BBBen
patreon
Update - Emi bending over
🕑 Added 2017-12-10 22:01:00 +0000 UTC tl;dr - I follow up on Patreon's fee changes, I explain what I'm doing with the PAT demo and I'm working on a new LMO update!The update's a day early! I'm going to try and keep them at this time each week again.
This week's image
I took a while making this one. I'm normally very hesitant to make butt shots like this because they just tend not to work great with these models, but I think this one turned out pretty well, so I'm okay with showing it. I'd like the room to be a little more crowded, but that's just a result of the time it takes to pose all of them (a lot) and the limitations of my hardware. Hopefully you agree it's not too big a deal.
Follow up on Patreons fee changes
Since I put up my last post there's been a lot of backlash to Patreon's decision to shift transaction fees from creators to patrons. Personally, I think it's a bad idea and they've also handled it badly. I'm a little surprised they haven't rolled the decision back yet. If you're thinking they're gouging you for money that they're pocketing themselves, they don't actually make any extra money out of this change (unless they're being SUPER shady and lying about where the money goes).
There is a small silver lining that has been lost in all this - people who pledge to me (because I've got upfront charges) won't be charged twice in the same month. They'll get charged once when they pledge, then once a month later. Not so important for most of you guys, though. :/ It turns out that upfront charges are the reason they had to make this change (I don't know all the details, don't have time) but upfront charges are necessary because so many people were scamming the old system without upfront. This part of the changes actually costs me money, but... well, you know, I just figure if I keep improving my games my support will continue to grow.
As I say, people have been very upset about it, so I'm particularly grateful to you guys who have been sticking with me through this. If the prices become unmanageable for you then you should look after yourself, of course; I understand. In the meantime, I'm going to try and ignore the trouble and go about my business as usual, just like with the changes to adult content restrictions.
The PAT demo
I do try to read the mood on how things are received and I think the response on the PAT demo is okay, but not all that excited just yet. I'm pretty excited about it, but I get that people who've been backing me for AIF games might not be immediately enthusiastic about something that seems like a lot of more mediocre game designs.
You've got to trust me, the gameplay is going to become more interesting. :) I've actually been in a back and forth on the forums to try and figure out how to solve some technical problems in my quest to increase interactivity, particularly 'hidden' interactivity, like you find in PAL. It seems like most people don't try to mess with the gameplay of VNs that much, even though the basic VN gameplay style sucks ass. I am not interested in making something linear and boring, I just like the ability to display text and images in a much nicer way than Adrift lets me, plus making the game more accessible to new platforms and people who refuse to type commands. My real mission is to try and find ways to give you the same sense of 'ownership' over the gameplay that you get when you type commands into a scene in an AIF game. If I can do that I think I'm on to something good.
I admit, of course, that this is a really experimental thing. I haven't made a game in an engine like this before and I haven't even played a really large number of VNs; just some older hentai ones that didn't have a lot of exciting gameplay features. (Three Sisters Story, Runaway City, Season of the Sakura, etc.) My gameplay design, for example, is based a lot on 'hotspots' - clickable points on the screen. I see it as having elements from VNs, Myst and of course AIF... but basically I'm going to see what works and how I can find interesting ways to surprise you. (I hope!) I imagine that PAT is going to get better as I get further into the process of development, but I can't make it better until I've learned and really immersed myself in the project.
Oh, but when it comes to the story, don't you worry about a thing. I think that's going to be great. I hope you liked the intro - there's more to come and I plan to get to the first interactive sex scenes relatively early in the story this time.
LMO update
I'm planning an LMO update this month; I've already made some pics for the long awaited scene where Twyla actually persuades Lug to fuck her in the cell and I think they turned out nicely. :) Every time I do one of these LMO updates I feel like I should be able to add more than I'm adding, but inevitably when I knuckle down and try to make the pics and edit/rewrite the text for the endings it just takes way longer than I want it to.
Straight talk - I'd like to be able to finish development on this quicker because I now have three projects in progress and that's too many. I have at least something for most of the remaining endings, but there's a bunch programmed in and it's just a long process finishing them. It's frustrating for me because there's work just sitting in my Google Drive, but it's not yet ready for consumption; I have to finish it and that's going to take time.
Got any opinions about this week's update? Anything new on the Patreon changes? What about the demo - do you see potential or are you concerned about the gameplay? Any opinions on the LMO development process? And what about the pic? Does it work for you? Let me know in the comments!
Comments
BBBen
The gameplay from PAC took a little bit of inspiration from True Love, in fact. :)
Rex
True love was very good, I liked it even if that genre of game normally wasn't my cup of cake.
BBBen
I will be using the CG gallery, yeah. I haven't looked into how to do it yet, though, and I figure not every picture will be necessary there - only the fun ones. I think there's a relatively simple way to do it, I just haven't got around to it yet. The setting is definitely more grounded and the story a little more serious in tone, but you're right, it will be getting a little crazier soon. :)
HuhnDoener
I like the way the demo turned out. Having points to click is way easier than searching for the right word to find something AIF style. Also i hope you use the CG gallery, sometimes i just want to look at some of the pics or find out how much i'm missing. Also this so far looks quite more realistic and grounded than your usual style. My guess is that it won't stay that way xD
BBBen
Yes, the bugs are a bit tricky but I think they're mostly not going to stand in my way too much. I think the biggest obstacle for me is my ignorance of this kind of programming and game design! But I'm learning fast, so I'll get better quick, too. :) And yes, I'm a bit stressed about those Patreon changes, not least because it's justifiably upset so many patrons, but I have now heard that the company realises they screwed it up so they're probably going to try to fix it in some way. I'll hope for the best. The other big classic VN I liked was True Love, which was designed better than the other ones. It wasn't so linear; my design is actually a bit different from that this time, though, so it's not too helpful as an example. :)
Rex
Good images, already it was incredible how you used adrift in original way, I'm sure you will do good also with the new engine, the big obstacle now it's the bugs in a software that need to be improved (and it will surely have some dlc), I don't know if it's better of TyranoBuilder or Ren'Py (never tried to create a game), but the developer won't vanish. I have read a post that made me understand what error Patreon did (other that those already mentioned and having posted false reasons at the beginning), if they iverted how the amount of pledges were showed (showing how much really of your money made to creators) maybe they will have updated pledge or the authors could have justified because a rewards was 11 instead of 10 or 1.5 instead of 1, at this point they would have decided if spending more instead to feel to be forced, at the end an half glass can be half full or half empty, and I'm angry because I will pay more, it's mine decision, I'm only worried for the authors, but hope for the better, you are right to ignore the trouble. some of those old hentai games were good from what I remember.
