Part X Dev. Update: Morality, Amends, Slow Segs Dead!
Heyo!
The Part X progress tracker was recently updated -- I'd suggest checking it out after you read up on what's new, implied in the title!
The Conniver is the last of the ladies in line, demanding her own spotlight and pinups. I'll throw that poll up this week as usual, so find your way in if you want to vote.
Part X Progress!
Much anticipated, we've finally arrived:
all of the slow segments are now complete! The tracker has been updated accordingly and now will resume progress on the fast segments, these segs rendering scenes between 5-60 minutes versus the 2-6 hour renders slow segs required. Between now and the next dev update, I should be able to fully complete at least one full seg, getting another near complete depending how posing goes. Keep an eye on the tracker -- it'll be updated more than once a week now that we've reached this leg!
With news aside, I'd like to share with you a conversation you may have missed in the comments. It consisted of Part X's progress, my site and Patreon content; a supporter expressed his concerns through a series of good questions. He posed some relatable points that merit viewing, if you don't mind the read:
"I have to say I am very disappointed and concerned. The last release from you was in April, which is now over 3 months ago. We keep getting teasers and all of these "pinup packs" but not a single game release. You seem to be making great progress on your personal website and payment systems but again, no release to the game. So you are focused heavily it seems on getting paid but not so focused on releasing content to your paying customers. The "progress page" on your new websites hasn't seemed to move much since it was created. So my question to you is this... Is this going to be a continuing trend? Making us wait for 4 months between releases and watch you spend more time and energy on parallel projects or other projects than you do on the game we are paying you to build?
I like the game and all but in 4 months time I can buy a complete game from Steam rather than watch you build a website. Why should I continue to give you money when my other pledges are delivering good content monthly? I am not trying to be a jerk here but this is an observation from the last 3 months and I don't see you finishing this Chapter until late August at the earliest. I can't be the only person that is frustrated with your lack of progress." - Bass
I agree with your general sentiment about longer spans between releases being frustrating, however I don’t think focus on Part X’s development and working on the site are mutually exclusive. The actual development process of the game allows me to render almost every hour I’m in the office, given I have a scene posed and lined up to render; rendering is a hands-off process and doesn’t require me to do anything other than watch paint dry. Because of this, any time that I spend working on other things relevant to the game such as the site, pinups, posts etcetera don’t necessarily distract nor subtract actual time away from Part X’s development.
To emphasize, working on the site and other quick post content aren’t the reason why the dev cycle spans months long, Part X’s content is. For example, if I were to hypothetically honor your request and terminate my site, pinups and other content additional to the game, the timespan between now and release would be unchanged. At least for this kind of development process, one that heavily utilizes rendering above all else, I’m able to work on multiple things simultaneously without realizing actual time loss for the most important aspect, Part X.
Something I’ve echoed before is specifically why the last two dev cycles (IX and X) span as long as they do, a response to “others release in a one month span/you used to as well, therefore why not continue?” The question heavily involves personal preference -- some people prefer a dev cycle to be as quick as possible, releasing in 4-5 weeks while some find a lengthier, chunkier amount of content per release to be more important. For the previous installment, I tested the waters using the latter; I personally found Part IX to be the first and only installment that was decently paced and fleshed with character interactions versus the jerky, teleport-y, certainly scene-brief nature of earlier installments. In those earlier 4-5 week cycles , I could only reasonably produce 4-5 weeks worth of content; with more weeks included in development cycle, I can flesh out individual releases instead of spreading the content out thin over multiple ones. There’s no content being lost, instead the individual distribution amount and frequency has changed in favor of more content per release versus less time between releases.
While I may possibly release quicker, more modest-sized releases in early areas of Act II, I’ve made my decision to not compromise content amount in favor of time for the Act I finale. I feel that rushing a story, most definitely at its defining event and climax, produces negative outcomes more often than not. I ask that you to please let me be brutally meticulous, especially attentive for this specific release; if you find that what you pledge isn’t equivalent to the quality of what content I’ve posted, you can always end/withhold your pledge until you feel it’s worth it. Waiting until after Part X’s release is a win-win that way!
While you may not share my concern on this subject, I feel that a secondary, unrestricted platform for pledging is an absolute necessity for longevity of this game. In last week’s dev update, I expressed how Patreon has become ruthless in their sanitization, now not even allowing “implied nudity” even on pages specified/warned to be for adult’s only. With Patreon’s reliance on PayPal and Stripe, both having rigorously defined policy prohibiting all adult digital content, I can’t guarantee Patreon will extend mercy to its adult creators -- including all adult categories, not just fringe/taboo games -- for any great length of time. With two more acts of this story waiting to be told, I’d prefer to not have Patreon and their processors pull the rug out from under me. The idea is that when/if that DOES happen, I’ll have somewhere to go that’s already existing and substantial enough to continue development seamlessly. That’s the reason why I’ve nurtured it the past two months, now verging release.
[end]
I always appreciate articulate, intellectually honest questions/concerns about the development; I try to answer them as concisely as I can manage, so shoot them my way if they're on your mind! Patreon, Discord, email or otherwise, I'd love to chat with anyone who shares interest in this story. :]
Part X Content!
