Development Blog #131
Added 2024-05-07 16:51:58 +0000 UTCHi, everyone.
As I was working on the re-writes I was thinking of what the best way forward is. And I decided I'll give myself till the end of the year to see if I can get back to a speed more similar to that at the beginning of the project. If not, I'll have to change the format of the game. One option is the traditional VN style, with displaying character avatars on a simple scene background for the most conversations, and full image sequences for the important events. The other is to have an image or two for the casual events, and full sequences for the important events. If we arrive at that point, I'll probably do a couple of demo versions to see which one works better. With the current format and the current style, I'll just get old before I finish the game. Let me know what you think.
My idea for working slowly on a side content didn't go exactly as planed. Instead of making an image now and then as a side distraction, I ended up making a full 100 images scene. I want to have one more before I share it, so that will happen some time after the update for the game is ready.
That's about it for now. Have fun and thanks for your support.
Comments
I agree in every way with Res Ipsa's very exhaustive commentary and I am not going to repeat the same thing as him. I will just point out what in my opinion must remain the basic concept of any game based on a novel; a concept which is also the same as that which governs the making of a film. As one of the best-known actors in my country said after the war to a young actor who was just starting out: "To make a good film, you need three things: first a good story, then a good story, and finally a good story" . On this point, the game currently follows this rule and as long as it is so and everything that revolves around it (graphics, animations, atmosphere, script, soundtracks, dialogues etc...) will contribute to making people adhere to the story, success should not be denied. Then and to finish, I will cite two proverbs which are also well known in my country. The first is: “the ‘best’ is the enemy of the ‘good’.” As for the second, it is: “hell is paved with good intentions”. To think about
Otto Rhino
2024-06-01 16:21:09 +0000 UTCThe quality of the details in the game is one of the features we like your game for and it should be the last to drop. What could be sacrificed easier it's numbers of storytelling scenes, less changes in locations - less time consumed, you could replace that by wording, either in dialogues or in Jess's thoughts. It would do much less harm to all your loyal followers than slowing down the progress.
Swen
2024-05-24 09:11:48 +0000 UTCThanks for the interesting feedback and suggestions. The work discipline is definitely an issue for me, no doubt about that. And I am trying to address it. On the question of cutting details, that's been very hard for me. Because I want to make the best product I can. And removing details like props, clothing and body fixes, will make the game worse. Regardless if people notice these details directly.
stoperArt
2024-05-23 18:58:06 +0000 UTCYou got my point exactly right.
Sinnemmx
2024-05-23 10:47:52 +0000 UTCJumping on this to point something out: "In it's first 13 months, JOHN received 6 releases." This is important. It shows that it's possible for Stoper to produce a high volume of high quality art. Art in later releases is sliiiightly better, but not by much. Certainly not enough to justify a 5x longer development cycle. I would even explain the increase in quality as being an improvement in skill and familiarity with the game world. Contra some other commenters, I don't think that "just make the updates high quality" is good advice. JOHN was _already_ almost identically high quality when it was releasing 5-6x per year, so it's not apparent to me that the slowdown is due to quality reasons.
