VN Ren'Py Completed Game of Hearts [Ch.5 R2] [SparkHG]

[Wei233]

I have to say, I don't like old women,but this game is good. And I wish there will be more content about young girls...

 

[Filipis]

This is a game with netori, not a netori game.
If we have to slap on it a generic term then it would be a corruption game, with netori being one form of it.

Meredith was the LI with the netori angle in GoH, and there will be a different one with the same angle in HoH.

Why did the dev make such a big fuss about Netori with Meredith, then?

If the game wasn't centered around such darker ideas, why move away from Netori?

I am beyond confused here...

 

[MorallyLucky]

If the dev is doing so well, why are they saying they need more capital? Unless asking your audience for a RTX5090 is a reasonable ask - which it isn't - I fail to grasp why he would mention struggling with financials with such a "raving" success.

Do you understand how analytics work? His patreon has been growing consistently since he first released the game. Also checking other front page games' patreons with no prior following that came out at around the same time (early 2023) this one by far generates the most income.

 

[Uriel ☁]

You must be registered to see the links

I expressed my concerns regarding the current state of this project in the last project update; to make it short, while I have full confidence in the quality of my work, I am anxious about whether I'll experience the growth suitable for me to transition Houses of Hearts into a full-time job.

But why? Hasn't the final chapter of the first season stimulated enough growth so that I can rest easy knowing that I'll attain that goal?

The answer is, unfortunately, not that simple. It is not as inevitable as I thought it would be. A few months ago, I thought differently... But that changed after the initial reveal of the steam release, and after seeing the current analytics, I... am worried.

As of today, two weeks after the initial reveal, this is my current analytics on Steam :

I have 20 wishlists. The conversion of wishlists to actual purchases is not 100%, I'll be lucky if it is 20%. Meaning if I sell it today, I'll earn about $40... Steam takes a 30% cut from that, too, then there's taxes, etc.

Is that bad? I don't know. One thing I know for certain, it is definitely not encouraging. Perhaps it is due to the very early nature of the steam page, but I have solid reasons and grounds to be... well, concerned.

It's a sight that changes how I view Game of Hearts. Game of Hearts is a niche title with qualities that are hard to market with descriptions alone. It is not a popular title. My approach to how I handle this project must change.

I have two primary concerns:

• Houses of Hearts is not a new IP. It is a sequel.

There is a difference in expectations when starting a fresh project compared to continuing an existing one. Growth is dependent on how much a person enjoyed the first season, and those who skipped it may never give Houses of Hearts a shot.

While yes, Game of Hearts has attained a decent amount of monetary support since its inception, it also took me two years to reach my current numbers. What reason do I have to believe that Houses of Hearts will be different? The second season may be a lot better than the first, and even if it is, does that actually matter when it is very closely tied to the first season?

The truth is... I don't know. My project has been out there for 2 years; most people who are interested in it have already played it. Most people who wanted to support it have already supported it. Will new people play through the entirety of Game of Hearts, liking it enough to try the second season, and then support it? Houses of Hearts has very similar elements to the first season; married women, characters with significant others, and the focus is generally similar, too.

• The growing complexity, general image quality, and the lack of time.

To put things in simple terms, Houses of Hearts is an entirely different beast when it comes to the requirements and conditions needed to support its completion.

Early Game of Hearts renders are generally heavily blurred to the point where details are missing. I used that approach to shorten render times and get good sleep. It does not net a bad result, but it could've been so much better. As I grow as an artist, I refrain from that method, but that has hiked up render times significantly.

Compare it to the renders I have now, unblurred, albeit with much, much higher render times:

The difference might not be stark at a glance, but it impacts how one feels when you look at the renders. You'll notice this change from pre-chapter 5 and all the previous chapters, renders from Brie's section and onwards from the first season are generally much, much more detailed than the past ones.

Now, I can keep using the old method in houses of hearts, dismissing any growth and half-assing it, doing the bare minimum. But I care very, very deeply about the quality of the experience I'm trying to convey. It matters a ton to me; just completing stuff is one thing, but providing something more than just completion requires a different mindset and approach.

