Thank you so much, wow! It is rare to get this extensive feedback, i appreciate it. The save function is dearly missing, i agree. We love Ravenhaul and would like to continue with it and improve it, but right now we don't have the time to do it. Just too many games on our plate. We do this for a living, and we take the freedom to make a jam game for a week 2-3 times a year, but we can't put in much more time because they are free games and we can't work extended periods for free. So, i can empathize with devs needing to move on to their next game. We have 18 games on itch and 2 more on steam, and even if i love them all, we can't keep working on them all.
To the feedback: don't worry, without a save and some bugs around the later stages can be a bit straining to reach. I'd love for you to be around if we eventually can continue working on the game (making it into a full release). My hope is that we can do that next year, but plans change a lot over time.
I really like the suggestion of not having a numeric value for the distance. That would make it a lot more accessible i think, easier to understand, while providing the same challenge. It is a direction question too, whether it is a more hardcore management game or more on the cozy friendly side.
I do like that you met some challenge with finding or training the right bird - this is exactly what i wanted from the patrons, to pose a challenge to your birds. Some later patrons have long ranges or big parcels as delivery, which you need the herons for.