So, this is sort of a non-update but it will allow me to make sure everyone is up to speed.
At 12:30am on Thursday of last week, one of the muscles in my lower back gave out and I collapsed. This is the third such incident in the past five or so years. For about 18 hours I was unable to even sit up and had to lie on the floor. After that I had enough strength to get into my bed and I’ve been slowly recovering ever since.
As I write this it’s Tuesday morning and I have my MacMini hooked up to the TV at the foot of my bed so I can type things without having to hold a sitting position. I can sit up for short periods but it’s uncomfortable. I can also walk very slowly (extending my left leg past about 30 degrees causes the damaged muscle to contract) for short periods. Using the washroom unassisted has, on multiple occasions, been a heroic act but I can do it reliably now.
Pandemonium is basically my favourite thing. I love making it. Fixing bugs is fun to me, writing the dialogue and scenes is a blast, and I love fleshing out the setting and characters. So being unable to even touch it for the past five days is more painful than my back problems. But I have not stopped trying.
I know from the previous times this has happened that my back will be improving slowly over the course of the next few days. Everything will probably be back to normal next week. Development will resume as normal and I’ll be trying to get a patch out to fix all the bugs that have been reported (thanks, everyone!).
So, if you’re new to this project, every week I normally post an update about the project status. That’s this. The project status is my back’s status.
I’m looking into purchasing an ergonomically designed chair to replace my current chair. The most likely cause of my back injury was the 12+ hour sessions I spent in the lead up to 5-2 working on Pandemonium in a chair that was placing strain on my back muscles. I’m not letting the injury stop me.
I want to make Pandemonium my full time job. I want it to be the full time jobs of the artists I work with. If you’re reading this, even if you’re not a patron, you’re helping make that possible. The response to v1.05 has been enormous. We got 50 new patrons in the past month alone. The pride of that accomplishment means I know we can pull this off and that my injury is a temporary setback on that road.
If you’re having problems with 1.05b, here’s a link to the discussion thread where I will try to answer any questions you have and provide workarounds for common problems until I can get a patch out. If you’ve stuck with me this far, the Patreon is going to have some bonus content out later today.
I had intended to have a Patron Steering Poll today but that’s postponed for obvious reasons. Should be out next week.
Thanks for sticking with me so far and here’s to the next release.
Pandemonium Development 