I get what you say and agree on some points. Well, I haven't played the Sam concert event yet but I have played the past events of this game. He has done a good job at building an ambience and as for nuances what I truly mean by that is, being a human there is a good chance he does not know the exact environment or small little details of the place that is present in every scene that he has shown.
Like he might have never been to a casino, so he could only imagine that and look around on the internet, similarly a mafia bosses place. It is all based on how he imagines it would look like. Unless ofcourse he has secret connections with mafias and frequents them
Maybe I didn't convey the essay point with the complete view. I am not saying he is a novice,he is indeed experienced but he also has created standards for himself. The kind that not every other Dev has to deal with.
He can't just make a ridiculous a scene and justify it. It will be heavily criticized. He can't do sub par renders or go back to the same level as he had before even on day 16-17which was still very good. Plus he has a huge patron support. He is at a position where whenever he falters fingers will be pointed at him.
Another example of this would be his statement that he works 11hrs a day. Now I don't know if he does or not but in every argument that point will be brought up. And unless there is "visible" output justifying that he would only be met with allegations. Instead he should have said he can only work on the game 5-6 hrs a day. Now he could still be working 8-9 hrs a day but there won't be that much pressure. Since the "visible" output would be acceptable with the given number of hrs. Like Stoper does for JOHN. He says he doesn't work full time on this and has a casual approach. He doesn't have that big of a patron support as a result but there is also not too much pressure to deliver. Once the pressure gets to him it would only slow down things. Thinking erotic scenarios to meet time constraints I don't think it is something anyone would like to do.
Also he has the worries that you stated too.