VN Ren'Py Etlina's Principle [v0.04.0 Public] [PipPoad]

[HiHaHo]

Damn, this reminds me of those OnlyFans statistics. Where all the big headlines about ‘X girl made a fortune selling feet pics’ actually represent just 2% of users. The rest barely earn anything—if any at all.

pretty much yeah only the top 1-5% can actually go fulltime living only on income from vn's ,its the entertainment industry and AVN's being a very niche part off it.

if people want to cut/save money this is the first section to go.

Somehow you live under illusion, that the devs cant dedicate more time to development because they are not making enough money. But that is not true.
They can easily invest more of their free time. But they have chosen not to do that.

It is my opinion that results should come first and then people will naturally come and send their money.

But you are free to live under a delusion that you need to persuade the devs to do more work by sending them more money.

It was just my 50 cent here: I am only sending my money on Patreon to people who keep supplying decent results. But you are free to disagree with me. Send your own money to anyone you want.

first lets reaffirm that you dodged the "would you work fulltime for less then 250€ a month" question.
because this is unrealistic exception form anyone.

Spoiler: worktime & money side off things

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but the money side off thing isn't why i have a issue with your statements,this isn't about you spending your money from your job you work on this or not.

my issue with your statements: is about him probably working a job just like yours but then spending his free time making this vn to entertain you,me & others only to be called "lazy" completely ignoring or more likely you being ignorant about VN development.

this is just you being rude,its plain to see from the status updates & teasers that the dev does invest time,effort and probably money into this project.

 

[RandomGuy99]

Also this game was first introduce like in 2023. The number of lewd content is like 1.5 ? If we count the scene where you don't save the girl in the city. For AVN, this is seriously lacking. If the dev really likes to focus on gameplay mechanic and the such, perhaps AVN is the wrong avenue for this. Might as well, create a full blown game for steam.

 

[Nimezido]

I have mixed feelings about this novel, on the one hand, after six months of waiting, the amount of content is depressing. On the other hand, the author is quite good at leaving the intrigue at the end and you wait for the continuation. But since you're listening to the advice, I'll give it to you (I've been supporting some authors for years, and I've seen the success and mistakes of many of them)
1- Do not sacrifice content for speed, or turn into one of thousands of average sidekicks of novels, now your game has its own style, do not lose it because of complaints. The developer of summers gone is a damn perfectionist who constantly moves and reworks chapters of his novel, which everyone laughs at, but he stays true to himself and continues to do what he believes is right, and his novel is one of the most popular and highly rated.
2- the episode MUST be memorable, believe me if you showed one of our favorite hybrid girls or revealed some lore we would go discuss the plot and argue which girl is better, not whining about the amount of content.
3- Don't hesitate to ask for help, many people are willing to help you learn or help your favorite novel get out faster
4- It's better to let in every 3 months than 6, for six months people simply can't remember what they finished + they are waiting for the amount of content at the being a dik level and are extremely disappointed when they don't get it. In general, your novel stands out favorably from the rest, show off with the following addition, convincing everyone and getting your subscribers and support (me for sure) P.S. please tell us that there will be a harem, do not force us to choose between goddesses) and from the hybrid team in the squad of the main character, all fans will completely shit themselves with happiness)

 

[DementedMan]

Also, where I live, the median salary is $ 50 / hour.

Wow... where do you live?
The average salary in the US is $20, while here in Germany it's €24. So, for a median salary of $50 per hour, I'd be happy to come and work in your country.

Or wait, you're talking about US dollars, right? Don't suddenly start talking about Guyanese dollars or something.

 

[c3p0]

Wow... where do you live?
The average salary in the US is $20, while here in Germany it's €24. So, for a median salary of $50 per hour, I'd be happy to come and work in your country.

Or wait, you're talking about US dollars, right? Don't suddenly start talking about Guyanese dollars or something.

It is US dollars and also don't say that without knowing the rest of the living cost. You get a 2.5 room flat for $ 1200 a month (and that is a cheap one).

 

[w123t4]

This game is always good, but I still think the world setting is too large. While it clearly have many things to say and it just begins the first mission, taking way too long to see the game either finished or abandoned.

