It all seems like such a blur, to think my first release was a year ago to this day. And what a year it has been, had it's up and it's had it's downs. Granted most of the downs weren't really related to game development, but you know what I mean.

My proudest moment is that I never missed a release, every week, that thing comes out... I should probably schedule getting sick sooner or later?

This all started around June last year. I was feeling pretty burnt out at my regular job, the kind of burned out you get when you pour your life into something for ten years and you realise that there isn't really a light at the end of the tunnel anymore. I tried my hand at indie horror games and such and I couldn't quite bring myself to do it, Unreal development was just too close to what I did as a dayjob. So I picked up Renpy again.

It wasn't my first go at a game like this, but I hadn't tried in about 5-6 years and programs like HS2 weren't really in the limelight back then. That wasn't even my first foray into the adult game world. I worked in flash way back when and I was admin on an adult forum for white a while as well. Also I've got an honours in game design, not that it's really showing here, but I do have it.

But I sat down and wrote, did my basic designs and got the game scoped out, tried to keep things tight. A timeloop in a secluded space so that the game couldn't grow beyond a certain scale. If I was going to be serious about this as a hobby, I was going to finish it this time. I wasn't the same Nunu from all the other times, I've got some serious work experience under my belt now. I got in contact with a friend who we'd played with the concept of doing this kind of stuff before and she drafted up all the drawings for the characters. Just having those basically meant the project was going to happen, even if I didn't end up actually using them. The support at that stage meant a lot. Thank you Petradactyl (This is a common pseudonym and not her regular one, you can't find her with it).

The game launched with 33 thousand words, 2 sprites for most characters, about 8 renders. Alex was the poster girl as usual and she had essentially a complete corruption level 0 and 1. Jenny also had a fleshed out corruption level 0. Most other characters had basic interactions and a lot didn't even have their primary scenes.

As of today, The game has 146 thousand words, which is roughly the size of two full length novels. Hundreds of character sprites and over 150 renders and animations (Which is less impressive but a notable improvement). The game originally had flow charts that went out with it but instead these are now the guide, which in was over 2 months of development just catching up.

One of the things I'd seen coming was the minor life road bump that was losing my company, it wasn't a surprise, but it's not like I wanted it to happen. You never really want your life's work thus far to fold. Or your partner of 9 years to start ghosting you because you're being a bit of a downer and need support... Which were the downs and I tend not to talk about them. Even if you count those downs, I am a very fortunate and lucky person. Not like I'm some rich scion who never had to work, I'm actually on the poorer side, but I have been blessed by the love and support of the people around me.

There wasn't really a point where I didn't have good options for what to do next. But all that support, and most importantly the support of all of you, meant that I could chose the option that I really wanted to. And just like that Cabin by the Lake became  my new life. I had a runway of a year before I was out of savings and had to start taking those other jobs. After 4 months I have a runway of more than a year, not entirely sure I'm turning a profit yet, but growth has been ever upward, it wont be long until I can graduate off instant ramen for meals.

These days the largest threat to Cabin by the Lake is that I think one of my friends is going to try and shove a 5 figure job down my throat... Yeah I know, woe is me right? I don't want to take it and the only reason would be for the money. In a lot of ways my life and aspirations have all come full circle with adult game development, it feels like it was always my true calling. And Nunu's aren't really the type to throw away their dreams for money. At worst, really that's a lot of extra money to hire people to work on Cabin. At best, I just look at it and say no thank you. Either way Cabin isn't going anywhere.

Obviously there are people I want to thank beyond just the girl I mentioned. As I said all my patrons, you guys literally make this dream possible. Obviously there are is also Firetruck and Fantasy1290, who have helped me immensely by writing a lot of the scenes that you see today. Unofficially part of the team is probably also Hupfer3... The guy just makes so many bug reports, the game would probably be a disaster without the tremendous effort and thoroughness he goes through every build without any prompting or real reward. Development would not be what it is today without them. On top of that there has been Expanding Universe Games, he has been a fantastic mentor and really helps not just me but a bunch of new creators in move great directions.

The other developers around him really help create that feeling of support and community too. I'd like to name them all but if I do I'm likely to forget someone... Go look up the bigger booba bundle for some more information on them. Also we should probably do another one of them, there are more devs since then and not all of them even release on itch, so keep your eyes peeled.

Anyway, this is all getting a bit long in the tooth.

Please enjoy the special I have attached. Near the end of it I figured that I should probably have been a bit more out there with it. But I had fun anyway. I'm releasing it as it's own little novel but new builds will have it in an extras option in the main menu. But if I did that as the only release it would take a month and a half for it to hit public build, which an anniversary special is not.

As always, Love Nunu