At the end of the day, I'm not a marketing expert, nor am I clever in managing subscriptions and garnering attention. All I did was put Game of Hearts out there and hope for the best. This approach works when I only plan to treat this project as a side job—something born purely of passion—but if I wish to step out of that mold and do it full-time, conditions and priorities change.

The fact is, I can't keep up the current pace and the sheer amount of work to provide something special without transitioning to full-time work.

Well, maybe this is just the ramblings of a man lacking sleep. Transparency is important, and this is me being transparent.

Yes, I am anxious. Yes, I am worried.

But... I love this project. I always look forward to weekends—two precious days where I can lock in and just... work. That's why I'm a little frustrated. If I don't care about this project, I won't feel this way.

If you wish to help, please wishlist the game on Steam; you don't even have to buy it.

 

[MorallyLucky]

You must be registered to see the links

I expressed my concerns regarding the current state of this project in the last project update; to make it short, while I have full confidence in the quality of my work, I am anxious about whether I'll experience the growth suitable for me to transition Houses of Hearts into a full-time job.

But why? Hasn't the final chapter of the first season stimulated enough growth so that I can rest easy knowing that I'll attain that goal?

The answer is, unfortunately, not that simple. It is not as inevitable as I thought it would be. A few months ago, I thought differently... But that changed after the initial reveal of the steam release, and after seeing the current analytics, I... am worried.

As of today, two weeks after the initial reveal, this is my current analytics on Steam :

I have 20 wishlists. The conversion of wishlists to actual purchases is not 100%, I'll be lucky if it is 20%. Meaning if I sell it today, I'll earn about $40... Steam takes a 30% cut from that, too, then there's taxes, etc.

Is that bad? I don't know. One thing I know for certain, it is definitely not encouraging. Perhaps it is due to the very early nature of the steam page, but I have solid reasons and grounds to be... well, concerned.

It's a sight that changes how I view Game of Hearts. Game of Hearts is a niche title with qualities that are hard to market with descriptions alone. It is not a popular title. My approach to how I handle this project must change.

I have two primary concerns:

• Houses of Hearts is not a new IP. It is a sequel.

There is a difference in expectations when starting a fresh project compared to continuing an existing one. Growth is dependent on how much a person enjoyed the first season, and those who skipped it may never give Houses of Hearts a shot.

While yes, Game of Hearts has attained a decent amount of monetary support since its inception, it also took me two years to reach my current numbers. What reason do I have to believe that Houses of Hearts will be different? The second season may be a lot better than the first, and even if it is, does that actually matter when it is very closely tied to the first season?

The truth is... I don't know. My project has been out there for 2 years; most people who are interested in it have already played it. Most people who wanted to support it have already supported it. Will new people play through the entirety of Game of Hearts, liking it enough to try the second season, and then support it? Houses of Hearts has very similar elements to the first season; married women, characters with significant others, and the focus is generally similar, too.

• The growing complexity, general image quality, and the lack of time.

To put things in simple terms, Houses of Hearts is an entirely different beast when it comes to the requirements and conditions needed to support its completion.

Early Game of Hearts renders are generally heavily blurred to the point where details are missing. I used that approach to shorten render times and get good sleep. It does not net a bad result, but it could've been so much better. As I grow as an artist, I refrain from that method, but that has hiked up render times significantly.

Compare it to the renders I have now, unblurred, albeit with much, much higher render times:

The difference might not be stark at a glance, but it impacts how one feels when you look at the renders. You'll notice this change from pre-chapter 5 and all the previous chapters, renders from Brie's section and onwards from the first season are generally much, much more detailed than the past ones.

Now, I can keep using the old method in houses of hearts, dismissing any growth and half-assing it, doing the bare minimum. But I care very, very deeply about the quality of the experience I'm trying to convey. It matters a ton to me; just completing stuff is one thing, but providing something more than just completion requires a different mindset and approach.

