The New Year (Patreon)

Hi folks! I hope you've had as much relaxation over the holidays as I have. I've had a lot of time to think about Ravager, what I'm doing, and how I can do it better.

2020 is the year that I want to finish the game, and - thanks to you all - I now have the budget I need to make that possible. So how am I going to do that?

1. Press Forward

The last few months have been dedicated to building out the framework of Chapter 3 - getting our waifus, hordes, and plot elements into the game, and tying them all together.  Our writers will keep doing that, and we have a neat new system of peer editing that helps that process.

But it's not the only thing we'll be doing: I'll be dedicating my time to pushing the storyline forward, starting with the Chapter 3 conclusion in v2.3, and then onwards to Chapter 4. As more and more elements are fleshed out along the way, we can integrate them back in to the main quest line with extra options, cameos, and consequences. I'm working on a revised dev plan which will show how this works, and will share it with you as soon as it's done.

2. Commission More

We reached and smashed our highest goal for funding, thanks to your generosity. This is really really good for what we're trying to do. Sourcing content isn't easy in freelance; many artists have patchy availability, or can only run with us for so long. But that extra moolah allows me to be a bit smarter with it all.

First, I'm going to reach out to more artists, writers and voice actors, and run with them in parallel - this reduces the risk of stagnating if one can't produce for a while. Second, I've got a new agreement with Vira which will double our progress on our core character art. Lastly, I'm going to delegate some of the work in artist/writer management so that it doesn't weigh to heavily on my time, and it doesn't get held up during the pre-release crunch.

As we continue to grow, the extra money will let us do more and more things that were previously inconceivable - like animated backgrounds and scenes, costume changes, more incidental or action art, and other shiny things. I don't pull any money from Ravager, so every dollar we get is put to good use.

3. Release Often, Then Release Big

Looking back, release schedules have been the toughest thing for me - it's difficult to know when content will arrive in, playtesting a game with so many branching routes is a multiple-person job, and striking the right balance between frequency / size / stability is always tough. So I've been thinking about that, too, and I think I have an approach I like:

I will release patron builds every time I have added a significant chunk of content - aiming for about once a fortnight, but no less than once a month. Each of these will be relatively small, so you can safely skip a release or two if you would rather wait for a solid evening's content. Once a version is completed to my satisfaction, I'll release it publicly, and then follow up a stabilisation release to catch any east- err, bugs found by the internet's collective sleuths.

Hopefully this covers all our bases: frequent releases for those who like regular updates, lots of iteration to help me catch my silly mistakes, and the occasional big bad build for everyone to enjoy.

4. Rawr I'm A Dragon

That's it, I think! Thank you all for supporting my weird passion project - I'm really excited to have come this far, and I'm stoked for what the next year will bring. Catch me on Discord if you would like to chat, or you have ideas you'd like to share! I'll leave you with this special new year's animation by Amon Ra.