Chapter 4 progress report: 

I've decided to push back working and starting on Chapter 4 for Circus of Stars.  I'm going to be going on an indefinite hiatus for the time being.

Why I've decided to go on a hiatus is simply because I've lost a lot of the passion I had for the project during the making of chapter 1, polishing the game during chapter 2, and working on chapter 3.   There was so much more I wanted to put in or script better, but I began to grow really exhausted working on the project.  Initially, this was meant to be something small, and I hoped to experiment with coding by making this game.  However, as I continued to make and work around the storyline, I started to grow unsure of whether I even liked the direction the story was progressing. 

In the initial idea, Gaoyang (or just Gao) was meant to be apart of the Mc's story, but I changed it to have each chapter focus on each character.  At first, the story was something I had come up with during my Mandarin class with a friend, and it was supposed to be your typical yandere sort of trope.  I've changed a lot about the story since then, but the more I write, the more tired I got.

I think after finishing all the final details for chapter 3, it was extremely disheartening to see that the update didn't get as much attention as I'd hoped it would, since a lot of people seemed to have liked chapter 2.  Perhaps that fed into my tiredness and lack of motivation to work on the next chapter.   I tried hard to get reach for it, but I'm not the best at finding ways to do so, nor is my luck the best for my posts to get that many views.  Even in just the development, I often had to force myself to draw something I didn't even fully like and found myself wanting to not draw at all for a long time, leading to a really bad art block of mine.

I've already wrote out the different endings since chapter 4 is going to be the last, but I'd rather push it off then force myself to create something that I've lost the passion to make.

Although it may sound a bit shallow that one of the main reasons that I'm demotivated is the lack of attention my game's received, but part of me just wishes to see people enjoy something I've created and spent so much time on.  Perhaps that's why I'm just going to focus on drawing more and improving step by step, rather than force myself to make something that I'll grow to hate.  On top of that, putting more stress on myself with working on the game, along with other school work, exams, etc., it took a massive toll on my mental health. 

I do know there are some people who've enjoyed the game so far, and it makes me really happy to see that there are those who get excited at each update.  Those comments always make my day a little better.^^

I initially planned on stopping the development altogether, but perhaps I'll find my motivation again.  Until then, I'll be on a hiatus.

Thank you for reading 

- Hermit