Yearly report, future plans, important announcement❗ (Patreon)

 Hey everyone!

Now that I have a little bit of time, I can finally make a yearly report and give you some information about the future of this patreon and rinmarugames.com. ⭐

This concerns both the patrons and non-patrons and frequent visitors of rinmarugames.

It's going to be very long and detailed, so I separated it in subjects. If you only care about one certain subject, you can skip to that part and leave out the rest.

Here is what I'm going to talk about:

What was my plans for this year? What worked? What failed? What's going to change? How will this affect you?

I also answered some of the very frequently asked questions at the FAQ section at the end of this post, so if you have questions, please check it out.

If you exclusively care only about dress up games / avatar creators / manga creators etc, just read the first part of this post and skip the rest as this will be mostly about story games and the like.

-DRESS UP GAMES: Annauncement-

Starting from January 2020, I will NOT be making any new avatar creators / dress up games / manga creators on anywhere. Including Patreon. ⛔

I will not be updating, altering, adding, changing ANY existing creator games (Including and not limited to avatar creators, manga creators, couple creators etc). I will not be releasing any new creator games including Pichi's exclusive dress up games here.

(I will be changing the palpaca tier benefits come new year.)

I will make a master post of all patreon exclusive dress up games to keep them in one place, and delete the individual posts, so it will be easier for everyone to reach them. The games won't be deleted. Just the posts.

I'm not sure what I will be doing to the games currently hosted on the rinmarugames. I'm also not sure whether or not I will port them into desktop format before/after Flash dies. So, I'm really sorry I don't have the answer to those questions right now.  🙏 

What I know for sure is that, I will not make any new creator games. So, if you are a patron only for dress up game benefits, I strongly recommend unsubscribing at the end of this month. (So you can still download the last creator game I'll release this month.) 😭

I know it sounds a little too "final" but that decision was a very well thought and long time coming one. 

I will explain the reasons below for those who care. 

For those who don't, I completely understand the frustration, but please try to keep it out of the comment section or my personal emails/messages. There are many amazing websites which host dress up games and creators, give your precious time into finding them. They deserve it. 😭 🙏 

Now that the dreadful announcement is gone: Here is the yearly report  ⭐ 

What was my plans for this year?

This year, I mostly focused on keeping rinmarugames.com alive, as it has been my main source of income for over 10 years.

As you may know, because Adobe Flash was dying and I can no longer host dress up games there anymore, I wanted to change the focus of rinmarugames into online story games and release at least one or two completely finished stories by the end of the year.

One of the games (Oathbreaker) was a great success and it earned enough views to sustain it on rinmarugames despite the enormous amount of technical difficulties it had.

Technically, it was a success.

BUT although it was possible to sustain it on rinmarugames economically, it was not sustainable for me. Physically and mentally.

During the course of one year, I slept only about 4 hours a day. Very often had all nighters. Worked around 12 hours a day, every day, no weekends. I took breaks only after chapter releases and I worked on mini games or dress up games on my breaks. I overworked and it was VERY unhealthy. 

I sort of pushed my limits knowing it was going to be only for one year, just to see if I could make it all work.

But I can't.

I was too busy trying to save something I should have let go a long time ago, I think I played it too safe and almost hurt my health in the process.

I took on burdens I reaaaally didn't need to. I thought working non-stop was going to save rinmarugames alone.But maybe, I wasn't supposed to save it at all. (DUN DUN DUN!!!)

So, what really worked?

1- Patreon!

If there is one thing that has been a beacon of hope this year, it's all the PatronPacas and Patreon itself. 💕

You made every single game I released this year possible, including the Ascension:Remake I'm currently working on.

You are not "helping" or simply "supporting", you are literally making all of this possible.

I actually made you a small video for the patrons day on November 19th, but I looked like a train wreck and I couldn't speak properly, so I deleted it. :(

But I'm SO SO SO grateful for everything. 💕💕💕

And I'm really hoping the things I'm planning will be enough to show you my appreciation.

2- Sex!

No, seriously. NSFW content and Patreon alone saved my life this year. 

Steamy scenes were such a big hit (Who knew!), I'm almost sorry I didn't include them in my previous games. 🔥

They are very very fun to make, and actually give the characters a really good amount of depth for those who are into steamy stuff. 

Sharing small extra dialogues, their intimate jokes, secrets etc. These are all extra content for me to polish the characters and have a place where I can add some more extra info about their pasts.

Not to mention, they really push me to work on my romance writing skills. 

(I'm still really bad at sexy writing, though. I keep writing people sassing eachother while doing the dirty.)

3- Animation and Live2D!

At first we had a few people who had trouble getting used to the characters bobbing their heads around, but for most it was a huge plus. Animated CGs, animated characters made even my shitty artwork look better. 😜

Learning to use Live2D was one of the best things I did this year.

4- Teasing Mini games!

