Summer is here. It's hot. It's damp. It's gross and sweaty and I hate every single second of it, but I'm still here. Somehow. So, what have I been up to since my last update? Plenty of stuff, for sure.

I can confidently say that merely being "busy" would be the understatement of the century, or at the very least decade.

I've been working on commissions left and right for various folks, all busy with their own game projects and ideas. All of them have long-term development plans which means that 1) the likelihood of their collective schedules inevitably slipping into Valve time units has a tendency to exponentially increase throughout development (much like entropy), and 2) they are entirely dependent on their own pockets when it comes to financing their goals, and by extension me as a composer/audio guy.

Let's just say we're all on the same boat. I am still developing my own game, they are as well; I am busy, they are busy. You know the drill by now. Speaking of busy, real life hasn't been exactly gracious with me either, what with school and some pretty habit-changing health issues along the way. They just love piling up, don't they. Don't worry, I've been much better now, despite summer-induced lethargy and occasional insomnia, but that's fine.

I'd like to think the worst has gone by and I'm trying to keep a somewhat positive attitude towards the future. I've been mostly prioritizing thesis writing for my impending graduation. Not like I have a choice, I just have to, really. Won't go into details about it. Just know that my irons are plenty full at the moment.

What else is there... Oh, of course, soundtracks. So, there's some pretty exciting things down the pipeline. I have been slowly converting to the sample OST mini-album release model as a taster pack for what's to come, i.e. the full soundtracks. If you're worried about the new model potentially diluting the quality of my output somehow, think about it this way: as explained earlier, my VGM work has a tendency to be paired with forever-in-development projects, with little to no end in sight.

I legitimately do not know when these games are finally gonna see the light of day, if they ever will. So, I thought, what if I were to release just a small bite for now? It's better than having to keep all this work for years without being able to publish it because those games aren't finished yet, right? I'm happier because I can finally publish some of my own work, you're happier because you finally get to listen to some new music from me, and my clients are happier because they can get some buzz as a result, too. Everybody wins and I got nothing to lose, anyway.

So, that's something you can expect before the end of this year. I have the grand total of three sample soundtrack albums down the line. That's right. It's official. They're pretty much ready, I'm just waiting on their artwork to get done, which might take some time still. Hopefully, it won't take too long.

As for me, I also have a bunch of personal albums in the works, ranging from wait this is still music? experimental, to purely ambient, to something more complex and melodic. It's exciting news because I try to bring a lot of variety to my own output, so even if you end up not liking a certain album, there's always something else you may look forward to and enjoy.

Finally, while I'm usually up for audio collabs, my slots are already taken for now. It's just too much to handle, as you can probably tell. If you'd like to use my music somewhere on Newgrounds, it's not mandatory, but it'd be nice if you shared some of that nice revenue or at the very least credited me. :)

As always, you folks can support me on Patreon,
https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenDawn

Check out my Youtube channel and subscribe for more music and full album videos,
https://www.youtube.com/user/ForgottenDawnOff

Check my Audiojungle royalty free assets,
https://audiojungle.net/user/forgottendawn

Or join my Discord server to meet all-around awesome creators and nice people,
https://discord.gg/KM44KY5

Thanks for sticking around and stay tuned,
//FD