Deep Russian Depression News

[p]Hello. There has been no news about the game for a long time, as work has been suspended indefinitely. At one point, I felt that Deep Russian Depression is over, and I was even ready to sell all the assets and the game's Steam page for one hundred dollars, but fortunately, there were no takers. Recent comments from two users in the community prompted me to make this post.[/p][p][/p][p]I have bad feelings about my future. Although I have learned to endure and hide from adversity, I cannot hide from what is to come. I am, of course, talking about the blocking of the Internet and its content within the Russian Federation. The Internet and my presence in it are among the few things that still matter to me. It would also not be an exaggeration to say that I live on the Internet. The state is unhappy with this state of affairs and offers me "traditional values," the messenger Max, and a military slaving in exchange for access to the global Internet. I refuse, but it is futile, as the rule in this country is: "If you don't want to, we'll make you."[/p][p][/p][p]Although I still have full access to the global Internet thanks to three magic letters (VPN), I see where our country is heading. Just a few years ago, we couldn't have imagined things would be as they are now, which leads me to conclude that it will only get worse. Undoubtedly, sooner or later, we will lose access to Steam. Whether it will be a partial block or a complete absence of the foreign segment of the Internet remains a mystery for now.[/p][p][/p][p]Therefore, I no longer want to work on Deep Russian Depression—it is not only pointless but also counterproductive: the hours and effort spent will never pay off, because the money from the game's sales simply won't reach me due to the events of recent years. I have no intention of working for the idea anymore, nor for donations, because I have learned to scrape together small amounts of money for the bare necessities.[/p][p][/p][p]Oh yes, I forgot to mention that I have no like-minded colleagues or advisors left—they all betrayed me over a sum of one dollar and sixty cents, which one of them refused to return. It's not that this is directly related to the game, but before these scoundrels revealed their vile nature, I believed I was making the game for them, too.[/p][p][/p][p]I see no point in continuing Deep Russian Depression. I would be glad to release the game for free for those interested, but I have no content to fill it with in order to pass Steam's moderation. If any of you are willing to provide your story and illustrations for it, I will carefully adapt them into the software code of Deep Russian Depression, but don't expect anything more from me, because, apparently, for me gamedev is over.[/p]

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[h2]Deep Russian Depression is Available to Purchase![/h2]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1858710/
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I congratulate all the users and followers of the Depression on the first anniversary of Deep Russian Depression!

Despite the hardships and doubts that constantly hover over all of us, the development of the game continues thanks to your belief in our cause. The second year of Deep Russian Depression begins today, and it will bring new perspectives for many of us. Stay tuned for updates so you don’t miss what awaits us this year.

As promised, today we will answer the questions that were asked.

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[h3]How did it happen that the game’s release date suddenly changed to 2028?[/h3]

Such things happen in life — it's the human factor. I miscalculated the time Valve would need to review Deep Russian Depression, which is why the full release of the game on February 24, 2024, was delayed. Since I’m a bit obsessed with beautiful numbers, the next beautiful date for the game’s release is February 28, 2028.

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[h3]Will we see an early version before the release, or is the release date the date for Early Access?[/h3]

Yes, possibly. If the long-awaited cessation of hostilities on the territory of Ukraine happens soon, Russian banks will be reconnected to SWIFT, which will allow receiving money transfers from Valve for game sales on Steam.

However, I'm not entirely sure whether the agreement to avoid double taxation between the US and Russia is currently in place. If this agreement has been suspended, I’ll have to pay a 30% tax on the game’s price in the US and 13% in Russia, which is unacceptable. Having such an agreement between the countries is a mandatory requirement for Deep Russian Depression to be sold.

Therefore, if both conditions are met, the game will quickly be available in Early Access on Steam. Otherwise, the game will be released on February 28, 2028.

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[h3]Is it possible to play the game right now?[/h3]

Such an opportunity is available to the forty-eight people who received activation keys for the game before the event Bissextus (2024). This giveaway was an exceptional event and my compensation for all those who eagerly awaited the game’s release and showed activity in the community hub .

Such giveaways will not be held anymore, but not because I’m reluctant to give out keys, but because I need people to buy the game through Steam, thus bringing us closer to the most important goal — deleting the "Limited Features" tag, which will allow adding Steam cards, emoticons, stickers, and backgrounds related to Deep Russian Depression.

