Hmm, I guess I could duplicate the page. That way, I would keep a copy of the old page as it is now, and on the duplicate, I could only have the old version of the game (+ change the price to $0 or donate) with all the old screenshots and stuff if that's any help :3 And then I can just upload the new stuff on the current main page.

I had to do a big sorta swap of fonts cos of potential issues with the main one I was originally using for the logo + pick your poison and such x3 It was a beautiful font, but the creator had stated that you had to contact them for permission to use it commercially. Which I did do, but unfortunately, I never heard anything back. I sort of wasn't expecting to really because the note left by the creator about contacting them was over 10 years old, haha. But yeah, I didn't wanna end up with any problems down the line since I was hoping DD could eventually become a commercial project. I figured it would be safer to pick something else :3 The main reason I went for the one I did is cos I loved the fact it contained quite bold diamonds that match the duality diamond aesthetic.

Yeah, I was thinking that once I've actually got this next update out, I'll make a demo version permanently free to download that contains at least the 1st day of the game with each available character, and I'll make sure to keep it updated as I add new characters over time :3 And make it so that the donation version contains everything after the first day. It does seem like a pretty sensible way of doing things.  I still wouldn't feel comfortable making a proper paid version of the game available until I have a lot more content out though just because even after the next update, it won't even remotely resemble the way I want it to play out in full, and I'd feel uncomfortable asking for too much in the way of funding for something that's gonna take me an extremely long time to complete >.<

I'm actually thinking of going backwards a bit from goal setting because I've been listening to Derren Brown's audiobook 'Happy' recently, and a lot of the stuff he talks about in there regarding goal setting sometimes being quite a toxic and negative mindset to fall into really resonates with me since I'm the sort of person who beats myself up a lot x3

Back when I was beginning to work on my very first VN project, I was working crazy hours per day, but it was all because I was so passionate about it and it's genuinely what I wanted to spend all my time doing. I had no future thoughts of funding or anything like that. I didn't even know I'd end up making other games. I was just focused on the project at hand and didn't even anticipate anyone playing it. That was essentially just a really lovely side effect of sharing a hobby I loved :3

Somewhere along the way, I lost that mindset and started to become more and more miserable >.< Even though I've never stopped enjoying working on these projects, the more pressure I put on myself to 'succeed' and manage to turn my hobby into something I could support myself with, the more I felt like a failure as time passed, and I realised that despite working as hard as I could, I wasn't really getting any closer to achieving the goal. It was/kinda still is beginning to have a pretty big impact on my mental health to the point that I did consider completely stopping doing what I'm doing because it all seemed pointless. Like I would never get anywhere with it. I was so wrapped up in worrying about funding and being able to feed myself that I forgot how much I enjoyed doing it all in the first place >.<

Listening to that book has given me greater clarity in that respect. I've come to realise that I only feel like a failure because I expected something relatively unrealistic. Because at the end of the day, society is kinda wrong when it says if you believe in yourself and work hard, you'll achieve what you want to. Nothing is ever said about the sheer amounts of luck also involved in 'making it'. Once you've done your best at any given thing, everything else is just out of your control. And trying to control things you can't control is more often than not gonna result in a moody mixture of misery and frustration.

And going by all of the advice these days of believe in yourself and succeed, going against that does kinda sound like giving up, so I can see why a lot of people wouldn't wanna go down that route, but I think for me personally, it's a good fit :3 If I tell myself that I expect nothing to come of anything I do, that I'm just gonna keep doing it because I enjoy it, and I will always try my best, then, whatever happens, happens. What will be will be. I think I'll save myself a lot of negative emotions and be much more content. Cos at the rate I've been going, I'm gonna either end up running myself into the ground trying to get somewhere I can't actually get to without heaps of good fortune, or, I'm gonna wind up losing the love I have for my hobby. I don't really want either of those things to happen x3 So I'm gonna take several steps back and just say to myself, I'll do what I can, that's enough, and if good things come of it, great! If nothing comes of it, I've done my best and enjoyed myself in the process. I can't feel that awful feeling of failure if my only goal is to do what I enjoy to the best of my ability and expect nothing more :3

I'll still have some sort of schedule for myself as you say! I think if I didn't have any sorta structure to my day, I'd just wind up procrastinating all the time and never get anything done x3 I just won't put so much stress and pressure on myself to work on stuff when I'm completely pooped out and really should rest, haha. I've basically caused myself repeated burnouts by putting unnecessary pressure on myself to succeed >.< I don't really know why I did that to myself either, haha. Cos it's not like anyone has ever moaned at me to hurry up and get updates out! Everyone's always been super sweet and supportive :3 And as you say, plenty of people have told me to take care of myself first, and that they're willing to wait however long it takes. For some reason, my brain just told me I need to work, work, work or I'll never get anywhere x3 I kinda never considered the fact that hard work alone doesn't automatically get you to where you want to be until I listened to that book, haha.

I also used to get really pissed off at myself for not meeting the weekly or monthly goals I'd set, even if it was due to circumstances out of my control (like someone in my family needing a hand with something in the middle of the week, or the internet going down for a day, haha.) I'd try to make up for the lost time by working well into the night or setting my alarm to get up earlier while missing out on sleep >.< Overall, I've just not been working in a very healthy way xD

Most days I was doing like 12 hours or more x3 So I think I'll start aiming more for 8 from now on to give myself more time to do other things I enjoy + have a break from always staring at screens :3