Today is New Years Eve, the final day before we enter 2026. This year has been filled with much hardship, trials, and tribulations. This year has seen the rebirth of this project for the third time. When I came to this decision I was very demoralized, believing everything my College professor had said about my work ethic and how maybe I "don't want this enough". I have proven him wrong time, and time again since. The speedbumps I've hit while making this project have been rough, I couldn't even fully commit to the final roadmap for 2025 fully due to work, school, and personal obligations taking up all my time. I had spread myself too thin towards the end of this year, that stops NOW.

Since I have last posted about the project, I have condensed my writing for this game more for future me to pick up the work easier the more time passes. We are at the beginning of Page 63 for Act 3, which I am aware doesn't sound like much progress. However if I wrote in the way I did earlier this year, this would be page 102 or something along those lines. Despite this, Act 3 is just BARELY halfway done. This was not the intended amount of progress I wanted to make for the remainder of this year, however I am just one guy with a loaded schedule trying to balance everything all at once. I tend to forget that.

Besides writing the project, I have updated the necessary information for Steam and we now have a definitive price for the full game. I won't share it yet as of this time, in the event I decide to tweak it based on the quality and length of the project next year. I have also properly set up a small website for my VOIDWATCH franchise, it's nothing too advanced; in fact I have taken some inspiration from how Scott Cawthon's website was once setup. For those interested in the VOIDWATCH series I'm creating, I recommend you visit https://devlanket.wixsite.com/voidwatch for information regarding VOIDWATCH and if you're interested in the overall Timeline of the series. Each entry added will lead you to the main storefront for that project. We have special unannounced projects relating to VOIDWATCH: CrossLust that are in drafting phases right now, but will remain a surprise until the full release of the game.

Now to go over what exactly needs to be done for the new year, and what my expectations are. They are numbered based on highest priority first, starting from 1.

1. Finish writing Act 3 of the Story

2. Start and Complete the Epilogue outline of the Story

3. Document all Party Members BIOs, Main Character BIOs, Level Mechanics, and Moves

4. Document all Enemy Profiles, Stats, Moves, and Item Drops

5. Document the Skills, Items, and Equipment Catalogs

6. Begin the Digital Work (Level Design, Narrative Implementation, Character / Animation Designs, and Audio Design)

Once we reach Step 6, we'll be in the development phase of the project for the 3rd Iteration. My expectations for when we'll reach this point are May 2026 the latest, at least this is where I would like the project to be by then. 

Regarding these updates, I decided on multiple methods rather than set dates. Below are the conditions that will have to be met before I release an update for you all starting as of today!

• IF a significant amount of progress is made within a month, there will be an update at the BEGINNING of the next month. 
  (EX: Iteration 3 - February 2026 Update) 

• IF a significant amount of time has passed without word of an update, there will be an update at the BEGINNING of the next season.
  (EX: Iteration 3 - Spring 2026 Update)

I understand this might be a bit of a confusing method of when to expect more progress to be reported on for the project, however this is the best course of action as to not create filler updates as I have occasionally throughout 2025. I find filler updates waste time that could be used better for the project. I appreciate everyone's support on VOIDWATCH: CrossLust over the years, and I appreciate your support for me as time goes on. I am very excited and hopeful that we can try for a Quarter 4 Release of the game. No earlier of course.

Don't forget to have a Happy New Year! 2026 is the Year of Greatness! It's up to us if we'll live up to what we KNOW we can achieve!

- Lance Leeder (DevLanket)