Kedemara - The Orphan's Ballad News

[h3]Hello Everyone!![/h3]

Happy Holidays, Season's Greetings, or whatever your preferred salutation is! My, oh my, the past month has been QUITE the whirlwind. As stated in the last update, my recent job change has made for a big shift in available time to work on Kedemara Ch. 4. I'd be lying if I said the past year hasn't been my most challenging yet. While weekdays are near a total loss, I still have weekends and some chunks of time off during the year. It is VERY hard to estimate progress with the way my new schedule is, but I'm very happy with where the game is sitting now in terms of development. Enough about that though, let's get onto the happy stuff!!!





To put it lightly, I haven't been getting out much these past few weeks. As always, the game is a labor, but a labor of love. Though I am pleased to announce that the "hard part" is finally over! To put what that means into words...all of the planning, major scripting, and story scenes are completed for Chapter 4. I'd call this version a late Alpha or early Beta build. It is a massive relief to be at this part of development right now, but there is still a fair bit of work to do. Here's what I still need to iron out before it can be released...

- Creation of overworld enemies, setting random encounter areas, and fine-tuning Boss difficulty
- Balancing EXP yield, creating new character abilities, and balancing item stats/bonuses
- Additional "flavor" encounters and interactions with NPCs
- Finalizing dialogue and text formatting (ensuring all lore is congruent and conversations are efficient)
- Creating new items, equipment, and Achievements.
- Fine-tuning map content and timings for cutscenes
- Main-story bug testing and then 100% content bug testing (that's the tough part...)

While this sounds like a lot, most of this is very minimal impact at this point. Playtesting will thankfully not be a solo effort this time around, as I've already had a playtest with one of my Alpha testers this week. While it won't take a year, without whole days to dedicate to working on the game it may not go as quickly as I'd like (especially the playtesting). I still believe the Q1 2023 figure will be a doable goal at this point.





[h2]-Story Flow-[/h2]
To be perfectly honest, I was uncertain where to end Chapter 4 a week ago. This boiled down to how the rhythm of the story "felt", and how much time I could dedicate to ensuring a quality release. The original ending point needed FAR too big of a cliffhanger, the Chapter would have been another 2-3 hours long (which would mean another 3 or 4 months to complete), and I would have squandered some VERY key opportunities for the cities/areas in question. The areas that will be explored later had excellent opportunities for character development and bringing key lore to life...I REALLY didn't want to lose that just to pad out Chapter 4.

While previous Chapters did have a "Back and Forth" flow to the story, Chapter 4 starts very mellow and the intensity begins to ramp up exponentially as you progress. The original ending point would have dropped down much too far from where it currently ends, killing the momentum it builds across the entire Chapter. After hearing what my Alpha Tester had to say, they believe the current ending is the proper one for this chapter too.


[h2]-Dialogue Style-[/h2]
Like I said in the last update, we're already at nearly 30 hours of content in Chapters 1-3 alone, so there was no need to stretch Chapter 4 out longer than it needed to be. As of the last test (without random encounters and Boss battles), we're sitting at 7-8 hours of content for Chapter 4. I've made dialogue more succinct and easier to read now, and will do revisions on previous chapters as I work on Chapter 5. Some of the Streamers liked to read the content aloud, others preferred to just read key scenes aloud...I also have Streamers who translate it to their native language as they stream, so I want to be considerate of everyone I can who's playing.

There will be further refinement as I polish up Chapter 4, but so far my Alpha Tester liked the change and felt it was an improvement. Important cutscenes will have slightly more text density, but this will be highly relevant and based on what "voice" we need to impart for the speaker. One side effect of this (according to my Tester) was that you "Really need to pay attention to the dialogue, or you will miss something important." Since most folks are "in it for the story", I'm not sure how much this impacts you, but they felt it was worth mentioning to everyone.

[h2]
-Combat Mechanics-[/h2]
Admittedly, combat is an afterthought for me in development, but I DO want to make it as fun as possible. Nobody likes tons of random encounters, or repetitive combat that becomes draining to endure. I have a great surprise that you'll encounter roughly halfway through Chapter 4, that brings a very big shift in combat mechanics and strategy. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll leave it at that....but it's very exciting and is congruent with the story too, I think everyone will find it quite fun!

