Today is DELUGE's first birthday - one year since I first launched on Itch.io!

Because of the development of this game... I've gotten to meet so many wonderful friends - both online and off. I've gotten to learn from creative people that I respect and admire. I've learned so much as a creative. I've watched hundreds of hours of this game and have made tons of updates, and will continue to do so. I'm not a professional, and I'm still learning with every iteration. It's all been worth it. 

I thank everyone for their playthroughs, their feedback, for rocking merch, and for sharing it all over the internet. It's an incredibly humbling experience to be able to share a story and have it be well received. Even those who have shared negative experiences have contributed in some way, shape or form to the finished project I'm sharing today. 

Some special shout outs to some people who have greatly contributed to this game:

• Thank you to DZpg1, Boash, TheTrueSaltKing, codapill, mario_prospero, gimmer_, thegreatperhaps and MikeyBlighe  for constantly supporting so many different aspects of this game - be it technical, verbal, or guidance!
• Thank you to Keadin @ Vagabond Dogfor guiding me through the Steam process and getting the game on the platform... among other things. 
• Thanks to Midnight Laboratory and Those Damn Bloodsuckers for the fantastic contributions to the soundtrack!
• Thank you Benny for your contributions to the atmosphere and presentation, your constant support and honest feedback, and for being a great friend above all else. Thanks for helping me feel confident in standing behind my project!
• Thank you to my friends who's names I have snuck in the game :0)
  

I take a lot of pride in this project, and I'm grateful to be able to share my love of retro games and game development with so many fantastic friends and peers. I'm also so grateful to be able to continue learning about how to do better. I appreciate every single one of you who's played the game, in private, in Discord calls, or on Twitch and YouTube, further sharing my passion project with new people.

Friends have made really fun and unique fan projects like PRELUGE (by illybeans), DELUGE: Another Story (by ikkakoro), and DELUGE: Inundation (by hot_gamer_dad) - and I wanted to shout them all out. As a massive fan and supporter of fan media, these are huge gifts and praise for me. Thank you guys for helping me fill in the blanks to the story I started here.

I'm not done improving and learning with this game, and I look forward to sharing more with you next year.

Thank you!