The hard drive where I keep my work started malfunctioning, until it stopped responding. I gave it to a specialist to try and recover anything he can. Because of that, I'm not able to post new rewards this month and that's why I had to mention it in Patreon.
The good news is that MoGi Origins is mostly safe. The game is in a server where both me and Titan have access and work on. But there is a lot of important data in my HD, such as plans, dialogues and art that are not in the game yet, due to the various delays. Any bit of data that I lose would be a piece of me that I would never get back.
This is so bad that my brain can't accept the loss just yet. So I try to focus on the positives. Usually I keep backups, but most probably that backup has been overwritten by other data. If that's the case, part of it can be recovered. I have many HDs and I was sure I backup everything, I just can't find it right now. And even if I do find my backup, it must be about a year old, so every new thing I did in 2022, won't be there. I had time to only scan 2 older HDs with Recuva (data recovery software) without any luck.
The damaged HD needs 15 days of slow and deep scan. This should recover many of my files. If that fails, I can try another specialist. Also, I tend to keep many files while I work. So even if I lose Ucogi115.fla, due to disc corruption, there is a good chance that I can still access Ucogi114.fla. So yeah, there's hope. The surface scan currently can save only about 6% of the HD, but the deep scan may as well save over 80% of the content. That's what the tech guy told me.
This procedure would take place during my vacations. So even though it ruins my mood, at least I know I wouldn't be able to work if I was at home. I would just sit around wasting time, doing nothing but waiting in mental agony. Other than that, I hate myself because of how sure and cocky I was with my backups.
I'm sorry that you have to hear all this. I was hoping to tell you after everything is resolved, so that you won't be at the edge of your seats for the next month, like me. I will try to forget about it, because there's nothing to do but wait. I will write more when I have any updates. Hopefully I will get good news. And to think that I wanted to go on vacations and get back full of energy to start working... Now I have this sinister cloud in my mind to deal with, because this is not only my fault but a stupid rookie mistake as well. I really need to escape my own head even more that before. I have devoted my life to these files. Which may sound stupid. But I think I won't be the same person after this. One way or another.
Regarding Patreon, the only thing I could to in order to compensate for the lack of new Rewards, was to share two games that I was working on my free time. EnigmAttic and High School Crush (demo) are semi-educational couch multiplayer games. I programmed them myself in an attempt to start making games without having to lean on other programmers. I was very happy with my progress and the result, even though they never got very popular. This might be the last version of the games, as their data and fate are currently in limbo.
Other than that, I proposed to Titan to visit me in my vacations, even for 5 days, so that we can work and can finish up some things, without any distractions. I haven't got a definitive answer since I asked him, 2 weeks ago. Which probably means "no". But I will leave him a document with things to do in my absence. Let's see how that goes.
