UPDATE: Is this game Forever Unfinished?

TL;DR: scroll to the last section

Time to come clean. Work on this game has dropped to zero. It's always been slow, but now it's even slower. The last time that story content was added to the game was July 2023. Since then, most work has gone into fun values and splash text.

Is it over? Does that mean this game will be an unfinished symphony, forever unfinished? Maybe not...

What's happened?

Put simply, I got busy. I got interested in other things and turned focus away. Progress on the game's storylines can be split up into 4 parts, which are the 4 people that can become president:

• Dream: finished Nov 16 2021
• Tubbo: finished Mar 6 2022
• Quackity: finished July 15 2023
• Fundy: barely begun

In short, it's almost done. I  already outlined the entire draft for the President Fundy storyline ages ago - it only needs to be written and connected together. The problem is that I haven't started. I have other projects I want to spend time on, and this game has become a much smaller priority.

That's in no small part because of how much success it already has - this game has been played 9600 times! It still maintains a surprisingly regular number of plays per week, and I am very grateful for all the lovely messages by some of you. I would never have continued this game if I hadn't received all those encouraging comments back in 2021.

I learned a lot about writing, about keeping stories engaging, and about game development. I spent a lot of time rewatching the livestreams, analyzing how people talked, and I learned how to put that into the text to make it feel as though all the routes could really have happened on November 16th 2020.

Of course I cannot leave out the fact that the Dream SMP has been over for almost 2 years. That has also been why my interest declined. That didn't mean that the number of people playing the game decreased, which surprised me. There's still a bunch of you out there! But a lot of people have moved on, and I somewhat have too.

The final reason, and this is a big one: the game got big. The plot got very long. Did you know I had plans for more than just a Tubbo POV? I had very rough ideas for how others could have stopped L'Manberg's destruction: Tommy, Quackity, Eret, Philza and more. But as I continued working on the one I'd started with (Tubbo), I started having more and more ideas. I went from 5-10 expected endings to 20+. I had ideas like Slapbo, music, intricate mini-games and quirky random events that likely have never seen the light of day. I don't regret any of it, but it got big. If I had kept my scope smaller, this game would have been completed already. But here we are....

What's happening?

....not much. I still have all drafts and ideas, and any day I can jump back into development. But I haven't, for the reasons above.

I certainly check up on the game every now and then. It's great to still see people show their appreciation for it! It's nice to see what else the community have concocted. The most popular by far is Good Luck, Minutes Man!, but I haven't played it yet. One thing these games have got going for them is that they have art!

What will happen?

Will I get back to this game? The answer is yes*! The real question is when. I have no idea. But even if a new update does not come for months and months, I do have some intention of returning to finish it. If I don't, I will post again saying so.

Once I complete President Fundy's storyline, the game is 'done'. But I still have some work to do. Most important will be a final 'secret' ending, which I decided to add in commemoration of Technoblade's passing. It won't be very hard to write up, but it's waiting in line for its turn to be written.

Then I have to decide other things, such as art. I think the only possible way to light up the game with art is have one image per chapter and ending. Any more than that and it might be too much work. And I am chronically unable to do art. If someone would like to volunteer to do art for this game, reach out. Otherwise, there are no plans to change this game from being a black and white mess.

Another decision is a place for people to chat and discuss the game. In my opinion this game is too small for a Discord community server, but there have been lots of comments saying how much they love the game, so never say never! If you want one just leave a comment. You could also do it yourselves, I give full permission. I am u/FoneticMachine on Reddit.

Thanks for reading all this. Hope this clears up the air why I haven't released updates frequently. If I never return and never finish, perhaps it was never meant to be....

Happy new year, and may have you have a brilliant 2025!