Chapter 5 - Part 2: Week 26 Progress

Hey all,

This week's report is a little wonky with numbers all over the place, but it's mostly good news overall.

I decided to try finishing the section 7 content before finishing section 8. I knew that if I saved it for last, I would definitely cut it, and I didn't want to cut any of the prep work I had already done. I even wasted a couple of days grinding out renders before my will finally broke. I know some may not understand, but I cannot understate just how difficult it was to work with this scene. Any action within the scene took a full 15 seconds just to register, and when each render requires dozens to hundreds of small edits and alterations, I was quickly losing my sanity.

It sucks that I've had to remove some of the finished content for that section, but until I can optimize the hell out of the scene or upgrade my PC again, I'll have to leave that particular path as a 'what if' for now. Thankfully, you'll at least get to see a small preview of what could have been, as all the build-up to the (now cut) choice can remain without the need for heavier cuts. Ideally, I'll finish it one day, but realistically, well... Week 26 for 2/12 sections of a single chapter... Soooo.... Yeah, we'll see... Though to be slightly fair, these are the two largest sections of any chapter that I've ever released lol.

Although, as I said, all of this is good news in the end! This means that I won't have to waste another few weeks clawing my way though that scene, for what is, at the end of the day, a purely in-the-moment flavour option. My original estimates of mid-late February are now back in my crosshairs again! IMO the cut choice was the inferior of the two options, but since the build-up for both will still be included, I'll be curious to see what people think of both.

Alright, I'm rambling now, so I'll leave it here!
Stay safe! Much love!
JB