Void Dreaming Blog XV - Patreon Release

Hey there! Fae here with the inaugural post here on the Patreon, and what an auspicious (if delayed) post it is!

The old blog posts, detailing a great deal of the design goals for the project along with a slew of worldbuilding posts, can be found on the Void Dreaming Itch.io page, among other places.

Last time we had a look at the art behind the story, and talked a bit about the Patreon and the release! Today… well, it’s here! Literally right here, in this very post! The public build is also available now on Itch for those who’ve not signed on to support this project, hopefully to bring more friendly faces to the stars. So let’s talk about this release and what schedule we’re looking at moving forward.

And stay tuned to the end for the Patreon build’s release notes!

Patronage Appreciated

If you’re reading this, it’s because you’ve supported Void Dreaming on Patreon. I am flattered, honoured, and grateful for that support!

Here on Patreon, the builds available will always be a little further ahead than the Itch page that houses the public builds. We’ll be going through more of that later on in this entry, but before we get there I’d like to explain what the release schedule is going to look like for both the public and Patreon builds.

Firstly, major updates will be taking place on the morning of the first Saturday (at least in my timezone; your mileage may vary) month on month, with the exception of this Patreon update right now. I couldn’t wait; I wanted it up a little early. I’m too excited!

So! Update day will hopefully be the morning of the first Saturday each month… at least according to my timezone. Get used to AEST, everyone! Of course, any bugs discovered and typos noted will be gratefully received; bugfix updates will be pushed out as a priority out of the normal schedule, and typos will be fixed for the next major update.

Void Dreaming will be operating on quarterly cycles for its major releases, so let’s use the upcoming quarter as an example!

Apr 5th: Day 3 - Wraiths Part 1 (Patreon Release)

May 3rd: Day 2 - Complications (Public Release), Day 3 Part 2 (Patreon Release)

Jun 7th: Short Story Integrity (Patreon Release)

Now, mind that most quarters won’t see so much VN work going up! The initial release quarter is packed to bursting, but future quarters are going to settle into a much more workable cadence for me and for my artists. We’ll talk about that a bit more a little after the release, and you’ll get to see the plan I have for the whole rest of the year (if with your support and the support of others I can do it!), why I feel it’s important I’m doing things the way they are, and what all you have to look forward to!

Discordant Voices

Feel like chatting with other fans of Void Dreaming? If you feel like chatting with other fans of Void Dreaming, the Discord is the place to be! You’ll be able to meet up with other readers to discuss your Raels, the path you’re taking through the story, who your favourite character is (and why it’s Bromm), report your bugs and typos so I can do even more work, and more yet besides! And you dear, ever-so-generous Patreon supporters even get access to exclusive sections of the Discord to chat about how your builds are better than the builds those public build plebs have access to! At least, you do if you've linked your Patreon and Discord accounts!

There’s also the project’s Bluesky page, freely available for all to see! If you’re interested in the latest news and updates about Void Dreaming, that’s where everyone can go to check it out. It’ll also be reskeeted on my personal Bluesky, so if you also want my random musings on various matters you could always just go there instead!

Justified and Ancient

I do want to take a moment to justify why I’m splitting up the releases the way that I am. It might feel a bit weird, given that I’ve got my writing well into Day 7 at the moment. Why would I make the Patreon releases only give those supporters a half day at a time? Why not give you more from the start?

Shit’s big, yo. That’s the reason.

No, really. That’s the reason. As mentioned in an earlier entry, this project adds hundreds of thousands of words of narrative and dialogue and thousands more in programming every in-story day. Some, much later in the project, I expect to be larger still and may require me to amend and slow down the release schedule even further, just to stay on top of it. This is the main justification for why the project will be releasing the way that it is. This is not a money grab; I’m just one writer, and I’m writing a frankly insane amount already. This was the quickest release schedule I could work with myself that wouldn’t either cost me my day job, or my will to live, and it probably still outpaces the project’s financial limitations.