[h2]
- Tone of the Story-[/h2]
There will be a definitive shift in tone as the Chapter progresses onward, but there will still be plenty of laughs and smiles to be had during this chapter. As Deirdre ages and is more cognizant of the world around her, we begin to learn the nature of her world right alongside her. Life is complicated and often there are no easy answers. Don't lose heart though, because she certainly won't! We can't always control our circumstances, but we CAN control how we move onward through them!

There were lots of new questions posed and much to ponder at the end of Chapter 3. While you may not get answers right away, by the time Chapter 4 is over, MANY things will come into focus and its relevance to their world will become quite clear. One could say the end result of Chapter 4 is "We know the task before us...now how will we proceed?"





Being so focused on completing Chapter 4, I don't have much time to allocate to promotional media for this release (or the game in general). I will attempt to piece a short teaser trailer for Chapter 4 soon, but want to make sure my focus is on completing the Chapter first and foremost. I think it will be rather exciting, and I will eventually get a better trailer together for the entire game (but that may not be until Chapter 5 releases).

I may post some screenshots in the near future as well, as that takes minimal time and serves to build excitement too. Really looking forward to everyone's thoughts on this Chapter!!




Like I said prior, we're still on track for Q1 2023, but it's hard to gauge what could pop up (and inevitably does). To give an example, we had a few hiccups where the game froze at the battle victory screen. This was only occurring on AMD 6000-series GPUs, so I need to do further testing to see if this is going to be an issue with the future update. *sigh*

If I had to give a month estimate, I'd say February at the earliest and March at the latest.





I want to thank everyone for their patience and for playing the game in the first place! I believe Chapter 4 sets the final Chapter of this story in an excellent position, and can already see the ending of this particular story in sight. It is difficult to imagine the scale of a game when you first start out, but I think I've learned a great deal from this whole process....especially since it's my first game to develop. I look forward to the relationships we've built with the characters continuing to blossom, as we all hear Deirdre's story together.

This won't be "the end" though! We'll be seeing many of our old friends in Kedemara II as well!! I'll try and get through Chapter 5 before we start talking about THAT game though ;-)



Thank you all!!
- Andrew (Creator)

Hello again, everyone!!

It's almost become a meme at this point, but wow has it been a while since I posted on here!! I'd first like to thank everyone who has played the game and got us to the numbers we are at now. I saw a big surge in players this year, which I'm assuming has to do with Steam Deck compatibility for the game. Always encouraging to see new players and people who are getting to experience Kedemara for the first time....but onto the news!!!


[h2]Since April I've....[/h2]
My last update in April did cite some big setbacks and events happening in my personal life, but wowza did things ramp up from there!

To summarize, some commitments to family members I made before April have still been in progress. Pair that with moving to a new job (after being at my previous one 9+ years), moving residences under VERY "inconvenient" circumstances (like no A/C in 100+ degree weather), and all the typical life demands makes for....a lot of development time eaten up by other things. Considering the rise in living expenses across the board, changing jobs was definitely the right move...albeit at the cost of available time for game development taking a large hit.

My new job is VERY demanding on the day-to-day side of things, making weeknights very difficult to work on the game. I allocate as much time as possible on weekends to make progress, but game development and life are both a solo gig for me...I'm usually handling all that life demands on my own.


[h2]Chapter 4 Release Date[/h2]
My time off is now in sporadic chunks, so it's hard to pin down a solid release date for Chapter 4 at this time. I can say with some margin for error, that Chapter 4 is going to be released around Q1 of 2023. I have stewed on MANY alternatives to this situation, such as wrapping things up into one slightly larger chapter (combining 4 and 5 together) and releasing later into next year. I'd also considered truncating some of the content for the release and padding it out later on down the line with content updates.

It's hard to fully explain without giving too much away, but there is so much already-existing content that Kedemara I is the foundation for, it's almost impossible to skip it. Even though Kedemara III (Yes...Kedemara THREE) is ~180 years into the future, events in Chapters 4 and 5 of Kedemara have to be fleshed-out properly for all of this to make sense.


[h2]What/When to Expect...[/h2]
I sound like a broken record, but I'd rather miss a deadline than put something I hate out. I will be taking a very hard look at making the content succinct (with less filler) and heavily involving my alpha testers earlier in the process of development. I've gotten big thumbs up on the first hour of content for Chapter 4, but I want to make sure things feel consistent throughout and not rushed. Still, being cognizant that we're at 25+ hours of game already, I don't want things to come off as arduous and drawn-out in the grand scheme of things.

