if dev does release something then some bloat cleaning of this thread's "when next update" is in order - although it makes for a historical example of one of the longest update cycles without an Abandoned tag yet active thread
I hope everything is going well for you in this wonderful summer start full of promises, bulging buttocks and virgin mojito offered to naive young women who are timidly trying to tan on the beach!
Alright, enough bullshit ! I have a lot of things to tell you so hold on tight !
But before I even start talking, I'm going to give you a percentage so you can be set : 97 % *
* this post is not intended to inform you about the progress on the game itself, there is my Patreon page for that. And you will see the progress with your own eyes very soon anyway, by playing Chapter 2 of Apocalypse Lovers.
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My main concern, currently, is of a completely different nature and certain clarifications seemed necessary to me.
There has been a bit of a downturn on social media lately following an unfortunate issue. Indeed, Manoman, the person who helped me diligently to manage the community and who were in charge of publication and communication, especially by responding to people on social networks (discord, twitter, patreon, etc.) has been the victim of such a large wave of toxic comments linked to the impatience of some people that he had to abandon his missions in order to preserve himself. It was the right thing to do, because health is more important than everything else.
For my part, as I was fully working on the imminent update, I couldn't immediately resume his functions. On the other hand, now, I will try to do both at the same time. That is to say write the game and also manage the social networks, the communication and the messages of the community. That's why, don't be surprised if it's a little less prolific than before. There will of course be no changes regarding posts related to Patreon benefits (like wallpaper and nude preview), and I will endeavor to provide you with your usual content regularly.
I therefore officially thank Manoman, without whom Apocalypse Lovers would probably never have acquired this notoriety and who has always given me very good advice on the development of the game!
By analyzing the problem of negative comments, it made me realize certain things and I made certain decisions about it.
I noticed that there were two types of people who commented here, those who attacked and criticized the Apocalypse Lovers project (and who sometimes even pretend it's a scam, lol) and those who defended it or qualified the negative comments (thank you, by the way).
I've also noticed that the vast majority of those who posted positive comments were people who supported me financially and who therefore had access to posts concerning the progress of the game on Patreon. However, those post was only accessible for my patreon contributors.
While the negative commentators seemed to only have F95 as their source of information regarding the game, leading them to believe that the game wasn't progressing. This was reflected in the amount of inaccurate things they were saying in their comments.
Take for example this guy who is visibly angry with me for the pessimistic turn of his remarks:
Even if it's a relatively aggressive and expeditious coldness, I can't blame him! He is visibly concerned by the state of the project. And if he thinks I'm some kind of liar, it's because in view of the information he has, that hypothesis seems credible to him. That's why he has taken the trouble to expose his point factually through a more or less logical reasoning. But really, this is just a person who got disappointed and lost confidence due to the long time without an update. His way of reacting was simply to try to demonstrate that my game was going to die soon from the elements to which he has access. Although obviously he is completely wrong, in a way I understand him. Because, while I probably wouldn't have chosen that aggressive tone to express my disappointment, I myself might have reacted the same way if I thought a project I was interested in seemed to be dying.
That being said, in order to prevent people who follow me here or elsewhere from getting the wrong ideas about the reality of the project, I decided to overcome this problem by making public the monthly posts concerning the progress of the game ! So that people who arn't able to support me financially, but still enjoy this game, can follow my progress.
It seems the logical thing to do since I'm now all alone to manage the social networks and to keep contact with the community that's following me. Do note howerver that posts of exclusive and special content (such as the Apocalypse Lovers Weekly Nude , Monthly Wallpaper or Poll for example) will obviously continue to be accessible only to contributors. So what is made public is only past and future development progress of the game and I'm really hoping this will help to avoid some negative comments related to a loss of confidence.
Moreover, I will now put some links so that those who have never had access to the behind the scenes of Apocalypse Lovers can be directly reassured and for those who have doubted, at one time or another, the veracity of my words or the reality of my work. (but I can't help you if you think I'm a reptilian, that the earth is flat, or that chemtrails are secretly sterilizing you)
Alright, so first, you will find the direct links concerning the monthly progress already published and which have been made public for the sake of transparency. Then you will find links to a forum I frequently post to, this is a specialized renpy code oriented forum where I often seek help from other developers to fix bugs or develop new systems. You can have fun consulting my activity on this site, checking publication dates, etc... My nickname is a sculptor and all my posts relate exclusively to the development of the game Apocalypse Lovers.
LOL If you think I'm "angry" at "you," then you are missing the point. Nothing in my comment was any form of aggression at you. If you assess the verbiage, it should be clear that I'm lamenting the poor development cycle. Regardless of how many Patreon posts you make, 13/14 months of no release is indeed unhealthy. At no point did I attack any developer, nor did I call anyone a "liar". Perhaps that is your own projection of the situation? I do not know.
Was I cold? Sure. But I firmly reject any aggression. We've seen plenty of developers in the adult game industry who have made frequent Patreon posts about how hard they were working, while they're collecting large sums of monthly contributions, and years go by without meaningful development. As end-users and consumers, we have every right to call out red flags. How you want to manage your community and Patrons is your own choice, but don't be surprised when people it distasteful.
