HTML Female Agent [v1.20.1p] [Crushstation]

[Senor Smut]

I'm sceptical of the idea that the story is not ready to move into bargirl territory. Revisit the premise. Produce a threat to our heroine's cover or create some urgency -- Devilfish might be winding down his operations in the club because he's suspicious -- or both! Make things as difficult as possible for her. If you don't commit, you'll be fired and Devilfish will escape.

The story had been ready for her to bargirl for a long time now. Kate has been ready to bargirl for a while. Crush is not ready for Kate to bargirl because he's averse to creating new content and because advancing the story to that point means that the gravy train is one step closer to running out of track.

 

[CreativeCritic2]

But Crush also has a massive problem with implementation. He took seven months to produce an update that was at least half stuff that's already been done and said in more or less the exact same way, by the exact same characters...what, three times now? Four? Any additional work is guaranteed to paralyze him. It wouldn't be a big deal if he were a competent developer, but he's spent the past seven years proving that he's not.

I think this is what makes the planning and project-management discourse so funny...

You can have the greatest architect in the world, the best on-site foreman, the best just-in-time supply lines, the best tools and the largest workforce but your dream home isn't getting built until someone actually bothers to pick up a shovel or starts mixing concrete.

This is like hiring someone to fix a toilet only to discover that, after seven years, he's still not fixed the toilet and whenever you get upset and complain, he goes quiet for three months and then emerges with a power-point presentation detailing an ambitious 18-month programme that will eventually result in a fixed toilet.

At this point, the project doesn't need more detailed planning or a more hands-on style of project management. It needs someone to sit down and do some actual writing.

 

[asdfasdf12341234ACSACA]

I think this is what makes the planning and project-management discourse so funny...

You can have the greatest architect in the world, the best on-site foreman, the best just-in-time supply lines, the best tools and the largest workforce but your dream home isn't getting built until someone actually bothers to pick up a shovel or starts mixing concrete.

This is like hiring someone to fix a toilet only to discover that, after seven years, he's still not fixed the toilet and whenever you get upset and complain, he goes quiet for three months and then emerges with a power-point presentation detailing an ambitious 18-month programme that will eventually result in a fixed toilet.

At this point, the project doesn't need more detailed planning or a more hands-on style of project management. It needs someone to sit down and do some actual writing.

This is mostly true. The mostly comes from the fact that he is also mostly writing, but always rewriting and "it's not hot enough" (Seriously, every single patreon post has those words). "Management" in the form of someone saying "I don't care if you think it's not hot enough, it has to go out by next week so finish what you have" can be useful and avoid wasted time.

 

[Senor Smut]

This is mostly true. The mostly comes from the fact that he is also mostly writing, but always rewriting and "it's not hot enough" (Seriously, every single patreon post has those words). "Management" in the form of someone saying "I don't care if you think it's not hot enough, it has to go out by next week so finish what you have" can be useful and avoid wasted time.

I agree with you, deadlines and someone to hold him to them would be incredibly beneficial in bringing this project closer to completion. That is exactly why Crush would never implement such a system.

 

[Sharpx23]

he should just release something called a beta game, and an editor goes through it slowly updating the online beta to improve things. like a live editor, even cooler if you had 5 or 8 of them, and they worked on the game like people work on wiki lol, and the edits are approved by someone else otherwise remain hidden.

 

[vicaddict]

The funniest thing about it is that Crush himself is supposedly a project manager and, dare I say, a pretty good one. If you accept that the project is to drag out the game for as long as you can in order to rake in the monthly donations that is.

I mean, I have been a fan of the life path prior to this. However, I always pointed out that it would make more sense to include it sooner rather than later, if you ever wanted to do so, simply because the more you progress with the story, the harder it would become to make it fit. Now he wants to include a life path that is full of choices, skills, mechanics and what not and he wants to include all of this in a "game" that is completely disconnected from any of this. The game is not using any of the half dozen mechanics that he introduced at some point. How would he even begin to make any of that to matter? How would he track stats and attributes that have only ever been used in one update? Heck, the game even has place holder images from years ago, because he couldn't be bothered to actually finish what he started.

This is an insane case study of how much his cult is willing to put up with. This is what it is a this point - a cult of believers who are so deep into the whole thing that they would rather lie to themselves, instead of accepting reality.

 

[orellion]

The dev is a perfectionist which is both a blessing and curse in making these games.

 

[ffive]

The dev is a perfectionist which is both a blessing and curse in making these games.

I don't think this holds true, given the dev is perfectly happy to release updates filled with placeholders (thai thai thai thai etc) and broken, unimplemented or abandoned features, and then let this state of things persist for literal months if not years at this point.

The only quality check they seem to employ is "do i want to wank to this?" which, don't get me wrong, is important for a porn game, but far from perfectionism.