Chapter 4 has some VERY impactful moments that I do not want to cast off, but I may need to simply rearrange them. It's always hard to gauge until someone else does a playthrough, but Chapter 4 may end up shorter than Chapter 3 when all is said and done. The goal will be a solid release by Q1 2023, with sooner than that being a magnificently ideal scenario. I will have much more time off during the winter season of 2022, so I'm looking to make as big an impact as I can around then.




As with anything worth doing in life, it's worth doing right. While a labor of love, the development of Kedemara is still a labor and I am subject to the time I have available to me. Knowing how this particular story concludes, it is well worth the time to get us there. I look forward to sharing this next chapter in Deirdre's story with all of you...and stories to come in the years to follow :)


- Andrew (Creator)

Hello everyone!

Hard to believe it's been over 5 months since Chapter 3 released! The days seem to have flown by, which is unfortunately why an update such as this came so late. To say I've "been busy" with my day job would an understatement, pairing this with some recently surmounted health issues finds me in the familiar "Not as far in development as I'd like to be" position yet again. So goes life...

Fortunately, I have a sizeable amount of work for you to preview! As stated prior, the focus of maps for Chapter 4 would be similar to Blanchielle's approach. I'm attempting to convey a sense of size with the cities you'll encounter, as best as can be done with the medium at hand. While not every door and building will be explorable, there should be plenty to encounter and uncover in Chapter 4...as always!

Not all of the maps shown below are "populated", as that's a component of eventing/programming in the development process, so some of them may look barren compared to others. Hopefully this will incite everyone's interest and make the wait for Chapter 4 more worthwhile. This is a small chunk of the places I've already laid out for you to explore, so let this be a mere taste of what is to come!



--Grand Ballroom at Chevallier Manor (Blanchielle)--



--Deirdre's House (Blanchielle)--



--City Docks (Port Regatta)--



--Market District (Wakeru City)--



--Stone City (Port Habhid region)--



--Temple Courtyard (Montagna Verde)--




The goal for Chapter 4's release will still be Winter of this year (2022). However, there is a very real possibility it may be early 2023 before everything is ready for launch. As with previous releases, I would rather push back the release date than release something I feel isn't measuring up to expectations. Fortunately, I should have some help with testing from my go-to alpha testers this time around. This enables me to focus more on programming the game than constantly testing for bugs later in the development cycle.

I am very excited about what's to come in Chapter 4. The best example I could give at this time, is that the tone of early and later Chapter 3 will be a very close approximation of Chapter 4's feel. The larger world, and Deirdre's awareness of it, will continue to expand in this chapter. What was thought to be ancient myths and tales begin to form and take shape for our adventurers. As the adage goes..."Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." In pursuit of this knowledge, Deirdre will begin to find her place in this world. I look forward to us discovering it together!

- Andrew (Creator)

Hey everyone!


Through a discussion post, a player informed me they were experiencing screen scaling issues with the game. When clicking away, even in fullscreen mode, the visible area for the game would shrink and large black borders would surround the gameplay area.

Seems it was related to the type of scaling it does, since Kedemara runs higher than the engine's default resolution and in widescreen. The previous mode did a sort of integer scaling, where the current one it's been changed to will scale the image in smaller increments. I cannot attest to how smoothly the game will scroll and run in this mode (or if it will make any meaningful difference), but this issue should be fixed now.

The build for it is live now and I tested it myself, everything should be in order. Please continue to let me know if you guys experience any issues and I will assist as soon as possible!



Thank you for playing!
- Andrew (Creator)

[h3]Hello again, everyone!!![/h3]


No matter how much preparation, no matter how much planning, those last two weeks before the release are always very taxing and intense. Even though updates can be made with great ease to fix bugs or make improvements, the feeling of a hard deadline can be a very intimidating thing...and with my full-time job I am NO stranger to deadlines. However, with something as personal and cherished as releasing this game out into the world, I am constantly thinking of ways to improve it. Even Chapter 1 isn't "done" in my mind!

As most of you know, I do all the work on this project by myself. For content I don't have the skills to create, like artwork and game graphics, I purchase content packs...otherwise this is a one-man show. Typically, I have some alpha testers who will assist me with finding bugs (which in 26 hours of content is quite the undertaking), but this year has been difficult for many people and availability for them hasn't been feasible. For the most part, even the testing was done by myself.

