December 2023 - Monthly Renders (Patreon)

Good evening Citizens,

I recently realized that the recent update's "holiday" scene barely has any "holiday" themes at all. Next time, I'll make it more festive, maybe. I think, right now, I'm just not really feeling the holiday spirit because family kind of sucks and I've just usually feel down around this time of year.

My classes ended last week, and I did pretty well, especially considering there was a chance I could fail a class. Classes start again early next month, so I am worried that it may affect my time spent working on SL. That's why I really, really want to get as much work as possible done now so that I can have a release for January. Sorry if that isn't what you signed up for, but there is a possibility that we might not have monthly releases like usual. I sacrificed a lot of my personal life in order to work on SL... and now, I do feel like I need to get my life back on track.

That being said, 0.3.15 is coming along nicely. The story section definitely will not be as long as the previous update, and I'm definitely hoping we can add a beach scene for Altina. I also have some great ideas for Viera, which I might work on during or after Rita's arc. I think Rita's arc will be done within 2-3 updates. Her Scarlet Contract will probably come after this one (maybe?), but things can easily change.

Some plans for next year will be to try and combat the monotony of just grinding affection for scenes. I do want to experiment with code and try to spice things up a bit. I personally don't like mini-games in h-games but I do want to try some stuff in the future. To be honest, I hate experimenting with code sometimes because it's a lot of backend stuff that is time-consuming, especially when I try to set myself a deadline. We'll see what happens next. Also, in regards to characters we'll focus on next year... off the top of my head, I have ideas for:

• Ferry arc
• Viera (side scenes)
• Altina (side scenes)
• School
• Makoto (side scenes)

A question I get asked often is "when will SL end?" When I first started the project, it was a side gig that I expected would be over after I returned to work from COVID. But then, I quit my job because I was just addicted to SL. I had so much fun working on the project that I wanted to do it for a living. I expected the game to end within a year, but we're still rolling, thanks to you all. I think we're about 40-50% done with the game in terms of main story, but I think I'll need at least another year to work on the game.

I don't ever want people to believe that I'm "milking" you guys since there is now a possibility we won't have monthly updates, but I think the general consensus is that none of us want the game to end any time soon. This game is like my baby. The girls are like my children (that we see naked). I don't want to say goodbye to them just yet. It's kind of like playing an RPG and knowing that the game will end soon, so you end up going on a hiatus because you don't want it to be over. Maybe it's ridiculous to feel that way, but it's just my belief. I do expect the game to end eventually though. The ending and a lot of story content is already planned inside my head. Time, energy, and motivation are the key factors for when we can complete SL.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone for the success we've had with SL. Numbers have actually been worse than last year, but I won't stress over it as much as I used to (and trust me, it's not because of the lack of recent updates). I think part of being an indie dev or business owner is understanding that you won't always see the same numbers every month or year. It is a bit distressing when you feel that you aren't growing, which is definitely having an impact on my mental health and faith in the project, but like I said, I'm going to try my best to not worry. 

Anyway, I hope you all have an excellent holiday, and set your goals high for your New Year's Resolutions. Thank you all. I really do mean that. You guys have kept me sane with all of the positive energy throughout the year.

TL;DR

Have a great holiday!

Scarlet Law - Bonus Renders ($20+ Patrons)