At the end of the day, I'm not a marketing expert, nor am I clever in managing subscriptions and garnering attention. All I did was put Game of Hearts out there and hope for the best. This approach works when I only plan to treat this project as a side job—something born purely of passion—but if I wish to step out of that mold and do it full-time, conditions and priorities change.

The fact is, I can't keep up the current pace and the sheer amount of work to provide something special without transitioning to full-time work.

Well, maybe this is just the ramblings of a man lacking sleep. Transparency is important, and this is me being transparent.

Yes, I am anxious. Yes, I am worried.

But... I love this project. I always look forward to weekends—two precious days where I can lock in and just... work. That's why I'm a little frustrated. If I don't care about this project, I won't feel this way.

If you wish to help, please wishlist the game on Steam; you don't even have to buy it.

this is why I say this a failure of marketing, a game getting so few wishlists is basically a telltale sign of "people don't know/don't engage with this game". Dev/fans probably needs to start engaging on social media like twitter or reddit as F95 is not cutting it.

 

[Rehwyn]

this is why I say this a failure of marketing, a game getting so few wishlists is basically a telltale sign of "people don't know/don't engage with this game". Dev/fans probably needs to start engaging on social media like twitter or reddit as F95 is not cutting it.

Yeah, I've been a sub for a while and have wishlisted on Steam, and have been talking the game up on several AVN Discord's I've been on for a while now. Hopefully more word spreads.

 

[Uriel ☁]

this is why I say this a failure of marketing, a game getting so few wishlists is basically a telltale sign of "people don't know/don't engage with this game". Dev/fans probably needs to start engaging on social media like twitter or reddit as F95 is not cutting it.

While 20 wishlists is a ridicolously low number, it's not far away from the amount I would come to expect given the current situation.

AVNs always have atrocious wishlist numbers. All of them. I think that's something that simply comes with the genre.

But wishlist numbers actually do grow, but only when they're approaching the release. Why? Because that's when Steam actually start advertising it. Right now the game doesn't even have a set release date, only a generic 2025. So there's literally no marketing at all going on at the moment. You'll never stumble upon this game unless you're specifically searching for it by name.

Another mistake he's making is taking normal games logic and applying it to AVNs. In this genre the overwhelming majority of sales will come from impulse buys. Not many people actually plans to play this sort of games months ahead of time.


I understand the dev's anxiety, but that comes from lack of understanding of how Steam works and where the players will come from. All things considered this is quite normal and doesn't mean the Steam release will be a flop.

 

[MorallyLucky]

I understand the dev's anxiety, but that comes from lack of understanding of how Steam works and where the players will come from. All things considered this is quite normal and doesn't mean the Steam release will be a flop.

Well, another thing is I think steam releases are almost never the main income vehicule for AVN devs. That's why I think looking at patreon analytics is more meaningful. If anything Steam is just a way to advertise the game to funnel more supporters into the patreon.

 

[Tushark]

You must be registered to see the links

I expressed my concerns regarding the current state of this project in the last project update; to make it short, while I have full confidence in the quality of my work, I am anxious about whether I'll experience the growth suitable for me to transition Houses of Hearts into a full-time job.

But why? Hasn't the final chapter of the first season stimulated enough growth so that I can rest easy knowing that I'll attain that goal?

The answer is, unfortunately, not that simple. It is not as inevitable as I thought it would be. A few months ago, I thought differently... But that changed after the initial reveal of the steam release, and after seeing the current analytics, I... am worried.

As of today, two weeks after the initial reveal, this is my current analytics on Steam :

I have 20 wishlists. The conversion of wishlists to actual purchases is not 100%, I'll be lucky if it is 20%. Meaning if I sell it today, I'll earn about $40... Steam takes a 30% cut from that, too, then there's taxes, etc.

Is that bad? I don't know. One thing I know for certain, it is definitely not encouraging. Perhaps it is due to the very early nature of the steam page, but I have solid reasons and grounds to be... well, concerned.

It's a sight that changes how I view Game of Hearts. Game of Hearts is a niche title with qualities that are hard to market with descriptions alone. It is not a popular title. My approach to how I handle this project must change.