While this is one of the most stressful things I've EVER taken on, I can now look forward to finally sharing it with everyone and (hopefully) seeing your enjoyment as you play! When I still played D&D, if my players were happy...then I was a happy DM (Dungeon Master, for the non-D&D folks). Likewise, if you guys are happy players, that makes the effort and work totally worth it.

Now enough of the heavy stuff...let's get on to the FUN stuff!!!


[h2]**Ch. 3 Highlights**[/h2]

There are a few things I'm very excited to bring up, typically regarding game mechanics that are introduced and giving some context to announcements I made before. This will (ideally) be brief, but here's a few I wanted to discuss before everyone hops in.


[h3]--Story Progress--[/h3]

If you read my previous notices about the release date, you'll know that I had to "divide" Chapter 3 up, due to the content being FAR bigger than I'd originally anticipated. Even now, I would peg this closer to 11 hours of content than the original 9-10 I previously stated. To include all of the story "milestones" originally planned, the pacing would have been far worse or the chapter would have been nearly as long as Chapters 1 and 2 combined. I've bumped the total chapters to 5, and the more I played through Chapter 3, the more I feel that was the right decision.

As you could tell by the massive update to Achievements, there is much to unpack and experience in Chapter 3. The long ago mentioned concept of the story, and Deirdre's environment, growing and "blooming" holds true yet again in Chapter 3. While there are laughs to be had in Chapter 3 (plenty, actually!), I have focused strongly on maintaining the tonal balance of the game...and yet as youth flees from us in time, we become so much more aware of the reality that is our worlds. To see things as they are, is the blessing and curse of aging.

[h3]
--Mapping, environments, etc.--[/h3]

I wouldn't expect anything universe-shattering, but this is the first chapter where all of the maps were created from scratch (no pre-assembled ones here!). It's far more work, but the flexibility it offers is much nicer than simply editing some pre-made ones.

As you go on, cities and communities become FAR bigger. I am probably shooting myself in the foot, but let this set the tone for what's to come. To give a sense of scale, there is going to be less interaction in an "overworld" map, saving most of the interactivity for inside buildings, smaller areas, and dungeons. But hey! It never hurts to look, does it? ;-)

Compared to AAA games, and likely other Indie RPGs, it's not a huge deal to have city guards who you can ask for directions...but having that in Chapter 3 makes me want to smile. You'll know the place when you get there...I practically needed directions myself! There will be more of this to come in Chapter 4, the cities are going to be grand and a great challenge to overcome. I look forward to sharing those with you guys in the future too :)


[h3]--Character Equipment and Skills--[/h3]

I had a VERY unorganized approach to items, character skills, and overall balancing in general. The character development and story are my biggest focus, but there's more to a story than JUST the dialogue, right? Plenty of folks enjoy the combat portion and I apologize for neglecting that in the past...So check this out!

**Equipment**
The balancing for this was ABYSMAL! Did you know Tessa hadn't received a new Accessory since the S.S. Raven in Chapter 1??? Neither did I, and that was the problem. Things became far, FAR bigger than I expected (this was going to be a 5 hour game when I first made it), so there was much room for organization that didn't happen...there really wasn't a need to! A lot of this just snowballed into Chapter 2 since it was so much bigger than Chapter 1 and I was just trying to get things to work. Thankfully, the precedent has been set for this and future chapters...organization has also arrived along with Chapter 3!!

While it took hours of documenting, creating spreadsheets, and changing my blood type to "Advil"...I have a proper reference for items, stats, locations, etc. so that things are far more balanced moving forward. You won't notice much difference in Chapters 1 and 2 since combat and such were already balanced for that, but Chapter 3 will have a FAR better spread of items as rewards and available for players to purchase. I don't want to give too much away, but I believe the time spent making better items that are ALSO thematically-consistent with the area you get them in...is going to be quite a hoot. Also, don't forget to check the item descriptions for "flavor text"! You may find those enjoyable as well :)

*Be sure to check Blacksmiths and Tailors in towns with them!! They should be far better stocked with new items now!!*

**Stats and Skills**

Another area that was immensely overlooked by me. I had a sort of "band-aid" approach to balancing, just bumping up one item or nerfing a boss to make things seem more balanced, but in the longrun this just makes things worse. As the old saying goes, "A stitch in time, saves nine", and boy does that apply here!

