So almost two years have gone by since I released Impolite Society and it's been two years of radio silence.  In part, that's because I don't love giving 'Nothing Has Happened Yet' updates. It's also because, for the longest time, it was hard for me to even think about IS without immediately getting overwhelmed.

I'm releasing this just to give you some idea of where we're at rather than it being a blob of uncertainty. 

Impolite Society is by no means abandoned and I still work on it fairly regularly, but it's not my main priority. Therefore, just for the sake of people who have been waiting and rooting for this to come out (looking at you Moonblink ❤️) I'm declaring an official hiatus. It's been unofficially in hiatus for two years, so it doesn't make much of a difference, but it's easier for everyone (especially myself) if I just admit that to all of us so we can move on.

Mind, it's not cancelled, it's just a hiatus. Suffice it to say it's not coming out anytime soon.

The Last Two Years

I know that's probably not what you're here for, but we're getting into the weeds of it anyway. 

When I started working on IS, I was at the very lowest point that I've ever been, mental health wise. At the time, my depression, anxiety, Imposter Syndrome and self-criticism were running rampant. Working on Impolite Society was the first of many steps I took towards getting better. Developing the demo was a breath of fresh air and, to put it mildly, it was what saved me. It gave me a reason to get out of bed in the morning and it got me out of the hole long enough that I could make something.

After releasing the demo, however, I realised that the work I'd cut out for myself was... massive. The first six months after release, I wasn't doing very well at all.  I was still recovering from some pretty gnarly stuff living inside my brain. Whenever I sat down to write or draw, that little asshole sitting on my shoulder kept screaming 'Not Good Enough'.  

It took a really long time and a lot of work for me to be able to do anything at all without that voice being a constant companion. In some ways, it still is and I'm constantly fighting it for every inch.  

I am better now. I've done a lot of progress since then. I've released another demo for a game that is pretty damned incredible (and almost done, I swear), I've worked with other devs on other projects. I've made friends. I've more or less managed to pull myself out of the hole and get shit done. 

However, in spite of all of that, IS remains a daunting prospect. And that's no longer just because I'm an insecure, scared, anxious baby dev anymore, it's because it really is daunting. There's still a wealth of content to create to get it going. 

Art 

The sprites I made for IS in May 2022 were the absolute best I could do, hands down. They were my best effort. Since then I became a better artist, but not a good enough artist that I can match the sprites I already have. Even if I tried (and I have), I simply can't match them anymore. 

That means at some point I'll have to redo all the sprites I already have - Izzie, Eleanor, Frederica, Charles, Harry, Parker and Aunt Emmeline - along with a substantial side cast. A few of my friends have asked me if I can't just swap these side characters out for silhouettes, and that's a fair shout. However, these side characters have so much screen time and are so integral to the plot that I can't just ignore them. They make the world feel lived in and they lend colour to each and every route. 

So that's about 14 characters that I have to design/redesign. 

For the record, I have worked on it several times over the last two years (see above the latest in a long line of attempts). I have a pretty clear idea of what everyone looks like at this point, I just need to somehow buckle down and make 14 matching sprites. Charles in particular got SO MUCH overhauling (I think by now we're at v12 or something ridiculous like that) but I'm confident that at some point it'll get done. Later rather than sooner, but it will.

Writing

At 4 routes, Impolite Society is a bit daunting to get through for a newbie writer. I'm guessing each route would total around 20-30k words, plus the common bits which means the conservative total word count estimate for it is about 100k words. That in and of itself isn't particularly bad, but it's a lot of words and plotlines to wrangle. I think right now we're at about 30-40k words, which is nothing to sniff at, but it's stuff I've worked on here and there. It'll require a SeriousTM writing effort to collage all of it into a coherent visual novel.

Someone pointed out in the comments that the demo doesn't have any choices. That's not by design, it's just that, at the time, I didn't know how to write choices at all. Since then I've learned how, so hopefully the next version will have a bunch of relevant choices for you to make.

Prior commitments

Last year during otome jam, I launched another demo for a game called Lord of the Wings and dragged a wholeass bunch of people to work with me on it. Much like Impolite Society, it's a daunting process, but unlike Impolite Society all the pieces are pretty much done, it'll just take a lot of elbow grease to put it all together. In terms of priorities, LotW is really high up on the list because I owe it to all these incredible people to finish what we started and show off their incredible work. After we finally get LotW wrapped up, that'll free up some time and availability to work on IS. 

So. Basically.

Hiatus. That's what we're doing now. We're shutting the door on expectations and making this an enjoyable (albeit very, very long) road. Historically I've been pretty rubbish at giving updates, but I will try to do better.

Hope you're all doing okay and that you're having a lovely summer/winter, wherever you are!

Love, 
Maria ❤️