With the wonderful artwork of PrinceOfRedroses and the power of Live2D, slapping, kissing, tickling and doing more... uh... steamy things to your favorite story game characters was one of the things that saved this year too. Bless waifu teasing games for giving me the idea. 🔥

5- Ascension!

Ascension really made things difficult for me a few years ago, but right now it is one of the things that excite me the most. 

Not only by making a lot of patronpacas happy, but also giving me ideas and a platform to use a different engine and make a more... game game? Game...

And what didn't work?

1- Dress up games.

This has been a huge dilemma for me. Although I've been wanting to retire from dress up games for a long while now, I was never really brave enough to quit completely. Like I mentioned previously, from 18 to 30, I had rinmarugames with me. I didn't think I could expand and move on to different types of games easily. 

Even after Ascension, I tried to change genres but I always wanted to keep rinmarugames as a back up plan and I think it may have been pulling me down. By playing it too safe?

I didn't make any big changes, or take big steps forward, because I was scared of the unknown.

This year, while I was working so hard to change focus of my website, I realised trying to hold on to dress up games was actually pretty fruitless now.

I was almost doing them out of habit. Not necessity.

While I was trying to desperately hold on to safety, I was wasting my time.I'm not saying this with a light heart. Wasting time for nothing when you sleep only 4 hours a day every day is a bit... eh.

The thing is, most people who signed up here for just dress up games are not satisfied at all. Either the games are not working on their computer, too large in MB, too little content, or something else. (Most people, not all of course!)

The amount of technical help requests, the complaints, the amount of time given and the cost of their development makes the whole thing VERY meaningless to pursue right now.

Not to mention my patreon being +18 is very contradictory to the dress up game audience.

So combine that with my lack of interest in making these types of games, I think it's just the right time to let it gooo. LET IT GOOO! ❄️

2- Online games.

Don't get me wrong, story games are the way I'm going to go from now on. But making them online is not working out anymore. 🚫

Save function problems, constantly freezing load scenes, advertisements, internet connection problems, browser updates, website costs, hosting issues, audio issues... There are countless problems to deal with.

The only reason why I wanted to make online games was to keep rinmarugames.com alive somehow, but with the way I'm trying to go, it seems to be pointless.

Patreon exclusive mini teasing games will always be online, but it's time I start taking things more seriously when it comes to my interactive story games. 😎

3- Test games.

This is like the fourth time I'm making the same mistake. This happens when you are an idiot like me. You make the same mistakes over and over again, hoping for a different outcome.

I enjoy learning about new engines, technology etc. And when I do that, I want to test things out immediately. And then I get excited too quickly and want to share it with everyone.

The first one was Ascension. It worked out fine and I finished that one, but you know how it ended. (Plot holes, shitty endings etc.)

Then Ascension:ETD...

Then, Calling Cipher...

And then Noctis Umbra...

I was so excited about using Live2D and VN maker for the first time, I didn't write a proper plot and just made a pilot game thinking "if it works, I'll do a better one."

It did work, but people actually enjoyed Noctis Umbra itself... I wish I wrote a better plot, better characters before I jumped into it, but I didn't and I paid for it. 🤪

I did try to fix things with Rupture, but it was either too late or I fucked up things in even a bigger way.

And that's how Noctis Umbra became the BIGGEST failure of this year.

Don't do what I do, test your tests secretly.

4- Jack of all trades, master of none.

This was mostly out of necessity, but I handled everything in the games I worked on this year. I did the artwork, I wrote them, I programmed them.

Which is why they became really really mediocre in my opinion.

I'm not saying they are particularly bad, but they could be way better if I worked with other people.

I think maybe, it's the "this is just a test mentality" that's been holding me back from taking the necessary steps.

Like a running mill. I'm running, but at the end of the day I'm still in the same place.

Learned a lot, of course. The experience is never useless.

But, regreful. I feel like I'm wasting good potential. Also, I'm dead tired. While doing the last romance/nsfw scenes, I cried a few times out of exhaustion.

This is not working. Not at all...

So, what's going to change?

Now, the fun part. 🤩If you are here for the story game content, then get ready for the good stuff.

1- I will make the next games downloadable. Naturally more content, more interactivity, more everything is expected. No save issues, no connection problems. Just download and play offline.

(This also means, goodbye to tiny resolution, Yay to full screen!)⭐

2- I will commission actual artists for the artwork of the games. Ascension, Season 2 of Oathbreaker and all future games.

3- The games will be free to download and play, but Patrons will always have patreon exclusive content (Nsfw scenes), access to the games and their updates months earlier, and access to patreon exclusive love interests, outfits, quests etc.

