New Concepts Poll (Patreon)

Hey, everybody! It's time for one of the important developments for 2019, so please take a moment to read and vote in the poll!

Introduction

Since half of my development time recently opened up and I have finished my initial objectives for novels, I am considering starting a new game project. To that end, I'm making this poll to get a sense for everyone's interests.

Now, I understand that some of you would prefer me to put double the normal time into TLS, but I'm afraid that wouldn't work well. Not only would it lead to an exhausting pace of releases, I would burn out. Shifting between two different projects has worked well to keep my creativity flowing in the past, so I think it is a good balance. Having said that, I included the final option in the poll if you object to the idea of starting a second project. It is not a foregone conclusion that I'll take this path at all, so please give your honest opinion.

Anyway, the reason this is all happening is because I have an offer for a collaboration from Redd. If you don't remember Redd, they drew Crimson Gray, most of Desecration of Wings, and some TLS fanart:
https://i.imgur.com/n662ABQ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/9A1PsWL.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/w05n0J9.jpg

I have enjoyed working with Redd in the past, and while no working relationship is perfect, doing a collaboration together would sidestep most issues in this case. Redd is in high demand and their commission rates increase steadily, so when I received this offer I took it very seriously.

Financially, it would probably make the most sense for me to focus on writing more novels instead of starting another game project. However, I hope I've made it clear that money is not the most important factor in my decisions. I think this is a potentially fun opportunity, so if you guys are generally open to the idea, I'd like to explore it.

However, one huge decision remains: what project to start with (if we go forward). Redd and I talked about this, and their preference was that I make a broad poll with many options to see how people would react. There's no guarantee we'd pick the top voted one, but they felt it was an important step since we support ourselves with our work and this is not just a creative decision. I also wanted to give all of you a chance to provide input or voice objections if you don't like this direction.

Having said all that, I will now make an effort to explain a wide variety of potential ideas. They have various stages of complexity and levels of development, plus some are easier to describe that others. Whatever is chosen, I'd create it to the best of my ability, so please just vote for the idea(s) that you think are most interesting to you. If you want to object or choose the "meh" option, that is useful information too!

Potential Projects (all titles WIP)

TLS Spinoff: I know many people would want Redd's art for TLS, and I'd like to see that too, but unfortunately Redd can't commit to joining the TLS Patreon for multiple reasons. I also feel that patrons would be justified in objecting to TLS content being split into two locations. Having said that, I know TLS is first in many people's hearts and I would love to do more with it, so I wanted to include this option first. The spirit of this option is clear, the implementation is not. (RPG?)

Crimson Gray 2: The first true sequel would pick up with Lizzie and John as adults and be substantially larger than the original or Dusk and Dawn. Instead of just focusing on the two of them, we'd have multiple other characters (including another yandere) and see them facing a wider variety of issues in adulthood. I have some ideas I really love for this couple, like their kids who inherit Lizzie's condition, and this would be one way that their story could be continued. (VN)

Menage a Zombie: This one can be summarized as "Sex Zombie Apocalypse" - a zombie apocalypse happens where the zombies try to have sex with people. The main character's wife gets infected, but she retains her intelligence in zombie form. By having sex with her husband, she regains her ability to speak, restores her body, and evolves into stronger zombie types. They team up to adventure into the post-apocalypse, meeting other surviving humans and intelligent zombies. This is one of my old favorite concepts that's never found a home, sadly. (RPG or VN)

Family Squared: It starts off seeming like the stereotypical game where a dude bangs his "step-family", then it turns into a batshit insane story involving alternate dimensions. Imagine the guy's sister acting seductive in private and cold in public... then both versions appear in the same scene, annihilate one another, and reset time. =D This one would be taking a huge risk of Patreon disapproving, but Redd wanted me to include it in the poll. (VN)

Monster House: You're a guy trapped in a house with a bunch of monsters/ghosts that want to kill and/or bang you. Over the course of multiple days you have to manage stamina and sanity meters while trying to find a way out. Though you can escape alone, you can also unravel the mystery of who the monsters/ghosts are and what happened in the house, potentially getting together with one of them. (VN-style, but not really)

Hoarding Princesses: One of my newer ideas, a management/VN hybrid in which you play as a dragon with an urge to hoard not gold, but princesses. Working with your old friend, a shepherdess who hatched your egg as a child, you can terrorize the countryside, fight knights, and obtain princesses. Though the tone would be serious politics, expect quite a few princesses who would have their reasons to go willingly with a dragon. Gameplay would be resource management, but don't expect a trainer-style game where you spam collecting money - imagine something more like Sengoku Rance, each turn being valuable as the political situation shifts around you. (VN with heavy gameplay)

Super Happy Fun Time Waifu Simulator: You bump into a girl on your way to school and receive two choices: help her or ignore her. If you help her, you instantly enter a love route and end up getting together. If you ignore her, you bump into a different girl and get together with her. When you reload, there's a third option: "Run screaming in terror." From there it just gets weirder as you try to go about your day without getting a Happy End with anyone. (VN, weird)

Monstropolis: This is one that has shown up several times before, even once as a VN proof of concept. The idea is that a fantasy world with monster girls has gone on developing into the modern day, where adventuring has become archaic. It's a story about the relationships between a cast of diverse monster girls and a man built for a previous era. I like a ton about this project, but what's held it back is that my concept is more of a straightforward story, not something with a lot of gameplay. (KN)

You can vote for as many options as you want in the poll, so please do so! There's no end date, but I hope to have a general sense of everyone's opinions after this weekend. Questions and discussion in the comments are also welcome.