Seeing Tessa with more HP than Korryn or Deirdre dealing more damage than Kaleb at some parts made me want to slap myself. I don't really care for how the game engine handles stat progress, but in the interim while I try and hone in on the best solution, I put in a lot of time trying to get things better balanced here. While things aren't "perfect", they are much better than prior. I will also have a quick blurb down below explaining character roles in more detail...and how they are planned to develop.

Skills was also a very big oversight for me, but that is not the case with Chapter 3.
EVERY...SINGLE...CHARACTER...receives at least TWO new skills (some up to 5) over the course of this chapter. The general spread for players had them ending Chapter 2 at around Level 19-21, so I planned around level 20 as where most changes start. These should also help develop the characters' unique roles and abilities they bring to the party. The short summary and changes are down below...


Deirdre:
While most RPGs make the main character OP or an "All-Rounder", Deirdre is a tank of a different sort. She wears the heaviest armor in the game, so her DEF stat is unparalleled. Her damage is on the lower end of average, but she can still dole out some punishment. Due to her great stature, she almost has the highest HP in the game, 2nd only to Kaleb. Her Magic DEF is on the upper end of average, but it's not her strongest stat.

Kaleb:
Though he doesn't have a great DEF stat, Kaleb has the highest amount of HP and deals an immense amount of damage. While Deirdre is the slowest due to her heavy armor, Kaleb is not far behind. This was not the case before, but given the spread of characters now coming on the scene it's a change that is coming VERY soon in a hotfix. Kaleb is still going to be the powerhouse for dealing physical DMG and taking hits while doing it.

Amie:
Not much room to change Amie here, as she's the only full-on healer in the game, giving her a very traditional and set role in the party. In terms of HP, she has more than Tessa and the new character from Chapter 3, but only Tessa has less DEF than her. Amie's Magic DEF is quite formidable, but not as high as Tessa's. Amie can bring someone back from near death or ACTUAL death, giving her much job security. When at all possible, keep her outside of the active party to prevent her from taking unnecessary damage.

Tessa:
She's your quintessential "glass cannon" mage....deals MASSIVE damage, but a few swift hits from a beefy, high ATK enemy can knock Tessa out. She's just a little girl, Deedzy!! :(
Despite this, her Magic DEF is the highest in your party and she deals the most magic damage, hands down. The double-edged sword with Tessa, is that most physically tough enemies are weak to magic attacks, but she can easily suffer the consequences of a strong hit from them. Keep an eye on her HP and you'll be ok!!

Gerwulf:
Likely the most misunderstood, in more ways than one. Gerwulf is an "all-rounder" with some very handy abilties, one of which is unique to him. He is the only character that can (with the skill "Affirmation") remove all stat debuffs from a single character. His Ultima (Ardent Reprisal) removes all stat debuffs from the entire party. While it doesn't sound as glorious as Kaleb's Frenzy or Amie's Group Hug, this will be invaluable with later boss battles where stat debuffs are a core mechanic for that encounter.

He can handle regular damage and magic damage in stride, he also possesses skills to heal the Bleed state, inflict armor piercing or bleed damage, and can deal a respectable amount of damage. Don't expect him to get there quickly though!

Korryn:
Another character we'll get to know better in Chapter 3. With the current rework (coming soon), Korryn has an absolutely unmatched (for now) AGI stat, meaning he's the quickest character by far. Since he's an archer, this makes the most thematic sense. His damage is quite high with a decent chance to crit, and he can inflict status ailments like Poison, Dizzy, or even the Bleed state with his Ultima (Savage Barrage). Korryn has slightly more HP than Amie and packs heavier armor than she does. He can take physical damage in stride and his Elven ancestry means he won't get overwhelmed easily by Magic attacks either.

Korryn is the only character besides Amie that can heal others with his Mend Wounds ability. He can also cure poison with Antidote and stop the Bleed ailment with Cauterize (same as Gerwulf). Since these abilities take MP to cast, Korryn can run out rather quickly if you rely solely on him for this. He's a great support character to Amie, helping to keep her alive while she heals the others with more efficiency than Korryn. He's a great character to sub in for Amie at the start of an encounter.

