End of year goals, Season 1 finale and future news!

PLEASE READ POST AND PM ME ON DISCORD FOR MESSAGE NOT ON PATREON. 

Hello peepos! 

Today, I'm just grateful that we're not stuck in a war and we're not dead yet! It could be much worse and I'm afraid much worse is coming the next year as the economy seems to be failing worldwide. Inflation is rampant but rainy days today for better days tomorrow! 

Okie now on to the game. 

Intro

I know there is a significant portion of peeps constantly getting very antsy and asking for the status of the game, feeling upset. I will clarify all these and more so please read on! I will try my best to address all the issues regarding gameplay and updates. 

I just want you guys to know it takes me a few hours to plan a post like this because I need to be very careful how I structure what I say and also it is incredibly difficult to explain certain things in text. I have to also take into account that people skim through posts and only take in minor parts of information so I need to make sure to be as concise as possible at the same time so that people get major points. So if you're wondering what's going on with the game, please read the entire post as I will explain the details again and clarify whatever questions you guys been asking. 

Certain parts might seem repetitive but I don't want to miss out anything for new peepos who just joined or peepos who haven't read. When you message a large group of people there will always be a percentage who don't read past the headline. 

Issues with development. 

Okay, I've considered if I want to talk about certain things but I guess it's better to just let you guys know some stuff so that since you are supporting the game, you can have some further insights into the development process. I've feel I've already been as transparent as I could but perhaps more details will be better. 

One major issue is I cannot sell this game on steam. (For those who don't know why, it's because of the software used to create the art for the game). I won't expand on this issue but just know that this game will always be for free as a hobby and will never be sold for money. You guys are not customers and you are not buying the game, you are in a sense a "supporter" of a developer, giving donations to support a hobby. 

Platforms like Patreon allows games like these to happen. I will explain why this is crucial for a game like DA. 

For example if DA was made on a platform like DAZ3D (which CAN be sold on steam) my problems will be far less. Why is that? 

It's because my vision for DA is a sandbox game. I always dream of making a game that incorporates a very "moving around" feeling rather than just reading a VN. I enjoy solving puzzles, leveling up characters and in general having a lot of freedom. 

Games like these are very unsuitable for Patreon system because they require a lot of mechanics to function as the core work of the game. Compared to a VN style for example, you could just write an episode and release it. And you release a constant stream of episodes, with people pledging every month and they feel happy and content. 

Now you compare that with DA, with certain mechanics that need to be worked on. You can imagine it's very difficult to release a proper episode because much time is needed to work on specific aspects of the game. For example you could spend an entire month designing a certain system before even beginning to make the art for it. And you will not be able to appreciate the full work of the system until the game is complete. 

Now if I could sell the game on steam then it's no problem. I will not care about patreon count as long as more and more people enjoy the game. Because with the success that game has had so far, the game can be confident to release on steam and that's where you will make the real income for the game. If you set up all the mechanics and knock the first season out of the park, you can be sure you will be a hit on steam. You can also leverage on the existing fanbase to give you a good momentum for release. Patreon income will be a supplement to sustain you until your release and hopefully the sales release will be good. 

Once you release on steam and make a huge chunk of money (hopefully), you can then hire a full team to work on the next season. Which will allow for a very smooth transition to an actual consistent and sustainable business. Now of course not all games make it. Many games drop out and abandoned. But that's how successful games are built. Honestly I am still waiting to see who out of all the HS developers, dares to release on steam, I am scared to be the first one. But if someone does, all the rest will follow and I assure you we will have happy times in the community.  

Hiring help

Which gives rise to a second problem. Many peeps asking me to hire some help but it's difficult for me to hire help even if I wanted to. This is because much of the work is on the art/animations. As you can see, a lot of work is put into it. The game is made with HS1. Not even HS2. Even some players who are pretty experienced can't tell. This is because I put a massive amount of time into making the art by posing a lot of lights and animate each joint individually. It is something that is very rare. Just look at all the other HS games and make a quality comparison. It's a huge gap. Please don't take it as me blowing smoke up my own milky ass XD.  It is genuinely hard for me to find an artist that can do the same level of work that I am satisfied with. If I make a forum post to find an artist, I can assure you  I will not be able to find someone that can make the level of work I require. 

Believe me, if I can kagebunshin no jutsu like naruto and split myself into 3 different parts I would do it. XDXD 

The artist who can do comparable work will not bother to work for you as they make their own games. The few games with great HS art are my buddies that I bundle and are friends with. And they help me a lot to work on certain parts too. 

And even if I did find an artist good enough, the style would be so vastly different it would take me a lot of time to communicate which comes to a point I'd rather do it myself. Can you imagine how the game will look having a few different artist doing it?

