Defiant Explorer
patreon
The last month before the update.
🕑 Added 2025-04-29 09:37:47 +0000 UTCYes, it's May. If you need a more specific date, let's say between May 31 and June 7. Provided, of course, that everything will be okay during that time.
Meanwhile.
The draft conversion into the playable part of the game is 2/3 complete. Well, not quite yet, but it's a matter of days, not weeks, so let's simplify it to a clear 2/3 done, without any unnecessary blah blah blah.
One of the lewd scenes was removed. Long story short, when it came time to integrate it into the game, it seemed superfluous to me. Just plain unnecessary. Especially since there's more than plenty of those goodies in the next update anyway. As a result, the draft was reduced from 940 pages to 890 (including some natural text reduction during translation into English), which is still quite a lot, if you ask me.
Split tongues.
The unusually large size of the update and, accordingly, the time it took to develop it, had a predictable effect. Here and there, a certain type of person began to appear. Unsurprisingly, they weren't among the patrons, but on pirate sites:
“I'm deleting my saves and consider the game dead!”
Oh no, bro! Don't kill your saves! Think of their children! They'll be raised by restarts! You don't want that!
“No news, the game is dead, the author hasn't said a word in months, I'm losing faith!”
Be strong in your faith, brother! Even when I was silent for months - no! - for years! And here I don't write anything at all and don't inform anyone about anything. You also don't read this. Nope. It's a mirage, it just doesn't exist. You don't exist either. Nothing exists, and everything is futile!
“Longer than a pregnancy!”
Oh, that's the top of the month. Measuring in pregnancies. I suggest making this a new trend for all other games. How many pregnancies did it take to develop this or that game? Huh? Huh?! Do you get it? Now we measure games in pregnancies! It'll be epic.
Oh… Either way, I suspect that the number of panic-mongers will only increase this month. You know, partly I'm flattered. But partly... oh, dear.
Holding the line.
These are patrons. Thank you. This wait, which is coming to an end, has been long, but nothing lasts forever. And despite the fact that the numbers have naturally declined, most of you are still holding the line, financing the development of this game not only for yourselves, but for everyone else as well. It is only thanks to you that this story continues.
About all that tester's thing.
There won't be any. After thinking it through, I decided that it wasn't the best idea. There's the impossibility of preventing leaks, and my unwillingness to exploit other people's enthusiasm as free labor, oh, and a lot of other things, really. I'll manage on my own.
However, one of my patrons has been granted the right to preview the finished parts of the updates. At his request. And without any obligations. Will there be feedback and bug reports? Good. No? That's fine too. This is a privilege, not an obligation.
I am deliberately not naming this person because... Well, the internet is a big place, and there are all kinds of people out there. I don't want some lunatic to start harassing him with demands to leak the game or spoil future episodes.
In the future, if everything goes well, I plan to expand this list to a few people, 3-4 at most. But first, I want to make sure it doesn't backfire in some unexpected way.
Hey, but I want this too!
Well, if there are any, of course. If everything goes well, I will contact you here on Patreon via private message.
Two main criteria:
1. Be a patron. And for a long time, at least 6 months or more. The tier doesn't matter. What matters is the fact that you are one of those who hold the line. That speaks for itself.
2. Feedback. Lots of feedback. And by that, I don't mean flattering comments. No, of course I'm a pathetic human being and my heart melts from your praise... But by feedback, I mean meaningful, interesting, attentive to detail comments that are useful to me as a developer. Because I don't just read them, I often integrate the answers into the game itself in a creative way.
Just to be clear:
Both criteria must be met by the same person.
I will contact you myself and offer you the privilege of playing the playable part of updates before they are released to the public.
This applies to all updates, not just specific ones.
This person is not obligated to do anything if they don't want to (feedback, bug hunting, etc.). But I would appreciate at least some comments. Especially since it's much easier to make changes to an episode while it's being worked on than after it's been released.
This person must not leak these versions or spoil the story for other players. Otherwise, the privilege will be revoked. And yes, I will know exactly who leaked it if there is more than one person. It's not difficult to do.
But for now, let's start with one person. This is a test, so to speak. To see if anything goes wrong. Because if something goes wrong, I will cancel this practice altogether.
Conclusion.
The biggest of them all. Even bigger than the entire first chapter. The most lewd of them all. And also the most I-can't-say-what update, coming in about a month.
P.S. Make a save with the virgin Selene before the next episode. Just do it ;)
Comments
Lonely Wolf
[Quote]: < ......now excitedly like a playful hunting Pitchy wiggling my cat butt ready to pounce. > [^-🤣🤣🤣-^] All right, hi to you, dear @Gript!!! It's been a while since you've been here, and frankly, I must say that I've seriously missed your legendary enthusiasm!-👍-! So, to celebrate this event {🥳}, here's a little dedication (uniquely for you, bro; enjoy it well!) from this cute rascal, who's patiently waiting for the return of his mistress near him: |---> https://i.postimg.cc/QxYkRT4X/IMG-20250608-315.jpg
Gript
D.E. , my greatest respects and congratulations! I am unabashedly here to share amazingly deserved compliments. ໒(⊙ᴗ⊙)७✎▤ ٩(◕‿◕)۶ I am so excited for the new update; to enjoy interacting through this impressively Chapter-sized gift you have poured your soul into. Your creation is filled to the brim with life ... similar to a fun-loving Selene actually! The artful world you have chiseled into existence radiates a symphony of endorphins and serotonin! I have been happily awaiting it relaxedly in the background, now excitedly like a playful hunting Pitchy wiggling my cat butt ready to pounce. （ΦωΦ）…ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ Thank you once again for the laughs you always end up giving me. Continually Cheering you on and sending wishes for your best of health, Gript （。ˇ ⊖ˇ）♡
Aerowarrier
Woohooooo
Defiant Explorer
I'm not so much offended by all the nonsense that some people write as I am... Well, I'm not from a rich country that's going through not the best of times. Developing Inner Empire is not something you can do as a hobby. It requires full-time commitment. And a little more, considering that I work solo. So the game's revenue should at least cover my basic expenses. Not to mention that two other people depend on me. So all these insinuations like “blah blah blah, the game will be abandoned,” “the end is near,” etc. All of this, of course, affects the game's revenue. And if it falls below $300/month, I'll start having problems. Well, or bigger problems than I have now. That means I'll have to find a “real job.” And that means game development will become a hobby. And that means it will really be abandoned. Because it's too big a project to be just a hobby. In the end, those “smart guys,” trying to spur me on with all these negative comments, are actually increasing the chances that this story will remain unfinished. That's largely why I react so strongly to all this toxic BS. If the revenue were 2-3 times higher, I would probably just laugh it off.
Lonely Wolf
By the way, D.E., this dark "split tongue" business was unfortunately indeed predictable, and I'll add that it's just as likely to fall on the heads of other developers as well, thenceforward that, their updates take longer to complete than "usual". It's certainly a bit sad, but that's the way it is nowadays, and personally, I must say that all these negative comments have seriously irritated me!+! So, I can't even imagine what you must have felt reading all this inconstructive BIG SHITS. Besides, I've volontary refrained as much as possible from responding to these critics; especially in recent months on @mopoga, (in passing: respect to the good fellow @Oni, and some others over there, who were able to respond in an intelligent and respectful way) but yeah, I finally cracked on @f95 by responding to this other oddball (an eminent writer specializing in creative criticisms, right?! Uh... Whatever, I guess...?). Brief, I think nonetheless that I'll refrain in the future, as I've seen enough to know that you're perfectly capable of standing up with these craps by yourself!-👍-!
