0.11 Delay + Discussion about the project

Hey all,

Hope everyone is doing well.

Unfortunately I'm still lagging a week behind from the earlier delays in 0.10, and due to bugs and really giving some thought about this project, I've not been able to make that week up yet.

The new release date will be next Friday (6th) and I hope you all will enjoy it. Same as before, if you pledged as a Space Ranger this month, you will receive a message with a link to the build. And I'll also make a post so you know when you should have it.

Also just a reminder, that from November onwards, Space Pirates ($5) will gain access to the 0.12 build at the same time as Space Rangers. However only Space Rangers will have access to next months voting.

Discussion:

I guess I wanted to have a conversation with you all (sorry for the strange phrasing there :P) to give insight into my thoughts on the project, where we're going, and certain ideas or changes I want to make.

Dislikes:

Mechanics - or lack there of:

At the moment, at this point in time, I'm not super happy with the direction of the project. A lot of this comes down to the lack of game mechanics, which I really want to start focusing on. But everytime I do come up with an idea or system, it always feels like it doesn't quite fit,
or it doesn't work, or it simply falls short of being enjoyable and feels more like filler than actual game play.

I'm really open to ideas on what you guys would like to see! So please leave any suggestions or comments below or in the discord.

Current Mechanics:

I'm also very unhappy with some of the mechanics already in play, like the space exploration system. That needs to be ripped apart and started again. This is the main cause of slowdowns / freezes in the game, which I thought my earlier re-architecture would fix. Unfortunately it seems to be the bought assets which are unoptimized and cause these issues. (Mainly looking at the planets for this.) 

At some point expect some time out for a big overhaul of this. I may even move over to 2d assets, but I still want to keep the space exploration aspect, but it really also needs fleshing out.

At the moment, it sort of feels like the game is just a run of the mill VN, which I never wanted. And so I will be really focusing on making it something more enjoyable.

Progression - or lack there of:

So, it also feels like progression is quite slow? I was hoping to have moved to 2 progression per month to speed things up a bit. Unfortunately we aren't there yet with that level of support. One change coming however is a better balance of sex / progression. I want to add in more sex scenes per build (which will start with Lillith's level 2 progression). I'm hoping that will get more people on board to help out the project so we can really start going through the crew's progression levels.

I may end up trimming what I had planned if things don't pick up (maybe dropping to 3/4 progression levels instead of 5), as they may present an unrealistic time frame to complete the game.

Likes:

Characters!

I've really enjoyed developing each of the crew mates. And I feel like I've done a good job in making them all distinct, with their own personalities, likes, desires, etc. I feel comfortable writing their dialogue and making sure it's true to the character.

I'm hoping you can all see the results of that as well? I can definitely see some fan favourites appearing if the voting results are anything to go by! :D

Art:

The art Witchking has provided has been awesome to see. I'm very happy with way things look as well in terms of design for the most part, a few things have cropped up, sure, but we have discussed and things will remain at the high quality level you have come to expect! There will be some UI changes / redesigns in the future as well, but I quite like the aesthetic we have at the moment.

Ideas / World building:

I have a lot of character ideas, a lot of story ideas and more to add into the TSP universe! It sucks to think that some of these may never come or may be so far away, but it's always positive that I'm over flowing with ideas on where this game can go in terms of content, especially the spicy content we all enjoy! ;)

The future

I think it's time we talked a bit real for a second. I'm really grateful for the awesome support that you guys have given me. Those who have been willing to contribute large sums of money towards the project to see NPCs of your design in the game!

That said, I will admit that the support levels haven't progressed quite as I'd hope (and there are a plenitude of reasons why that is, some in my control, others not). As I mentioned earlier I was hoping we'd be up to 2 character progression's a month (or close to it, like 2 progressions every other month.)

Being completely honest, as always, I never want a game I work on to be just outputting build after build with no end in sight. I want to make a game start to finish, I also want to make a game that has a clear end date in terms of time spent working on it. 

Unfortunately this means that the amount of content that will go into this game will be directly tied to the amount of support it receives. As I mentioned earlier, this will likely mean that content ideas I have will get cut, and overall stories will be shortened to represent this. I don't say this to be dour, or down trodden, but to give realistic expectations to everyone.

The game will of course, have a solid end, a true start to finish experience even if we never make it to the 2 progressions a month. I guess my point is, I don't want this to be a project half a decade in the works! :P 

Of course, I may be speaking too far ahead to tell. And it will be interesting to compare this sort of "After 1 year review" to next years! Because it still is a little crazy to me, that this project has almost been in development for a year already.

Anywho! 

I've rambled on a fair amount now, and taken up a lot of your time already. I hope you enjoy 0.11 when it rolls around, and of course the all exciting 0.12, featuring Kittenna! :D 

Until next time, 

- Nergal