Due to recent life circumstances, I'm announcing this a LOT sooner than I had hoped to. I've been working on Tailbound again since ~January of this year, after dropping it for about a month.

The Plan

Currently, all basic mechanics (movement, combat, menus, configurations (including custom controls), saving, loading, etc.) are finished, all 7 enemies are finished, the shop and items it sells are finished, along with a new stats AND skills system (like Thirstchasm, but better.) Of course, the sex scene system is also done (but needs a little more polish, that'll be finished later.)

As I'm writing this, I'm currently implementing mechanics for the first level of the game. In total, there will be 4 levels and roughly 10 unique traps/obstacles that need to be finished. Each level is planned out already, with how the maps for each will be structured, which enemies/traps they'll have, etc.

Once the levels are done (and have final art), I'll move on to adding the four boss battles, then after that I'll add plot cutscenes along with the tutorial area. This all should probably only take up the majority of my time in March to finish. April will be devoted solely to finishing the ~30 sex animations that will be going into the game, as well as any other art/animations the game requires. (a dinosaur, the composer from Thirstchasm, will also be working on the game's OST during this time... Possibly earlier.) 

I plan to do a closed beta test with its own dedicated Discord server for testers. These testers will likely be pulled from the #tailbound channel on my server, and will essentially be getting free copies of the game. While this test is happening, I'll be working on a demo version of the game to put out for free. After everything is said and done, and the game is fully complete, I'll be selling it on here for either $5 or $10. (Depends on how desperate my situation gets between now and then) I will NOT be putting it on Steam, because frankly, I don't want to and I don't feel like giving Gaben a 30% cut for a game that only costs a couple bucks.

The Cash

So why exactly am I detailing all of this? Well for one, I want something I can link as a sort of FAQ, two I want to start trying to build trust again, so I can potentially get donations while I'm finishing up the game. If you don't trust what I'm putting down though, then don't donate. I know this is like, the second or third time I'm pulling this game out of the grave, and with how fickle my mental state is I wouldn't blame you for doubting the potential of Tailbound actually being finished.

An important, and I mean really important distinction to make however, is that when I say donations I only mean on Itch.io itself. I absolutely can not monetize the game's development via Patreon. This is of course because Tailbound features a lot of morally grey situations/themes that can get my patreon nuked at literally any time. (And considering how vague their rules are, I wouldn't be surprised if I simply got banned from Patreon just for working on the game in the first place.) Of course, I could take the easy route and heavily censor the game and come up with stupid ways to explain away the obvious non-con themes, but that'd waste both my time and the game's vision. I'm making a proper sequel to Thirstchasm, not Patreon-Cash-Grab-Furry-Game-That-Will-Never-Be-Finished#5763.

My Situation

Currently, I have roughly until November before our landlord kicks us out. (They decided that they don't want to rent trailers out to people anymore, so we either have to buy this dump or move out. We're choosing the latter.... Hopefully.) This came as news to us only very recently-- like two days ago recent. I've been planning to do this since before hearing the news, but after hearing it I know I really need to kick things up a few gears. (Hence why I'm announcing this now rather than waiting until the game is more complete, like I originally wanted to.)

Finishing Tailbound would mean finally putting it to rest, since for the last ~3 years the entire Tailbound/Thirstchasm situation has felt like unfinished business that'll probably haunt me forever. (Which is probably why I keep going back to it, despite saying otherwise.) Obviously, it'd also be a somewhat-stable source of passive income once it's complete (or at least, it would be for a time.) I genuinely do not want to touch animation or porn games again once it's done, so I'll be putting everything I can into it to make sure I left with my best.

Obviously, I'm not expecting the game to magically make enough money to cover the down payment on a new place once it's finished. It isn't straight, it and Thirstchasm have a bad rep, and it's rather obscure (at least compared to Thirstchasm and.... Other games.) However, I do have faith that it'll make at least enough to warrant spending the next 3 months working on it in such a desperate time. (Since, even if I tried doing commissions right now, I'm sure I'd quickly run through the slim number of potential commissioners I have and wouldn't make nearly as much as Tailbound can.)

Once the game is finished, I'd like to simply "retire" back to doing commissions and my own projects, hopefully enough commissions to keep my bf and I afloat.

Mental Health

As most people seem to already be aware of, the thing always holding back these projects is my own damn mental health. I have severe depression from basically wasting my teenage years and now early 20's doing furry porn, and it doesn't help that other artists always seem to have it so easy in comparison. (At least, that's how it seems when every other artist in the community is all buddy-buddy with everyone else but me.) I don't want to get into a rant about this stuff, so I'll leave it at what I plan on doing:

In order to try keeping myself mentally fit while working on the game, I'm going to do my best to avoid going on social media (Twitter, FA, Discord, etc.) since usually, this is what tends to tank my mood. (And I have a tendency to scare people away on my own Discord server by actually being active on it) Of course, I'll have to use these platforms from time to time since... I'm an internet content creator, it's not like I can simply delete them and still be able to do this stuff.

Your Support

Here we are, the part where I shamelessly e-beg for your hard earned sheckels. Like I said above, if you still don't believe in the project, then don't donate to it. I'm not fully expecting anyone to actually support this thing after everything it's been through and everything I've said about it. Like detailed above though, I'm in a seriously tough spot however and this is likely my one chance to begin getting people on-board with the project before release. (Since from here on out I'll have to dedicate every day to the game's development in order to get it out by May.)

I can't explicitly tell you to support on Patreon, since Patreon hates these kinds of projects. But if you're so inclined to donate, then you can do it on here (or on Thirstchasm's page) and hit me up in the Discord server for access to the Tailbound channel. Tailbound isn't nearly as large as a project as Moontide, and isn't being built on some backwater engine like Thirstchasm, so it should be a project I can realistically finish without too much headache or complications.

It's time to finish the fight.

Links

I don't have many screenshots of the game, but I do have some choice videos of it. (Since it looks way better in motion anyway) All of these use placeholder graphics for the actual level, since I'm not doing level art until later next month.

Video 1 (Ashe's Shop)

Video 2 (Stats Menu)

Video 3 (Monsters)

Discord Server