G'day Pardners,

What a cracker year we've had so far. Some huge titles have dropped and we're not even half way through 2025. My backlog for this year alone is already piling up, and Doom: Dark Ages is just around the corner.

The video on Dustborn is in the script outline phase which, thanks to the new level of detail I put into it, is basically the first draft. I'm about 2/3 through and it's coming along quickly. Even though it replaces what would normally be an indie spotlight video, the Dustborn video might be a little longer, maybe 15 minutes. I have 20 hours racked up in this game so I feel I've earned the right to talk about it.

I'm not expecting the Dustborn video to do numbers, no-one cares about the game and the initial furore died out months ago, but it's a great case study and a good test of impartial analysis, or as close to it as one can get. Admittedly, full impartiality is impossible given the subject matter (and that's by design), but I aim to give this game as fair a go as possible.

What's...

March was a hell of a month. Despite the silver lining of my birthday on 19th, it was stressful.

First, my workplace has been issuing redundancies for the last 6 months which culminated a bunch of people resigning this month. Morale is at an all-time low and everyone is concerned for their job, more so this month than any other.

Next has been the hassle of getting our house cleaned and ready for inspection to put on the market. Thankfully we got another option recently which means we won't have to do this, but that was still weeks of work and sleepless nights worrying what could go wrong if it somehow fell through.

Third, work has been exceptionally busy this month and has eaten into my YT time.

In short, it's been a confluence of stuff I could have done without and has impacted the Stalker 2 video.

Currently most of the voice work is recorded, but I've also been editing the video as I go, and there's already 50 minutes of footage laid. I estimate that the video will be around 80-90 minutes long. It's not far off ...

March has arrived and hopefully with it some cooler weather.

The important stuff first - the first and final drafts of the script are done. Voice recording begins shortly, then video editing not long after. The script weighs in at 30 pages and may be a little longer once I retype the changes for the final draft. It's double the 45 minute goal I set myself. I'm resigned to the reality that scripts will be as long as they need to be, and I've also recognised that I have no desire to change that.

There's been a little less time for channel work this month as I'm studying for my IRL job (aka. The Breadwinner). Study will be ongoing for a number of months so I'm carving out extra time where I can to fit in more channel work while balancing family life, the 9 to 5, and fitness. This is the reality of a 'hobbyist' Youtuber. I'd love to make it a fulltime gig, but dreams don't pay the bills and everything is a juggling act. I've learned the hard way that sacrificing sleep makes everything worse so it's all about small...