State of the Game - August 2020 (Patreon)

Oh hey, look at the time. It’s time for another State of the Game post! Actually, it’s way past, like, a couple of months past, but nevertheless, let’s start.

How things are going

Things are going much better. It’s still not perfect by any means, but thanks to the addition of Jess the writer and a 3D artist, we are getting the pace back up. We’ve got two updates out in July and two in August.

The dream is to be able to release two updates per month and do some preliminary work for future updates or additions/remaster for the older scenes. So far this isn’t happening. The responsibility is all mine, I have a huge backlog of things waiting for my review, edits, and ultimately, approval for inclusion. The process is getting better, though, and I hope that we will be able to improve it further.

On a more personal note, I’ve started having actual days off, so that’s an upgrade for me. Still feel a bit guilty about not putting more time in the game, but I am not as young as I once was, so getting enough sleep and some rest time has become a necessity. Life stuff keeps happening, too, but at a slower pace, and I’m able to deal with it better now.

Oh, and not a month goes by without either our glorious government, PayPal, or Patreon adding some much-needed excitement to my boring existence. What joy. I don’t really want to go into details here, and I’m not sure how much am I allowed to say anyway. There will be an announcement regarding one of those entities soon, though. Nothing too big or bad, and I won’t force anything onto anyone, just a thing I’d like to try.

But enough complaining, let’s get on to the actual game.

Things that are planned

Well, lots of things are planned, a whole lot, but let’s limit ourselves to the near future.

Next two to three updates will be relatively small. About three events, maybe another mini-event activity for one of the girls, one or at most two lewd scenes. This is necessary to prepare for the next major storyline push, more on that below.

Another major thing unrelated to the storyline and already in the works is the next patron special dream. The Lyriel maid one. The draft is awaiting my review right now, the vote on her outfit for one part of the scene is nearly over (go vote, btw! https://www.patreon.com/posts/40552567 We have more than 700 people eligible and there are only 400-something votes in the poll! It is your duty, neighbours, friends and residents!) This dream is going to be a little smaller than the Rae×Cait one, but it’s still going to be plenty big.

And now about the storyline push. Yet another girl is coming to the house. I hope we’ll be able to do her introduction event in October and then we will probably do another two updates or so fleshing out her starting arc and then it’s back to slowly updating other girls’ storylines.

Ideally, I’d like to introduce the sixth (and probably the last of the main cast) girl early next year and then work with this ensemble. This way we will be able to add more group events without worrying about them becoming outdated and ill-fitting. And we’ll be able to do better crossover events with just two or three girls involved.

Anyway, plans are all good, it’s the execution that matters the most.

Things we should talk about

There are a couple of questions that come up time and time again, so I should probably address those.

Probably the most common questions/requests is the actual penetrative sex with Cait and Lyriel. There’s no technical barriers to that, but the narrative ones, oh boy. Cait only hinted at some of her views and passing, and Lyriel didn’t do that at all, but they both have reasons to consider actual sex as the thing they shouldn’t do yet. And we need to actually get to the point when they will be ready. And that requires advancing their storylines. Which in turn brings me to the next point.

The second most common request is more story content. But there is a big problem with storylines and the way the game world is set up. Every single storyline for each of the girls requires some environment and NPC work, and a lot of it.

Just an example, here’s a part of my to-do list for the environments:

• House expansion (one room, one another area)
• “Our-world” shopping mall, with
  • Clothing shop with at least one assistant and a couple of background NPCs
  • Shoes store with the same cast
  • Cafe with waiter/waitress and public
  • Minor shop or two with assistants and background NPCs
  • Common areas and crowds
• Dun Eideann's University of Magic interiors
  • Headmaster’s office with headmaster 
  • Student dorm and Cait’s friends
  • Alchemy class, teacher
  • Corridors (at least 3), other students and teachers
  • Courtyard with crowds
• Naomi’s ship
  • Deck and crew
  • Captain’s cabin

And that’s not all, obviously. When I started the game, I knew there would be some trouble with multiple-worlds setting, but I didn’t expect quite so much. What’s done is done, and now we need to push through.

Funny thing, Lyriel actually has more or less everything she needs to continue her story, but she got lots of content lately, and will get even more with the dream, so I’d like to build on other girls’ stories for a while.

Closing  t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶s̶   thoughts

I think we are doing well, overall. The biggest thank you goes to all you folks who support the development, give feedback, and most importantly, play the game.

Oh, and we’ve passed the next financial goal earlier this month, went back down a bit since. Still, the “team expansion” already happened, and I can’t see us expanding any more any time soon. I’ve added another goal, but that’s more of a “have something to strive for” than a real goal.

But that’s not all! Read on for the

A note from Jess

Hey there! In case this is your first time hearing of me or you haven’t seen me around in discord, my name is Jess. I am the writer that Zanith hired to help him out with the game. I actually started out as a fan of the game first, so it’s been very exciting being able to work with him on this project and write for the girls. It was a little bit stressful at first as we were getting used to each other and setting up our work process, especially so since this is my first time doing this type of work. But I think recently we’ve really gotten it down and have started to understand each other.

Introductions aside, let’s talk about what I’m currently working on for Zanith. I recently finished a rough draft for Lyriel’s dream event, and…well, suffice it to say, it ended up a lot longer than either of us expected – especially for a draft. Writing this draft was extremely fun for me; I had a lot of freedom to work with and I could indulge in some darker themes. I can’t wait to see this scene come to life. I’m also going to be working on touching up some older scenes soon and giving them some much-needed love.

I hope you’ve all enjoyed my contributions to the game thus far, and I hope I can continue to impress and provide enjoyable content for you.

And now, that's all, folks!

I sincerely hope that you all are well and healthy, are enjoying the game, and are going to continue enjoying it as it grows. Again, thank you, and we’ll be back soon with more updates, polls, CG sets and all the good stuff.