Happy end-of-the-year devlog time!

I am going to jump right into it: Ardency is going full steam ahead as usual. The biggest hurdle at the moment is perfecting the script (certain chapters are in final draft edition while others are still being edited) and getting all the assets I need together - and that's the hardest part for me!

Since I am a solo indie dev lacking any artistic skill and can't perform a number of voices - I have to hire on wonderful people to assist in those areas. I currently have to collect up any resources and references I need and put them in a clear and organized format to send out to my artist and my voice actors. Due to this, I constantly have been organizing and going through the project's scope to make sure it all fits within budget. Ardency is fully funded from my own pocket so it takes time to get everything in order!

Besides the nitty-gritty financial and asset talk, there are some great things happening! All of the CG's for the love interests are completed! I also have Snakkiez helping me out in selecting more voices lines (thank you for listening to me constantly whine about not knowing which ones were best to do!) She's been a real trooper helping me out while also working on her project, Daughter of a Scoundrel!

This leads me into another topic - collaborations and assisting others. I am a shy person, but have been lucky enough to make some wonderful friends in the indie visual novel community! I have found I love to help them beta test/read for their games and be a sounding board for them. So, while also focusing on Ardency, I have been assisting others with their projects wherever I could. I was honored to beta test Lord of Lies for my friend Joy (which will be out soon)! So, I will be opening up beta test forms for Ardency once the game is ready for it in the future as I have now seen firsthand how helpful it can be!

Well, that's all I have for this month! The typical musings of an indie visual novel dev and finding myself in the Myth of Sisyphus, every time I feel closer to completion for this project, I find myself piling on more work!

I am very proud of all the work I have completed in 2023 and I know 2024 is going to be an amazing year with another release from Lacydigital! I will see you all next month with a devlog going over 2024 goals and all that good stuff!