 

[Niuul]

Many people comment about the lack of content, which made me genuinely wonder - what amount of content can be considered sufficient? Is there some golden rule like:
'Make at least 1000 renders, 5 animations, and write 2500 words of dialogues'?
This isn't a joke or sarcasm - I really want to know. For example, in this update alone I wrote 1100 lines of code just to implement the squad customization and map system, plus another 1000 for basic dialogues and scenes. Is that a lot or too little?

Regarding everything else - yes, I'm not the most productive person. Working 8 hours/day, 5 days/week, this update could've been done in 2-3 months. But again:

1. I'm working solo (with occasional volunteer help)
2. Game dev is creative work - I sometimes hit blocks, burnout, or life gets in the way.
3. I fully acknowledge this sucks, but it's reality. Solutions welcome.

Someone commented: 'Stop trying to make everything perfect.' Maybe they're right. I invest excessive time realizing my vision (3-act narrative structure, complex features) while players want something entirely different (more sex scenes, animations, naked girls and abilities to corrupt them). Had I made a simple linear adult VN without pretensions of depth - just being a 3D artist - things might've gone much better.



The most valuable support would be constructive feedback — clear guidance on what to prioritize in development, and what to cut because it "matters only to me".

To the first point, people go by how much content they see presented to them. They never think about the coding, nor do people care sadly. They wanna see renders and story progression numbers go brrrr but completely forget single devs, new ones at that, don't have 3 workstations pumping out renders around the clock while they write the story 3-4 chapters ahead of time.

If a UI element like the map or squad stuff takes 100s of hours to code people only see what's at face value, that being the UI element itself not what's under the hood for it. Just the way it is with game dev. Only thing you can really do is after an update comes out (a story one) and you see the workload ahead of you for the next one being mainly coding to establish the bones for the rest of the game... can really only do a dev post explaining what to expect for the next update. Keeping people in the loop.

 

[c3p0]

To the first point, people go by how much content they see presented to them. They never think about the coding, nor do people care sadly. They wanna see renders and story progression numbers go brrrr but completely forget single devs, new ones at that, don't have 3 workstations pumping out renders around the clock while they write the story 3-4 chapters ahead of time.

Even worse, if you have 6 paths, 4 very big (and sadly less popular) and 2 not so big (but very popular) often, they will just judge about the one path they had played and ignore the rest of the dev's work.

 

[larry69]

Seeing the discourse here, I just wanted to mention how 'The Bite: Revenant' turned out. The dev added a skill point system, mission based story and some freedom of progression. Even though he spent a lot of time and effort on that, the actual progress to the story and what players could experience was very slow. Now despite the great story and characters, the Patreon is on vacation mode till December as the dev can't figure everything out.
I think that a simple VN would help you get maximum player engagement for your effort. Ofc I'm not a game dev, but I like this game and just wanted to share what I'd seen happen to a few other games that had good story and promise.

 

[EmperorGus]

Seeing the discourse here, I just wanted to mention how 'The Bite: Revenant' turned out. The dev added a skill point system, missioned based story and some freedom of progression. Even though he spent a lot of time and effort on that, the actual progress to the story and what players could experience was very slow. Now despite the great story and characters, the Patreon is on vacation mode till December.
I think that a simple VN would help you get maximum player engagement from your work. Ofc I'm not a game dev, but I like this game and just wanted to share what I'd seen happen to a few other games that had good story and promise.

If the dev is all about the $$$s, you're probably right. A simple VN is the best bet.
If it's a hobby (because they enjoy the process making it, or are challenging themselves to learn to do new things), then the $$$s are a bonus.
Or, maybe, it's somewhere in-between. They're hoping to make a small profit, while not being mind-numbingly bored making a simple VN.

 

[Ven95]

I missed a few updates, the last save was from 2023. This moves slow, I guess everyone agrees about that.

