Version 0.3.2 - Public Build + A General Update
Added 2020-11-20 15:17:46 +0000 UTCOkay, first things first, I'm finally releasing the public build of Version 0.3.2 - in other words 'Chapter One' of this Ren'py version. That said, I'm afraid to report that things might be changing ... again.
But before we get onto that, I'd better give anyone that hasn't already played it the links, right?
[Note for patrons: this is basically is the same build I shared in private in the last post.]
So what the hell is going on with Girl Games?
Is this project cursed? Am I just unable to make a clear plan and stick to it? Am I going totally crazy?!
The answer might be all of the above! Although it might not seem like it, I honestly hate making excuses for myself and I doubly hate being the bearer of bad news. I much prefer to offer positive solutions - be that in my private or creative life - and hopefully that's exactly what I'm doing here.
Let me get serious for a moment, and touch on a topic that I guess I have hinted toward a couple of times both in the newsletters I send out about my day to day eBook work, and also (I think!) in a couple of these blog posts ...
Like so many of us, this last year hasn't exactly been easy for me. Between a few struggles in my personal life, a global pandemic, creative burnout, and flagging sales (and category battles with Amazon) in my eBook work, I guess you could say I've been struggling a little.
Girl Games has always felt different to my 'day to day' writing work though. Sure, I LOVE coming up with juicy eBooks, but I've gotta be serious - that also pays the bills. The game ... well that's something different; I guess you could call it my 'passion project'. And im some ways I feel like I made a mistake in some ways by setting up a Patreon for it.
I truly hate letting people down that are expecting something - in this model I suppose that would be a monthly new update. Yet, what with all the above, I'm struggling to meet that as I'm sure you've noticed. For this month (and possibly next) I'm going to pause all billing while I regroup and figure out exactly how to continue ... Which means: if you currently support me here on Patreon, don't worry, you won't be charged! I'll be making sure to check in on here before I reactivate billing again so please don't leave in the meantime (unless you've totally lost faith in me that is, and I'd understand if you did).
So what exactly are my issues with just ploughing on as is? I suppose because I'm struggling with all of it - of creating a full complete world, all at once. I've realised that what i really need to do is plot out the MAIN story and choices - the absolute essential blocks of the central narrative - and make sure those all work, and then start fleshing it out and expanding.
What I mean is: I think I need to (temporarily) go back to Twine and flesh out the main essential 'beats'. By this I mean the core story - choosing your mistress, completing your tasks, the consequences if you don't, and everything else that leads up to (and includes) the Girl Games event itself. And then start building out from there. At the moment, I've got so swamped and side tracked by all the extra little details - what happens if you do or don't leave your room naked, etc, etc, and it's hard to see the forest for the trees I suppose!
So what I suppose that means is, I'll put together a really bare bones text only version of the central story, so that I have a clear road map, and then take it from there. I might be wrong, but i feel like a working interractive story with some meaningful choices will be a better starting point than a nice-to-look-at chunk of something that crashes or leaves you hanging at the end of week one. Make sense?
I promise I'll keep you all posted as/when I get that done and I'll be sharing that bare bones text version on here the moment it's complete (Patrons only!). Then once I have that skeleton/roadmap totally finished, I can start fleshing it out and putting in/back all the other fun juicy extras and side stories - Kevin, Amy, the city/shop system, the wardrobe, the gloryhole encounters, etc, etc.
I hope that all makes sense! It does in my head at least. And it feels like the only way I can continue this project right now without getting totally overwhelmed!
Thank you so so much everyone who's supported this project so far. This isn't the end, I promise! It's just the start (again, lol).
Dana x
TL;DR: I was floundering a little, and feeling super guilty that I had let you all down. But I've shaken myself down, regrouped like in some A-Team montage sequence, and now feel ready to take another - more organized - stab at making this stupid game that I am totally in love with and determined to finish NO MATTER WHAT.
If you wanna stick around for the ride, I'd love that (and you!), but if you've lost faith in me, I'll totally understand as well. I think I myself would be super frustrated by a creator changing tack as many times as I have over the last year! And as I said before, don't worry - I've paused billing and will continue to do so until I feel comfortable that I'm providing enough new content to feel comfortable charging again! x
Comments
I'm in. I want to see what comes of this. Unfortunately, I don't have any knowledge or skills to help you with this, but it sounds like you have to build the basics, like you say, and add on later, if that's feasible. Get the story to work like the original plotline, until the end, and then you can add choices and new adventures later. I assume that's possible, and not listening to us asking for added pathways until the original is finished would probably help keep you sane. It reminds me a bit of D&D, where the DM has a whole adventure planned out, and one random encounter at the tavern derails the whole thing and you have to make up something entirely new. If adding branches later is something that works, then focus on the main thing now. World building takes time. I'm also thinking a bit of Alyson Belle's transforming her Exchanji story into a choose your own adventure story. Is that something you might want to use to work out alternate paths, and perhaps publish while you work out the game mechanics? I don't know where you are in terms of plotting the GirlGames world, but it might be something you can go to in between technical issues, to give your mind a break. It might also inspire easter eggs to put in that might or might not lead to further adventures.
Patrick Carey
2020-11-21 01:26:16 +0000 UTC
