Zanith
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0.5 Development Update 12
🕑 Added 2021-03-12 20:22:02 +0000 UTCThere’s a poll down below, please take a look at it.
Hey, folks!
I think I haven’t mentioned this here before, but we started a little tradition called Nipple Wednesday over on our Discord server ( discord.gg/8D3FgkR in case you’re not there yet). I don’t want to spam you with single-image posts, so I’ll be including the images in the dev posts, I guess. I also post them over on my Twitter - https://twitter.com/zanith_one if you prefer it that way.
Anyway, here’s the fist Nipple(s):
And here’s the second one (two):
And back to our main feature. The update was released earlier this week, and boy was it sizable. More than 400 new renders added, five animation loops, and two of those are fivesomes, about 30 seconds each. Those of you with the alpha access, you know what I’m talking about. If you aren't, it's this:
Right now the second artist is back to working on the Rae’s Questions event remaster (including the updated handjob animations), and I’m fixing some minor issues with the animations and renders (clipping etc) and adding back some bits and pieces that were cut at the last moment. Just a couple of rendres, really, but some of those are kinda cute:
The Beta should be out sometime Monday/Tuesday, probably Tuesday, with all the fixes, restored cut bits and the aforementioned remaster.
And then we’ll move on to working on 0.5.4. It’s going to add more events to Lyriel’s story, more etherwalks to her homeworld, and… Yes, the first actual, penetrative, in-house sex scene with her.
So you can look forward to that, I guess.
Now. I wanted to talk about the update schedule with y’all. As you can plainly see, I can’t really do good biweekly updates. I am more or less happy with the size of the last update, but it took three weeks to do, and I still had to crunch for a few days, 16 hours of work, the usual. That I’m not so happy about.
Good news is, the next team expansion is just a question of a few weeks to a few months, and we should be able to do more work in less time relatively soon, but in the meantime, I’ve been thinking about various ways to fix the update schedule.
The simplest way would be to keep things as they are. The updates are going to be released every three-ish weeks, and if something is not ready, I’ll be pushing the releases back a few days. But I’m definitely done with the crunch time, my health isn’t going to take much more of that.
Another possible solution I’m thinking about is switching to monthly updates. The new version of the game is going to be released, let’s say, every fifth day of the month. This will probably result in larger updates. Not dramatically larger, mind you, but a bit larger than the last one.
I could also do the monthly schedule with a second, minor update each month. But when I say minor, it’s really going to be super small. One or at most two side events, maybe a couple of hidden items with the CGs, some backend work.
And there’s another option. I can commit to two “full” updates each month, but then I’ll stop planning them out completely, and will just include whatever’s ready. As I said earlier, really small ones. No more full story arc updates. Well, maybe there will be, but later, when there are more of us and we are fully up to speed.
I’m going to include a multi-choice poll. There are three poll entries for each option. I ask you to answer truthfully, this is going to be a fully anonymous poll, and I won’t hold a grudge against any of you, or anything like that.
And just in case, this is not going to be a binding poll, and I'm not saying that I'm going to switch to monthly updates even if everyone is okay with that. I'm considering the options, and I want to have some input from all of you.
See you soon!
Comments
Jethro Del Cielo
Working content in the form of either complete story arcs (Act 1 -> Act 2 -> Act 3, it doesn't matter how long the thing is in minutes) or follow-up existing content but please try to do it in stages that doesn't make you want to find out what weapon laws are for your country after running into a cliffhanger. Per month is fine, rather one content patch per month than two with fluff added to make quota. ^_
Zanith
Don't want to ping everyone commenting. I'll revisit this topic and poll in the next dev update, but for now, let me thank all of you who voted/commented. I think I get the general sentiment, and I've been taking it easy this weekend, haven't even started working on the next update yet. The Beta with some additional content will be coming tomorrow, though, I'm not that lazy.
Sieg Warheidt
Too bad there's not a "I'm okay with whatever you choose, cause you make awesome content. If more time is needed, then take as much time as you need."
TheSwordBreaker
Do what's right for you. I'd rather see this conclude the way you want than have you push yourself for a story you aren't happy with.
I gotta agree, even a game as awesome as AHiTR is *not* worth running yourself into the ground for. Do what keeps you healthy, I'm not going anywhere!
Enfurnoh
Yeah, I do see it as supporting development but I need to see value for money as well. I pay monthly for a LOT of entertainment. 7 on Patreon, OF, steaming services, porn sites, etc, etc. I have to thing about the entertainment value I get for my money for all of them. I don't support Disney because they're awesome, I do it for the content. That changes a little with Patreon and OF as you're supporting a person creating something, but you're still doing it because you want the thing. It's all part of regular conversations I have with myself about who and what I want to support and what I expect out of it and when.
ArnoN
I think you should maybe start seeing this as supporting development instead of a payment for content, cuz yeah you will always be spending a ton of money and never be satisfied. And one decently big quality update per month is a really good pace for games like this. Just my two cents.
Whatever is best for you and your well-being is what I support!
Honestly whichever sounds the best for you both physically and mentally. Whether that's smaller updates or just a big update as long your workflow feels good and you yourself can feel good while working. I don't mind which option it is in the end. Love your content no matter what. I am looking forward to it
Thaewyn
So personally, I contribute what I can to you as a creator, not because I feel like I'm "purchasing product". Of course I'd love to see more, but creators staying mentally healthy leads to more and better content in the long run, and that's far more important to me. You do what you feel is best for your health and wellbeing, and *please* don't force yourself to work long days. Humans are only really capable of making good decisions for about 6 hours a day, and beyond that you run the risk of actually making more work for yourself. Or at least that's how it works in programming land. I will continue to support where I can, and look forward to seeing what you release, at whatever pace you can comfortably continue to do so. Emphasis on 'comfortably'.
Enfurnoh
My issues are in general for all devs like you for games like this. It's about value for money and time elapsed. I support 7 devs and follow dozens of games. They all have similar issues of course. The problem is that the longer between updates the more I stop caring about or start forgetting a game. The flip side is that really quick but small updates means lots of downloading and frustration at the small update. I really don't know what the happy medium is. It's also the "long termness" of the whole thing. How long until the game is "done"? How much will I spend in that time? Certainly far more than just buying a completed game. I know I've stopped looking for new games and try to search out ones that are complete or nearly so. Sorry to dump my issues with the whole genre on you but that's where I'm at. I don't think anything you do will change that so you may as well stick to what you're doing now, except for the ruining your health part.
Toxic
I care more about your health tbh.
Health first. Monthly updates or longer is cool. If people give you a hard time with it, then they need to recognize that you can't provide them with good content if you're burnt out or worse. You are people not machines.
Zen13Aku
Most authors: well, maybe once every six months I'll add content. Zanith: I hope you guys don't get too upset if it's once a month. I'd like to have some kind of complete story in each update, without stopping at the most interesting part. It doesn't matter how long it takes. Of course you don't have to work to your detriment, just please us with information about current progress, and we'll wait for updates.