 

[asdfasdf12341234ACSACA]

I don't think this holds true, given the dev is perfectly happy to release updates filled with placeholders (thai thai thai thai etc) and broken, unimplemented or abandoned features, and then let this state of things persist for literal months if not years at this point.

The only quality check they seem to employ is "do i want to wank to this?" which, don't get me wrong, is important for a porn game, but far from perfectionism.

He's just the perfectionist that can't see the forest for the trees.

 

[robin312]

He's just the perfectionist that can't see the forest for the trees.

That's the biggest delusion
He is smart guy who finds a way to make money without too much work

 

[Senor Smut]

Crushstation — Today at 12:18 PM
Crushstation posted on Patreon & Subscribestar: Mapping out the valley filled with clouds (JUN 9, 2024 AT 18:13) @Notification Squad

“[It’s] what I call ‘The Valley Filled with Clouds’ technique. You’re at the edge of the valley, and there is a church steeple, and there is a tree, and there is a rocky outcrop, but the rest of it is mist. But you know that because they exist, there must be ways of getting from one to the other that you cannot see. And so you start the journey.”
–Terry Pratchett

Female Agent has always been a valley filled with clouds: I’ve planned out the major plot points in advance, but not the exact paths between them. I always feel like I’m under pressure to produce content so, as soon as I’ve got a half-decent plan, I set off on writing the next episode.


It’s possible to over-plan
I’ve always been wary of over-planning. Some planning is great, and I’d never want to start anything important with no plan – but, in my experience, over-planning wastes time and stifles creativity. I think it can encourage project paralysis, and even cowardice: it’s much easier and more comfortable to be planning (which, by definition, can’t fail) instead of actually delivering work (which can fail and humiliate you).


But it’s also possible to under-plan
That said – I think some of the problems with slow delivery and not-hot-enough episodes can basically be traced to me getting lost in the valley filled with clouds. The problem is that it is filled with fucking clouds and it takes me a while to find the right path.


Current project
I’m currently trying to fix this by planning out all the remaining episodes in medium-level detail. The Mother of All Beat Sheets. I’d always thought this much planning would be a waste of time, but – now I’m doing it – it’s just obviously the right thing to do.

For example, yesterday and today, I was trying to fix an episode in the outline (set in the club) that just felt flat and slow. After some thought and stress, I realised I could hit the same story beat by bringing forward an episode planned for much later (set outside the club).

This fix took one day; it feels like the kind of problem that would have caused weeks of stress and significant rewrites if I’d encountered it on the ground in the valley filled with clouds. So I think that, if I prioritise finishing this process now, it will more than pay for itself in smoother and faster production of episodes in the future.

I can tell it’s intellectually demanding work because I’m frazzled at the end of each day. I’m going to take the evening off and get an early start tomorrow. Have a lovely Sunday evening guys! I’ll report progress next week."


After seven years of working on this game, he's...planning to work on this game.

 

[ffive]

After seven years of working on this game, he's...planning to work on this game.

As the saying goes, "better late than never".

 

[4tune]

He actually quoted Terry Pratchett...a writer who in the period of 7 years would write like 10 or something superb novels...not counting all the other work he did like poems and essays.
He is crushing it, Pratchett even based a book on this guy:

 

[Derrida]

I can tell it’s intellectually demanding work because I’m frazzled at the end of each day.

Oh lord. Spare me. Who are you trying to convince? Does intellectual frazzlement automatically mean that the 'work' you are doing is necessary and good? He's spinning his wheels and using these 'progress' reports as a way to manipulate his patrons into acceptance of the status quo. In a year's time, when nothing about the pace of development has changed he knows it won't matter because they will have forgotten these promises in favour of whatever new angle he has come up with.

 

[asdfasdf12341234ACSACA]

He actually quoted Terry Pratchett...a writer who in the period of 7 years would write like 10 or something superb novels...not counting all the other work he did like poems and essays.
He is crushing it, Pratchett even based a book on this guy:
View attachment 3723422

He's also quoted Stephen King, who has written a book pretty much every year for almost 50 years now

 

[taler]

When do we get to fuck noodle? Been waiting for that the whole time.

 

[robin312]

When do we get to fuck noodle? Been waiting for that the whole time.

in a couple of years. probably

 

[lexlexx]

in a couple of years. probably

nah couple of years time we'll have another rewrite

 

[Allafterne]

nah couple of years time we'll have another rewrite

I hate the fact that you're probably right...

 

[Senor Smut]

I hate the fact that you're probably right...

I think in a couple of years we'll still be fairly early in the Lifepath and Crush will be sending out very irregular updates explaining why there's little to no progress, and his cult will still be saying, "Take your time..."