Developer Thoughts

Hi.

Hmm, how do I begin here?

Maybe why I decided to create my own AVN.

I've always wanted to work on the computer but, for other reasons, it hasn't been given to me. As I came across the f95 forum, I started playing various titles, in my head began developing the idea that I might create something of my own. In my teens, I played a lot of D&D. I was a player, but also ran the game as a DM, so I thought to myself that creating a scenario and characters wouldn't be so difficult. 

Once I had the idea for the scenario sort of figured out (which only contains a small fraction of what I've presented so far in Ep0), what remained was to get to know the daz3d and renpy. That was about 2 years ago. 

Somewhere in this time, I created an MC character and a few girls (which, of course, now I had to redesign a bit). If I think I know little about daz3d now, then what was my knowledge of it 2 years ago?

Later, as I wrote in some notes, I decided that the whole story would begin with Ep0. The work was going slowly, no one, nothing was rushing me, on top of that I was working abroad on a 4-weeks-on-2-weeks system, so I only had 2 weeks to work on my PC. So, when I wasn't at home, I could only correct (on my laptop) images already rendered and at most focus on dissecting the adventures of the main character.

Then, and (here I'll cut very short what I want to say) my mother was diagnosed after months of visits and medical examinations.

Malignant carcinoma of the kidney with metastasis to the bronchial tubes, lymph nodes and lungs. (I'll throw in a text here that I heard on one of the streams on twitch - "don't ask me how I know this") 

I try to think positively, sometimes throw in a joke, but some days it's impossible. Those who have experienced these things know what I'm talking about.

Moving on...

I had to quit my job abroad and start taking care of my mother. And as I was slowly working on my VN, somewhere around June last year I decided to speed up the work and release WCgW as soon as possible. Now I don't have a regular job. The money I earned earlier is disappearing fast, so I'm pushing to release Ep1 part 1.

It was my conscious choice to try to work on AVN full time. I have risked a lot here, and now I am experiencing the consequences of that, but self-pity won't help here. I need to move forward.

So as you can see, this is the main reason why I decided to release WCgW. I started to work intensively on the script/characters etc. because this is the only way to stop thinking about what might happen with my mother. If I have breaks in creating custom renders (which in fact serve to promote me as a developer), it doesn't mean that I don't want to do it. I just can't find enough positive energy in myself to sit in daz3d more than I set myself to on a given day.

The sad, bitter truth is behind me, I hope.

Now, what irritated me in the VNs I played.

I began to notice this as I started working on my own project. I decided to make my own game because the more games I played, the more things began to annoy me.

As they say, "ignorance is bliss."

— VN takes place in a school; 

(well shit, how many more we will see that setting) — dev is lazy (that is my opinion!)

— the thing that happens after the death of the parents (well, how many more times we will see that too?), one can cite many examples.

— one render and a wall of text — again, the dev is lazy (that is my opinion!). 

This is supposed to be a VISUAL NOVEL not a TEXT NOVEL, so let there be more renders even for just dialogue.

— characters posed in such a way that they have their mouths closed while talking, but the picture shows that they are talking. Damn! It's so hard to pose a character so that he/she has his mouth open while talking and a facial expression that conveys the emotions of that character ?????

— characters to which a “lazy dev” selects a pose, implements it but doesn't even check if there is any collision or if the clothes lie naturally (shoes, for example)

If this person is not a lazy dev, it means that he has time to check these things when he makes post-rendering tweaks, yes or no? 

I won't write more about it because my blood pressure will go up.

I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't add screens with a description of the situation. I just try to illustrate what is about to happen.

That's what a visual novel should be, in my opinion. 99% of the text is dialogue. The rest is either presenting the name of the location or the time when the action takes place.

Now, something about my plans as a developer.

As I wrote in earlier reports, it is what it is. I thought that my VN would reach more people, but unfortunately it did not happen, so I will have to adjust to the new reality. I will continue to work on my "game" but to a lesser extent because I have to go to work to earn money to pay the bills, etc., because, unfortunately, this number of patrons so far only allows me to buy a few daz3d assets every month.

And I don't care if I lose patrons or not because of what I write here. This is the truth. That's why now I'm pushing to release part 1 of Ep1.

I could write here some bullshit, but I prefer to be honest.

Since publishing the first post on the patron page, I have been treating the work on WCgW as a full-time job.

That's why I'm doing my best now, and I'm trying to develop patterns to make work on WCgW go as smoothly as possible, even if I have less time to work on

this project.

For me, the ideal situation would be to have 2 computers. One for rendering and one for writing/posing etc. This would give me time to work (learn) on animations and more. However, given my financial situation, buying a 2nd computer will not happen soon.

Due to the fact that I did not plan to release the game only the deteriorating health of my mother forced me to do so, I did not mind working on the computer

which I assembled in 2014 (yes it is a bit old). Before these events I was producing a few, maybe a dozen renders a week. Now I try to do 60-70 per week and at this point it bothers me (the time it takes to render one image, the time it takes to load the daz3d file from which I later render etc.)

That's why only on some renders you can see more than 3 characters. I simply don't have the hardware to show, for example, a bar full of people.

Yes, that's doable, but it would probably take me a whole day to produce one render. Due to the fact that my options here are limited, and I can't do what I

would like to do, renders will remain unchanged for the time being.

I won't let go of working on my VN because I'm chasing a dream here (working on the computer, furthering my education in graphics programs, coding), and for

an introvert like me who prefers to work alone, this is a dream come true. Work without timelines, without people constantly looking at my hands, where success

depends only on me and the time I devote to this project.

These are information for people who support this project. I don't want to see this post in any forums!!!

That's about it. Well, I had to get it off my chest.

I plan to write another episode in "this series" but I'll probably do it in a few months.

Also, maybe I will create a separate room on my discord just for patrons where we can chat, of course, if you are willing to do so.

I look forward to your feedback on this (discord).

WsZ