Quick Devblog - 5/30/2025
Added 2025-05-31 01:23:39 +0000 UTCHey guys, so here's the situation right now:
Right after I returned from FWA, my family sprung sudden travel plans on me to travel to China between June 4th - 16th because my grandparents' health is failing and we decided we should spend time with them while we still could. It was a little sudden and along with other abrupt family obligations, it kinda threw my work schedule into freefall. That, along with the time spent at FWA (which I don't regret, I have a lovely time meeting some of y'all there!) has really cut into the time I thought I'd have for VN development.
I've been kinda falling apart lately because every time I feel like I'm starting to pull my life together, something comes at me and knocks everything down over all over again. I hate that at the end of every month, I have to ask you guys for more of your patience, so much so that it's become a regular thing. You guys have been more than accommodating and I really don't want to feel like I'm taking advantage of your kindness.
Right now, I'm working on trying to push out the TB update and any outstanding commissions before I leave on June 4th. I've been basically working on TB nonstop between sleeping and eating this past week and I'm really close to getting it done. Unfortunately, China blocks a lot of social media/communication within the country, and my grandparents don't have wifi so I'm not sure if I'll be able to work on anything while I'm there.
Thank you guys again for being so kind and understanding with me all this time. I really wish I could stop leaning on that and actually show you my best self, but life keeps throwing me curveballs and keeping on top of everything has been a struggle.
Comments
Thank you so much for your continued support throughout the years, I really appreciate it! And it's really cool for you to spend so much time to share your thoughts on TB, hopefully I'll be able to address them well here ;w;/ - Between 2022 - 2024, I switched development focus from Temptation's Ballad to finishing Sissel's Route in Repeat, which involved reworking over 150+ sprites, adding 100+ CG illustrations, 2 animated segments, refreshing some earlier writing, and a loooooot of writing to finish up Sissel's story. I've only recently dived back into Temptation's Ballad earlier this year, which is why there is such a content gap. I understand that to someone who hasn't stayed in touch with my development, it might have looked like very little work was done, but I promise that I was doing my best to put out good VN work! QWQ/ - The mini-episodes are indeed canon and allow me an opportunity to pivot away from the main story to focus on smaller side plots in TB's world and further develop other areas/characters. It would be rather difficult for me to completely pivot TB's current plot right now to peak into Cole and Grank's little trist in Rotten Redd's Alley in the latest mini-episode, for example. I think I did a decent job in Wes's episode since it explores his issues with being under-appreciated, more of Cole's self-loathing issues and how he drowns himself in sex as a distraction. I definitely understand if it's not your cup of tea though. Not all mini-episodes will be porn focused, and I have some other episodes planned that will be a fun deep dive on some characters that I think folks will enjoy. - The sprite jump animations are fun little flourishes that I find useful to give a little visual flare to the characters between dialogue. I personally don't find the slight cut-off too distracting, and neither do most people I've talked to, but it's totally valid if it bothers you. However, I feel like offsetting all of the sprites to make them shorter in all scenes just to hide the cut-off would be even more distracting, so I've elected to stick with my current course. - I definitely admit that there are some moments in the VN that could use some fixing. I have a small list of touch-ups that I plan to go back and fix, like Cole acting like he's never seen an arcane crystal before in chapter 1 when they're a pretty common facet of life. However, I can't seem to find the scene you're talking about where Sidd behaves like he didn't have sex with Cole? He's definitely still shy about his sexuality, even after his first encounter, but I don't think he outright pretends it didn't happen? If you could point me to the specific scene, I will be happy to fix it up though! Thanks again for sharing your thoughts, it really helps me focus more on future developments. And thank you for the support over the years! QWQ/
Shirokoi
2025-06-12 10:11:34 +0000 UTCWarning: Rambling. Yesterday I finished a complete run of TB. Last time I played was on December 2021. I enjoyed a lot playing the game from the start, having the same overall feelings on the game from 4 years ago when I got to the end of what was published at that time. TB has the quality of a commercial product. It needs a polishing here and there (more of that later), but I have seen commercial VN with way worse stories, characters and art. As a personal note, in TB I enjoy a lot the adult themes, but I couldn't care less for the porn (sex scenes). I mean, I want the characters to have sex, but not for the scenes themselves, but to add content to the story and the characters. Maybe it's because I'm a fucking pervert and the scenes on TB are way too vanilla for my depraved tastes, but I just don't care because the story and the characters are very good, and keep me extremely interested in them and what will happen next. Something that disappointed me, and I'm very conflicted about saying that because I don't want to be another asshole in the Internet, is the small amount of content added to the VN in the 3 and half years since I last finished what was available then. I have been a supporter on Patreon since December 2021 when I discovered TB, played it, and determined that it's a project I wanted to support. While I would have loved TB to have more chapters, at least the overall quality of the VN is still excellent. I'll keep supporting this project, and I'll again disappear for a long while, as I don't like to play VNs in short bursts. To finish my rant, I want to comment on polishing. There's a few small things that I don't like, and I want to list them there because I want to give my opinion to try to help TB to be even better than it is right now. -When a character has an animation that makes them jump, the animation makes the end of the image go over the lower part of the screen, showing that the character image ends where the bottom of the screen is, breaking the illusion that the character is whole. I know this is a minor graphical glitch, but I find it jarring, and I can't get used to it. Just make the characters' default position a bit lower so when they jump there's no cut, or extend the images down so they have a bit more legs for the jump animation. -There's a few moments on the story that characters behave in a way that makes no sense story wise. It's only small things, and it's only evident if you make a complete run of the VN from the start. An example would be Sidd behaving like he didn't have sex with Cole. Maybe the next time I make a full run, I'll keep a notebook open to add all those small inconsistences because now I feel a bit silly because I don't remember them well. -There are typos/ortographic errors. Also a nitpick, but it's a detail that lowers the overall quality perception of the VN. Like with the last point, I may take notes on those the next time I make a full run. -Mini episodes: Are the mini episodes canon? Why aren't included in the main story? If it's to have a SFW version, I don't know why they can't be included in the same way Clyde's first NSFW scene is done, where the scene of them having sex is canon, no matter if you watch the scene or skip it. I say that because of Wes's mini episode: As I said before, I don't care for the sex scene itself, but I want the characters to be consistent with having had a sexual or sentimental experience, and I don't see that with Wes.
Horsie
2025-06-12 09:36:20 +0000 UTCNo need to stress, we'll wait as long as it takes
Shane Van Dusseldorp
2025-06-03 03:09:08 +0000 UTCPlease be safe Shirokoi. Don't worry about us. We look forward to seeing what you've cooked up when you get back.
Ghost Hybrid
2025-05-31 18:21:08 +0000 UTCit's always worth the wait with you
Shade
2025-05-31 10:40:43 +0000 UTC
