Defiant Explorer
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Working Speed, or “Why So Damn Long for Just a Text-based Game?”
🕑 Added 2024-11-12 11:07:08 +0000 UTCI've read such claims. To my game. To other text games. “It's just a text game”, “only an [pseudo] html game”, blah, blah, blah. When it came to me, I usually either reacted to such things with humor or ignored them. But the unpleasant residue still remains. I don't know how many people really think like that, or start to think like that, while months of work on the next update are going on, including here... That's why I decided to tell you how I work, in detail, in all stages, with numbers. To show a rough picture for understanding, so to speak.
Stage 1: Draft.
I get out to write about 7-8 to 12-13 pages a day. We'll round it up to 10 for simplicity. That's not a bad rate, really. However, this figure alone doesn't give us much insight unless you pull up the numbers of each update that has been released.
Well, luckily I saved all the drafts after Chapter 1 came out. Let's take a look:
Update 1.2 - 217 pages.
Update 1.3 - 149 pages.
Update 1.5 - 369 pages.
Update 1.6 - 298 pages.
Update 1.7 (1.69 + 1.7) - 631 pages.
Actually, 1.7 came out in two parts and the first one (1.69) ended, if not to say was cut off, somewhere around page 300.
That is, if you round up roughly, the average update takes on the order of ~ 300 pages. At the rate of 10 pages a day, that comes out to about a month of work on just one draft.
A full month of work. But it doesn't work like that. At least once a week, I take a day off. Sometimes something happens that prevents me from working properly. Like I just don't get enough sleep or I get sick or anything else like that. Shit happens.
Anyway, to just write a draft of the text for the update, these conventional 300 pages, in reality takes at least a month and a half under ideal conditions. And I have ideal conditions as the exception rather than the rule.
Well, the draft is written, okay. But you can't play in the draft. So here comes the next stage.
Stage 2: Editing.
I usually write those very “raw” 10 pages/day, and edit them the next day, with a fresh head, before I start writing another 10 pages. Editing is generally faster than writing... Unless you get stuck on some piece you don't like all day, which is rare but also happens. Still, this work takes its toll too, given the scale, we're talking probably a week or two in total.
Especially since sometimes I edit individual sections 3-4 times. After all, this is artistic text. It's not the same as posting tweets with a personal opinion. I suspect a lot of the complaints about "just” text games are because of this. Everyone can write. And they usually write something on the vastness of the internet. An opinion, an evaluation, that sort of thing. However, few of these “critics” realize what it means to work with text. And it's not like posting a couple of tweets a day.
So, the edited draft is ready. Alas, you can't play it either. Because...
Stage 3: Translation.
I'm writing a draft in my native language. And it's not English. This way it is more convenient for me to evaluate the whole text and edit it. Alas, my language is not the current “lingua franca” (language of international communication). Which means translation is necessary. Otherwise, few people will be able to play my game.
The translation stage is the only stage where I allow myself to use specialized AI translators, feeling perfectly fine. After all, languages don't belong to anyone. The one case where AI is really progress, not degradation with the substitution of human creativity.
I use two such translators, one for raw translation and the other for checking terms and individual words. But while much progress has been made, the universal translator from Star Trek is still insanely far away. While AI can quickly translate large amounts of text, those large amounts of text still need to be edited and edited, edited, edited... A lot of editing, yeah.
On average, I translate about 20-40 pages a day. And a full next day for editing and revisions. That is, based on a rounded average of ~ 30 pages in two days, it takes at least another 20 days to translate 300 pages.
But you also, yes-yes, still can't play in the translated draft.
Stage 4: Placement into the game (coding).
This is where the most uncertain stage comes in. I usually take a section, as I call them “scenes”, and transfer it into the game in its entirety, piece by piece. I've had the code templates for dialogs and ability checks ready for a long time, so for the most part, it's Ctrl+V and Ctrl+V with extreme concentration so as not to misclick somewhere wrong. But for the dialog variables (well, so that the game knows when and what a character says), you have to prescribe manually, otherwise it is impossible to do it. As well as a number of other “insertion” code sections with boolean algorithms. Since the scene takes, usually 10-20 pages, this is the speed of placement directly into the game.
But it is not always so fast. For example, remember the moment when Selene found herself on the island and cooked dinner? Selene could have just picked berries. Or she could have caught fish. Or she could have also collected bird eggs. Finally, she could have caught a crawler (by finishing it off in two different ways). So, the game displays all of these options in any combination of them. It took me all day to write this piece of code, and I remember it well. And a bunch of foul words were sent into the void in the process.
In the game, you see anywhere from one to several paragraphs of text there (depending on what food your Selene found). And it took me a full day of work just to get all those "if's" and "else's" to correctly display Selene's efforts as those few paragraphs of text. A full day's work. That happens, too.
Well, the raw version of the text is placed into the game and... it's already playable. But not desirable. Cause...
Stage 5: Testing.
Bugs. Every time I place a scene, there are always bugs in it. Usually a lot of them. If I'm lucky, not so much. But they're always there. Somewhere a sign is missing in the code and a line is broken, causing the game to swear a “red” warning. It's worse when some hidden variable works incorrectly. Then the game does not signal the error in any way. Nevertheless, there is an error and it is fraught with consequences for you, the players.
