surreal worlds. Um, uh, I have to find a way to make it make 45 00:03:55,580 --> 00:04:00,700 Speaker 1: sense [laughs] but still be fun and exciting. Uh, so I'm sure I'll be able to 46 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: capture that or at least get close. So Imagiserum, uh, will be a little tricky. 47 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:12,500 Speaker 1: [laughs] So that'll round out our 12 stories. Uh, and yeah, we'll move on to a 48 00:04:12,540 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 1: longer format. I might take a quick break, um, maybe a week or two, releasing just a 49 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:21,060 Speaker 1: few developer commentaries about what I think makes a good story, what I've learned 50 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:26,060 Speaker 1: about sound design, what makes for a good audio story, that sort of stuff, uh, just 51 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:30,220 Speaker 1: to give me some time to, uh, you know, write ahead and plan what I'm doing. 52 00:04:30,220 --> 00:04:36,100 Speaker 1: [cat meows] Yes, I know, kitty. Okay. So that's what's coming up. 53 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 1: Uh, a little bit more in this developer commentary, and then we'll wrap it up. So 54 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:44,580 Speaker 1: those are the episodes that are coming up. Uh, the release schedule will be a little 55 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: messy. Uh, I have another trip coming up soon, uh, so I'll keep you posted, but 56 00:04:50,740 --> 00:04:56,200 Speaker 1: that's fine. It'll all be done. Uh, some of the things I'm struggling with right now 57 00:04:56,340 --> 00:05:01,900 Speaker 1: is, uh, finding voice actors. As you've noticed, every story is really just me. Uh, 58 00:05:01,980 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 1: and while I, I do intend to keep doing the narration for the foreseeable future, I 59 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:10,700 Speaker 1: really want voice actors for the actual characters for a number of reasons. I think 60 00:05:10,740 --> 00:05:16,460 Speaker 1: it's going to help the clarity. Uh, right now, because it's just me talking, it's 61 00:05:16,500 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 1: difficult to tell when a character's voice begins in dialogue and where the 62 00:05:20,700 --> 00:05:26,580 Speaker 1: narrator's voice ends. So I would love that distinction [laughs] with some, you 63 00:05:26,620 --> 00:05:32,160 Speaker 1: know, some real actors. Um, so I'm trying to find people. If I can, I'll start doing 64 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:37,100 Speaker 1: voice actors before the end of the 12 short stories. Uh, if I can't, it will 65 00:05:37,220 --> 00:05:42,040 Speaker 1: absolutely start, uh, when I do the long format stories. So we'll see if I can fit 66 00:05:42,100 --> 00:05:46,280 Speaker 1: that in. If anybody knows any voice actors or is anyone who's interested in 67 00:05:46,340 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 1: volunteering, if you have a decent mic setup, uh, please reach out to me. [laughs] 68 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:56,820 Speaker 1: Um, my email is stephen.schrimbeck@protonmail.com. It should be in the show notes or 69 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:02,240 Speaker 1: the About section of this podcast. The email's in there too. So yeah, I'd love some 70 00:06:02,280 --> 00:06:06,340 Speaker 1: help. Uh, yeah, the other thing I'm struggling with is, you know, just remaining 71 00:06:06,380 --> 00:06:11,820 Speaker 1: consistent with creation while life sort of derails around you. Fortunately, the 72 00:06:11,900 --> 00:06:17,600 Speaker 1: creation of art is really therapeutic. Just entering a flow state, chilling out, 73 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:22,440 Speaker 1: making something creative really does feel good, uh, really no matter where you are 74 00:06:22,500 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 1: in life. So fortunately, this is a bit of an escape for me. Uh, so yeah, that's the 75 00:06:26,840 --> 00:06:31,440 Speaker 1: other thing I'm struggling with, uh, but we'll get there, uh, one step at a time. So 76 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:36,920 Speaker 1: Everhouse, again, will be out later this week. Uh, there's feedback forms in every 77 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:40,480 Speaker 1: single episode show notes. If you just click a link, it's only three questions. I 78 00:06:40,500 --> 00:06:44,540 Speaker 1: would love your feedback. Even if your feedback is only to say, "This sucks, I hate 79 00:06:44,580 --> 00:06:49,000 Speaker 1: it," that would be cool. I would love to get that feedback. Maybe, you know, a 80 00:06:49,060 --> 00:06:54,700 Speaker 1: little more specific if at all possible, but hey, I'll take anything. So that's it. 81 00:06:54,840 --> 00:06:59,820 Speaker 1: I'm not gonna draw it out any further. Um, there we go. And I'll probably release 82 00:06:59,880 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: another developer commentary somewhere between, uh, maybe early April. 83 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:08,320 Speaker 1: Yeah. That's it. Peace out.