I was going to add this to the post that came out when the game hit 2,000 followers, but I sort of felt like it was unnecessary and also just something I've sort of already said, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to talk about some things.

Long Hours has come a long way in its development, with the animatronic's models being redone, a few gameplay elements being changed/adjusted multiple times, and even to the point where the story has been totally changed for the game and the rest of the future games as well, and in addition to that, there's better human models in the game now.

Things have been really, really slow. Being a part of Fangame Direct in 2022 gave me a serious boost, and I finished all of the characters' AI (including animations) and polished up the office's visuals enough just for the trailer, right in time for the event's original October date before it was pushed back to November. The camera views weren't even done at all at that point, by the way, which should explain why they weren't really seen in that trailer. I'll forever be thankful for being a part of that event!

Regardless of how long this game has taken me to make, I'm happy with how it's been turning out. Looking at the older ideas and such just makes me happy with how much I've somehow managed to improve the same thing in so many little ways, and I probably wouldn't have done this at all if it weren't for you guys and how well-received The Awakening was. If I never had released The Awakening to the public, I probably would have cared less or even would have just stopped doing this game all together.

The main thing (aside from the occasional lack of motivation) that's been currently slowing this game's development down is that there's a lot of interesting and experimental things I'm working on for it with some pretty hard to come up with plans. I seriously want to see if I can get this stuff into the game, but I'm also learning a lot of limits with Blender's game engine at the same time. In turn, I'm trying to work around those limits to make it work right. It's been this way for about 5 months now.

I could just drop it all, finish up the game and make it about the size of The Awakening, and I know plenty of people would still very much enjoy it, but I do want to give this stuff a better chance. Every step I take, I feel like I'm getting a better understanding of what I need to do.

I could ask for help on things like modeling and such to make things easier, but I lack a proper vision a lot of the time (at least in my head), and also, I really don't want to feel like a bother. Everyone is busy with their own work, and I want to respect that.

Another big thing that comes into play with this game's development speed is that I work a really exhausting overnight shift, though I can say with proper time management and whenever I get on an actually healthy sleep schedule, things can go smoother.

More on a personal side that's another big reason (as of recently), the past few weeks have been a little rough for me. My cat's front right leg had been swelling up really bad, with quite a handful of trips to the vet, and then even after testing, the doctors couldn't find out what it even was, which is really weird. Hopefully they do further tests on that themselves.

His leg had to be amputated today to ease the pain and also to prevent anything from spreading further.

He's 13 years old, so, there's that too. I've been with him before I was even a teenager, and I'm an adult now. He's sort of like a little brother to me in some ways, and I've never met a cat as sweet as him. He's had a really, really good life so far, and I don't know where I would be without him.

This is an older picture of him I've shared previously here on Gamejolt.

Fingers crossed he'll do okay. He's all I really care about right now, and I hope you guys understand. I really wish I could get Long Hours out by this year, but going off how things are looking, that's not going to happen. Hopefully early next year though, but only time will tell!

I seriously, seriously appreciate your patience. Thank you all so much!