To exclude this, I test the game in two stages:
Quick testing. Immediately after placing a scene into the game. Check if everything works as it should. Double-check hidden variables by adding their display to the game itself and then removing them from there, because you, the players, don't need to see them.
Long Testing. Usually, as soon as an update is ready, I replay the whole thing several times, double-checking everything again and cleaning the game of bugs not found by quick testing.
How long does quick testing take? It varies. It depends on the amount of added scenes and the number of bugs found. But, as a rule, all day after the scene has been added to the game.
As for long testing, it usually takes 3-4 days. It is certainly faster to edit something that is already mostly ready.
Untitled stage: Arts.
There are arts in the game. Good enough for some, not so good for others, but the fact is that they are there and they also need to be done. I usually make them before I start working on an update. But not always. Sometimes it's more convenient for me to write the text first and then make the art for it.
The time of work on them also varies a lot. When it comes to the “forest” arts typical for Chapter 2, I do them pretty quickly (because I'm used to it). Several in a day. However, there are also some like the “Golden Fields” one. Remember all those tiny grainy yellow dots on it, representing endless fields of yellow flowers? Each such dot is placed by hand. Otherwise, the program in which I make art did not allow me to realize the idea. This one took me a couple of days to make if memory serves me correctly. That happens too.
Portraits are a separate story. I'll just say that sometimes you get the picture right away. And sometimes... Well, like the Gold Fields. Not right away at all.
“Just” a text game.
And then when it's all done, placed in the game, and tested, only then can you play it. And, I hope, immerse yourself in the story and enjoy it, rather than drowning in bugs and loose text.
And even despite all that, every now and then, I replay my game from the beginning. And there's never been a time yet that I haven't fixed something, somewhere in the course of such a playthrough.
P.S. I'll tell you more about the progress of the 1.8 update at the end of the month. However, I can already see from here that you should lower your expectations for the release date (it won't be soon), but boldly double your expectations for the content. Yes, I'm aware that the last update was in the summer... But the next update will be the biggest one yet. Unprecedentedly big. Of level 1.7, but in its entirety, not in two parts like it came out. I'll save that topic for a post at the end of the month, though.
P.P.S. It took a full day of work to write and prepare this post. Oopsie.
Comments
Defiant Explorer
Yeah, I really forbid myself from bringing up this topic here. People don't come here for this. But thanks anyway. Let's just hope that nothing of, ahem, last resolve won't fly here or anywhere else.
Lonely Wolf
I see what you mean about this node and its various branches. In any case, all this clearly doesn't make your job any easier!&! Well, I'll stop bothering you with my compulsively curious questions and let you get on with the work (for now; hey hey!). Anyway, good fortitude to you D.E., for your work yes, but also for "your working conditions" which are really not optimal and which you've been enduring for nearly three years now... (For my part, I still regularly follow the sad "news" from your country and I sincerely hope for all of you that this madness will stop as soon as possible). Ok, I stop here, since I know you don't like to discuss about this topic, and I too understand that the Patreon of the game isn't the best place to talk about it. So see you soon, and as usual take care of yourself just as much as of your relatives and friends. [^-❤️-^]
Defiant Explorer
Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope everything ends well. As for the update, yes, technically it will be like 1.69 + 1.7 together, if not more. But I suspect it will feel less in-game in a single playthrough. To summarize, the roughly 300 pages of the draft give the approximate value of one update that were before. However, the second 300 pages, are all variations of Selene's possible sexual activity, where, it will still only be possible to “pick up” some scenes. However, if someone decides to replay once or twice trying different branches, yes - this node in the story will be one of the most variable in that sense.
Lonely Wolf
Ah, all right: thanks again D.E. for your (always very detailed) explanations! And indeed, I hadn't posted any messages for a long time cuz to be honest, I've been having family worries (nothing too serious, fortunately, but yes, inescapably it happens sometimes...), and so it monopolized all my attention lately. Brief; getting back to the game, I was just wondering if this 1.8 will be of a "size" comparable or upper to the 1.7 (1.69+1.7; you see what I mean)?-🧐-?