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[h3]Dear developers of Deep Russian Depression, have you considered creating an additional product related to the game, like Deep Russian Depression Coin?[/h3]

Of course! Against the backdrop of recent news about the success of the $TRUMP coin and the meme Belarusian bank "Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated" I’ve been casually thinking about the prospects of creating Deep Russian Depression Coin.

However, I and many readers are far from the world of cryptocurrencies and don’t really understand it, so don’t expect any coin to be released anytime soon.

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[h3]If I remember, 2 years ago, you had a significantly different art style to the anime one of more recent. What prompted this change?[/h3]

You probably know that our modern youth is obsessed with anime. Obviously, games in the anime style attract more attention than similar ones made in a photorealistic style. Two years ago, when neural networks were just starting to infiltrate our everyday lives, I, filled with interest in this new technology, decided to experiment with Stable Diffusion and was pleased with the results. Since the previous cover images for the game in the store seemed a bit dull to me, it was decided to create new ones using Stable Diffusion, but this time in the anime style.

The community had mixed reactions to this change: many of the loyal users unsubscribed from the game’s updates, but in their place came new ones — the very anime lovers I mentioned earlier. I believe I made the most successful decision: the game started attracting more attention, which positively affected important metrics on Steam. Also, the cover image was added to the collage on the game’s main page during the Steam Next Fest: February 2024 Edition, which further confirms the correctness of this decision.

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[h3]What about the music and visual aspects of the game? In the description, you mentioned that there are significant issues with them. Are you doing everything yourself, or do you have a team/assistants?[/h3]

The main issue is that I don’t have a talent for music and visual arts, but I also can’t trust someone else with this. I still have some free time to master the necessary skills, as well as neural networks that can help me create quality images and audio files.

I have a few advisors and testers, but they are not directly involved in the creation of Deep Russian Depression.

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[h3]Did you have to study the basics of programming by sifting through hundreds of articles on the internet, or take courses? Or perhaps writing code turned out to be the easiest part of development?[/h3]

No, I didn’t have to take courses or read hundreds of articles. Of course, I read some thematic guides, but they were far fewer than a hundred. It’s important to note that Deep Russian Depression is not my first project on RenPy, so the mistakes typical for beginners are a thing of the past.

Writing code for a visual novel is not that difficult, considering I have guides created by the years of effort from the RenPy community, as well as two assistants: ChatGPT and DeepSeek. Writing the actual novel itself is much more challenging, given my high standards for any text I plan to publish.

Sometimes, I get this obsessive thought that I have no right to tarnish the Russian language and this genre with my mediocre writing and the equally mediocre meaning embedded in it. My dilemma is that I have a huge aversion to my own prose, yet readers and like-minded people find it excellent, and at worst, just "not bad."

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[h3]How much time does development take? Do you have a set schedule, or do you work on the game in your free time?[/h3]

No time to answer this question.

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[h3]Do you have a dev blog anywhere else besides the Steam news (for example, a Telegram channel)? It would be interesting to follow the development.[/h3]

No, at the moment all information about Deep Russian Depression is published only in the game’s community hub, as everything is in one place, which is very convenient for both users and me.

There’s also another important reason: I don’t like online platforms that require phone number registration, including Telegram.

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[h2]Deep Russian Depression is Available to Purchase![/h2]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1858710/
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No one expected it, no one asked for it, but exactly three years ago, a page for the game Deep Russian Depression appeared on Steam.

It happened spontaneously, and only because my father sent me a motivational video in which actor Anthony Hopkins urged people to believe in what they are about to do. And I believed. After that, I spent my last money to pay the Steam Direct fee required to publish the game. As it turned out, this decision was timely, and I managed to seize the last opportunity.

Back then, we didn’t yet know that a pivotal event would soon occur, forever changing the lives of people in the post-Soviet space, and its consequences would affect everything, including game development. Yet, despite all the changes and challenges that have emerged over the past three years, I continue to believe in what I’m doing!

However, some users suspect that Deep Russian Depression doesn’t actually exist, and all the activity around it is a scam to collect donations.

