Final Old Summer in Springtime Artwork

Hey folks,

So it's been several days since we've released the game. I've read up on the clamor for the old art from a number patrons and non-patron fans. I totally understand why this is so. I'm also disappointed about all this, especially given the flak I have to deal with after having to push through the game to get it closer to the finish line.

I'll provide you guys with the final set of the old special scene artwork that was supposed to be animated.

https://mega.nz/#!AfIixIBY!MXcCQAgyPmFy3byRU0xBbdo-aaSpkv25CMHMqyVt3P4

Archive Password: harry

These pieces are downsized to 1920px width. These were the very first of this set I got.

Allow me to explain what you're seeing.

From the user's perspective, it was just simply an "Oh, the artwork changed, I'm <so disappointed/cool> with this." From the other side, it's not that simple, obviously. It boils down to, what I would perceive as, a drastic change in the quality of the artwork. I know what the artist was capable of producing coming in, I had high expectations, and I wanted him to succeed. After all, the game's helping to promote his stuff, on top of getting our support. I saw his other works and I'm like, wow, this guy's real good! 

The biggest problem here for me is, by relying on an external artist, previously non-factor risks like this, or worse like the artist disappearing becomes real, and I'm left holding the bag.

Imagine that, a game that can't stand on its own two feet because the artist suddenly disappear or whatever screw up happens while mid-production, and I couldn't fix his stuff - I couldn't continue on from his artwork. It was mid-production and it's usually all or nothing at this point.

My QA sirens were blaring when I saw the last work set. I'm very understanding and I let a lot of things slide. Even the delays. The first sudden graphic change in the special events were already a major sign for me, but I let it slide, seeing it's still acceptable in quality, somehow.

And it's not only that bros, giving me a static image is just half the work, especially for me. If I have to work with sub-par work, I'm faced with two things:

1.) Try and fix it
2.) Work with what I have and don't fix it.

The sets I've been receiving were mixed in quality, and I fixed them as needed. In the final set, while some are borderline acceptable with me having to deal with fixes, Ise's first image finally made me throw the towel. I was really excited about this, but upon seeing it, I ask myself, can I get a hard-on from this? No I couldn't. Too many shortcuts were made and I could tell this was rushed. Why am I even dealing with this kind of problem, I thought to myself.

If I wanted to, I could've made major fixes to make it acceptable, and even then, these had limitations. The original image had to be good for me to fix things. Otherwise, I'll be doing the redrawing. I truly felt like the thankless "Sanitation Engineer" or the "IT Guy" stuck with cleaning up after other people's problems and messes. What the f*ck.

The animated scenes you see in the game with the old artwork took a lot of extra work to make them the way they are. This is the extra work that I do on my part, and it's not the first thing users "see". Just imagine the amount of extra work I have to deal with to fix something as broken as the Ise special scene artwork. I would've been re-doing a good part of it. 

I didn't want the game to be left in a total crap situation, because that's what was going to happen if the artwork was left to a situation like that. The external art was becoming a burden it wasn't supposed to be, and a costly one at resources, too. 

I hope this explains why the "change" in the art. It was decided that we need to produce our version of the game upon stumbling on this gaping issue, and that this particular collab version is now paused. 

I still want to work with other artists and see what kind of stuff we can make with Summer in Springtime, but this time, I want those unnecessary and unforeseen risks reduced to the point that their impact to the main game becomes very insignificant.

Thank you for reading and understanding my perspective, as the one absorbing all the negativity.

xoxo,

BeerBrew