Yes, I don't see this coming out before Halloween. In fact, I'll bet it doesn't even go to Beta testers until November (early Nov if we are really lucky). Lot of filler in this episode gents, just saying.
Not all filler is created equal. I'm fine with character focus, world building, mini-games and lighthearted diversions even if they don't advance the plot a whit... so long as they're done in moderation. Personally, I think Episode 7 was a huge success by that standard, so I'm optimistic for now. It's just going to be a long wait.
Same here. A busty older bruenette with blue eyes is my weakness. Guess that's one of the reasons why I like Bella the most.
But I can understand why people dislike her, she could potentially be taking away development from characters who's stories are reaching pivotal moments. Like Bella with her date and getting over James. Jill finally willing to get intimate and find her voice against Tybalt. Maya finding the tools to get past her father and discovering her feelings with MC. Josy being... Josy (stealing her from Maya seems to be the only conflict she has at the moment) and Sage finding out who Chad is cheating on her with, on top of her getting over Chad by getting closer to MC. Some might view this as a distraction or a way to fill the game with content because of a choice you made, even though you could argue you have enough with the Main Girls.
My occasional snark aside, I don't dislike Madame Rose in and of herself. I just think she was a bad idea executed badly.
She's a bad idea because we already had *six* strippers at the Pink Rose (and a bartender for good measure), including a smoking hot MILF. The marginal value of adding a seventh stripper is damn near zero. There are much better places for DPC to spend his time.
That could have been salvaged with skillful execution. Instead, Rose is presented as the big reward for the VIP pass (which requires not only winning Hell Week but also throwing the DIK mansion under the bus), yet she winds up being a borderline caricature who triples down on the busty madam schtick and has no meaningful backstory. Worse, our
reward charges us an arm and a leg for sex acts that can in no way compete with the numerous LI scenes we get for free in Episode 7 (to say nothing of side girls like Lily, Cami, Riona or Cami & Riona).
So yeah, I can see why some people might be inclined to like Madame Rose even if I don't. Unfortunately, DPC drove her into a ditch so thoroughly I'm not sure she'll ever be able to climb out.
so WE got the "Episode 8 Checklist" And as Expected, our "Nerd Analysts" are now start to take "Black Pills" .
I personally do not see it as scary as they did, the only thing that is slightly scary is those Render numbers he claims are remained.
, and the animations.
to me the most pormissing part was this :
" but we are at the same time over the hump." - Couple of updates ago , I was playing with the idea that he might be focused on the hardest tasks first, and now we will be in an easier phase. I think that is what happened, it might seems a lot, but there are not many task on that list that would take 8-9 week. I refuse to believe that most of the coding are not routine to him by now. And he did not say new mini games i just said mini games, probably the usual ones. Roster, gallery, etc, these should be routine by now. with 12 hour work day a week.
Anyway, right now I hold myself to a possible october 22-29 date.
If by the end of September, or the first week of october he will not be finished and started to enter the test phase, then a November 5-12 also possible.
Believe me, I'm not trying to be negative here. I'm just working with what I'm given - and the news ain't good. Even the idea that we're "over the hump" doesn't help much without further information. For example, going by DPC's guess that he was 30% done on July 2 (which had been among the more pessimistic metrics), we'd expect to be ~64% done by now. That's certainly over the hump in my book, yet it puts us on pace for a release in mid-to-late November.
Which, unfortunately, is now consistent with most of the other metrics. You're right that DPC is an old hat at coding, but it still takes time and he has a bunch of renders left. DPC's render rate is well below the peak pace he set in Episode 7, so he must have been doing non-render things with his time these last 18 weeks. That strongly suggests the rate at which he will complete the remaining renders will approximate the rate he's been working up to now - which again translates to a mid-to-late November release when we factor in beta testing.
Now all of this is speculative. It's certainly possible DPC has been tackling the hardest tasks first as you said. But that's basically the best case scenario: all the remaining render estimates come in on the low side, DPC doubles his output, and the beta test goes swimmingly. Under these circumstances, I'd predict a 2021-10-22 release. But the flip side is that DPC might have been skimping on art the last couple weeks (not like we'd know), all his estimates go to the high side, the coding slows him down even further, and beta testing drags on; under those circumstances we'd be getting Episode 8 just in time for Christmas.
That's a spread of ~9 weeks, only 2 of which are in October. Personally, I think DPC will accelerate a bit as he comes down the home stretch, but November 5 is the earliest I'd expect to see the release. If you want to take a page from Josy's book and look on the sunny side, then I sincerely hope you'll be rewarded for your faith. I'm merely saying you might want to pencil in a few alternative activities you can do for Halloween, just in case.