A game made in DAZ however is a different story. There are a plethora of great DAZ artists that you can hire that can do excellent work. Many games have full teams of 8-10 people working on various aspects of the game. Especially if they have had success on their first steam release. It's easy to offer 5k a month to hire the best artists to help you work on the game when you've made a couple hundred grand from a successful release. We do not have that luxury. Also it's better to collaborate locally and it's hard to find a community where I'm from. 

In DA, it's only me and my lonesome self. :(:(

Which leaves the only spot I can actually hire more help is in terms of programming. I am very bad at it and it also takes up massive amount of time. Which is why I am getting a programmer on board on a project basis where I pay him a lump sum to program a certain part for me. He will probably do it much better and hopefully save me some time. 

0.8 Part 2, 0.9 and Season Finale

Okay now the parts you are waiting for, the next updates! We are still very much on track to finish the season by the end of the year. I've worked on many many aspects of the game to prepare for it. 

Now the current next release is part 2. After which I will complete the church quest with all the nuns for 0.9 and do a cleanup and season finale by the end of the year for 1.0! I have worked on many scenes throughout the year from time to time that I can use so it will be possible. 

Part 2 is coming soon but please be patient. Just a little more.  There are many things I need to work on. Please bear in mind I cannot just release random parts. It will just make the problem worse and worse. There are a few systems that I want to port to season 2 such as pregnancy and toilet repeatables so I'm trying to get it consistent or else I have to waste time to redo them again. 

There's been many times I've pushed to release updates to satisfy patrons and in the end I've created something I don't like. Or I miss certain mechanics and it ends up being very disjointed and I have to waste 3-4 weeks just to redo certain parts or re-plan certain parts. I will just save these issues for the release post. It will be here before you know it. 

I really hesitate to tell a date but we will be ready VERY SOOOOOON. I've also done a lot of work on the church and other parts as well so the next 0.9 update will also be close by! I've gotten many messages, excited to do some very bad things to nuns and believe me, we will do some very nice and bad things. :D:D:D

Just have trust that we're working on it. Even if there is a delay, I've always sent out versions of the game to people who ask for it on discord so if you've pledged the previous month expecting to get the update just don't worry. I will get it to you. 

My current goal is just to finish the season so that I can start afresh. I've even held off updating on itch and various other platforms because I'm simply not happy with current updates as I've constantly rushed and put out random areas and will cause a lot of issues. It has no doubt affected much of our growth too. I will continue to update on itch once I've finished the season and polished all the things I want to polish. 

Final

I've learnt a lot during the past year making the game and many things I wish I could redo or restructure. Please understand I started the game without knowing anything. It has been a massive challenge. I would have given up if not for many supporters who had believed in the game and gave me constant encouragement. 

It made me push on and try to make a best game as possible to finish DA despite the problems or else I would have just pivoted already. Also, I have spent many many hours constantly stuck in front of my computer. Patrons come and go, it's just another game. But for me it's my full work for the past 2 years. I want to try to make my vision come true. 

I don't want to sound all doom and gloom because there are so many exciting and positive things. I think amazing things are coming because we are almost getting things right. We have also done very well so it's no use to feel depressed or upset. Some of my developer friends of other games been asking me to send them the latest update so they can play it but I'm embarrassed to show it to them so I have asked them to wait until the season is complete. 

Once season 2 comes along and we get a proper release structure it will be fantastic I'm sure. We are pretty close now, just a couple of months till the end of season. 

For long term supporters, I assure you guys I will try my best and I'm still very confident it will come good. I still think it's a good game. Especially after the rework in season 2. Many new things like being able to patch the game without having to download the full game each time and a consistent structure. But I will leave those details for another post. 

For update pledgers, don't worry! Regardless of whatever delays, you will always be able to claim it. Just be patient. Good things takes time to brew. I've wasted so much time to rework different parts, it's better to take things slow and steady. I'm sure you guys will like what is to come. 

I've given myself up to season 2 to find success before giving up so we will continue to push on guys! I really hope the mechanics work out right. With an additional programmer, I'm sure it will also help a lot as he is very good at coding certain things. 

I will post more spoiler previews so that you guys can get excited and not be too impatient. There are SOOO MANY more details I want to share with you guys like the inventory system and pregnancy system etc but it will take too long. 

I will elaborate in future releases. Okay so that's it for today, just hang tight and wait for part 2 and I will update more. 

See Y'all soon. 

*Again please DM me on discord as I simply do not have the hours to go through more patron messages. On discord it's easier to chat and reply. I usually mute it but I go through the private messages whenever I can. 

Much Love

MoolahMilk!