Progress update
Patrons only
Sep 2 at 1:02am
Hi
That time again.
Well, we're past the 200 renders mark. And we still have a few more to do.
But is should be ok. Having a bimonthly release schedule, allows me some wiggle room.
So, unless you hear from me till then, the release will be on Sunday evening.
Not much more to say on that.
One more thing I'd like to touch on.
Some of you might be wondering, what does Ptolemy do with the extra free time he has since he's switched to bimonthly releases. The patches are bigger that the weekly ones, but they're not double in size (except for this one).
If your guess is that, he sits in a tub of his Patreon money, snorting coke out of a brazilian hooker's ass, while screaming "FLY PELICAN FLY", you'd be absolutely right. That is what I mostly do.
But the other thing I do, is think about what comes after Dreaming of Dana.
In regards Dreaming of Dana, we're within measuring distance of finishing. To paraquote 1984.
The story is pretty much written, in my head at least. And there is little in the way of new coding still to come.
From this point it's just a matter of executing.
Now, execution is laborious and time consuming, so it won't be easy.
But......
And please don't take this as iron clad.....
If I had to guess......
I think we'll be finished sometime in January. DO NOT HOLD ME TO THIS! It's just a guess.
I know this seems like far away, but trust me, it isn't.
So the question for me is, what comes after.
Do I continue making games?
Absolutely! I'm having too much fun not to be doing it.
Will "Intimate relations" become my main project?
No. The story telling in it is very "experimental". Telling a story from 3 POV's, and still have it make sense, is giving me fits. You'll notice we haven't had an update in over a month. That's because there are a few story "knots" that I have to make work before we can continue.
Am I ready for my "Egypt" game?
Not really. I think I have the coding skills I was lacking before, and I'm sure that I can write that game. But the thing about the "Egypt" game is, lots of custom props.
With Dana and others, I can just buy a dress for them from a website. The cost between 10$ and 30$, similar with shoes and everything else.
I can't buy a "ptolemaic soldier's armor" like that. They have to be custom made.
I contacted one of the artist that does props for the DAZ website. But he quoted me a price that made me want to spit peas in his face(2500$ for 1 set). It might be worth that, I'm not saying it isn't. But it's just not something I can afford, given that I'd need a few dozen of those period costumes, at a minimum.
Egypt will have to wait.
So, what comes next?
Another game, obviously.
I want to start this game differently than I did with Dana. I started that one with no preparation, or anything. Some older patrons will remember that I couldn't get the save game to work for 2 months.
I have till January to prepare.
Please note that this will in no way interfere with my upload schedule. It's just preparation for the next one.
But this time I want everything ready before I start work. I want to have the story mostly decided upon, I want to have the props ready, the costumes ready, engine chosen etc....
For example.
Should I try include live2d? If I do, I won't be able to render the scenes in full, it would have to be foreground and background. But the actors will move.
So, I'm starting with the story. I've already started writing an outline, but I don't want to continue without input from you guys.
So, tell me in the comments what you'd like to see included.
Starting Monday, I'll also be pestering 10$ patrons with polls, about this planed game.
I know it's a bit weird that I'm asking you about a future game, that's still in the "hey, I had and idea" phase, and actual work won't commence till Dana is ready. But I hope that I've proven that I actually work on these things, and that I take seriously my obligation of delivering content.
I just don't want to run into the problems that I had with Dana, due to lack of planning. And I don't want to have a "leave of absence" from making games after Dana is finished, while I decide what to do next.
Hope to hear from you in the comments.
As always, I'm very grateful for your support
Ptolemy