2022 Flow Update (Patreon)

It's been a long road for Dope's Lustful Adventures but I'm really happy with how the game is shaping up. The original(MV) version had some issues and needed a bit of direction, but the experience I got from that development cycle was fundamental for helping me get the game to where it is today. Ang again, despite the lack of support in the game, I'm really happy with the state of the game itself. But just where is that?

Story:

I think the overall narrative is going along smoother than before. The main story is better presented and it has better support from accompanying side stories. I plan to continue this path while introducing more characters and expanding the story. V0.04 will wrap up the prologue and will provide more detailed information than it previously did. V0.05 will continue with the main story, either through Emerald or Schala (maybe both if Schala's quest stuff wasn't part of what I originally lost). Finishing at least one of their quests, positively, will open up access to the Spirit Realm, which I never got around to in the original... Crazy. Their quests are only 2 of a series that you'll need to complete at least one of, positively, before a certain time; else you'll get the games... 3rd? game over. With this I'll also begin to implement the final core system in the game. The social system. This is going to be a huge part of the game and will primarily feature all the date sim type content. Dungeon crawling and trying to get laid, all while saving the world in the background; maybe. That's the backdrop of Dope's Lustful Adventures.

Combat:

Isn't in the game as of yet but that will change in v0.04. I've already started adding combat to the game and the dual/triple tech system is working like a mf charm. I am absurdly happy over this. I haven't added much yet, basically just got that setup working, but combat will be introduced more thoughtfully this time. There will be combat tutorials, very brief and basic, to go over combat mechanics. Honestly, most people won't need them. If you've played Chrono Trigger/Cross and/or any Final Fantasy, you'll do fine. But you have to do the tutorials all the same. One feature for the combat will be missing, primarily because it won't be time for it to appear, but it's the element system. It won't be as detailed as it was in Chrono Cross. There won't be an interchangeable element grid or anything like that, but magic attacks will all have specific elements and using them will add that element to the element field. If you get the field all one element, 3 elements like Chrono Cross, you can use a summon. Essentially it's a watered down version of the element system, but I'm cool with that because that's what I want. (On a side note, a Chrono Cross remaster is in the make! I'm hype for that!)

Other Mechanics:

The S.P.E.R.M system is working perfectly as are the other mechanics feeding into it. Outfits will change the values depending on what's worn. Weed has been added and smoking/vaping will also give buffs that change these values. But wait, there's more! Food as also been introduced and will also give buffs. Weed and food buffs stack on top of outfit gains. Various debuffs have also been introduced and will be applied after applicable buffs. Currently the buffs/debuffs are very basic but as the story progresses the range of these buffs/debuffs will expand. The only thing that's missing is support for my character log but I've talked with the plugin dev and they'd already planned on working in the feature I want. Outside of that, everything else major is in order and just needs to be setup/tweaked. I think. It is possible that I'm forgetting something...

Renders/PC:

I just ordered the last component, outside of the RTX 3090, for my PC. Once everything arrives I'll build it, swap in the 2080 into the new one, and move up the 1070 in the old one. I have no idea how fast this PC will render but I'm 1000% sure it'll be faster than what I've got now. Once I have a grasp on things I'll go about the task of rerendering everything for the game. Good stuff.

Patreon:

This might seem like a weird heading for one of the flow updates but it might just be the most important one for players. I Don't really want to say too much because no matter how I word it, I'm going to come off as complaining/bitching but here's where I'm at. The game has not gotten the support I'd have liked it to get, but I'll put that blame on myself. That being the case, I've recently secured private funding from IRL sources that have seen personally the work/dedication I've put into this game. Thanks to their support I've been able to continue development and invest in building a new rendering PC for the game. Originally, the main goal of the game was to make money. I wanted to make a quality product, sure, but I wanted to make a quality product so that I could make money. I know, I know, if money was all I cared about I should've went with Ren'py. I know. But money isn't all I care about, the goal was still to make an awesome RPG, just an awesome RPG that made awesome money. That, as of yet, has not panned out. It sucks but c'est la vie. 

Anyway, with funding secured, I don't really care so much about the money making aspect of the game so much as I do simply making a good game. With my focus purely on making a good game, not worried about support from Patreon, or wherever, I don't really feel the need to continually share the game. For years I all but begged the community to play the game and give me feedback on how to improve it. I basically got nothing outside of "Move to Ren'py". I did get a bit of troubleshooting feedback when people ran into bugs, but not much feedback on the game itself and very little support after the initial launch. Which is wild because the game, in its current state, is far better now than it was then at the same stage in development. But that's neither here nor there, point is, if people don't care about playing the game, I'm not going to worry about putting the game out there for them to play. 

That being the case, I've deleted all tiers. I only have 2 active pledges, each for a dollar, and if/when they cancel I'll block of all people from making new pledges. I would give them a refund and block everything now but I don't know how those two individuals feel about the game and I do genuinely appreciate that token dollar support. Even if it's only because they forgot they're spending that dollar, I appreciate it. I digress, after v0.04, which will be publicly available, there will be no more links made available; anywhere. I'll still be on Patreon, but for this moment in time, until I feel the game has progressed to a point where I want to make a public version available, consider my Patreon page to be a glorified development log. I'll post status updates, may even post renders, but the game itself will not me made available on a regular basis. I'll probably make a patron only release every 3 or 4 versions. Then maybe make that release public, every 3 or 4 patron releases. Why do it like this? Supply and demand. There is no demand, so what need do I have to supply?

Welp, that's the direction development is taking. Despite that last bit, I'm excited for what 2022 will bring for DLA! Stay blessed everybody and Happy New Years! May this year be your best year.  Cheers!