Where are We At? Where are We Going?

January 6, 2023

Happy New Year, everyone! 2023 marks the start of the sixth year of development of Sleuthhounds: Cruise. Software development of any kind always takes longer than expected. Even so, I had planned to have Cruise released by now. Of course, back in 2018 when I first started I wasn’t holding down a day job and could devote all my time to the game. That changed in late 2020 when I did pick up a job and consequently have had less time to work on the game.

Prior to my current state of employment, I was putting roughly 40 to 45 hours a week into the game. Nowadays that number is down to about 10. Consequently, things are now taking about four times as long as they used to. However, I remain 100% committed to the game and made an impressive amount of progress on it in 2022.

I’ve been working steadily through all of the game’s many rooms, completing the scripting in them and finalizing the background graphics. That’s where the bulk of the time on previous Sleuthhounds games has been spent and so it’s no surprise that trend continues here. At the time of writing, I’ve completed 86% of the game’s rooms, which includes all of the hardest and most time consuming ones. I fully expect to finish the remaining rooms in 2023.

As I’ve been finalizing the rooms, I’ve been building lists of the other assets that the game will need for completion. These other areas include:

  • Character Animations – Many of these are already done, but there’s still a lengthy list to get through.
  • Dialog Recordings – I’ve already recorded some of the dialog but still need to line up voices and recording sessions for the majority of the game’s lines.
  • Sound Effects
  • Music

Looking at the amount of work that remains, it’s unlikely that the game will be finished this year, but 2024 looks like a very real possibility. Although, as I mentioned at the top, software development always takes longer than expected. Still, my enthusiasm is high and the game is really coming together. Stay tuned throughout the year for more updates and may all your endeavours go equally as well.