I have two primary concerns:

• Houses of Hearts is not a new IP. It is a sequel.

There is a difference in expectations when starting a fresh project compared to continuing an existing one. Growth is dependent on how much a person enjoyed the first season, and those who skipped it may never give Houses of Hearts a shot.

While yes, Game of Hearts has attained a decent amount of monetary support since its inception, it also took me two years to reach my current numbers. What reason do I have to believe that Houses of Hearts will be different? The second season may be a lot better than the first, and even if it is, does that actually matter when it is very closely tied to the first season?

The truth is... I don't know. My project has been out there for 2 years; most people who are interested in it have already played it. Most people who wanted to support it have already supported it. Will new people play through the entirety of Game of Hearts, liking it enough to try the second season, and then support it? Houses of Hearts has very similar elements to the first season; married women, characters with significant others, and the focus is generally similar, too.

• The growing complexity, general image quality, and the lack of time.

To put things in simple terms, Houses of Hearts is an entirely different beast when it comes to the requirements and conditions needed to support its completion.

Early Game of Hearts renders are generally heavily blurred to the point where details are missing. I used that approach to shorten render times and get good sleep. It does not net a bad result, but it could've been so much better. As I grow as an artist, I refrain from that method, but that has hiked up render times significantly.

Compare it to the renders I have now, unblurred, albeit with much, much higher render times:

The difference might not be stark at a glance, but it impacts how one feels when you look at the renders. You'll notice this change from pre-chapter 5 and all the previous chapters, renders from Brie's section and onwards from the first season are generally much, much more detailed than the past ones.

Now, I can keep using the old method in houses of hearts, dismissing any growth and half-assing it, doing the bare minimum. But I care very, very deeply about the quality of the experience I'm trying to convey. It matters a ton to me; just completing stuff is one thing, but providing something more than just completion requires a different mindset and approach.

At the end of the day, I'm not a marketing expert, nor am I clever in managing subscriptions and garnering attention. All I did was put Game of Hearts out there and hope for the best. This approach works when I only plan to treat this project as a side job—something born purely of passion—but if I wish to step out of that mold and do it full-time, conditions and priorities change.

The fact is, I can't keep up the current pace and the sheer amount of work to provide something special without transitioning to full-time work.

Well, maybe this is just the ramblings of a man lacking sleep. Transparency is important, and this is me being transparent.

Yes, I am anxious. Yes, I am worried.

But... I love this project. I always look forward to weekends—two precious days where I can lock in and just... work. That's why I'm a little frustrated. If I don't care about this project, I won't feel this way.

If you wish to help, please wishlist the game on Steam; you don't even have to buy it.

20 wishlist don't worry once it is released all of my friends are saying they are gonna buy it. I already wishlisted it and saved the money no matter the cost I am definitely buying this.

 

[Radnos Salazar]

You must be registered to see the links

I expressed my concerns regarding the current state of this project in the last project update; to make it short, while I have full confidence in the quality of my work, I am anxious about whether I'll experience the growth suitable for me to transition Houses of Hearts into a full-time job.

But why? Hasn't the final chapter of the first season stimulated enough growth so that I can rest easy knowing that I'll attain that goal?

The answer is, unfortunately, not that simple. It is not as inevitable as I thought it would be. A few months ago, I thought differently... But that changed after the initial reveal of the steam release, and after seeing the current analytics, I... am worried.

As of today, two weeks after the initial reveal, this is my current analytics on Steam :

I have 20 wishlists. The conversion of wishlists to actual purchases is not 100%, I'll be lucky if it is 20%. Meaning if I sell it today, I'll earn about $40... Steam takes a 30% cut from that, too, then there's taxes, etc.

Is that bad? I don't know. One thing I know for certain, it is definitely not encouraging. Perhaps it is due to the very early nature of the steam page, but I have solid reasons and grounds to be... well, concerned.

