Rotted Report 09: One of those posts

Yep, it's one of those posts. One of those posts where the blogger makes lots of excuses for why he hasn't been keeping you updated. Feel free to roll your eyes now. I understand.

Oh, I've been posting frequently enough on this blog - about Neverwinter, Dragon Age 2, my painful attempt at The Witcher 2, even movies and TV shows. But it's been almost two months since I've written anything about The Rotted Rose. That's my mod project for Dragon Age, in case you forgot.

Initially, I didn't post any updates because I wasn't working on anything that was suitable to write about. But lately, I must confess, I just haven't been working on anything. Period.

To recap, I had written almost all of the dialogue for TRR and implemented a great deal of the other pieces I needed (at least for the critical path). However, after playing DA2, I was so disheartened by some obvious similarities between it and TRR that I decided to step back and do a slight redesign. After giving it some thought, I hit upon an idea that clicked and soon commenced rewriting (this was the part that didn't really lend itself to updates).

I finished all but the last bit of the revision when something happened. I got distracted with TW2 and some personal issues.

Not those kind of personal issues.

And then, when I went back to work on my mod, I found that I had lost motivation. I haven't gotten it back since.

I'm not saying the project is kaput (this isn't one of those posts). However, for the time being, I really don't feel like working on it, and I'm having trouble finding external motivation to justify the long hours needed to get this thing done. In my first Rotted Report, I said that I waited to start talking about the project until I was sure I would complete it. I was sure then. I'm not now.

I've been here before. I spent a long time toiling on Dastards Morrow, my first mod for Neverwinter Nights, before getting burnt out. I quit for about six months before gathering the energy to see it through. That's the main reason I'm hesitant to say TRR is dead, or even on hold. I could catch the bug again tomorrow and start putting in five or six hours a day.

However, I have to note that there's one thing that's very different this time around. When I went back to work on my NWN mod, there was still a vibrant community from which to draw energy and inspiration. There was a giant CEP hak coming out with loads of new creatures. Mods were getting thousands of downloads a month on Neverwinter Vault. Bioware was strongly supporting the game. In short, NWN still seemed to have a bright future. I'm not sure I can say the same thing about DA.

But whatever happens, I'm not going to let TRR just fade away. In the coming weeks, I plan to start posting more details about the game, including some of the cutscenes I've created. Who knows, maybe this will be just the spark I need.

The Rotted Report is a periodic update on my upcoming standalone adventure for Dragon Age. Feel free to stop by The Rotted Rose project page on the Bioware Social Network.