HELLO FRIENDS :D

it has been ABSOLUTELY FOREVER since we released a public version of our game BUT WE ARE FINALLY HERE ONCE AGAIN :D
When we started this project, we just wanted to get the game to its functional form as fast as possible.
Everytime we had to add a feature to the game, we'd ask ourselves
"HHHmmmmm.... How should we implement this?"
And the answer, without fail, would be
"In a way thats gonna get it to work ASAP. We'll clean it up later."
Every single time "We'll clean it up later".
Ducktape and superglue ALL THE WAY hahahahaha

But towards the end of 2023, we kinda realized that the game was.... slowing down... and bugs were getting harder and harder to squash.
The dredded time to repay our mountain of tech debt was upon us. 

SO WE SPENT THE NEXT MANY DAYS AND WEEKS AND MONTHS PAYING IT BACK.
Fix one thing. Break something else.
Refactor one module, break another module.
Its tolerable whenever you fix something which spawns a brand new bug.
It is THE MOST ANNOYING when the fix you implemented RESURRECTS A ONCE-DEAD BUG.
Gawd. Those are the worst.

And then theres the psychological battle!
The entire time you have too much on your plate to even think about featurecreeping.
So even as you slowly work through little bugs here and there and the game gradually performs better and better,
theres no big changes that... yknow.... scream out "HEY THE GAME IS GROWING!!"
Your brain tells you that you are moving.
But your eyes say that everything. is. stationary.

If any of you are also gamedevs facing this
and feel like yall screwed yourselves over with your ambition and need for speed,
Something that really helped us was to take joy in the little victories.
Even the tiniest victories must be celebrated.
Thats how we kept ourselves sane anyways.
I'd be on voice chat with Suarvae as he worked through some of the bugs, and every little thing he patched he'd be like
"I. Am. Him.
Like, I am actually Him. 
YUUUURRRRRRPPPPPPPPP
WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? I AM!"