Ack, Late Post! Update Schedule? - 7/27/20 (Patreon)

Since this is a rather important post, I'll be making this one open to the public- not just my patrons.

(15 days have come and gone, and for that I'm real sorry. I thought I had a couple more days before I would reach my 2 weeks goal. But enough of me feeling bad- here's some thoughts and updates. About, well, updates!)

One thing is pretty clear. In order to keep people's interest in this game, I will have to update at a more consistent schedule. Well, maybe not at a schedule, but certainly more often. It's been a few months since I put out the first versions of the game.

The way I'm going at things now, I'm doing this:

With each 2 days per route added, I update the game. The versions will essentially move down the line, with day 5 sfw becoming public, and patrons of various tiers getting access to day 5 nsfw and up to day 7. When I finish up to day 9 of all routes, the same thing will happen. What this means is that I essentially have to finish 10 different days per major update, which is a lot easier said than done. 

At my current pace, a single day can take upwards of 1000 lines (as was the case in Shen's day 7). This doesn't necessarily mean there's 1000 lines of dialogue, but it is a whole lot of typing. Shen's day 7 has about 9287 words in the script. If we assume that each day will be about this long (which can happen, and can also not happen), then to complete 10 different days, I have to write about 92870 words. For reference, google says that the average mystery novel is about 60,000 to 80,000 words. That said, perhaps Shen's day 7 is an outlier, and it's actually much less than that. For instance, Paul's day 7 has about 700 lines. evidently, this brings it to about 4666 words. If every day were closer to this, then that's 46,660 words per update. Which, well, it isn't, since I'm nearing that amount on Jorge's route already, and I'm not even done with it...

So in a sense, every update now is kinda like me releasing an entire novel.

Scary!

So if you're wondering why it's taking me a long time, think about how Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is about 76,900 words long.

Now, I don't think this model is going to continue. I'll have to switch it up to something more common. Instead of updating with 10 days all at once, instead I might update with 1 or 2 days to a certain route. This means that I wouldn't be writing an entire novel in between each and every update!

I think this would be best for everyone, and would help keep people more engaged and looking forward to what's coming next.

On the downside, having less time means that I might have to release it with even further unmade content. I'm pretty much entirely referring to the art, of course. I want to push content out at a more regular interval, but this may mean that I'll have to incorporate some more... "heavy-WIP" assets into the game. Meaning, I would probably wind up making some of the art myself. This would be entirely placeholder art and would be replaced by my artist when he gives me something to replace it with. This would incorporate sprites and mini-cgs (such as the ticket one in day 2), but would not include full CGs. I just don't have the time for those!

So, as you play through the next days I put out, keep in mind that I may later add a CG to a spot where there previously was not one. The version of the game that I put out is NOT the finished product by any stretch of the imagination. Until I say that the game is completed (which is a long ways off), keep in mind that it is very subject to change. Dialogue may be added, changed, or removed, even in early days. Same goes to art assets- backgrounds, sprites, and cgs may be added, changed, and removed.

Oh, if you're wondering how many words are in the entire project so far, it's more than 206,579 words. For reference, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is about 190,000 words. And this is just the script- it doesn't include gallery or menus or stuff like that. When I had my writing commissions open, it was $10 for 1000 words. This means that this project so far is worth more than $2000 in just writing alone... and it is far from over.

I'll be thinking about the best time to start releasing the day's I've already finished, so stay tuned!