While their suspicions are not entirely unfounded, these users are mistaken. I don’t blame them for this, as they don’t know what I know. This is my shortcoming, as I’ve been less active in posting updates on this blog, which has raised suspicions. But today, decisive measures are being taken to address this!

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On February 24, 2025, the first anniversary of Deep Russian Depression, I will answer all your burning questions. These questions can be about any topic related to Deep Russian Depression.

If you have a question, write it in the comments to this post. Each user can ask one question, and related questions from different users will receive a collective response. I ask everyone to be tactful and refrain from using profanity or insults.

Questions will be accepted for thirty-five days from the date of this post.

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[h2]Deep Russian Depression is Available to Purchase![/h2]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1858710/
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Summer of 2024 passed quickly, unnoticed, without any upheavals.

I paused my work on Deep Russian Depression because the warm summer days, delicious food, and time spent with close people completely disrupted my gloomy but determined mindset to create something that people from anywhere in the world could see, even after my passing.

In other words, I was seizing the moment and enjoying life this summer.

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About the game development

I will definitely continue developing when I regain the motivation to do anything. Knowing me, this will require hints of impending upheavals in life or significant donations from my readers. Considering that an unprecedented October is approaching, motivation might become no less unprecedented.

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About the new game features

In the spring, I experimented with adding game mechanics that you might have seen in RPG Maker-based games. These mechanics are primitive, but I find them engaging. The game already has the ability to control a character and interact with objects on the screen, but I need to figure out how to weave these mechanics into the narrative in a way that looks neither overly extravagant nor out of place.

In other words, the visual novel with RPG elements now has even more RPG elements.

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About the release date and access to the game

The game won’t be released anytime soon, so I don’t need to rush: I wanted to release it on the aesthetically pleasing date of February 24, 2024, but fate had other plans. The next beautiful date is February 28, 2028, which perfectly aligns with the Bissextus event. This means I have 1275 days and nights to prepare the game for a full release.

Also, I have activation keys that give users access to the product right now. I’m not planning to give them away to everyone as I did previously with the Bissextus event, but I’m willing to make an exception for the most generous donors.

In other words, keep waiting.

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Conclusion

Some of you are disappointed by what you have read and I understand your feelings: three and a half years of waiting is a long time, during which all sorts of things can happen and, unfortunately, some of us will not see the game come out: some will forget, some will outgrow it, and some will be gone.

For now, Deep Russian Depression is a small, voracious caterpillar, devouring time, money and the attention of a small number of people, but I am sure that the day will come when it will turn into a beautiful butterfly that will rise into the air and delight everyone with its appearance.

Take care of it in these cool autumn days.

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[h2]Deep Russian Depression is Available to Purchase![/h2]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1858710/
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A few hours ago, I received a long-awaited response from customer support. They apologized for the lengthy review and identified two issues with Deep Russian Depression that need to be addressed before submitting the game build for re-review.

Valve Corporation takes financial matters seriously, and the first issue is that their employees don't fully understand the programming aspect of the current distribution and monetization system for user-generated content in Deep Russian Depression.

The other issue is that the process of creating modifications is not as simple as advertised on the game's store page. A buyer may get the false impression that they're dealing with a visual novel constructor. Deep Russian Depression is not a constructor, as there's no special functionality within the application for creating modifications.

Both claims are justified. Customer support doesn't oppose my innovative ideas, but they require a build where all the game's features are available for use within the application without any external interactions.

Unfortunately, creating such a build in a short time is difficult considering my skills and the initial data. In order for the game to be released, the previously announced features will be adapted to Valve's requirements.

The ability to create modifications based on Deep Russian Depression will remain unchanged, but it will reluctantly cease to be a key feature of the application, resulting in changes to the game's page on the Steam store in the near future.

As before, users will be able to upload their additional stories, sprites, and backgrounds to the Workshop to share them with the community, but only on a non-commercial basis: monetizing such content through Steam will not be possible.

The in-game store and Steam inventory will be temporarily disabled: in some project development scenarios, this functionality may be useful in the future.

Once all necessary changes have been made, I will request a re-review of the game build. Considering that the last review took almost three months, the next one may be equally lengthy, although this is unlikely.

I will definitely notify you of the results as soon as they become available.

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[h2]Deep Russian Depression is Available to Purchase![/h2]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1858710/
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