It's a sight that changes how I view Game of Hearts. Game of Hearts is a niche title with qualities that are hard to market with descriptions alone. It is not a popular title. My approach to how I handle this project must change.

I have two primary concerns:

• Houses of Hearts is not a new IP. It is a sequel.

There is a difference in expectations when starting a fresh project compared to continuing an existing one. Growth is dependent on how much a person enjoyed the first season, and those who skipped it may never give Houses of Hearts a shot.

While yes, Game of Hearts has attained a decent amount of monetary support since its inception, it also took me two years to reach my current numbers. What reason do I have to believe that Houses of Hearts will be different? The second season may be a lot better than the first, and even if it is, does that actually matter when it is very closely tied to the first season?

The truth is... I don't know. My project has been out there for 2 years; most people who are interested in it have already played it. Most people who wanted to support it have already supported it. Will new people play through the entirety of Game of Hearts, liking it enough to try the second season, and then support it? Houses of Hearts has very similar elements to the first season; married women, characters with significant others, and the focus is generally similar, too.

• The growing complexity, general image quality, and the lack of time.

To put things in simple terms, Houses of Hearts is an entirely different beast when it comes to the requirements and conditions needed to support its completion.

Early Game of Hearts renders are generally heavily blurred to the point where details are missing. I used that approach to shorten render times and get good sleep. It does not net a bad result, but it could've been so much better. As I grow as an artist, I refrain from that method, but that has hiked up render times significantly.

Compare it to the renders I have now, unblurred, albeit with much, much higher render times:

The difference might not be stark at a glance, but it impacts how one feels when you look at the renders. You'll notice this change from pre-chapter 5 and all the previous chapters, renders from Brie's section and onwards from the first season are generally much, much more detailed than the past ones.

Now, I can keep using the old method in houses of hearts, dismissing any growth and half-assing it, doing the bare minimum. But I care very, very deeply about the quality of the experience I'm trying to convey. It matters a ton to me; just completing stuff is one thing, but providing something more than just completion requires a different mindset and approach.

At the end of the day, I'm not a marketing expert, nor am I clever in managing subscriptions and garnering attention. All I did was put Game of Hearts out there and hope for the best. This approach works when I only plan to treat this project as a side job—something born purely of passion—but if I wish to step out of that mold and do it full-time, conditions and priorities change.

The fact is, I can't keep up the current pace and the sheer amount of work to provide something special without transitioning to full-time work.

Well, maybe this is just the ramblings of a man lacking sleep. Transparency is important, and this is me being transparent.

Yes, I am anxious. Yes, I am worried.

But... I love this project. I always look forward to weekends—two precious days where I can lock in and just... work. That's why I'm a little frustrated. If I don't care about this project, I won't feel this way.

If you wish to help, please wishlist the game on Steam; you don't even have to buy it.

I'll be completely honest. I love this game and i'm very eagerly waiting for season 2, but the developer is absolutely shit at communication. First, there's no discord server for players to keep in touch with the developer or to discuss the game which helps in increasing popularity. Secondly, the developer does not even communicate with his patreons. I subscribed to his patreon for a few months, DMed there and even commented on his posts, but he never replies anywhere, does not even check the comments on his posts.
He never markets the game, does not advertise it anywhere, how would people even know about the game if you never publish it anywhere? His only "Online presence" is patreon where he just posts about the game and then he is nowhere to be found.
With such 0 interactions with the people who are supporting your development, you cannot expect retention of patreons or even wishlists on steam.

 

[Uriel ☁]

Well, another thing is I think steam releases are almost never the main income vehicule for AVN devs. That's why I think looking at patreon analytics is more meaningful. If anything Steam is just a way to advertise the game to funnel more supporters into the patreon.

That's actually false. Steam's sale money always obliterate Patreon's money.

Just to give a rare example where the devs commented on it, Chasing Sunsets released more than 3 years ago on Steam (in early access) and even today they receive more monthly income from Steam sales than they do from their 1111 (neat) patron account. And CS isn't even a great Steam release with less than 30k unit sold.