Res Ipsa
2024-05-23 02:08:54 +0000 UTCI think that both of the options you suggest are worthwhile, if necessary. Before that, though, I would suggest what I think is an obvious, and better, third option: Instead of reducing the number of images, perhaps cut some of the extraneous fat in the development cycle. I don't know what motivates you to make the decisions you do, but it's worth asking some tough questions of yourself sometimes- frequently, in fact. Does Jessica need to be upgraded to the new Genesis model? Does hanging clothes in this closet justify an entire day's development time? In the case of the new model, I haven't seen anything that looks like an obvious upgrade, though perhaps there's a technical rationale. In the case of the closet, I really, genuinely, can't tell a difference in quality, or realism, between the two images. You note in that post that most people won't notice the difference, which begs the question; You know that you're several months out of a satisfactory development window, and you acknowledge that this is bad. You know that hanging new clothes in this closet took up a fairly large amount of dev time. So... why do it? At the very least, maybe it's worth asking, "This is inconsistent with my stated goals. So why am I doing it?" I've resisted commenting before, because I assumed you were protective of your quality of life, and, let's face it- very few people actually change as a result of criticism. But in the off chance that you're sincere, I have some thoughts. You have a job that permits a very high level of autonomy, and virtually no close supervision. The people who patronize you are closer than anyone else, and even they can't conclusively tell if you're bullshitting them. I think it's relatively hard for someone in your position to remained disciplined. I'm not calling you lazy here- at least not uniquely so. A lot of us, myself included, need much more structure than we have to stay productive. I'm a tolerably productive person at work, but only because I have a boss, and coworkers in front of whom I have to be at least apparently productive. On the weekends, I'm much lazier than I would like, and several of my years-long goals have stalled or crawled to completion. Not even shame has been particularly effective in getting me to obey my executive function. I don't like having a boss, and I don't like going to work, or having much structure, but there's no denying that it's helped me achieve things I'd be unlikely to otherwise. Constructively, I'd look into putting structure and accountability mechanisms in place around you. Maybe hiring a project manager, or a teammate that's willing to push back on you would be helpful, or streaming your work on a regular basis. Maybe reach out to Zetan, of Desert Stalker, Mr. Palmer, of A Perfect Marriage, or NLT, who did Treasure of Nadia- all productive developers who have managed to keep a tight release cycle, to see how they organize their work, or if they have any constructive criticism. Perhaps you could subcontract low-importance or interstitial background images out to another artist. I understand that a lot of these ideas might chafe, and I anticipate you not acting on them. You say of the closet, that "most people don't even notice, but I like having [it]." There's a truth in that. You do things this way because you like it, and in suggesting you change your process, I'm, in some sense, asking you to do things you won't like, or will like less. A lot of us would be willing to help, if we could (our Patreon money paid for a new PC!), but the bottleneck here is you, which is why the new PC didn't help, and which means that we _can't_ really help. If you insist on doing things a certain way- to satisfy a perfectionist impulse, fulfill a creative vision, or even just to avoid personal discomfort, we're beholden to the results of those decisions. If you genuinely prefer to do time-costly stuff like this, it's not 'wrong,' per se, but it is inconsistent with what you're saying about wanting to get updates out faster. If you want to return to 3-4 releases per year (or more), that's great, and I think you'll have our complete support! If you decide that you'd rather do one, or fewer, updates, that's disappointing, but I understand that, too. Ultimately, I'm a fan of your work, and I hope, for my sake, you can get back to the quality and consistency of a few years ago. Best wishes!
Res Ipsa
2024-05-23 02:00:45 +0000 UTCI think if the releases are few and far apart then the content has to be the equalizer. The art is amazing as is, trying to get it better is unnecessary and sounds like it is eating a lot of time. Make the content HOT it will all work out. It is NOT broken let just work on the story line make the content worth the wait!
Leowolf
2024-05-16 05:23:31 +0000 UTCi really like the work you're doing and honestly don't mind the wait. i just really enjoy the story, the characters, the details, and where it's all going. i wish it would happen sooner but i am not going anywhere.
MR
2024-05-16 02:45:19 +0000 UTC"unnecessary details such as clothes inside wardrobes or the corners of seams." to you! i think most of the people here who have stuck it out appreciate these details, in the same way that we prefer the immersive style over the typical VN. if you don't care about details, go ahead and give your money to a creator who is using the same 3 models and haircuts we've seen time and time again, doing another boring variation on "guy fucks his family." it truly sounds like you're the one out of ideas!!
MR
2024-05-16 02:42:49 +0000 UTCNo, I will release updates this year.
stoperArt
2024-05-13 19:53:48 +0000 UTCSo, this year nothing?
flOw
2024-05-13 14:07:05 +0000 UTCYou have the best AVN on the web. You can drop a little in quality and still be ahead of everyone else. We love your work.
Paul
2024-05-11 16:50:32 +0000 UTCDon't know exactly what the problem is or are. But I 100% get what you are saying. The renders amount have definitely increased over time because of complex animations (that's like last 3 updates). I think every update doesn't has to be complex. Set amount of images like u said would be humanely possible for frequency updates vs huge of renders each update at current pace. Lets say we get 3 update a year, I'm good with mix of sometimes simple update == less renders ( like an setup update for next events and of course make it spicy) and sometimes more complex update that may require more renders. Hopefully, everything can be back on track and fingers crossed this game doesn't get abandoned. All the best.
