For comparison, here is the same image I posted, but with higher quality lighting. Is it worth the extra time? Personally, I think so. I can still do more to improve it, but it doesn't make me say, 'ugh' the way the first one did.

The best of intentions...

Good news is that I have made some real progress, most progress in months. Bad news is that I lost a big chunk of time to a fever with the chills and shakes. Or was is the shakes with a chill and fever?

Anyways, I'm not happy with where the current version is. I have pushed it much closer to release, but it still isn't where it needs to be.

So, excuses aside, I apologize for yet another delay, but I would much rather give you something that I am proud of than something that isn't ready.

My goal now is to finish the starting area and the first full day of gameplay, then push that out for release. For those that played the last version, you will be familiar with this - it will stop right when you leave town. I also will probably change my focus from improving the images to finishing the writing. I can then go back and add more images later.

No idea how long that it will take. Going to have a busy couple weeks, but I am still looking forward to a big chunk of free space coming up soon...

Thanks everyone.

Compromsing on Lighting?

So one of the main slowdowns I have experienced is that I have been trying to vastly improve the quality of images. I have had some success with this. However, I have also been spending tons of time on it that could go towards actual writing.

I'm experimenting with some compromises to increase the speed at which I create images. Here is an example. In this picture, I have reduced the quality of lighting a bit. The time to render the images drops to a much, much faster time when I use these settings...but does it still look ok?

Let me know what you think.

Update incoming!

Good news...I have tons of time for the next couple days, and will be focused on making real progress. Unless I completely screw something up, I *will* be pushing out an update within the next 48 hours. It will be limited, but should give a feel for what I have been working on.

Thanks again for all the support and patience. Wish me luck!

Edit: I've added a preview portrait. I've been spending waaaaay too much time redoing all of the images. Hope they are enjoyed!