BaDIK has a gross revenue of $3,4 millions.
Freshwomen has a gross revenue of $5,3 millions.

There's literally no comparison. Selling on Steam means potentially selling to everyone.

 

[MorallyLucky]

That's actually false. Steam's sale money always obliterate Patreon's money.

Just to give a rare example where the devs commented on it, Chasing Sunsets released more than 3 years ago on Steam (in early access) and even today they receive more monthly income from Steam sales than they do from their 1111 (neat) patron account. And CS isn't even a great Steam release with less than 30k unit sold.

BaDIK has a gross revenue of $3,4 millions.
Freshwomen has a gross revenue of $5,3 millions.

There's literally no comparison. Selling on Steam means potentially selling to everyone.

Yes, but you're talking about the top 1% of AVNs there. Are there any more realistic examples? Also the Freshwomen dev is like the worst example to use considering that guy owns a whole adult vn platform.

 

[Uriel ☁]

Yes, but you're talking about the top 1% of AVNs there. Are there any more realistic examples? Also the Freshwomen dev is like the worst example to use considering that guy owns a whole adult vn platform.

Look I don't wanna stay on this topic too much because I'm smelling the incoming purge for off-topic.
I'm gonna give a few other example in the spoiler below, then you can do the math.

Spoiler

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[MorallyLucky]

Look I don't wanna stay on this topic too much because I'm smelling the incoming purge for off-topic.
I'm gonna give a few other example in the spoiler below, then you can do the math.

Spoiler

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Fair enough. This just makes it far less likely that the game won't see some level of financial success, I also looked up some examples on my end and it seems to track.

 

[CrazyRabbit]

Maybe SparkHG there is some help to get from other dev's discord ?
Like Pale Carnation or Desert Stalker, there's a "promotion" or "other games announcements" topic in which devs can talk about their upcoming games/updates.
Dunno if it's a stupid idea or not, but might be worth posting in those ?

 

[OsirisHeir._]

It seems that SparkHG is taking the necessary steps for his upcoming project. The dev just opened up a Discord for his Patreon subscribers. Not sure if it's available to the public, but hopefully it all works out for him. Promoting the game in other Discord servers would be a good idea.

 

[adanu]

If the dev is doing so well, why are they saying they need more capital? Unless asking your audience for a RTX5090 is a reasonable ask - which it isn't - I fail to grasp why he would mention struggling with financials with such a "raving" success.

No, I don't think they did, but it was clear from the start that this a Netori game in all but name when Meredith got involved. The MC's task is literally to seduce women away from their normal lives - no matter their families or husbands or kids.

Switching the story up so that never happens again is just a massive cop-out in terms of narrative. Really? None of the women most compatible with MC are in any relationships ever again?

So you're projecting and pretending that because one story is Netori suddenly meant the entire game is netori based when the author clearly never said anything of the sort.

Sounds like a you problem.

 

[lobotomist]

Are netori focused games even popular? I'm not sure If I know any big netori focused games. Any recommendations?

 

[Filipis]

So you're projecting and pretending that because one story is Netori suddenly meant the entire game is netori based when the author clearly never said anything of the sort.

Sounds like a you problem.

You must've missed the pages of fans expressing their dissatisfaction at the dev announcing that he's moving away from Netori elements in the game before the Season 1 ending. There was a huge fuss about him saying he can't keep working that theme because of his mental health suffering.

Which is a valid reason, and I can't fault the guy for being honest - but, are we getting Netori again in Season 2 or not?
Everything seem to indicate we are. Which begs the question? Why the change of Heart?

 

[Uriel ☁]

You must've missed the pages of fans expressing their dissatisfaction at the dev announcing that he's moving away from Netori elements in the game before the Season 1 ending. There was a huge fuss about him saying he can't keep working that theme because of his mental health suffering.

He never said that.

He said he won't explore the point of view of the cheated one (the husband) anymore. During Meredith's last scene you were watching the scene from his point of view and you could hear his thoughts of it. He said in literally all the dev logs since that one that there will be other characters with a cheating/netori relation with the protagonist.