Mind Drop #51 (10/12/2022) (Patreon)

Mackenzie here!

There's tons to talk about in this Mind Drop. So much so that this is still not what our normal Mind Drops will look like.
There's just too much important stuff to talk about to really dive into some of the extra stuff we eventually want to get into since we don't want this info to be overlooked.

Update news:

Let's start things off straight away by giving you an update on how Braindrop is feeling.
He's still recovering from his recent illness but he's feeling much better and is mostly back to feeling like himself.
We did make the call to delay this most recent release by 6 days due to said illness.
We were feeling very down about having to delay but we were completely on time for the new date despite some setbacks so all things considered we're feeling good about how everything ended up.

We do not currently have a date to share for the next update as there are a few things Braindrop is still working on for it.
We are hopeful to have it finished by the end of October but both of our schedules are a bit volatile this month so we're not set on locking this in yet.

Season 1 rework news:

It has been a while since there's been any news on the rework for the first 31 days. While our work has been mainly focused on continuing the story, we have also continued working on the rework.

The timeline for it is 95% complete and the same amount of script work for it is also completed.
We do understand that there are many elements of the recent updates that do not make complete sense due to the story changing and we are committed to finishing the rework as quickly as we can while also continuing on with normal releases.

Outside of a few tweaks here and there and a handful of animations, the intro and days 1-20 are finished. As wells as bits and pieces from the remaining days.
We are currently considering releasing it in large chunks but we would prefer to have it be released all at once to avoid further confusion.

We will be updating you guys regularly on the progress of the rework and any decisions we will be making for it.

Tiers overhaul:

All of the membership tiers have been altered as well as 2 new ones were added. (Images for the tiers are currently being made and will be up in the next few days.) There are now 7 total tiers.  

Fan: $1

• Access to patron-only Discord
• Fan role on Discord
• Access to bi-weekly mind drop posts
• Access to any other non-tiered posts

Bench Warmer: $5

• All previous benefits
• Access to updates 7 days after they release
• Bench Warmer role on Discord
• Access to more specific Rachael Client polls such as eye color or body shape (After broad creation such as age and where they're from.)
• Access to DITLO's (A day in the life of) (Two weeks after they're released) these are short stories about what characters get up to when they're not around you.
• Access to the prior month's Birthday Renders

Sixth man: $10

• All previous benefits
• Access to updates 5 days after their release
• Sixth Man role on Discord
• Access to DITLO's (A day in the life of) (a week after they're released) these are short stories about what characters get up to when they're not around you.
• Access to Silly Renders such as hair swaps or character style swaps

Starter: $15

• All previous benefits
• Access to updates 3 days after they release
• Starter role on Discord
• Access to Birthday Renders as they are released
• Access to additional teaser images

All Star: $20

• All previous benefits
• Access to all beta and full builds as they release
• All Star role on Discord
• Access to Broad creation Rachael Client polls (such as where they're from and their age)
• Access to DITLO's (A day in the life of) (as they are released) these are short stories about what characters get up to when they're not around you.
• Access to extra behind the scenes posts

MVP: $43

• All previous benefits
• Access to all small experimental (alpha) builds that will not be shared with other tiers until they're finished
• MVP role on discord
• Access to a hidden Discord channel that Braindrop will frequent and communicate in
• Your name will be added to the end of updates

Hall of Fame: $100

• All previous benefits
• Additional tier for extra support
• You can submit requests for custom renders and if approved, Braindrop will make them as he is able to. (Must be approved by Braindrop, aka nothing crazy)
• Hall of Fame role on Discord
• You will be able to create your own custom role for yourself on Discord (With approval)
  

Tiers overhaul explained further:

(All patrons as well as former patrons will still receive all of the remainder of Days 32-38, although they will be released to you 10 days after their release for All Star tier+.) 

Our goal for these updated tiers was to incentivize where we could without adding too much additional side content work. There were also many requests for things like higher tiers for custom renders / name in credits.  

The "alpha" builds in the MVP tier will be updates in the 100 render size that will not have very clean start or end points, these updates will not be posted here but will be sent in DMs.  

If you have any questions about the new tiers, please ask and I'll answer as soon as I can!

Side content release times:

Client polls (All Star+): 

It's been a very long time since you all have seen Ingrid. (The last client poll girl).
Since things are very different now and there's tons of new faces, we will be starting fresh and Braindrop will be finishing Ingrid by communicating things through discord.

The first poll will be deciding where in the world she is from, starting with the continent. The options will be North America, South America, Africa, Oceania, and Asia. (No Antarctica for obvious reasons and no Europe since that was the last winner.)

Polls will take place on Mondays and this first one will take place on October 17th

Birthday Renders (Bench Warmer+):

Due to things being behind here, Bench Warmers will get the new renders as they come out until we're caught up and then it will be that the Starters will get the new ones, while Bench Warmers will be behind a month.

The renders for July / August will release on October 20th

Silly renders (Sixth Man+):

The first batch of these will be a total of 12 renders of a number of characters having their hair swapped with other characters. As well as a few surprise renders.

These will release on October 25th

Additional Teaser Images (Starter+):

The additional game teasers will be around 10 additional teasers and will be posted on October 28th

Upcoming update:

This next update will feature the first basketball game of WVM, even if it's only an exhibition match.

We just wanted to take a moment to say that while this is an adult visual novel with a story that revolves around basketball... WVM is not a basketball game, this is a naughty game.
The girls will always come first and the focus will always mainly be on the girls.

With that said, this next update is basketball heavy outside of 1 scene that we left for that update so it's not so one sided.
Braindrop has told me that this game was a huge contributor to his bad year. He's struggled to make it good enough for his own standards but that's mainly due to Daz3d not being the best way to form a basketball scene.
There's also so much work that will only be shown for a few seconds, the kind of work that is very noticeable if it was wrong or missing but not the kind of work that you recognize. The kind of work that took months.

We just want to temper expectations for it a bit. It's Braindrop's first time making a basketball game and he's learned a lot from it and hopes to improve on it in the future.
It should be completely obvious, but don't go into it thinking it will be some sort of mini-game or some sort of full game like a 2k.
There are decisions even though the MC will be sitting out, but that's about it.

There are many limitations and with those limitations came unique problem solving solutions. Some work, some come off a bit jank but in the end we believe it will be a fun update and we're excited to have it ready for you all soon.

If you have any questions please ask away.
Thank you all very much for everything and we hope you have a great few weeks.
Talk to you again soon.