Happy new year, everyone! And happy new decade, for that matter. What can we expect for TLT in 2020?

Well, Blyka and I are and will remain extremely busy this year, doing our utmost to finish, market, and release an original game. And as it turns out, working so heavily on one game means we aren't often inspired to work on a second game when spare time does come around. Who would have guessed? So, for 2020, don't expect more than the Tuttle's Legendary Trickle you've grown accustomed to.

That said, the next demo will be a substantial step up from the last, and we'd really, really like to get it out sometime in 2020. Blyka met his end-of-2019 goals by wrapping up the programming side of things for the upcoming demo, and after much discussion and deliberation, has decided to take a breather from TLT until I can catch up. So everything hinges entirely on me and the graphical work that still needs doing. I will continue to do what I can when I can, of course, and will try to keep you all informed as I go.

As always, thanks for sticking with us through these slow times.

Work on the harbor environment continues, inching toward completion. The boat's textures were recently finished up and it's been added to the playable scene. There's also going to be a little interactive segment between Tuttle and a bunch of Sturmbots who refuse to let him pass (lower right of image). Programming for that is well underway, with them angrily converging on Tuttle if he invades their space.

Also worth noting, we've been in touch with TLT's lead composer to see where things stand. Although it's been a few years he says he's still on board and intends to get actively working on the soundtrack again soon!

Another month, another Monthly Tuttle. TLT turned 7 years old this month, and it's the first anniversary since 2015 that we didn't release a new demo. Things are definitely coming along though, slowly but surely amidst our busy schedules.

With Gold City finally finished last month, the prime focus for both fAB and I this month was getting the harbor environment up and running. Still more work to follow, but it's coming along nicely and the crates that have been popping up in demos for years finally have a real home.

Tuttle's panic-stricken state when exposed to large bodies of water also manifested this month.

The harbor is where Tuttle will rush to catch a boat to the Quint Islands, where the legendary travels will finally ensue. When said that way, it sounds like we're finally closing in on a more exciting chapter for this project... and so we are! It may be coming slowly, but as always, it's still coming.

And as always, thanks for sticking with us, and shout-outs to those who let us know they're sticking with us. We don't always get around to responding to every comment we get, but we appreciate them just the same.

With the release of our latest demo we announced the cancellation of #TLTuesday in the hopes to "work on the project less often but in stronger, more productive bursts", and this blog would then "reclaim focus with more fleshed out write-ups and progress summaries".

As you might assume, I haven't followed through on the latter because I've yet to really follow through on the former.

With no weekly commitment to keep, "as time allows" can be a dangerous schedule. Post-#TLTuesday my new minimum goal was to achieve a "stronger, more productive burst" of progress at least once a month. It could be a full day's inspired work or it could be spread across weeks, but either way I wanted to have something tangible and substantial to blog about on a monthly basis.

Intentions to put this into effect last year fell through, so what better time to start anew than a new year? Unfortunately, January was pretty bleak for me and did nothing to assist my endeavors. So here we are at the last minute with nothing more than The Monthly Tuttle (because pretentious names are fun) to round up what's happening.

It's not complete, but I have been working hard on customizable input. A seemingly simple concept on the surface, this has been a veritable nightmare of considerations and complexities and has eaten away much time over the past week and a half with more work to go. But it is getting there, so here's hoping I'll have that and more to talk about next month.

Aside from that, fAB's been hard at work in Gold City, fleshing out details both visual and technical, and just today we got it all inserted into the project. Gold City is almost there as well.

And there you have it. Not the most exciting way to kick off the monthly minimum, but it is something. And something is better than the last half-year's mostly-nothing.