New Year - 2026

Happy New Year everybody.

It's like the fifth post this week. I didn't count. I'm just guessing. Seriously, get a life, Marco.

"You want to know what I'm doing? What I've been doing this year? No, don't turn away now, you asked for it! Sit down and listen."

I crack my knuckles.

It all started about a year ago, on the first of January... Classic, right? That's how most years start, don't they? Well, I started my year out collecting data for my bachelor thesis. Like in a lab, inviting people to take part in my study and watching them for an hour as they go through the experiment. Exciting, right? Well, I did read Surviving The Game As A Barbarian at the time, so it wasn't too boring. Actually, I wanted to study for my very last exam, but I seriously couldn't when I only had 20-minute intervals. So reading short chapters was perfect to pass the time. I can recommend the story, by the way. Like most of these novels, they get ridiculous eventually, but it was still enjoyable. I really liked the Information/Truth round they had each arc. It would take too long to explain it, but I might do something similar in one of my stories eventually.

Well, after I collected my data, I didn't write my bachelor thesis, no... Why would you think that? I finished data collection in February and wrote my thesis in October, like any normal person would. There is a reason for that, actually. I couldn't register my bachelor thesis before I passed all my exams, and I only passed my last exam — you guessed it — way too fucking late. I probably mentioned it in last year's post. I had to repeat two exams, and I only passed them in May. And then there were other issues that delayed me a bit further, and then it was unrealistic to finish my bachelor thesis before the end of the semester. And if I have to start another semester anyway... then I can take my time and finish my thesis in December.

By now, I handed it in, I held a presentation, and it's already graded. I'm only waiting for the certificate that tells me I've completed my Bachelor, but basically that's just bureaucracy. I'm done. Rejoice. Took me long enough. Fun fact: I've been studying for longer than I have been creating AVNs. And I don't mean A Foreign World. I mean that I started working on Playing With Fire when I started studying at university. Ages ago.

Playing With Fire. Some of my Patreons have been here since the beginning; others might not even know. A Foreign World is my second game. My first game was Playing With Fire. I was planning to create a part two for this one, but I never went ahead and did it. The reason being that Playing With Fire was banned by Steam. Incorrectly, but who gives a shit. I've accepted it long ago. Or did I? Well, here is something I should probably fess up to. At the beginning of the year, I worked with a company to publish an AVN inspired by the story of Playing With Fire. It bugged me that the story never made it to Steam, especially because it's not reliant on the thing that got it banned (they say it plays at a high school, so that's a no-go. I say it's a German high school, so the characters are in 13th grade and 18+. They say FUCK YOU, that sounds like an excuse). So... I made the same story, but it plays at university. Surprise, it works just as well.

But when Steam bans your game, you have no recourse, and you can't hand it in again. That's why I went through the trouble of making it from scratch. And I didn't even publish it myself (even though I'd argue I could. People say it's similar to Playing With Fire, but it's basically a whole new game. Not a single image from the previous game, etc. Steam wouldn't give a shit... probably). So I gave it to a company and had them take what little risk remained of the game getting banned. The name of the game: New Perspective

I don't have a trauma... You have...

So yeah, that was a whole-ass game that I developed in between all the other stuff I've been doing.

And what is this other stuff I've been doing? Well, I published five updates for A Foreign World (could have sworn it were more...). I passed two exams. I collected a shit ton of data. I wrote my bachelor thesis. Oh, and did I mention that for the first time in my life I lost some weight?

Yeah... sometime in summer I stepped on my scale and I was horrified. I'm active. I play some sports. I sometimes go to the gym. And I eat way too fucking much. And that day my scale showed it. I lost 10 kg in 10 weeks, and by now I gained a bit over half of it back... shit.

But I never managed to lose any significant amount of weight before, and believe me, I've tried a couple of times. Now I know that I can, so maybe next year...

All in all, I think I had a really productive year. Of course, I could have had more updates for A Foreign World. New Perspective didn't sell all that well, and of course it would have been better if I managed to maintain my weight after that crazy cut. But hey, you can't have everything. You fail, you stand up, people avoid you because you hit your nose on the ground and blood is streaming down your face... that's life. No way but through.

For the end, I can talk a bit about the future. I would love to create AVNs full time. But I can't do it with A Foreign World. Yeah, it sold okay, but I've also been working on it for over three years. My next game/games will be shorter. Especially since Steam no longer allows early access for NSFW games. I'll try to do AVN development in earnest and without distractions next year. If I manage to make money, then you get to keep me for a while longer. If it turns out that creating AVNs is a pipe dream, then I'll have to get a job... or go back to university so I can get the qualifications for a job I actually want to do.

It's hard to tell how things will turn out. For now, I haven't given up hope. I want to finish A Foreign World ASAP. Then I want to finish my next game ASAP too. And then I want to finish another game ASAP. Maybe then I can tell if creating AVNs is viable or not. It will always be risky, but even though I love it, I don't need to carry this risk if even a good scenario is me earning less than minimum wage.

That's it from me for this year. I'm on the text for Episode 9. I'm thinking about my next game. Keep your eyes open for future updates.

Until then. Enjoy!