EDIT:
Good luck to you and your game. I stopped being a Patron several months ago, but I still wish you luck.
Don't know if you read all the part of my previous message but you might have missed all positive things in it.
And I was just using you comment to make a general point, sorry about that.
Not going to debate those things here dude. This was just my perception of your message thats all, cause you said he "Claims" to be hardworking, so for me that's implying that I'm lying when I say I work hard on the game. So whaterver you said afterwards, I do think it was a negative comment. The kind who make my community manager leave the project. But like I say I understand your point, I understand why guy like you make those kind of comment. You have your opinion and whaterver I say you seem to think I'm full of shit so, as the matter of fact, there is no need for you to keep listening to me.
Anyway, I know what I've done and I'm in peace with myself. I know I'm alone and I'm not Activision, but I'm doing what I can because I'm passionate about what I do then sharing it with people. Some of them reward me and encourage me for it, some don't. But in reality, what matters is that I'm doing this game for myself before doing it for you all. Because it's my universe and it's my creation and that, no negative or dishonest comment can take it away from me.
There has been a bit of a downturn on social media lately following an unfortunate issue. Indeed, Manoman, the person who helped me diligently to manage the community and who were in charge of publication and communication, especially by responding to people on social networks (discord, twitter, patreon, etc.) has been the victim of such a large wave of toxic comments linked to the impatience of some people that he had to abandon his missions in order to preserve himself. It was the right thing to do, because health is more important than everything else.
For my part, as I was fully working on the imminent update, I couldn't immediately resume his functions. On the other hand, now, I will try to do both at the same time. That is to say write the game and also manage the social networks, the communication and the messages of the community. That's why, don't be surprised if it's a little less prolific than before. There will of course be no changes regarding posts related to Patreon benefits (like wallpaper and nude preview), and I will endeavor to provide you with your usual content regularly.
you're surely aware of this but i feel the need to reiterate your own preservation considering you hired someone to do this work for you in which they couldn't take it anymore and now you will manage it - so engage limitedly so you don't crash like Manoman with your game along with it. A fine recent example of one dev that abandoned their games due to the heavy commentary by players was LustFight - though for different reasons for the commentary nevertheless too much for him.
I just want to say, thank you to those who post funny memes, even if it's to make fun of the time to get out of the update, you have an incredible imagination thanks
Dont let the negativity get to you, they're mere words. Most people can't do shit when faced one on one in real life, so they feel the need to hide behind anonymity and talk shit. If that negativity affects you, focus on other things that are positive, like hobbies and such.
I'll stay patient for this game. Anyone calling this a scam clearly doesn't know what that word entails.
I am dying to play a new version of this game. I am not a Patreon, to see all the anoucements but always believe in your work, and the ability to give us a good time and enjoy playing this game.
I have a small request regarding the future update.
I'm going to need a charitable soul who could voluntarily give me a hand by editing the walkthrough file according to the template we have pre-established.
Indeed, the old one being obsolete, I had started to rework this document by putting nice visual elements, however it would save me time on the development of the game if, when the update of chapter 2 is released, this file was pre-filled by a player according to the formalism already in place.
The task is not complex, just play the game trying all the paths and referencing the variables and implications of each choice. To make this more easily achieved, I will provide a specific version of the game that includes the ability to "teleport" to different points in the story and access the script freely.
Be aware that completing this document conscientiously could sometimes be repetitive, so if you are moderately motivated I advise you to abstain contacting me.
That being said, know that this help will be doubly beneficial to me, cause on the one hand the time saving would allow me to start working directly on chapter three, on the other hand I would use this document myself to follow the variables evolution more easily.
The one who will achived this task will be credited directly with his work on the document itself and will also obtain freely the benefits of the maximal patreon tiers "Legend".
If there are volunteers, please contact me by Private Message directly.
you're surely aware of this but i feel the need to reiterate your own preservation considering you hired someone to do this work for you in which they couldn't take it anymore and now you will manage it - so engage limitedly so you don't crash like Manoman with your game along with it. A fine recent example of one dev that abandoned their games due to the heavy commentary by players was LustFight - though for different reasons for the commentary nevertheless too much for him.
I just want to say, thank you to those who post funny memes, even if it's to make fun of the time to get out of the update, you have an incredible imagination thanks
After all the difficulties encountered, I am very happy to finally announce the release of theChapter 2! The beta testing phase has just ended and everything seems to be in order! But if by any chance you find a bug, please report it on the appropriate discord channel.
I also take this opportunity to remind you, as I had announced previously, it's imperative to restart the game from the beginning, even if you have already played chapter 1. Because many scenes have been modified and improved even in chapter 1; so unfortunately you can't resume your old backups. If you still have one, it's even recommended to throw away what's left your old Apocalypse Lovers Folder before you embark on this new adventure!
Alright, I know this update was long, but now it's here and I hope you will enjoy playing it as much as I liked creating it. I've put all my heart into it and I hope there is the right balance of content between lore developpment, adult action, story progression and funny scene. That being said, don't hesitate to contact me on social networks to share your feedback, whether positive or negative! This will give me more indicators which will lead my line of work when developing chapter 3.