Six months later…

Dear supporters and followers,

General and Personal Development:

I want to take a moment to update you on my plans for the game’s development and explain what the new tiers are all about. Back in February, I started working on the rough idea of creating a computer game for adults. I’ve always had lots of ideas, and I’ve managed to bring a few to life, but in recent years, I’ve often lost interest after just a few weeks. Honestly, I wasn’t entirely sure if this time would be any different. But now, six months have passed, and I’m still just as excited and passionate about the game as ever. I’m confident that I’ll be able to see it through to the end.

The game is still in the early stages of development, and as I grow in my skills, I find myself going back and reworking older parts to keep everything up to my standards. For the past six months, I’ve been pouring all my free weekends, evenings, and even holidays into this project because working on it brings me so much joy. Unfortunately, I can only work on the game in my spare time since I also have a full-time job. Most days when I’m at work, I can hardly wait to get home to continue working on the game.

In September, I’m planning to take a week off to focus entirely on development, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what I can achieve during that time. Of course, this intense focus on the game has taken a toll on my social life, and I sometimes miss having a balance. I estimate that it will take me at least another 1-2 years to bring the game to the level I’m aiming for—maybe even longer. Since I’m working on it in my spare time, my progress can be pretty irregular. Sometimes weekends get booked up with other commitments, or work gets in the way, and it can be hard to unwind.

Financial Goals:

I was hoping that by the end of the year, I’d reach a point where I’m generating enough income to allow me to work part-time. This would give me set days during the week to work on the game, helping me maintain consistency and avoid burnout. Right now, I don’t feel burned out because I’m having so much fun, but I think it’s wise to plan ahead. Unfortunately, the cost of living in my country is quite high. Given the current stage of development, this might be unrealistic, but I’m going to give it my best shot.

To help with this, I’ve introduced new tiers. Please don’t feel pressured to upgrade your rank. The higher ranks are only for those who can easily afford it and are eager to support the game. What’s more important to me is that the game gains more visibility and that a large community forms, with many small contributions helping to fund the development. However, every minute I spend on marketing takes away from development time. If you’d like to help me reach my financial goals, the best way you can support me is by promoting the game. If anyone has the opportunity to promote the game in relevant communities, through posts or anything like that, that would be a huge help. I recently stumbled upon a YouTube video about the game :)!! Was that one of you ??!Thank you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8lLRmaRXOA

Additionally, I’m considering releasing the game on Steam in a few months to help reach my goal. However, ongoing development, updates, and the latest changes would still be mainly done here. But it would be really helpful if you could add it to your wishlist when the time comes.

If I don’t reach my goal, which is entirely possible, the development will continue anyways. I’m having way too much fun to stop now! However, it might progress a little more slowly than it has so far.

Artistic Decisions: 

For those of you who are more familiar with AI and image generation... At the start, I was working with a custom-merged model, which created a unique style. However, the model had its limitations, and at times I needed to use other models to achieve the desired images. Nowadays, I’m blending different models during the inpainting phase. The style isn’t completely consistent yet, and the character continuity isn’t perfect, but I’m confident it will improve over time. With Ponydiffusion, I can generate amazing scenes, and I do use it for my personal fapbank. However, I want to develop my own style, so I don’t plan to switch the entire game to a Pony style. Instead, I’m aiming for a hybrid approach using various models, including the original one. I’m likely to use the Pony style for the planned books.

Here’s a little teaser for comparison from the restoration of Thalia's scenes:

Voting Decision:

Another change that's coming your way is that I'm planning to give everyone the same voting power across all tiers. I’m sorry, but I just feel it's better to have equal voting. I originally set different voting powers because I saw others doing it and didn’t have a better idea at the time. But here's the good news for those in the higher tiers: I’ll be sharing galleries from my Pony experiments with you as a special perk.

That’s it for the behind-the-scenes challenges. I’m working hard on version 0.5.2. I think it will be ready in about two weeks. Get excited for mid-September—I can’t wait to see what I can accomplish during my time off! Thank you so much for your support so far.

Best regards,
Bernd