Every two weeks I’ve been releasing a build of the game, coupled with a writeup. Today I’m doing something a little different. This is partly because some of the work I did, mainly the cutscene writing, has already been released. This is partly because much of the programming work I did on the game is behind the scenes stuff. Mostly it’s because I have to announce that I’m done writing about politics until this game is released.
For a long time I tried to straddle both worlds, recognizing that the audience that enjoys my political content is not necessarily the same as the audience that enjoys reading about video game development, even if said game is highly political. I’ve decided that I can only dedicate myself to one thing at a time, and right now that’s Escape From Epstein Island.
The problem with political writing is threefold. First, writing is a timesink. I’ve estimated that, at best, I can write approximately five hundred edited words per hour. Cross reference that with a four thousand word article, probably about my average, and there’s an entire workday gone. I used to write much shorter articles, but the point of my current political writing is to serve as journalism that someone else can reference productively. That requires far more time, effort, and wordcount than a piece on current events preaching to the choir.
Secondly, I remember even Tucker Carlson making the point that, when he looked back at the conversation happening just a few years ago, he realized how impotent and pointless it was. I get that some people think ratio’ing some sitting politician, or Elon Musk, or whatever, is very important work. Wake me up when some serious third/populist party starts, something that I have been wanting for years, and something others, such as Jimmy Dore, have spent the past decade calling for.
Not that I don’t appreciate the difficulties, just that the current political landscape doesn’t hold my interest. Until such time as we have a real political party representing us, even if tiny, our punditry is little more important than being an Elon Musk reply guy. Besides, to the extent that this work is productive, said niche is already being filled admirably by WarStrike and JusticeReport.
Third, politics under ZOG pisses me off. Checking in every day to see the latest outrage is bad for my productivity. I currently have almost a dozen articles that I’ve written to varying states of completion, such as one on the Georgian elections that I promised over a month ago. I’ve made peace with them not being released. It’s not that important that I write about it on this blog that most people have never heard of.
That weak reach is one of the main drivers behind the game development. Yes, I do want to actually make some money, and even modest sales of a game are appreciated. But also, the games industry is pozzed as hell, people hate it, and the censorship on platforms like Steam is fairly minimal. Even if the only thing I wanted to do was to redpill the normies, an expression I’ve grown to dislike, at this point, I’d be doing this through game dev, or some means other than this site.
Game development is as tedious as it is difficult. I’m racing towards the game equivalent of a rough draft of the entire campaign, with all the cutscenes written but not filmed, and all the enemies, scenarios, and boss fights fully implemented. There is an absurd amount of work to be done, by myself and others. I simply cannot afford any time wasting distractions.
What I can afford is short writeups pertaining to development, and perhaps the continuation of my “I Hate Modern Gaming” series. That’s what you’ll be getting on this site, whether you like it or not. Luckily, if you’re not into that kind of thing, no one forces you to read me. If you are into that kind of thing, please give these articles as much feedback as possible. It is very much appreciated.
Thank you for your understanding.
P.S. When I announced the project, I was contacted by a few different fans offering to produce art for the project. I’m contacting them again, and I’d like anyone who is at all interested in producing 2D artwork or any and all audio effects, including music, to contact me. You can do so through the site email theTDC@protonmail.com, by DM’ing me on Telegram or Poast, or by hopping into the Telegram game group and posting there. I can pay you (poorly) for your work, but you have to contact me first. Thank you.
I’ll admit ill miss the journalism as i used it extensively for media purposes to better the local nationalist scene here.
But i agree with your take, i myself have quit writing my political book and gane devving, and instead started writing fantasy and irl activism because it felt mildly pointless in current year situation and depressing.
Either way im sticking around
“Felt pointless and depressing.” Indeed. And thank you for sticking around.
@Shekelstein,
are there any plans to include Ghislaine in the game? She could serve as a distraction, red-herring-planter, saboteur/franc-tireur, foot massager, procurer, panderer, foreskin collector, lobbyist, get-away submarine captain, liaison to Herzliya, etc.
The old crone still has plenty of fuel left in her.
Yours truly,
Charlie Gordon
As a boss? Not at the moment, although maybe I can cobble something together. She is talked about in the cutscenes.