haremondev
patreon
The Plan
🕑 Added 2020-12-01 02:35:23 +0000 UTCThis is a major update that will affect all patrons. I highly recommend reading the whole thing.
Hello everyone!
Now that the overhaul is out and I'm ready to shift my full focus to finishing Chapter 3, I wanted to share an update on how things are going to look moving forward. I've been thinking a LOT about the future of the project lately, and I've made some tough decisions that I think I'm ready to share with you now.
First of all, Chapter 3 will probably NOT be finished by the end of 2020. I will let you know when to expect it once we're closer to completion, but it will likely be in late January. With monthly builds all year, and the huge overhaul in 0.29, I haven't had as much time to devote to the new Chapter as I'd have liked. That brings me to the main focus of this post, and the main changes I'm making moving forward.
I've been working on Haremon now for over three years. I've been crunching just about every month of those three years, to push out a minor update every month while working on new Chapters in the background. My reasoning was that I needed to have something to post every month to keep people happy with their patronage. However, this approach has always been problematic. It causes me to put the important work on hold in order to make something I can post right away, which usually ends up being something superfluous that doesn't need to be there in the first place. More importantly, it leads to an exhausting amount of work for little actual payoff.
As a result, I've been feeling extraordinarily burnt-out and overwhelmed for the past several months. I've hesitated to say that, because I don't want to shake anyone's faith in me or the project. I want to assure you that I will overcome this and complete the game, but for that to happen, two steps need to be taken: first, I need to give myself time to recover when I'm feeling mentally and emotionally exhausted. Second, I need to tighten my focus. That means streamlining development to focus on Haremon's main story, avoid devoting time to unnecessary features, and finish Haremon 1.0 as soon as reasonably possible.
To that end, I've made a difficult decision about the future of the project: going forward, I will no longer be adhering to a monthly upload schedule. Instead, I will post an update probably every 2-3 months, whenever I have actual quality content available to share. I realize that this may be a dealbreaker for many of my patrons, since the monthly builds are the main thing you receive for backing the project. However, I have thought about this a LOT over the past year, and have decided that it is the best thing to do for the sake of the game. If I keep trying to post updates each and every month, delaying new story content to do so, development will drag on for several more years, and I will be constantly burning myself out for minor updates. I hope the overhaul today will show you the kind of content I can make when I actually take my time and don't rush for a monthly upload.
The decision to change this schedule will be beneficial to the game, and to my own health, but it will also be beneficial for you, the players. It's the focus on monthly builds that has led to the last two chapters taking a year each to complete. If I'm able to focus strictly on new story content, then I can get more of the good stuff to you guys quicker than before. Not to mention, new chapters mean new Haremon, and new Haremon mean new H scenes. So, you do the math.
Despite these benefits, I know that the decision to stop monthly releases will probably lead to a sizeable loss of patrons, and I fully understand why. If you do decide to leave, please know that I truly appreciate your patronage so far, and I hope you will be happy with the final product when it's finished. I don't take my responsibility to you lightly. I strongly believe that your patronage is something I have to earn. And if I'm no longer earning it, then I don't deserve to continue receiving your pledge.
One last thing. As most of you know, I'm a solo dev, and Haremon is my first real experience in game development. The past three years have been a constant process of learning for me. Learning what works and what doesn't. Learning how to effectively manage my time and funds. And most importantly, learning my own limits. Each of these learning experiences has made me a better developer, but it has come at the cost of a ton of time, money, relationships, and happiness. I want to sincerely thank you for your patience as you follow me on this journey, and I'm confident that when the game is finally complete, you will agree that it was all worth it.
I think that's about all I have to say. Shortly, I will edit the Patreon tier descriptions to reflect this change. Once again, I really do understand if you choose to cancel your patronage due to this. I'm posting this today so that if you want to unpledge, you can hopefully do so before December 1st. (If you are charged for December before you're able to unpledge, just ask me for a refund and I'll happily oblige.)
I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your support so far, and hope you will be pleased with the content these changes will bring to Haremon. <3
TLDR: In order to streamline development and release the last few story chapters as soon as possible, I will no longer be promising monthly builds. I will post new content as it is available, probably every 2-3 months. This will allow me to focus mainly on story content without taking thousands of hours to add unnecessary features just to have something to post each month. I understand if you wish to unpledge because of this, and I sincerely thank you for your support so far.
