TLDR
- Frames per day with 4090s only slightly higher than Episode 7*
- Animation count production per week is lower than Episode 6*
- Both metrics don't support doubling fps without massive wait time increases
- DPC fails to address concerns about development time increases
- FPS change doesn't affect DPC workload
Subjective vs Objective
The relative importance of 30fps and 60fps animations will vary depending on who you ask. So I am unable to evaluate how others should react to this. Some people will prefer quality over development speed or vice versa, no one is wrong either way.
The objective data DPC has included with his status updates is where I can inform people and help them form their conclusions.
First Question: What were the 4090s supposed to solve?
Many people are unhappy with how Episode 9 added non-lewd animations while increasing development time. DPC encountered the problem of waiting for animations to finish at the conclusion of episode 9 production. Almost all of November was spent waiting for animations to render.
This problem has resurfaced for Episode 10. There are 200 renders and 91 animations left. We should expect another two months of work once static renderings are completed before animations can be fully rendered.
Second Question: How have Frames per Week changed throughout development?
Let's look at how frames per week have changed throughout the development.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | I | 9 |
|---|
| 498 | 504 (+1%) | 637 (+26%) | 723 (+13%) | 582 (-19%) | 1364 (134%) | 1539 (13%) | 522 | 1120 (-27%) |
As we can see, DPC's computers were last upgraded in Episode 7. With the associated 134% increase in productivity, this change is readily noticeable. We will most likely NOT being seeing a increase remotely close to that this time round.
We don't know what the average frames per week for episode 10 are, but we may compare the time span of production.
| Period | Frames per week |
|---|
| Vacation Episode 10 | 2176 |
| First 85 Days of Episode 7 | 2109 |
| Estimated Episode 9: 5th November - 25 November | 1680 |
In contrast to the 134% increase in productivity for episode 7, we will most likely see a 23% increase in productivity for episode 10, which is absurd given the advantages he claims in his status updates. (When the episode premieres I hope to be proven wrong.)
Between episodes 7 and 10, the animation quality improved, but so did the hardware capability.
When we compare the figures from episodes 10 and 7, we can easily see the dreadful fact that even with the 4090 enhancements, he's barely breaking episode 7. Based on the numbers he has shown, there was a significant decline in animation production pace after episode 8, and we should expect this trend to continue into episode 10. But I think announcing that he's doubling the animation requirements while entering a two-month animation waiting period is ludicrous.
Animation Count (Low Quality KPI- Take with grain of salt)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | I | 9 |
|---|
| Count per Week | | 6.27 | 6.6 | 6.38 | 7.85 | 6.63 | 10.87 | 12 | 2.4 | 7.39 |
| % Change from pervious Episode | | | 5% | -3% | 23% | -16% | 64% | 10% | -80% | -38% |
Episode 10 presently has a weekly animation count productivity of 6.59. A lower weekly count than in episode 6...
Third Question: What is DPCs priority?
In this instance, I believe the most essential thing to remember is how he said it.
This suggests that he isn't concerned with addressing the ever-increasing animation development time problems, but is instead looking for ways to maintain/increase development time. Because this is a subjective view, you may disagree with me in this part.
Conclusion
The milking allegations stem from DPC's unwillingness to confront the obvious problem of development time. The crucial thing to remember about doubling the FPS is that DPC does not need to do any additional effort to do this. He is not disturbed on his end. He just changes the FPS in an options box and voila, he has doubled the animation production time. Assuming his patreons continue to support him this is a massive win for him financially.
Of course, if he was experiencing downtime in animation development, I would appreciate an improvement in quality, but that is NOT what we are witnessing in this situation. Someone who has their patreons' financial interests in mind would recognize that this choice will have more negative effects than positive ones. Hence why I've come to conclusion he is "milking".
My Thoughts
I usually subscribe to the $40 tier when an episode is released and have probably spent over $200 over the course of the game, but given these numbers, I am unable to support this going forward. It goes without saying that this is a subjective opinion based on my lack of interest in quality of animation, especially when it comes at such a hefty price.
I'm not arguing that someone is wrong or right; I'm just trying to give you more knowledge so you may choose more wisely.
