v0.13 and the Road Ahead (Restructure 2) (Patreon)

So a ton of new faces around here so I wanted to address my writing style and game production real quick moving forward as this will impact the progress for v0.13 and may impact your motivation for pledges for November. Another long post but I'll drop a summary at the bottom again for those that just want a snapshot.

One quick warning: This is a lower tier post and many may not have played v0.12.1 yet. Please avoid spoilers if you choose to comment. Thanks.

So awhile back, I went on a brief hiatus around 4 updates ago. Basically, if you're not aware: I write this story in real-time as I go. For those not following the Tumblr, if you want to see how generic my last outline was, you can check it out on the blog. It's stupid generic and somehow turned into over 10k lines of code. Basically, I just create checkpoints and then stream-of-consciousness connect the dots as I write. While it sounds weird and probably about the most unhealthy way to write a story; that's how the entire thing has been written so far so I'm not changing it now.

So basically every four updates or so, I step back and re-evaluate where I am. Because I sorta let the characters go in their own direction, they sometimes end up behaving contradictory to my outline. So then I have to rewrite things and change course. Part 2 of the game is no exception. I'll release the outline for public view on the Tumblr following the public release of v0.12.1 sometime so you can see but basically--it originally had a very very different track (actually the story was much more pervy than romantic but apparently, the characters weren't ready yet). In hindsight, my outline was wrong and the current build we have is much better than what I originally intended.

So basically, my first priority is to establish a new outline moving forward. While the last time I did this, I expected to take a month off; that will not be the case this time. Honestly, it wasn't the case last time either and ended up being like 2 weeks. Keep an eye on the Overview tab for progress details. Basically, I just have a written flowchart that I randomly add things to over the course of a week or two and then start writing each update separately. If I try and rush this outline, you get a less detailed story and I don't get a chance to plant things into the story to manifest later. While some of you have noted concern over some major questions and plot lines ending in v0.12.1, there's plenty of other things I've planted that aren't answered yet. Some are pretty subtle. To effectively do that, I have to plan ahead a bit and hope the characters don't argue with me.

So expect a bit of a delay at first for v0.13. This is also another reason that I didn't drop as much of a cliffhanger this time. I wanted to give you guys a fucking break if the planning slowed me down.

So What Else Do I do during the Restructure?

So I have a few things on my list while I do my planning.  

1. One thing I've been working on over the weekend was some light studies and just trying to get deeper into the artwork. We all know that the visuals are one of the weaker points of the game but they've been gradually improving IMO. I'm currently working on another selfie for the series and I'm pretty pleased with how things are turning out. I've been watching more tutorials and with the new computer, I can do more testing and just experiment. To some degree, experimenting like this sometimes gives new ideas on what I can and can't do. Thus, this is a good time to test those things out so I can still pull those ideas into the story planning accordingly. So expect a new selfie pretty soon. The selfies are a good chance to practice these skills so who knows--I may do a couple since it's been awhile. 

2. On a suggestion from a past supporter, some have expressed interest in the "deleted scenes" from the game. These are pretty lame and nothing special (Quite a bit of poker content because I modified my original plan) but I'm considering opening up a new tier for access to that content. On a supplemental level, as of v012.1, there are now 2 animations in the game (No Spoilers please) and I have to modify these files for game coding. So for those of you like the larger game version so you can browse the CG pics, I'm considering adding the original .avi download of those videos in the new tier as well. So basically, I would just add a Patreon tier that gives access to some of the old unused scenes and the .avi download of all animations for the game. Some may ask why I don't just drag the original video file into the regular game directory--it's because it's too big. The .avi is around 700mb-1gig on average but when I covert them, it drops them down to less than 30 mb. Most people don't want to wait on the extra download time for something they won't use. If you have feedback, suggestions, or thoughts on this, let me know. You can also say you think it's a stupid idea. lol. I'm cool either way :)

3. Third on my list is to do some checking on the "crunch" program that Bossapplesauce uses to condense the game. He has been more than gracious in reducing my game at my request but it's something that I'd like to be able to do in-house so I need to do some checking on that. 

4. There's also some hints in v0.12 about the future direction of the game. This means I need to do more research on new areas for the game and start planning that process as well. I won't give much more detail on this for now. More to come later...

So basically, all of this takes time and I like to do some of this while I'm planning. It's what I've done in the past and it worked.

So You're Keeping the Patreon Charge Turned On?

I am just like I did last time. This is something that I take pretty damn serious, too. I don't like keeping the Patreon auto-bill turned on unless I feel like I'm working on things. That being said, this is the same dilemma I faced the last time. However, I feel that I'm still working actively on things--this is just prep work that has to happen every once in awhile to be able to put out the quality of the updates you've come to expect--while increasing the quality moving forward. I can't make the game better if I don't grow and sometimes that growth pulls  me away from the actual update process to educate myself before I sit back down at the writing table.

So basically, because I'm still actively working on the game, I will leave the Patreon active. For anyone who thinks that I'm being sneaky and doing this type of a post after the monthly charges, keep in mind that Patreon bills for the previous month. So basically, I'm telling you now because this will impact the rate of production for November. Also keep in mind, that I've done this before and still put out 12 updates in one year so in the long-run, I make it up. I respect my supporters too much to fuck around with your financial support. 

Summary

So I'm doing a second restructure that will pull me away from prioritizing writing v0.13. for probably somewhere around 2 weeks or so. I will develop an outline for at least the next 4 updates. While I'm working on that, I plan to do more research on using Daz, lighting, and plan to do some more education on how to do my own game crunching. I'll also be researching new packs that may include some much needed improvements on the game. Last, expect a new selfie to demonstrate what I've been up to lately in that learning process. Because I'm actively still working on the game, I'm leaving the Patreon turned on and active. This is just behind-the-scenes stuff that I usually do every 4-5 months or so to keep things focused.

If I get behind and feel like I'm not actively working up to par, I'll let you know and shut off the Patreon charges. If you have concerns about this, you can contact me privately or you can post publicly in the comments, too. I'm certainly open to addressing those concerns in front of everyone; I like transparency.

Please let me know if you have questions or if things need clarified. As always, y'all rock (just in case you forgot). 

-Aaryn