Hello. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, and I'm cutting to the chase. I can't continue My Dear Hatchet Man. Yes, I'm cancelling the game's development. I have paused the Patreon membership, so none of you will be charged for this month.
Now, there are multiple reasons for this decision. Both internal and external. The two most recent were a health scare due to my chronic illness, to the point I was bedridden, and a car accident. I kept having to put MDHM aside because of these emergencies, dragging the game out longer than it should. These things are costly, and I have to pay the voice actors, the programmer, the writers, etc. However, I can barely make ends meet. Making extra content, such as the NSFW audios or merch, could only do so much. Relying on the game as my main financial support only kept me stuck in a loop.
Making the game became a grueling task that I couldn't handle anymore. Even when I reached for help to advance the game, the progress remained stagnant. All responsibility still fell on me, and I hated working on the game. I felt miserable and lost passion with MDHM. It became obvious over time. Cutting ties with previous peers due to petty drama and online harassment towards my friends didn't help either. It only made me trust less, and I wasn't the type to address that publicly.
All I have to blame is myself for being put in this situation.
I already told the staff and voice actors for the characters the news, and I'll allow them to use the likeness of Alan, Erika, Stu, and Carver for personal/financial reasons. As for what happens to the game currently, it's still going to be up for everyone to download and play, because I know you all care for it. Any locked content for the game will be made public as well.
Now I won't leave the internet, and I won't stop making games or creating art. If you don't want to support me any longer because MDHM was the sole reason for it, that's perfectly fine.
If there is a possibility of my coming back to MDHM, only in terms of creating art and nothing less. Maybe, but I will need time.
I appreciated all the fanart, fanfics, and the love you all shared for MDHM. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
here I have a whole collection of music I planned to use for MDHM. Some are remakes of the older versions of the game. I plan to post them on Youtube soon
Here are the plans and ideas I've developed throughout the development of MDHM. I think it's the least I could do to give you guys how the story would've gone and the ending. More below bc its really long.
I revealed it before, but each day had a sort of quote. These all foreshadowed what was going to happen.
Day 1 - "If you go down to the woods today..." A reference to the lullaby of "Teddy Bears' Picnic" and tells how the player went back to the woods to see Alan.
Day 2 - "The better to eat you with," refers to the story of Little Red Riding Hood, said by the wolf, and yeah, it goes with the couch sex scene that happens between Alan and the player.
Day 3 - "You can run but you can't hide." is a reference to the song "Wolf" by SIAMES. The tie to this was going to have Alan chasing you down, where he begins to show cracks.
Day 4 - "Wolf! Wolf! There's a wolf!" is a reference to the Boy Who Cried Wolf. This would've been the day of Alan showing his yandere nature.
Day 5 - "Little piggy, little piggy. Let me in." is a quote from Three Little Pigs. This day would've had Alan try and attempt to break into the player's house.
Of course, we were going to add more days, and I wanted to give them the same quote treatments, but that never came to be.
As days would roll over, it would be hinted that the player was losing track of time little by little. Day 3 would've started with the player waking up in class instead of their house. By the end of day 4, the player would've been kidnapped by Alan, leaving the bridge to day 5, but isn't sure how many days have passed after waking up. I wanted to blur the time flow as it went on; other characters would tell you how it's been days since your kidnapping, but it only felt like the next morning for you.
This would only worsen the player's condition, as Alan would stalk/harass you, but unfortunately, Alan's boss was now aware of your presence and figured out his secret relationship with you. Therefore, making the player a target of his torment.
I've kept this hidden from both Patreon and the public, of having Boss sneakily observe Alan and the player in the background.
I had this idea for a scene of MC running around frantically in the woods, trying to escape Alan and stumbling across Boss, who is speaking to them.
There was gonna be a blinking animation, and it would gradually reveal the signs changing, as if communicating to the player. and then reveal that Boss figured out your name.
After Boss finds you out, the town of Doomsbury would have, in my words, "its own ten plagues", ofc it wouldn't have been that many, but each plague would've been worse than the last. Almost like Boss was doing everything in his power for you to not escape, at least not without suffering any consequences. The last plague was Boss's last-ditch effort to make the whole town become a sinkhole and consume everything.
Of course, there would be a total of three endings. Two of which are the true canon ending, which can lead to Erika's or Stu's route. Erika's route would've helped you gain knowledge and the history of Doomsbury, along with her roommate, Rosie. You would've sought refuge in her college dorm as a safety precaution after the player got kidnapped.
Stu's route would've given the player more knowledge about Alan's past, how he was convicted of murdering one of his high school peers.
If Alan deemed Erika a threat, Erika would've lost an eye. She survives, but you guys are no longer safe. After being hospitalized, you escape Doomsbury.
If Alan had deemed Stu a threat, he would've lost his arm. He also survives, but he is much worse for wear than Erika. You both also escape.
Now, for Alan's "Happy" ending, it's not canon and not entirely happy at all, at least not for the player character. Alan would've saved you from Boss's threats, reassuring you that he could convince Boss to keep you. At the end of his route, the player is catatonic, not moving, not responding to Alan as he is feeding you. He reveals that Boss might have done something to you to become a shell of a human.
There would've been an epilogue if you got the canon endings, revealing Erika submitting a job application to a fashion magazine position, and you give her words of encouragement. If you pursue the Stu route, you would both be living together in a crappy apartment, with him trying to practice bass whilst adjusting to his new prosthetic. However, even after those gushy moments, the player is still being hunted by Alan. While he might've run off from his job, Carver and Stitches are revealed as people with whom he is still in contact.
Extras:
Everyone would've had a colored tongue/mouth. I know a lot of people didn't like this change, but I started implementing this feature in my art style, not just for MDHM. I thought it gave it more pop :)
While snooping, the player would've found this letter from Ophelia, Alan's mom.
It would've been revealed that Ophelia's full name was "Ophelia Finch". That meant our dear hatchet boy would've gone by "Alan Finch" before changing it.
These were gonna be for Day 3 where you go to Erika to an antique store or visit Stu's frat and have him cry.
With the help of @flavorcrash they designed these Boss ciphers that we were gonna reveal in Erika's route. I even added a cheat sheet for you all to decipher them.
And that's pretty much it. I'm gonna gradually release more stuff as I go on, but now. I'm tired.