Another justification is art assets. Void Dreaming has less art assets at its initial launch than I want. I want more! You want more! In the time I’ve had, Rico has managed to nail down the essential backgrounds, and Vall has other commitments and my funds are too limited for me to snag more sprites straight off the bat, which is to say nothing of additional CGs. Slowing the release like this allows me more time to make sure Rico’s got the backgrounds rolling out fast enough to hit new story beats, fill in gaps in old story elements, and prepare for upcoming content. If you saw the list of batches I had for him, you might freak out. I sure did!

In the end, I wanted to make sure that the people like you who are supporting the project are getting good updates every month, and I want the public builds when they come to be hefty. I want those who are willing to reach into their pockets to help make Void Dreaming a reality to feel like their cash is going toward making sure I can make this the best damn VN it can be, and that those who aren’t are still able to enjoy the story in big surges. Public releases that update bigger but slower and are always at least a full day behind the subscribers, and subscriber builds that give you more regular surges of story ahead of time feels like a good way to go about things.

Maintaining (Save) Integrity

One last thing about the releases! In my testing as I was writing this over the last year and a half-ish, I noticed that sometimes updated builds would break the existing ones. Saves wouldn’t line up right, values would break… all the good stuff. It’s all part and parcel of me not knowing what I’m actually doing and building a project held together by duct tape and twine. In order to minimize this however, I believe I found a solution that involved the separation of the story and programming into smaller files. I believe that breaking things up this way should, in theory, prevent saves from being broken on most build updates.

I must stress the MOST there the most.

I fully expect certain builds (Day 4 going from part 1 to part 2 comes to mind) may break for subscribers, and I’ll try to warn people fairly before that comes. That said, as confident as I am that I’ve included enough variables and preparation well ahead of time to prevent issues from arising, I’d like everyone to remember that I’m not a programmer and I’m just a silly little guy doing his silly little best.

To that end, a suggestion for all users! If you are saving your progress at the end of what content you can see and you’d like to carry that forward, please rewind the progress with the handy, dandy Back button by a couple of clicks from the To Be Continued message. If all goes according to plan, the next update should let you continue on from that point without any fuss! Should. Hopefully.

Guys, I’m really trying hard here.

Patreon Release Notes

And now, here it is! It’s what you’ve been waiting for! Available right now, this is what you can expect from the initial Patreon release of Void Dreaming with the Day 2 Build!

 - Start Rael’s journey from Yakeshi Station. Define his Origins, set his initial Skills, and watch Sam nearly get you killed.

 - Meet the crew of the Void Dreamer and give yourself a chance to earn some early approval from the various crewmembers.

 - Begin to define Rael’s sexuality… or lack thereof!

 - Ogle Mizz’s junk.

 - Make the most important choice of the story: Rael’s underwear preference.

 - Causal violation.

 - Join your first shift aboard the Void Dreamer and get a feel for the ship’s role.

 - Introduce yourself to the crew and share your history (and failures).

 - Choose a crewmember to get to know better, or just chill in your quarters with Obaa.

 - Shower. You stimky.

 - Explore the Skill system as Rael attends to an emergency.

 - Meet a mysterious new figure past the fringe.

 - Explore the Dreamer freely as you get to know your new guest, and the crew.

 - Build your Skills, the better to face the dangers of fringe space.

 - Maybe get an eyeful of more than you expect…

And that about covers it! I hope you enjoy the Day 1 build of Void Dreaming! If you’ve come here looking for more from Itch, welcome! I hope that the Day 2 build whets your appetite further and fills you with longing for the next update! If you didn’t come here from Itch… thank you so much for the support! I didn’t even have to tease you!

So what are you waiting for? Open that warpspace envelope, charge your causal anchor, and jump to fringe space now!

I can’t wait to see your Raels out there, charting their course. Thank you so much for supporting Void Dreaming!

Stars guide you,

 - Faora