[Redacted!!]:
Intel from "various agents" tells us there's another character you'll encounter very soon!

It appears this character values stealth and speed, along with high damage, to decimate their opponents. However, this may come at the cost of their ability to take physical or magic damage. Their nimbleness makes for great evasion skills though! While this character can't take as many hits as Kaleb, they're the fastest character in the game, has the highest chance to dodge an attack, and can deal out some really nasty damage and status effects....so keep an eye out, Tootse ;-)


[h3]--Combat and Misc.--[/h3]

Sorry the last section got so wordy, but I've requests for a detailed writeup on the characters and this seemed a decent time to do so, given all the changes being made. There are a few other things I wanted to bring up, around new States and such that are being added in...

"Terrified" State:
Thematically consistent with the story from here-on, this state renders the victim unable to attack or perform any actions until it either expires, or another character dispels it for them. This is similar to Confusion, except characters do not attack at random like with Confusion. It is also similar to Sleep, but unlike Sleep...taking damage will not dispel Terrified.

While it is possible to overcome it by time, this can be instantly dispelled with Gerwulf's "Affirmation" spell, Amie's "Sanctify" spell, or Deirdre's new ability "Bolstering Shout" (gained at Level 26). Amie's Ultima "Group Hug" will also dispel this state (in a coming soon patch).

"Rage" State:
This state is only inflicted ON enemies and not BY them, for now. Kaleb's new "Taunt" ability (gained at level 22) inflicts this on an enemy. They become reckless and have a slight increase to ATK, that is mitigated by a huge reduction in Hit Rate and DEF. This is ideal for taking down "tanky" damage sponge enemies that don't hit hard, but have a lot of HP and armor. Paired with some DEF debuffs, you can take some enemies down with relative ease! ;-)


There are a couple of little tweaks I'll be posting up in a patch (likely coming out later tonight), but the game is definitely great as-is. I just happen to be a real fanatic when it comes to perfecting things. That's how I can spend 14 hour days on the weekend working on the game, forgetting to eat and sleep in the meantime!! If the story is your focus, and combat isn't a big deal, don't sweat it. The game in its present state is great, as many of my friends are more interested in the story than rock-solid combat balancing. It should still be engaging and fun, regardless!!


[h2]**Ch. 1-2 News and new Trailer**[/h2]

I could go on and on about this, but if you haven't played since the Ch. 2 release, you'll notice a lot of changes. In particular, the Widescreen format the game is currently in. It's a resolution of 1280x720 and should scale up just fine (Press the "F4" button on your keyboard to fullscreen it) on most TVs and computer monitors. It was requested quite a bit and most users have widescreen TVs/Monitors any how, so now there's no black bars to contend with! Keep in mind, this is not stretching the original image...this is increasing the playfield itself, making more of the map and content visible as you play. A great deal of maps and events took some reworking, but it was quite worth it, if you ask me!

I have the "Main" and "Required Cinematics" you run into during Chapter 1 and 2 reformatted to fit the wide text boxes (those got bigger too) now, but this task is FAR from over. I still have the greater part of 8 or so hours of content to refit in Chapters 1 and 2, but Chapter 3 should be 100%. You'll still be able to read everything just fine, you'll just see more space to the right of the text. Functionally it's no problem at all....aesthetically, that's a different story lol. This is a work in progress...you have my word!


Following the release of this post, I will begin working on a new trailer today (while keeping an eye out for messages about game bugs). The one on the Steam page is so outdated (and doesn't even have Chapter 2 content) that I'm thoroughly embarrassed to even show it to people. The name box fixes, the move to Widescreen format, and another 20 hours of content added to the game means it's long overdue to fix this thing.

I'll be editing that, but the crappy part will be uploading it, as my internet service in this area is horrible (we're talking 23Mbps/1.5Mbps horrible). Getting the trailer up in 1080p quality is going to take a while...so it may be an exercise in brevity over quantity. Keep an eye out for that too, I'll make a small post to mark its release as well.




I hope you guys enjoy Chapter 3, and some of the changes to Chapters 1 and 2 if you haven't seen them! This is the part I always love...watching everyone's streams, playthroughs, and getting to chat about it with my friends. It makes all the toil and strain of putting this together worth it....thank you all again and I look forward to embarking on this journey again with all of you!

- Andrew (Creator)