smgvn
patreon
Surprisingly not abandoned.
🕑 Added 2022-04-26 02:38:57 +0000 UTCFirst of all, I can't stress this enough, but MW is NEVER going to be abandoned.
Being a game dev is my lifelong dream. I've got the opportunity to set foot in a more welcoming territory/genre and make a story I'm invested in and deeply in love with. The only way I'd stop working on Mad World would be if I died, or a terrible life experience took me away from it. Sure, development may get slow at times, but I'm probably dealing with something else that requires my dev time.
Seeing that my game got the "abandoned" tag really bummed me out, but I can't really blame anyone but myself for it. F95 staff can't check every single Discord for every game on the site, and I'm not that great at making update posts.
Truth is, I'm in a tough spot right now and my mood is in the gutter. I couldn't bring myself to make yet another post saying words and showing nothing concrete, so I shut myself out for a moment until I got something I could show you guys - which I now do.
Working on the game was hard enough back when I wasn't making a 1400-render update with new systems and wasn't borrowing money to keep the lights on, but now, I've been met with new issues.
If you're a developer in F95, you're probably familiar with F95's render farm, which they made freely available for developers with poor hardware (like me). Thing is, the complexity and quantity of the scenes have made me highly dependent on the render farm to finish this update.
There's only one small problem - the render farm won't work with DAZ Studio 4.15 (my render software, and current version), only with DAZ 4.20. Remember when I said I was working with all-new lighting methods? Yeah, they use kilocandela, or kc/d for luminance units, which won't work in DAZ Studio 4.20.
What happens is, I've been relighting roughly around 800 scenes so I can upload them to the render server, because my hardware is simply not equipped to handle anything fancier.
Here's the punchline: My computer even CRASHED a few times while uploading scenes to the render farm. I've done this process over 400 times, and it's still faster than rendering all of them locally on my own computer, can you believe that? That's how i̶n̶f̶u̶r̶i̶a̶t̶i̶n̶g precarious things are.
Ironically enough, even with all the frustration, working on the game has been doing wonders for my mood. I like making characters, creating the rules and scenarios, and letting them act on it. I love writing, and I'm pouring my heart into this game.
Render count
A noteworthy thing is that the render count has tripled compared to the last update. Attached, you can see the comparison between Chapter 3.3 and Chapter 4 scene files. The scene complexity and quantity™ have caused the file size to be almost 15 times larger than Chapter 3.3, since there are more animations, more people on-screen, etcetera.
Keep in mind that these are only the scene files (which are one scene, and one thumbnail), not the renders. Render count should be roughly around 1400, and nowhere near 44 gigs.
Chapter preview
In the images attached, you can see some chapter previews. They are not final and may be either cut or undergo some processing before release. You can see some of the new lighting and environment-building techniques I'm using.
The delay
The main factor delaying this update for so long is that I'm putting all my chips on it to give my game some more attention. Compared to other similar games released in the same year as mine, Mad World hasn't really done much to earn people's love. I know it's self-sabotage to compare myself to others, but I can't help but feel like I'm doing something wrong. That's why I'm putting extra work on pretty much soft-relaunching the game. Seeing as many people will be replaying the game from the start, it could use a little work. More supporters mean I could start saving for new hardware and leave all of this rendering hassle behind (a man can dream, right?).
Last, but not least, I'm striving for a May 4th release. I know - I KNOW I said I wouldn't create ass-pulled release windows anymore, so I'll ask that you please don't get your hopes up. May 4th is merely the date I'm crunching towards, and it does not represent an actual release date.
I am, without a doubt, still at it.
Comments
hamletsdead
Really loving the game, keep up the fantastic work!!
TeaCup
I understand how being so reliant on the render farm to make any progress can cause your mood to drop but I (selfishly) hope it doesn't deter you for too long :P When you say Mad World hasn't done much to earn people's love, I think you're wrong. I love the story in Mad World, I love the way it's told and I can tell you put in the effort to release fleshed-out (quality!) updates. There are plenty of games on F95 that do well but are nothing more than glorified slideshows of nude pics. And they keep bubbling to the surface of people's attention because of multiple small updates that, in my opinion, are not worth the monthly subscription. Your updates are worth the wait and I've been (patiently) looking forward to the next update. I hope you're well and healthy and that things improve for you soon.
Russell Kuhl
Just wanted to say that you should have way more patrons than you do! This game is really well done - - original, great writing (style, flow, etc.) and the graphics are really nice. Keep up the good work!
Rob Northman
I came here dreading I might have to unsub another dead game. I'm happy and relieved to see there's still hope, and I'll continue to support you for as long as you go or I run out of monies :P. Your VN is one of the best on f95 and I hope it soon gets the attention it truly deserves.
K0TT0N3Y3J03
Worth the wait keep up the great work!
Gene Anthony Lukban
I love this game so waiting isn’t something I made. Don’t mind the release date if it doesn’t happen, just let us know. I personally don’t mind because I love the story you’re telling
NameNotRecognised
Your work is one of the only ones where I accepted that updates may come few and far between, and pledged anyways. You make very high-quality stuff, there are not a lot of other stories out there that can replace the feeling it gives. As long as that remains, we can take quite e few delays before it really starts to bother us.
DJMEDIVH
It's good to hear from you SMG. Hope you stay well and that your tough spots turn around for ya.