(That includes Ascension. The SFW version will be free to play a few months after the Patreon early access. Minus Diego romance. I'm making that one a Patreon exclusive too.)⭐

Patreon is my main income right now, so please understand the necessity of these extra features. Because without my patrons, I won't be able to make games at all. This is a huge risk I'm taking, but I feel like I'll be stuck in the same place forever if I don't start taking risks. I want to improve and make better games. Ones with properly working save systems...⭐

4- Games will generally be more mature. Darker themes, darker more complex nature of characters and love interests. Since I don't have to worry about advertisement anymore, I can make things a bit more "my age" appropriate. It's time we put this +18 Patreon to good use other than just steamy stuff. 

5- Eventual translation and maybe even voice acting.

6- Palpaca tier will be changed and altered properly.

7- The artwork will be handled by other people and it means, I can work a lot faster. Much more content every update or updates more often.

Last year, I achieved none of my goals but I learned shit tons of stuff. I made lots of mistakes. 

I also made Oathbreaker, which I'm planning to make my main lore for the next couple of years.

This year, hopefully I'll work a little bit less but way more effective. Something sustainable, so I can keep making games without dying.

How will this affect you?

For patrons, apart from the death of dress up games and the story games being downloadable, there won't be any more major changes in tiers.

I will keep making teasing games, share scrapped scripts, sketches, CGs etc.

There will be more alpha downloads for the coolpaca tiers, since all of the games are going to be downloadable.

Noctis Umbra will probably be taken down from rinmarugames and will be on Patreon as a scrapped game.

I think with more free time, I can think of cooler/more fun benefits in the future. If I can just rest for a little while, my head will start working again I promise. ⭐

For rinmarugames, I'm still figuring things out. But I won't be changing the layout or make it a story game website after all. Although it kind of worked, I would be forced to make small budget games for the rest of my life. Commissioning really good artists for a game with HUGE technical problems doesn't make much sense to me. I will eventually find a use for it, but I really have no idea right now.

I hope this was not super confusing. I wrote this really really late, because I have to go back to work on finishing OB in the morning. ❤️

I wished to give you a clear plan for the future, so you know where this is going.

I enjoy sharing what I learn with you, so maybe if some of you are interested in making content, you can learn from my mistakes. (Divines know I make a lot of them. 😜)

I know all of this may sound a bit bitter, but I'm pretty hopeful for the future. (Despite my exhaustion, I'm really EXCITED!) I don't want to be scared of moving forward anymore. 

This is going to be a fresh start I needed for a long time.

Sometimes difficult endings are necessary to make way for new beginnings! 🔥

Now I'm going back to work on OB finale.

Big changes are on the way, so better not waste much time.

Thank you always and sorry for the long info post!

See you soon. 

😘

-FAQ-

Q- Are you going to be releasing more free to play dress up games on rinmarugames?

A- I am not going to be releasing any kind of new creator games (Avatar creators, dress up games, manga creators, couple creators etc.) on anywhere. ❌

Q- What will happen to the existing creator games on rinmarugames when flash dies?

A- I have no idea. We will see. Hopefully, we have until the end of 2020. :) ❓

Q- Will you be porting your existing creator games to desktop applications or html5 format?

A- Not a plan anymore. I've come to notice, it's a waste of time. I'm really sorry. I have 0 time to waste on them anymore. :( ❌

Q- What will happen to the Patreon exclusive dress up games?

A- Nothing. I will make a master post with all of the previous patreon exclusive dress up games and delete the individual posts. You can still download them any time. ✔️

Q- Will you finish the patreon exclusive Ultimate Avatar Creator?

A- At the moment, I don't know and I don't think so. If anything changes, I will make a public announcement. ❌

Q- Can I download the games on your website?

A- Sure. Go ahead. ✔️

Q- Will Pichichama be making dress up games?

A- Not for me. ❌

Q- What will happen to rinmarugames?

A- At the moment, I have no idea. I'm sorry! ❓

Q- Can I use the pictures I take with your creator games in non-commercial projects?

A- Yes, but please do credit the artists of the games if the artist is not me.If it's mine, you can use it without credit. ✔

️Q- Can I use the pictures I take with your creator games in my commercial project?

A- Please ask the artist of the artwork. If the artwork is mine, then yes. You can. ✔

️Q- Save function doesn't work.

A- The games are bugging like crazy due to flash dying. I won't update/upgrade or fix any problems regarding the dress up games.  ❌ 

Q- Can I give you a suggestion regarding dress up games, website maintenance or adobe flash?

A- No. My decision is well thought and final, but I do appreciate the well intention. Thank you so much. ❌

Q- Your downloadable dress up games are not working on my computer.

A- Most Macs won't run the games because of security reasons. Please read the read me files in the zip/rar folders. ❓

Q- Why are you putting your dress up games behind a paywall? I don't want to pay.

A- I am no longer making dress up games. Exclusive or free. ❌

Q- But I loved your dress up games!

A- Thank you so much, but I reaaaaaally want to move on! 💗

Try meiker.io, dolldivine, kawaiigames, missangest, dressupgames, picrew, and probably a bunch more I forgot to mention! Lovely ladies with awesome games.