Comments
Nörther
Yeah. we can manage with playing less. Just get some rest and maybe look for a partner to help with coding
Daniel Siepman
This is the kind of quality feedback I live for. Godspeed, Haremon Dev.
busshanta
Take all the time you need to regenerate and thank you so far
PPC's4Life!
Fair enough. Just be sure to communicate with us non discord users here on Patreon every once and awhile.
InterLEWD Creations
I completely understand and support this. The constant promoting and releasing of game builds is extremely time consuming and draining. I have we’re stoked with this decision myself. I won’t delete my pledge and I’ll be here the next time you have something to share. Good luck
TsunAmie
Thank you for all the kind comments, everyone! I will try to post more progress updates going forward so I'm not just going silent for a month at a time, though it may be tricky to avoid spoiling new content that way.
TsunAmie
Agreed on the smol titty gfs. Stay tuned ;)
TsunAmie
True. I would love to share more art previews and such, but I also don't want to spoil future chapters...
Nokkejord
Quality over quantity sounds good! I won't cancel my pledge, either. Great job with the updates so far, dev!
Imasin
Take care of yourself man. I personally love the story of my games more than the H scenes since the story gives those scenes weight. So far the game is great, fun and you can tell a lot of passion is in it especially for a solo dev and one with very little experience in the field. I personally can't keep up with the monthly updates since I go through the content slowly since I've been very busy. And I won't pull my patronage from this project because I want to see where it goes and see it finished. You're doing great work and if taking more time for each release will produce better work then by all means take your time! Love ya homie and keep up the amazing work!
Daniel Siepman
y'know, I hadn't played the game in a while, had been thinking about cancelling my subscription...then I played the newest release. The content I get from this patronage is polished, robust, and deeply satisfying. Do I want more and faster updates? Well, of course, I'm only humanoid. But given what I know of endeavors such as this one, it's fast and high-quality. You've got my cash in the pipeline. My only complaint? Needs more smol titty gfs.
No probs with that at all dev, do what you need to do to keep yourself motivated and enjoying the project first and foremost. You have done a awesome job so far with it, do what you need to keep the awesome coming!
Kit
Also, it could help the downtime between updates feel like less if there was more to the patreon page, concept art posts or something that wouldn't add to your actual workload much.
Kit
While a longer wait sounds bad, being able to put out more actual content will make it way better. Plus a burned out dev is bad for everyone, and a better quality game in the end is worth it
Yokai King
I will happily continue my pledge on this project, i really love all the time, and dedication that you have put into the creation of this game so far, as well as keeping your patrons updated on the project. You are the first person i've ever pledged to on patreon, and i am glad to have done so, keep up the good work, and take breaks whenever you need to, your mental and emotional health always comes first . I will continue to be here to support , and watch the game evolve and grow as time goes on hehe : )
23DarkStar
Work on the chapters and to hell with the monthly update. Do debugging as needed, bring in help with this as needed. Stay healthy and sane. (as much as possible). Fans will be here.
YuriLov
For you and all the other developers I support here on patreon, it isn't about how fast you put out updates that I enjoy. Its about supporting you in your path as a developer, so monthly or bi monthly, hell even yearly updates. You can count on my donations for years to come(or as long as you continue). Also yes, I love Haremon. Long live the Nekos and Kitsune!
Kaitanos Zeragar
I'll still put my pledge to your project and I can wait when you can make updates to the game it's too fun to just flat out cancel my pledge to your wonderful work. If you feel you need to make such changes I don't mind give yourself time to unwind for other things I'll be here and follow you
TsunAmie
thank you! I appreciate it.
TsunAmie
thanks so much!
Scott Wulf
I think this is a great idea honestly. Take the time YOU need to create the best quality game, and at the same time, maintain YOUR best quality of Life! Don't burn yourself out on your first game, it's not worth it! Not gonna change my Patreon pledge, or cancel, sticking through to see how the story goes!
Zap Rowsdower
Quality over quantity always wins out Dev, anyone who wants anything done well also knows the virtue of patience. I hope you are doing well over the holidays, and maybe consider taking some of this time for you and your loved ones; the project shouldn't feel like something you become a slave to.
Herons
Love u dev
TsunAmie
Thank you. I really appreciate it
I would rather have an update ever 2-3 months, than no updates whatsoever, because of a burned out dev. Keep up the amazing work!