Anchor22
2024-05-08 21:15:40 +0000 UTCOn reflection, I would like you to pick up the pace. The phrase "Less artsy, more fartsy" comes to mind. If Jess gets any hotter, our screens will burst into flames.
Paul
2024-05-08 18:17:38 +0000 UTCSo I don't understand where the problem is. 7 months have passed, assuming the average of 1 image per day, now we would have 210 images. day 2 has 193 images; day 4 has 181 images; day 6 has 187 images; day 7 has 159 images. etc Is it possible that with 230/240 images it is possible to have a good update? What slows progress? the pose of the scene? Why didn't he slow it down before? You also get more powerful hardware.
Sinnemmx
2024-05-08 17:45:22 +0000 UTCI like the game how it is! Now we have two updates per year, which is unpleasant, but tolerable. If they become three, then I will be more than happy.
Jozef
2024-05-08 06:19:11 +0000 UTCI think details and immersion of the this game is why many people love it. I think making still images over dialogue like Japanese VN would kill the immersion part. Yeh less images for causal events would definitely save you time however, the issue currently is not the contents in the game but the frequency of updates. I think for now you should change how you dedicate time for the game vs side contents because it feels like side contents eating time away. Maybe have a set rewards for high tier like a 1/2 wallpaper a month or 1 exclusive animation instead of getting carried away. or complete focus on the game first to get back in track and then u can resume rewards after. Obv do a poll with high tier first, its your hustle. For me, I only switch to high tier to play the update,thats my no 1 priority. I think your current schedule is so crunched that its effecting everything and also our satisfaction with the content because of how long we have to wait. So, maybe trim your schedule and give game upmost priority.
Anchor22
2024-05-08 00:27:20 +0000 UTClol i thought the VN change would have been a good move for some time now. Obviously the game's best as is, but i don't think TOO much would be sacrificed with the change. In it's first 13 months, JOHN received 6 releases (including the initial one). That's a lot. Probably too much to be sustainable. I think whatever method gets to a reliable 3 updates a year would be fully acceptable. If a way to manage that without making any changes to the format is found, that'd be ideal. But If not, i would prefer a format change to get to that pace.
bos
2024-05-07 22:28:19 +0000 UTCI really like the game but it is going a little slow. Tough call. Do what you think best.
Paul
2024-05-07 20:00:58 +0000 UTCI understand. Thanks for your support to this point.
stoperArt
2024-05-07 19:39:07 +0000 UTCIt's no such beginning. I've said this before, I'll keep working on the game no matter what. Nor am I running out of ideas, quite the contrary. It's just that with the current speed these ideas are taking way too long. I don't see how the eventual changes will destroy the game. I already started using less images for the casual events, and I did not see anyone complaining. And I did not waste time on the updated figure. It was work in between making the images of the game. And it will come in handy sooner or later.
stoperArt
2024-05-07 18:46:11 +0000 UTCThats the limit. I cancelled my subscription. More than a year with excuses and no updates. I will come back if the are substantial updates to the game
JoshV1971
2024-05-07 18:32:48 +0000 UTCWell, so this is the beginning of the end? It was announced. Neither of the two proposed ideas is valid; both would destroy the game (not that it's in great shape right now) I've always thought that doing side jobs is useless, like making wallpapers for paying members, it's just a waste of time. members want the game, not wallpaper or random images. Concentrate on the game, forget about unnecessary details such as clothes inside wardrobes or the corners of seams. Is this your working style? change it! You wasted a lot of time changing Jessica's character into I don't know what, why? Are you running out of ideas? is there no more story? Get help, I remember sending you some suggestions for future events, maybe other users will have other good ideas. If you want to continue, make a commitment, otherwise we'll close immediately, there's no point in struggling to reach the end of the year. We already know how it will end. And I really write this with regret, also given the time dedicated to the traslate of the game.
Sinnemmx
2024-05-07 18:18:44 +0000 UTCI can wait.. i love how the game feels, and how much better it is then so many other games out there
TheSneaky
2024-05-07 16:57:12 +0000 UTCI think I'd personally rather wait longer and have the game stay as it is than have it quicker with those alternatives
Cloud Strife
2024-05-07 16:56:20 +0000 UTC
