State of the Game #8

Hey there everyone—long time no see… um… I mean hear… um… read?

(Note: Some links, platforms, and plans mentioned in this post are no longer active or were later changed. This entry is preserved as a snapshot of where things stood at the time.)

I originally wanted to write this post a month or two earlier, but I felt I needed more to share first—which you’ll see below. And since all the State of the Game posts were already numbered by month, I figured I’d just continue the sequence.

So here it is: State of the Game # 8—written in August 2022.

Let’s get into it.

The Right Path

The last most of you heard, The Right Path was essentially dead in the water.

That’s still mostly true—as a game. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been working.

What I’ve continued to work on is the script (or, more accurately now, the story).

I wasn’t able to find anyone who could proofread the full manuscript and return it in a reasonable amount of time, so I ended up proofreading it myself. That was both good and bad.

Good, because the story is essentially finished. Bad, because every time I revisit it, I keep expanding it.

I fleshed out several characters and added roughly three new 5,000-word chapters, making the story even longer than it already was.

For perspective: this blog post is over 1,500 words. A single 5,000-word chapter is more than three times that. And the full story of The Right Path now sits at roughly 200,000 words.

That leads to my current problem: I need someone—preferably unbiased—to read the story and tell me if it’s actually any good.

I think it’s great. My wife loved it.

But I need honest feedback from someone who isn’t worried about sparing my feelings.

There’s also another issue: I wrote the story assuming I would be making the game myself. Because of that, I didn’t include many environmental descriptions. For example, I might write:

“Helkena is in a warehouse.”

I can see the warehouse in my head—but a development team wouldn’t know what I want unless it’s written clearly.

That means the story likely needs a descriptive rewrite.

But I don’t want to do that until I know whether the core story itself works. No sense in polishing something that might need major structural changes—or worse, starting over.

My Health

As for where I am with the game itself—I’m not.

Many of you know that I became seriously ill last summer. Very ill. And no, it had nothing to do with COVID.

I discovered later, after speaking with multiple doctors, that I likely suffered two heat strokes, which resulted in some memory loss. Because of that, I was unable to move forward with game development at all.

I did explore hiring outside help—but the minimum cost would have been around $100,000.

With the memory loss, I also have to relearn Unreal Engine 5 essentially from scratch. That’s a long process—especially alongside a potential story rewrite.

That said, I have been learning UE5 again. I even put together a small zombie game recently. Nothing impressive—but it was a start.

The good news is that my health is much better this summer than last. I still overheat easily, but I manage it by staying indoors and pacing myself.

Crowdfunding

I had mentioned the possibility of crowdfunding—likely through GiveSendGo, a Christian crowdfunding platform.

>>>I also discussed advertising through my preferred social media platform, Gab, to help support a crowdfunding campaign.<<<

However…

At the beginning of the year, I reviewed company finances and realized that simply keeping Faith Based Games operational would cost around $5,000 this year.

Two websites were both due for renewal at the same time (about $2,000 total), and I had to cancel several software subscriptions I genuinely loved—simply because the income wasn’t there.

Add in the state of the U.S. economy, and crowdfunding had to be put on hold, at least for now.

Donations

Yes, this is a P.S. before the actual P.S.

I want to be transparent: the donation platform we use (Classy) is excellent, but the payment processor takes 10% of each donation.

That means:

• A $100 donation becomes $90

• A $1,000 donation becomes $900

So for anyone considering a large donation, the best way to ensure the full amount goes toward The Right Path is by sending a check directly to Faith Based Games (address available on the Contact page).

Either way, donations remain fully tax-deductible, and donors can optionally cover the processing fee if they choose.

The Bottom Line

Here’s where things stand:

• Find someone to read the story as it is now

• Decide whether a major descriptive rewrite is needed

• Polish and proofread the revised version

• Continue relearning Unreal Engine 5 and/or

• Consider crowdfunding in the future

• If necessary, hire a team

If you’re a Christian, I ask—please pray for my health and for God’s will regarding The Right Path.

If you’re not a Christian (or even if you are), any ideas or insight that could help with the above would be greatly appreciated.

That’s all for now.

Be blessed,

Sam 

🙂