Friends,
Welcome to a very short URRpdate entry. Specifically, this is just one to say – this month unfortunately isn’t going to come with a full-sized update. This is because I am currently embarking on a major life project, which is to say, buying a home for the first time. Those of you who have done this will know this is a huge thing to contemplate – especially first time around – and those who haven’t will, I’m sure (like me!), have picked up enough of the general cultural discussion around house-buying to know that this is a major and extremely brain-bending life project.
A great manor – if only…!
For me it started at the end of December, and is now ongoing; I’ve seen a lot of properties, worked with various banks and lenders to get the right mortgage, talked to lots of solicitors and lawyers and all this guff, and basically I hope to be “exchanging contracts” on a property here in Sydney reasonably soon. This is all awesome, but my GOD – it is demanding. This last 30+ days I have only been able to keep going with my normal fitness / health stuff and some basic low-brain-power work stuff (I’ve taken a lot of accumulated leave from my job for exactly this reason) – anything “extra”, like making URR, playing games, reading books, taking off-days, has just not been an option. Rather than do a really tiny URRpdate, I therefore thought it was better to just save things up for a better and bigger update some time in Feb. It goes without saying that this sucks, but I think it’s clear to everyone that I’m thoroughly back to development and have no intention of this not being the case for, er, the next 40 years :). This is just a brief interlude for a major and hugely cognitively demanding, and laborious, life task.
I mean, it’s Sydney – this one’s a bit more realistic!
So yes: I know you’ll all be understanding, but I wanted to be transparent about what’s going on right now. I was really excited about the last update, and the next one is going to be a hugely impactful one, so I’m excited to see you all in Feb. In the meantime, please do think about checking out 0.10.2 (and especially sending me any bugs, glitches, weirdness, or anything of this sort that you encounter), and I’ll see you soon…
Good luck in your real estate adventure!
Thanks crowbar! 🙂
Becoming a homeowner is one of life’s big maneuvers – no shame in putting down URR for a moment to focus your energy.
Best of luck, take your time. You can bet we’ll be here when you’re ready to pick up again.
Thanks Shane! Very much appreciate it 🙂
Congratulations on getting your own place!
Take some time to settle in and make things your own, URR isn’t going anywhere
(and I still need to try out the latest release :P)
Thanks Kyle! Getting damned close to selecting a place now (vs when I posted the entry) – I’ve pretty much settled on a district, and there are lots of flats there actually comfortably in my price range (i.e. I can actually get something great for 10-15% below my “max” purchase price, which is great). Now it’s just about the selecting the best one…
I hope you obtain the optimal place, Mark. I’ve been in the Roguelikes Discord server, pointing out to people that you’re still making URR the amazing game it is. Surprisingly (to ME), some people actually recognized it this time, and they were happy to see that it’s still an active project! It’s been a long time and many places catalogued by search engines regarding URR are no longer functioning. (It’s really great that you have your own amazing, functional domain now! I’m not sure it was active the last time I checked in, but I think you were considering it or preparing for it. At any rate, it’s a perfect place to post a link to! Thanks!
To be fair, it’s been a few years since I’ve had a functional PC with access to and recall of my formerly front-of-mind thoughts, but I’m happy you’re settling down, hoping you find that place of optimality, and reading the recent blog postings containing what you have been doing in URR, from feature updates to bug fixes tickles me to no end! Best wishes!
Thank you Jesse! Very kind of you 🙂 (I’ve just seen the posts in the Discord, and thank you!).
I’m pleased to say the flat hunt is going well and I have a district nailed down, and a number of good possible properties there. Found two that are great, but well below my max price range; just going to keep searching and see whether I find something better (but a bit pricier), and if not, take one of those…
But yes, I *super* appreciate the kind words, thank you. I’m looking forward to getting back to the updates later this month! It has been such a long dev process though, especially for an unusual game and one whose win condition is contingent on implementing massive worldbuilding first, and the whole thing has been a very strange and interesting experience the whole time. Maybe when I release 0.11, with its long-awaited win condition (even if it’s just a basic introductory one!), I might write a blog post reflecting on the whole thing. We’ll see!