A letter from my heart, about this series, and everything:

Game

Cube's Dark Hours Reopened

That1Cube @That1Cube

16 hours ago

Hey everyone, how are you all doing?

I've been waiting to share something personal about Cube's Dark Hours Reopened, something that has been close to my heart as I've been developing it.

9 months ago, when Cube's Dark Hours was first released (the original CDH1), it was my first ever game, fully led by Youtube tutorials and whatever else. Before I even got to coding it, I had lots of fun ideas that I wanted to implement! However, once I got to the "coding" phase, and being led by tutorials, I realized that the final product would come out much different than what I imagined.

Some of you probably remember how Cube's Dark Hours was. As overwhelming it was for me to release my first ever game, it was also... a bit disappointing, to be honest. I left a lot of things out, such as mechanics, ideas, so on, all of them got cut due to my inexperience and complete reliability on tutorial videos.

It is known that the original CDH1 was way too easy, so easy a grandma could beat it. Truth be told, I was still figuring out how to make something that felt challenging, but still engaging. Some could say that I was still "learning the ropes" of game design, but besides the release being disappointing, I was so proud of what I had accomplished. Sadly, there was no hiding the truth, the original wasn't perfect, and I knew it wasn't, but I had to move on.

As time passed, I learned, grew, and made mistakes. Slowly but surely I started feeling confident in experimenting not just with drawing, but overall design, storytelling and a ton more stuff. Every game release gave me joy, every support gave me strength, and I would even feel ashamed in myself when bugs would get reported. Sure, I fixed them as quickly as possible, and I was happy to fix it, but there's no denying that I felt at fault about it. I'm not putting the blame on anyone, don't worry! I just felt ashamed in myself, fearing I had disappointed the audience!

Fast forward to the development of Cube's Dark Hours Reopened, I realized something. All those scrapped ideas, mechanics, and even assets I had to leave behind? They never left my mind. They never left my heart. They stayed with me. It's like having a favorite song from years ago suddenly repeating in your head!

When I started putting Reopened together, I wanted to give those ideas a second chance. I wanted to honor them. You may of may not notice some familiar features, and even features that nobody but me knew about, that you didn't see in the original! Well, they're back, but this time, they have new life. I couldn't be happier of how they turned out, but it's a bit surreal. It genuinely feels like I'm giving the original the chance, love and care it didn't get, but always deserved.

I also want to thank all of you for sticking with me. I know this game took a bit of time to get here, but that's because I wanted it to feel right, and I couldn't have gotten here without the lessons I've learned from all of you. Whether it was the community feedback, the videos I watched, the friends messing with me in discord VC, or the moments where I pushed myself to be better, it all led to this. Reopened is better because of you.

I think, for me, the thing I'm most proud of is that CDH1 Reopened is not just a technical upgrade, remake, reimagining; it's a reflection of my journey as a creator. Every idea, every mechanic, every challenge, it tells a story of how much I've learned, and how much I'm still learning. It's kind of beautiful in a way, and it genuinely makes me cry at night.

I don't deserve this, I don't deserve the attention, I don't deserve the small but loyal community, I don't deserve the support, I don't deserve this series, I don't deserve the love, care, and happiness of my friends, the audience, the people I look up to, I deserve none of it.

And yet, here I am.

Before this whole fan-game series, God has worked in me to bring it to completion. There were times things didn't go as planned, but God took every challenge and setback I faced and gave me peace, joy, happiness, confidence, safety. The Lord showed me so much, The Lord gave me so much, and I am genuinely thankful for everything. Now, there's no denying it, I made mistakes, I fell short on my faith many times, I felt ashamed at myself for disappointing God. However, throughout all of this, The Lord, through his love, mercy and grace, still continues to do all these amazing wonders not just for me, but for everyone. He even sent his one and only son Jesus Christ so that He could give his life up on the cross to save us, not because of obligation, but because of God's love, because of His son's love. And I am very thankful for that, genuinely.

I'm going to take this time to share some bible verses that hopefully may lift you all up:

Philippians 1:6 - “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Romans 8:28 - “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 - “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
Isaiah 43:19 - “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
Proverbs 16:3 - “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.”
Isaiah 41:10 - "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand"