Status Update & Happy New Year!

Hi everyone! 

In this post, I'm going through some current matters and the status of the upcoming releases, and plans for the next year. I'm going through the different topics at a high level in this post and will delve deeper into relevant subjects in upcoming posts. 

What's with the Silence?

Before going into any of the topics, I'd like to apologize for ghosting and being largely out of contact for the past few weeks. To explain this briefly, I had accumulated a lot of emotional and mental stress over the course of the past year, while I should have downshifted a bit. 

I was on sick leave because of burnout and stress last February when I received the news of my father's death. At that time I was basically doing two jobs and burning the candle at both ends, so to say. In July I decided to quit my day job because your support allowed me to switch to making maps full-time. My intention was to downshift a bit, but instead, I did the opposite. 

I started working through my long backlog but at that time I was already exhausted. When this was coupled with some other personal stuff related to my late father and some difficulties with getting various projects finished, like the website update and Foundry module updates, I found myself again on the verge of burnout. As the saying goes, I was out of spoons. 

I pulled the emergency brake and took a break from everything. I focused on self-care for about two weeks, and after a little rest, I started going through my current situation and goals and made some hard decisions to reduce my workload and stress and to get back on track as soon as possible. My main goal was to establish a more healthy and sustainable way of working.

I know I should have informed you about this, but I was in a mental lockdown and had to collect my thoughts and make a proper plan for the future, before getting back to you. 

Now, I'm back. 

What about the Releases?

Maps & Assets

Unfortunately, I started working on this month's releases too late. I have one map ready for release, three maps underway, and a sci-fi bodega store assets halfway done. 

I will release these as they are done, as soon as possible. The first map pack coming by next Monday at the latest. 

Foundry Scenes & Modules

I started working on the updated scenes and modules, but after updating a batch of scenes I started noticing, that the way I was working was not going to be sustainable. The module size was getting too large per module and the module contents were hard to keep organized.  On top of everything Foundry VTT got a new stable version 9 release. 

The modules need to work for various purposes. Not only for Patreon. And for this reason, updating the modules is not as straightforward as one might think. (At least I did not expect this to be so challenging) 

I think I should have it figured out now and I can continue with the updates again. This will take some time, but will also result in a complete overhaul of the current scenes and modules. More about this soon in a separate post.

 Plans for 2022

I'll cover these briefly in this post and will follow up with more details soon. 

In 2022...

• ... I will increase my focus on map props, tiles, and modular maps. Starfinder fans will get a little extra bonus, as I intend to start going through the space ship frames and expansions, so provide a library of tiles and assets to build your own custom spaceship based on Starfinder's shipbuilding rules.  
• ... I will include a short mini-adventure or encounter in all map packs.
• ...I'm going to give more attention to Foundry VTT and there will be more variety for different tiers. 
• ...there will be a map gallery with links to Patreon for easier browsing. You can see a work-in-progress preview here. 

I'll return to you soon with more news and new map packs. 

Thank you for your amazing support. I'm very grateful for this. 

Happy New Year!

- Miska