Now that it's been a month and some change since HSD:JY/HSD:A have gone live, I think we're good to briefly discuss the aftermath. 

Here are some lessons learned and my opinions on said lessons. 

1. Whoever said that you must suffer for your art is a big ole lie!

It was a sad year for me. And I use the word sad as a gross simplification. I battled mental health issues, which dipped into physical health woes, and I (poorly) dealt with unpleasant to life-threatening situations that affected my ability to be present, productive, and happy. I'm so glad I got this game finished and out to y'all, but I wonder how much of a healthier experience this could have been if I wasn't battling demons along the way. Conception for HSD:JY was on the heels of 2020, and I was fed up at a lot of things and at a lot of people and institutions. I wanted to make a game I would love to play and I was terrified at having zero experience, but I was spiteful, and I was encouraged by the visual novels I'd played around that time that resonated with me. 

Anyhow, between August 2020 and October 2022, it was a Wild Ride. I'm grateful that past me thought to make my devlogs like journal entries so I can go back and see how things were because right now there's a lot of forgetting I either want to do or have done.

2. Marketing is a necessary evil. Emphasis on evil. 

I hate self-promo. For myself. But it's by the grace of others who saw me and my project after a year of hustle and bustle, and gave the demo a chance, who put me in some sort of public eye. I never sought out to have a huge, groundbreaking game, and I have a hate-love relationship with the spotlight, so I didn't promote my game even a third of how much I should have. I will either have to get over this OR hire someone to do it for me. More @ 10. 

3. Bad reviews aren't the end of the world. 

LOL! People are gonna like what they like. But I wish they'd explain why they didn't like things....

4. I like writing. I'd like to get gud at it.

I have the most fun with storytelling, and its why visual novels are so much fun for me! Billie, the twins, Lydia, Ryan, Florence, and even Vanessa are fictional characters inspired by real people, emotions, and experiences. The most fun I had in this project was creating these kids--and the others-- and shaping how interactions with them would go. It solidified that even if I learn how to do a billion other tasks when it comes to game development, I'm always going to come back to the writing part. And there's so much more to learn and ways to better this craft, so I'm excited to see how what I learned from HSD is transferred to future works.  

5. Money makes things so much easier

I went into this project without a budget (which I regret a tad), mostly because I had no idea how much things would cost and researching showed me there was a very wide range in prices for skills and services in the indie game world. That being said, the funds I was able to pull together to pay for the art and other cute assets was well spent. Crowd funding methods aren't something I want or feel comfortable spearheading, so I look forward to seeking other forms of funding that don't involve pulling from my paychecks LOL!

6.  Recovery time is a thing apparently?? Huh. 

I'm worn out. I was dragging before the game release, but there's a different kind of exhaustion that comes with finally reaching the end of a production cycle. I envy the people who can jump right into the next thing because I just want to sleep. So note to self, make sure you factor a recovery period moving forward. One that doesn't involve the awful 'working-break' mentality. 

(But my sincerest thanks and love to every single person who gave me and this project a chance. It's something I can't take for granted and I hope many of y'all will stick around to see what Hummingbird Studios makes next.)

And those are my thoughts! Overall, there's nothing I would do differently, as I did the best I could with the knowledge (and health) I had. Maybe I could stand to be less hard on myself, but that's a different dicussion!

- Gemini 💛