The idea, the story, it's pretty good. Which means the it being slow is even more frustrating. Guess it can't be helped

 

[Punto]

Made a quick Mod with choice recommendations ("Walkthrough") + some more game settings

======================================================
Dec. 31, 2024
After a quick check I unfortunately have some problems with the new game release.
The game crashes quite often + my former choice hints are not working, too.
I postpone that for now and check again when having some more free time.

Jan. 2, 2025
Tried to make a Mod update again (in my tests it worked)

June 14, 2025
Seems with the next release there will be more "point&click" (free roam) in the game.
Not really my preferred game style, we'll see if I continue.
======================================================

Please update your mod. I'm not a fan of freeroam and point&click either, but let's see what happens.

 

[thefattestcat]

careful man sony might send a cease and desist

 

[HiHaHo]

careful man sony might send a cease and desist

sony is doable, its nintendo that's the real threat

 

[thefattestcat]

sony is doable, its nintendo that's the real threat

sony fought north korea and won. they are asian disney. still a threat.

 

[HiHaHo]

sony fought north korea and won. they are asian disney. still a threat.

heh didn't know that NK is under china's influence zone pretty sure we all know them being know for ignoring copyrights etc.

still nintendo is known for hardly ever losing a case, ow well we can have more then 1 boss fight

 

[thefattestcat]

heh didn't know that NK is under china's influence zone pretty sure we all know them being know for ignoring copyrights etc.

still nintendo is known for hardly ever losing a case, ow well we can have more then 1 boss fight

bro if it was rockstar they'd nuke this website and dox all of us

 

[HiHaHo]

bro if it was rockstar they'd nuke this website and dox all of us

yeah not like most apps ,websites or games are selling all that like hot buns along side a coffee

 

[PipPoad]

So, after carefully reviewing the comments here, I fully acknowledge the criticism about excessively long updates and insufficient content. It seems I failed to consider that as the developer, I’m constantly thinking about and working on the project, so the passage of time feels different for me. Meanwhile, regular players are less immersed in the process — you don’t dwell daily on a finished game or movie, but when you receive mere crumbs of content after god-knows-how-long waits, it becomes genuinely disheartening.

Until now, I hadn’t truly grasped this perspective. But seeing how sharply this issue resonates with people made me realize I need to seriously rethink my development approach and priorities. Because even for an indie passion project, these timelines are objectively excessive — if the prologue took 2 years, I dread to imagine how long the main story (several times larger and more complex) might require. And without engaged players, none of this holds meaning.

There’s another danger with hobby projects: despite my current passion, life is unpredictable. Circumstances might arise where I simply can’t dedicate time/energy to the game anymore. Or I might wake up one day no longer wanting to continue. With each passing month, that risk grows — and nothing could salvage the project then.

So thank you all for the feedback and development advices. It’s been a sobering wake-up call, like a cold shower. I’ll strive to find a compromise — first with myself — about what I truly want and whether I can deliver what the audience expects.

 

[RandomGuy99]

So, after carefully reviewing the comments here, I fully acknowledge the criticism about excessively long updates and insufficient content. It seems I failed to consider that as the developer, I’m constantly thinking about and working on the project, so the passage of time feels different for me. Meanwhile, regular players are less immersed in the process — you don’t dwell daily on a finished game or movie, but when you receive mere crumbs of content after god-knows-how-long waits, it becomes genuinely disheartening.

Until now, I hadn’t truly grasped this perspective. But seeing how sharply this issue resonates with people made me realize I need to seriously rethink my development approach and priorities. Because even for an indie passion project, these timelines are objectively excessive — if the prologue took 2 years, I dread to imagine how long the main story (several times larger and more complex) might require. And without engaged players, none of this holds meaning.

There’s another danger with hobby projects: despite my current passion, life is unpredictable. Circumstances might arise where I simply can’t dedicate time/energy to the game anymore. Or I might wake up one day no longer wanting to continue. With each passing month, that risk grows — and nothing could salvage the project then.

So thank you all for the feedback and development advices. It’s been a sobering wake-up call, like a cold shower. I’ll strive to find a compromise — first with myself — about what I truly want and whether I can deliver what the audience expects.

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Hope to see the improved Etlina Principle. Give us meaty stories and lewd