Defiant Explorer
Thank you. It's been so long since you've written, I was even getting a little worried. That said, you've probably liked all my comments in one particular place and now you just don't have anything to set like to there anymore xD But more to the point. Speaking of 1.9, so far, it looks just like the standard size. Moreover, I can say that if nothing changes, structurally it will look like a straight line between two points and such a long curve between those very points. So it could be “skipped” along the short straight line (with checks or probably one morally complex decision) or be traversed along that long curve, which would be the main part. In theory, there's nothing in there that can get beyond the notional 3 months of work. In theory. I've been wrong before. So... But 2.0 will probably also be very big and long in development. It's the end of the chapter where all the unfinished stuff will have to be finished. Like situations with Cadonis, and Meralion, and Sargon's book, and the first stage appearance, and lots and lots of other things. Plus, some stuff that's probably pretty secret ^^ But for now, I need to finish at least 1.8 xD
Lonely Wolf
Hi to you, D.E.! [^-🤘-^] Glad to see you're doing well these days, and that your determination to take the game to the upper level remains at a particularly high level!-👍-! Well, personally, I don't mind the massive updates (or rather, I maybe should say: the waiting time between them), but I don't think that my dear pals who follow your game may they all agree with my opinion... Perhaps that for the future 1.9, it would be better to go back to more "classic" delays?-🤔-? Like (for example): an update every three months or so? It's just a suggestion, huh;-😅}. Anyway, it's you and only YOU who's in charge here, and of course I can understand that sometimes things get carried away from the initial plans, then take on an inordinate scale, as appears to be the case with this VERY desirable version 1.8!!! Be well, my friend. [/-🥲-\]
Defiant Explorer
Well, I could do updates once or twice a month too, but they'd be... tiny. Like, talk to someone, do a thing or two, that's it, end of this “update”. It would be even profitable for me that way (more frequent updates = more attention to the game). Except I highly doubt most players would like such tiny updates.
Eivind Petersen
personally I find it quite impressive that writers around here manages to send out an update once (or for a few even twice) á month, as most of you dont have writing as your main occupation
Defiant Explorer
Do you mean the structure of the draft? Well, usually all the scene options are written there, with options for each line or action and navigation via ctrl+f on those lines (I mean the ones at the bottom of the game, player selection options). So, in the engine itself, I usually just input the finished final version. Not always, but it happens that during testing there is a feeling that something is missing, one more dialog option or description, then I add them directly in the engine, skipping the draft stage. Sometimes such "additions" are quite extensive. But in general, this is the exception rather than the rule. I feel much more confident when I know in advance exactly what scene I'm adding to the game.
Defiant Explorer
Just trying to be honest. I don't think there needs to be a capital letter xD
Chien_perdu
Thanks! So do you write out every option at the start or do you add that in at a later stage?
Exalted Text
You speak the Truth.
Defiant Explorer
Well, I've described the stages that I make sure to go through and never skip. However, I usually do it in sections - write a scene, translate it, put it into the game, and test it. Then the next one. But sometimes, like with the current update, it doesn't really work out. There are very long and interconnected sequences of 100 or more pages that need to be linked together. And for that, you need to prescribe them in advance.
Defiant Explorer
Seriously? Huh. I have no idea what I'm doing. I just try not to ignore people, and at least once a month inform them about what's going on through the walls of text. I keep wanting to make it shorter somehow, but it's not really happening.
Chien_perdu
Thanks for the informing update! I guess that's the consumer brain: you want the cool stuff and you want it now and if you don't know how it's made you tend to underestimate the work. Of course it would be possible to churn out quicker updates but that would only be possible if you didn't do all the testing and editing and would just publish whatever you wrote once. There are creators out there who do this, but that's not the reason I (and I guess other people as well) support you. Inner Empire is the best in its genre imho and that's because you are doing a great job at bringing a world to life. I don't know how many times I played the game but yet I still discovered something new the last time I gave it a go. And for the quality you are pretty fast. I mean if we take a look at Female Agent which I think is kind of similar - you both understood that small, sometimes inconsequential choices are extremely important to make the player believe they have agency - is delivering less updates than you (I think the last one was that bonus mission?). Of course I also would like even more updates but that's the price for quality. Inner Empire inspired me to try myself at creating games and so I know how much work and hard to undertand coding can be behind a seemingly simple line. As a newbie can I ask why you are first writing pages upon pages and then you implement them into twine? Isn't that difficult for implanting branching and looping paths? Because I just jumped in and starting to write in twine with just the outline in my head. Although I haven't worked on it for quite some time, so maybe it is a bad process... Anyway would be intersting to hear your thoughts.
Boones
Thank you so much for keeping your fans in the loop. Many other devs. could learn a lot from that. In case you care I've actually recommended your Patreon to other developers of adult content (mainly novels) as an example of how to run proper fan involvement.
Defiant Explorer
Thank you. Although I am quite grateful to these pirate sites for their existence. They do major promotion. I mean, most people find out the game exists because of them. As for the post itself, I have a very practical purpose, (and frankly confess to it). The next update will be so big that it can basically count for two normal ones (the same +/- 300 pages each). But such a long time for development tests the patience of the audience really hard. I know this. So I thought it was important to give some explanation as to why things are the way they are. And those unnamed virtual “critics” are just an excuse.
DamnedFrog
Unfortunately, lot of people don't understand all the work required to create a game. And the worst is that, often, the ones who complain don't pay for the game but get it for free on some pirate site... And of course, they never create a game, or anything for that mater. As we said in French "la critique est aisée, mais l'art est difficile" = criticism is easy, but art (aka the action of creation) is difficult. All of the indie dev have my utmost respect.
HarleyQueen
Well you won't ever lose me as a fan. I will always stay until this story comes to its natural end. 🥰
Defiant Explorer
You're too kind. I'm actually worried. The next update is going to be very big indeed. And I don't want to lose my audience while I'm bogged down working on it. I just hope the result will please you all.
HarleyQueen
The dedication to this is unbelievable. You are truly a legend! 🥹
