State of the game

 Another major version was released to the public last weekend, I now have plenty of feedback, and it’s time to take a look at what’s happening with the development.

Let’s start with this last release. I consider it a big step in the right direction. The game is still rough in some places (but more on that later), but as a package, it works much better. It seems that most players agree, but I’m always open to feedback and criticism, so don’t hold back!

As you may have noticed, there are new, much longer animations, new progression system, more of everything. For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, version 0.3.1 with more events for Rae is going public tomorrow, and 0.3.2 goes to beta, bringing even more events and animations with it. All in all, I am happy with new content. Still, this release took way longer than it should have and I’m still learning from my mistakes and missteps.

Version 0.3.3

This version (0.3.3) should become the final one in the v0.3 cycle. It’s coming in about two weeks, I’m not rushing it, want it to feel right. It’s going to contain about 8 new events, the special scene we voted on a while back, three or four new repeatable scenes, and polish, loads of it. At the very least, I’ll be changing girl sprites used in minor talks. The lighting setup for the old ones was atrocious, and poses were all over the place. I’m even considering doing minor animations, like mouth moving (aka lip flap) when the character is talking, check it out:

(Here I found out that Patreon doesn't like gfycat embeds, so here's the link: https://gfycat.com/sardonicdigitalamurminnow )

Not 100% sure I’m going to use this. While it does liven up the picture, the movement is still pretty mechanical. Maybe we should have a poll about that, but that’s for later. I also want to experiment a bit with cutscenes. Something like this: https://gfycat.com/courteouscreepyayeaye 

Now I mentioned rough places before. Well, basically, the whole beginning of the game is a real rough place. It looks so bad compared to the stuff in the game now, I have a hunch that some people just see those first renders, think to themselves “nah, yeah, nah”, and quit the game right there. I really want to redo everything from before 0.3, but then I’d want to redo everything from before 0.4 etc. The park scene in the beginning is definitely getting a rework, though.

Android version! Gonna try and do that. Apparently, quite a few people want it. Last time I tried there were a number of issues, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to solve those.

Alpha-testers

I am not 100% sure about how to approach this, but it’s pretty obvious that I need help with testing new releases. If you have experience with testing games (especially those made in renpy) and would like to help, let me know. Just be aware that you will be getting broken builds without animations, with render placeholders and the like, and I’ll ask you to actually test things, not just see new content, say it’s cool.

Version 0.4

And then it’s on to the next version! I’m only starting to think about what to include in this one. One new girl in the house is pretty much a given. Actually, we may start voting on who is this going to be as soon as next week! I’m not ready to do a proper reveal yet, but here’s something to fuel your imagination:

0.4 will probably be quite a bit smaller than 0.3, but there still should be enough content to not disappoint y’all. I want to get it out it in the mid-to-late October. And that brings us to the next part of this post.

Challenges and the future of the game

When I left my pretty cushy job in mobile game dev in the early spring of this year, I was pretty sick of making things that no one really likes, but rather gets addicted to. I had a solid chunk of cash to live off, some side gigs lined up, and a dream of making my own porn game. Now don’t judge me! I’ve always been fascinated with adult entertainment in general and porn games in particular. So, I set to work.

Fast forward to today. Boy, did I underestimate the amount of work that goes into a good porn game. Misguided priorities, delayed releases and all that aside, I still love doing this thing. But, unfortunately, my chunk of cash is starting to run low. Some unexpected medical expenses in the summer, a couple of gigs fizzling out, and I’m beginning to get anxious about my finances.

Won’t dance around it anymore, and will get to the point. I need to start at least making rent payments from my Patreon by the end of October to keep working on the game full-time for a couple more months. This, coupled with other game-related expenses, would be about $1000 monthly by Patreon’s count. We reach that - and I can stretch my savings for a while more, and then hopefully be able to cover all my living expenses with your patronage and keep working on the game till it’s done.

If we don’t reach that goal, well, that would suck quite a bit, but it’s not the end. I will keep working on the game, but will have to get back to a day job, and that would mean smaller and less frequent updates.

I’ll be doing a number of things, probably running a Patreon promo, adding new tiers, stuff like that. But you, my patrons and followers, have the real power. Reviews and comments on F95, links on appropriate forums and discussion boards, if you have an inclination to s̶h̶i̶l̶l̶  help the project, and in a position to do so, now would be the time.

That’s all I have for you today, v0.3.1 goes public tomorrow, v0.3.2 goes to beta, and a new CG set will be out for patrons this Sunday. Cheers!