With just a few hours left of 2021, I'd like to share my plans for 2022 with you, as it's set to be a big year for me.

2022 marks 10 years since the release of Katawa Shoujo, a game that changed my life in numerous ways (and which I found through a fan work here on Newgrounds). It marks 10 years since I underwent multiple surgeries to correct my severe scoliosis. But most importantly, it marks 10 years since I released Madness Scene Creator 5 - and 15 years since I released MMSC1.

As you may be aware, over the past few years, I've tried to leave the Madness scene creators behind and and move on to bigger and better things. Which brings me on to the first part of my plans for next year: Prism Indigo.

Prism Indigo is a magical girl-themed bullet hell shooter inspired by the Touhou Project series. It'll be my first full-sized video game, and as such, it's a project I'm extremely excited about. The 17-year-old me that created MSC5 couldn't have dreamed of being able to build something this complex, but here it is.

There's already a playable demo on GameJolt and itch.io, and I've just released the first of its boss themes. The full game will be released here on NG, for free, sometime around April. I hope you'll give it a try once it's released, as it's the product of 15 years of learning and practice, and I've been pouring my heart and soul into it.

But it's probably not what you're here for, is it?

As much as I've tried to move on from my Madness scene creators, I've never forgotten them, and I will forever be grateful to all the people who continue to play them and make such amazing scenes, even after all this time. And over the past year or so, it's become apparent that I'll never be able to move on from them completely.

Thanks to Friday Night Funkin and Madness: Project Nexus, Madness Combat has exploded in popularity, and my scene creators have too. I'm getting new fans and new reviews on a daily basis, and that amount of attention is hard to ignore. And with such a big anniversary coming up, I'd like to do something to show my gratitude to you all.

I'm therefore glad to announce that Madness Scene Creator 5 will be receiving TWO updates in 2022. The first will drop on February 28th, its 10th anniversary, and the second will drop on Madness Day 2022. These update will mainly focus on bug-fixes and quality-of-life improvements - in particular, I hope to finally fix the broken mute button and properly implement layering - but I'll also throw in some new items as well.

This won't be as easy as it sounds. I haven't used Flash in nearly a decade, I barely knew any ActionScript even at the time, and trying to find ActionScript documentation in 2022, when Flash hasn't been relevant for years, is going to be fun. But I'm going to try and do as much as I can. I feel I owe it to you guys, after all the support you've given me these past 15 years.

Finally, 2022 also marks the 50th anniversary of the first arcade game (Pong) and the first game console (the Magnavox Odyssey). I therefore intend to release a multi-part podcast detailing the history of the video gaming industry, from Pong and the Odyssey through to the modern era of microtransactions and lootboxes. I'm aiming to start this in September, releasing it in weekly instalments.

So as you can tell, I have plenty planned for 2022, and I hope you'll all continue to follow me as I continue my game dev journey.