Defiant Explorer
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A small delay? Pretty please?
🕑 Added 2023-05-23 16:53:14 +0000 UTCBefore you throw heavy objects at me, please read what's below...
This vote is open until May 28, and I will take the results as a directive for action. Yes, there is still time until the end of the month, but just so you understand why I'm already nervous...
At this point in the draft of this update have 266 pages in Word. And it's not over yet. The scene I'm working on right now takes 80 pages of it. Yep. It's already written and I was translating it yesterday, hoping to somehow get it done in a day, but I'm such a wussy... translated "just" 40 pages of it. I'll finish the translation today. But... it's just a text, a draft. I need at least 2-3 days + testing to put it in the game, because... It's a large and variable scene, with a lot of characters at the same time. Thus, I will finish it tentatively on May 26-27.
What else is left undone?
1. Two lewd scenes. Yes, I left them for dessert. Another reason I don't want to release the update unfinished. Without those scenes, to those heavy objects flying at me, you, my patrons, may add a couple of sharp ones... And I'm so sucking at dodging things.
2. Another possible lewd scene, a short one. Sort of an unexpected and completely out-of-situation quickie. That's exactly why I want it. Although, if anything, I could do without it, sure...
3. Regular scene, but still with a bit lewdy context. As a continuation of one of the previous scenes, which... Well, strictly speaking, it's not necessary but very desirable. The moment in the story is favorable. I don't want to miss this opportunity. Especially with the character, more interaction with whom asked quite a lot of players.
4. Ending part. Something like a series of small scenes or interactions. That is the moment at which the update is best to be ended. Approximate volume of ~ medium to large. Cutting content there is highly undesirable.
Can it be done in a couple of days?
No. Only if I cut and skip. Like, bam-bam, and that's the end. To do it properly, I need a little more time. And I already set a deadline of May 31... That seemed like more than enough time, then. But some scenes came out much bigger than they were in my head. And now I'm nervous. Which doesn't help work at all. So I decided - you're sponsoring the development, literally making it possible. So it's up to you. A little democracy here looks... just right.
Comments
Tonibony
Oh, you can speak in numbers: "80 of 350 pages are translated" or "1 big and 3 small scenes were rewritten". Anyway, IMO people just need to know that you are (still) working on the game and (eventually) how is it going.
Defiant Explorer
Progress reports are possible in principle... But there is a problem. The Inner Empire is a story-driven game. Even its description is intentionally vague. So the moments like the first meeting with Iolanta and her sudden job offer in the troupe works. I mean, how do tell the progress of the work done, without spoilers? It's either to tell in detail about the plot twists and scenes that are done. Or write something very general, as I do now. But I'm not sure that this will be satisfactory and accepted as a progress report by everyone. It just might look, like: "Hey, guys, I did some scenes! But which ones, I won't tell you."
Tonibony
Hmm, removing the deadlines is a good suggestion (for future updates of course). A regular status report (what's been done and what's planned) can successfully replace them. Yes, making such a report is an additional overhead, but it can prove beneficial in other ways also.
DamnedFrog
I will say don't fix dead line. It will just add stress if you feel like you won't be able to reach it. Just explain why there will be a delay.
Defiant Explorer
Oh, man. I can't even release updates at the rate I want. Where else would I get the time to make non-critical improvements? Right now the main focus is content. And for the foreseeable future, too. More dialogue, more events, more characters, etc. But generally speaking, I saw one of the players process images from the game through some kind of AI. The result was... quite good (though a bit inaccurate in terms of lore). That is, you can very well do the same - manually replace the portraits of the protagonist with the ones you want by just copying them into the game folder ("portraits pc") with a replacement. To make everything look nice, it is highly preferable to take into account their dimensions, of course.
Fireball are invincible
Will the heroine's portrait be improved in the future?
Defiant Explorer
Thanks! But this time I can't blame external factors, only my internal ones. Of the 3 updates since the release of Chapter 1, this will be the biggest one. By comparison, the 1.2 update in the draft was 218 pages long. And the current one is already at those 266 and not even finished yet. I just hope you enjoy it.
jdanarchy
Please take your time. I’m a vet of long waits between updates from other developers lol 😂 whatever keeps you healthy and enjoying making the game of fine with me. You more than any other developer have reason to have delays.