Throughout Act I, there have been teasings of certain moral themes through the means of characters, their dialogue and motivations. I recently had a discussion with someone who was interested in these themes, especially in the context of the social apprehension and ramifications taboo relationships imply. This has been relevant for all of Act I, but Part X specifically provides the ultimate test of this moral system you've developed while playing, consciously or not. Let's delve into that!
Beyond the self-contained thrill/taboo involving two family members reaching the final, anticipated intimacy, there are so many interesting questions that can be explored regarding the social perception and repercussions of pursuing these relationships. At this point in the story, most interactions are contained within the family’s social circle, the story focusing more on the philosophy of a parent’s fight between hedonism and virtue. A mother and father have to decide whether or not pursuing a romantic, possibly sexual relationship is an act of indulgence and selfishness.
Since the consequences of initiating that kind of relationship are practically irreversible in a social sense -- at least between the participating members -- one must hesitate and carefully examine whether or not engaging in said relationship is in the best interest for their children, their family. The other party may not fully understand the long-term ramifications of these relationships, possibly damaging their ability to find genuine connections and romance in adulthood, if only because the social stigma surrounding incest almost always attached to coddling/abuse.
I’d say the most fascinating aspect of the hedonism vs virtue phase thus far has been the player, but more specifically what EXTREME lengths players will contort their moral systems for self-indulgence. The cognitive dissonance is astounding; saying how much you unconditionally love your child, wanting only what’s best for them, only to shelter them from ANY interaction with boys, their siblings or even their own mother. It harks back to a common, twisted fantasy of those who romanticize parenthood in an abusive way, how it’s a father’s duty to “have” his daughter since she’s his property by law and blood.
Exploring the player’s psychology, throwing barriers in their path that scream “hey, maybe there are actual repercussions for forcing this upon someone” -- these are extremely interesting to me, to see if the player will actually seek to reconcile the cognitive dissonance or choose to indulge anyway. The whole abuse aspect isn’t as relevant since the age of the participating parties are sufficient to give informed consent, however power dynamics, as seen with boss-employee and teacher-student relationships, do make things equally complicated.
Once the relationship moves past the emotional cold-war scenario, both parties unsure of what the other exactly feels combined with the deathly fear of rejection and embarrassment, I can begin answering the questions I mentioned earlier. There’s a lot to answer regarding social stigma and pressures when in these relationships -- they’ll be delved into when non-related members start to interact and join the player’s social circle in Act II and III.
All in all, my goal is to instill the idea in the player that there are very real, tangible repercussions for your actions -- that and this romanticized and fictional telling of incestual relationships has an almost impossible chance to manifest in the real world in a non-abusive, genuinely loving way. I’d say that most people play games in this genre with the intent of having sex, regardless of the means of getting there. It isn't very likely they're expecting to wrestle with any sort of philosophical oughts or anticipate carefully examining their moral system -- I don’t hold that expectation of them and I don’t think anyone should.
Regardless, I personally find it interesting to observe the player’s reaction to these challenges, their encounters in the story that make them hesitate for a moment and consider if what they’re doing is “right” and who that is “right” for. In the end, I won't be the one who forces the player's hand nor actually make a moral distinction between the two, I'll merely provide the outcomes. Indulgence, self-interest reigning above all and sexual satisfaction along with valuing platonic, amending relationships that honor the other party's virtue will BOTH reward the player equally. Since they have chosen the values that most closely adhere to their moral system, whatever outcomes proceeding will satisfy their desire, however "right" or "wrong". Thankfully there's a save button, holy heck!
During both campaigns, Part X will be the first major test of your moral system in a variety of ways. I can't wait to see the choices and rationale on both sides of the spectrum -- like I said, it's probably been my favorite part of writing this story. Feel free to shoot a message my way and share your thoughts, anytime! :]
Website Phase II - Users & Pledging!
I shared info in my pinup post yesterday; the website is still on schedule for this week, my processor contact telling me that the bank-side (final handshake between gateway company and customer statement) requests/reviews sent Friday should be the last. Their email Tuesday said the documents are approved and they are "finalizing". It's been a crawling process getting the pledging up, but soon I won't have to annoy you about it anymore, which is a definite positive!
With the pledge transferring opened up, I'll be replying again to everyone who messaged me on Patreon the appropriate transfer code when pledging is active. I'll be reposting relevant rewards/content such as pinups, previews and updates as well, so those will be oozing onto the site's feed. Similar to Patreon, there will be email notifications for all supporters and those who just want to follow; the nifty email preview thing patreon does takes some time, but that will also be added in the future!
Here's what's up this week. Thursday or Friday I should have final words from the processor:
- CE Club Nude Pinup Pack IX (Complete!)
- (Coming this week!) Web Phase II Launch (Users & pledges)
- (Coming this week!) CE Club Nude Pinup Pack X
- Dev updates, previews, pinups & other goodies for all patrons
- Part X!
All done! Find me in Discord, here or email if you've got a question or two. I appreciate you surviving another wall of my insane ramblings and I hope you'll find your way back next week. :]
Best, lads. See you soon!
Gumdrop Games
okerFace::tf:
