Developer's Journal #1 (Patreon)

At the time I write this, I have no patrons and I'm basically talking to myself.  Leaving DNA was released on [that one site] about two-and-a-half days ago, Itch last night, and now the Patreon page has been active for a couple of hours.  So this is the beginning.

Up until about September of last year I had never heard of a visual novel, let alone played one.  But I happened across a couple of them and then starting looking for more.  Eventually that led me to [that one site] where there is a strong support base for indie developers of adult visual novels.  I was amazed at how impactful the medium of the visual novel could be in telling an immersive story.  In my free time I had been working on a story that I eventually wanted to turn into a novel, but it was more of a pipe dream given how difficult it is to become a published novelist.  But in the AVN community I saw a mechanism for delivering a story to an audience that was actually waiting to hear it.

A new story idea started forming in my head, one which specifically could be told for this new community of mine.  At first I thought this was just another pipe dream because I had zero artistic talent and zero programming experience.  But I wanted to tell my own story so bad that I started doing my research into Daz3D and Ren'py and I decided it might actually be possible.

At the time my computers were a laptop I bought in 2012 and a Surface Pro 4.  Neither one was capable of handling a Daz render.  So I took a huge risk and leap of faith and just before Christmas invested in a desktop with a 3080ti graphics card.  I started following tutorials and slowly became base level competent with Daz.  Then I started learning Ren'py.  Learning these two programs, along with the basics of Photoshop which I had never touched, required hundreds of hours of work and study.  I work a demanding full-time job so I learned these new skills by staying up late every single night and giving up my entire weekends.

Meanwhile, I was continuing to build my story idea.  Two love interests turned into four.  New dimensions to the characters evolved from the situations they encountered.  The deeper I got into the story the more high-drama moments just seemed to happen naturally.

And I became cognizant of just how important it was to tell the story correctly.  Lewd scenes which were just there for the sake of having  a lewd scene were removed as my respect for the characters and the story grew.  I considered the effect the plot could have on players who had become invested in the characters.  I recognized how important it was to correctly handle elements of the story which would be very sensitive for some players.

The end result of all of this is Leaving DNA.  This game will not be for everyone.  It has moments of darkness which hardly fit the normal template of an adult visual novel.  I predict that some players will be disappointed by the direction of the game at times and abandon it.  And I will be sad when that happens because this is no longer just my story--it is a story that is shared by anyone who plays the game.

For the players that stick around until the end, I hope that you come to love the characters as I do and that you find the game's themes both thought-provoking and inspiring.

More than anything, though, I hope when the final credits roll on Part 8, you say to yourself, simply, "Huh, that was a good game."

--The Impious Monk

PS - Hey, got my first Patron while I was writing this.  Hello, Jill Valentine!