I think, as much as it shocks me to say this, Huitieme is right. Or as least as right in that I agree with him (which I confess shocks me even more....)
In ya faces, biatches!
*drops the mic*
*picks up the mic*
Actually, I'm not done yet.
Y'see the thing I can't quite get my head around is why H5 isn't played. And comparatively, it isn't. There's a rather nasty little game that came out a couple of months ago with twice the reviews and three times the likes so make of that what you will. But tastes aside, it doesn't seem to matter how good the writing is. Oh, it's a factor for sure, but when you consider BP alone has smarter content than most releases it's obviously not an important factor to many.
Thing is, and many here have said already, good writing (and in your case, great writing) isn't enough to gain popularity. Add to this that the game has been kinda slowburn-ish until the next chapter blows every naysayer away, and you got yourself a great story with interesting characters but "no sexy bits". And most people in F95 are in it only for the sex. Unfortunately, a cheap sex game will 'sell' better than a well-thought one with no sex.
Sex and pictures, on the other hand, are important.
They are important in every hand
but yours are more expert ![Stick out tongue :p :p](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
As I said, sex is the primary focus for a lot of pervs here. And the preview on the first page should reflect that, as Popabear said. A few boobs here and there, on pic of Sarah's pussy (from the VR), and most people would be attracted. From this new audience, a certain percentage would then be blown away by the game numerous qualities. The new polished renders would surely help in this.
Now I'm a writer first and foremost and nothing is going to change either the story or indeed the way I tell it. Nothing will change the content either. But given that the adult content is going to explode shortly there is a very real risk that the earlier graphics and the UI, to an extent, will put people off despite that- and H5 is a game to be played.
You're not any writer. I consider myself to be quite exigent in the writing quality of media I consume as well as by working in the technical writing world, and I have nothing but praise to say about your body of work. To me, you're not "up there with the best", they're "up there wishing they were you"!
Y'see it doesn't matter that I have to spend say four times as much time to make a piccy as a super rigged dev. That's not a factor in peoples consideration. No one goes "well considering she's got an etch-a-sketch and a packet of crayons that's not bad" (well except you lot!). No, they look at other game's graphics and go "That's poo...".
The old graphics are not poo, madam! Not in any way! I've seen poo,
I was born in it, molded by it... Wait, wrong reference! D: What I meant is that those graphics were great at the time, and now they can only be greater!
So yep, once the tags are updated with all the new content - interest may well be regenerated in the game - until they open it...and it's not much use saying "yes but in Chapter Four it looks great!" because that won't I suspect cut it. People don't have patience.
I think I have to do the remaster before Four is released. Now I realise this will go down as well as Marcus offering you vitamin tablets but I feel it has to be done. You've all seen what the game could look like. Indeed should like. Imagine what you'd feel about the game if it had the graphics it could/should/can have instead of the ones it did.
*nods*
I know this is will be an unpopular call. I know that. I know also it will cost me patronage and cash. I know that too. But the longer I leave the remaster not only will it take more and more time to do later down the line (and thus delay the next game - plus bore me to tears as I redo absolutely hundreds of images for an audience that's already played the game), but it also doesn't change the fundamental structural image problems we have at the start of the game. Structural problems that prevent people playing it.
I, for one, don't think you'll lose that many patrons over it. As long as you're upfront and keep posting Old vs New renders, it'll be fine.
So how long will it take?
I've a weeks rendering to finish off Four and I want to do that first. If only so I can get it out to playtesters. The remaster should only take two to three weeks I think as I don't have to do everything. There is a lot in One, Two and Three that are quite passable. It's mainly some of the internal Vanguard shots, the hallways, the plant room and the MC's room that are the main problems I think. The changing the menu option to that which I showed earlier won't take that long to be honest as it's just dropping a screen in and adding the correct button images.
We've waited for chapter 3, and when it came out it was like the second coming of the Chris. I think most of us can wait, knowing that you're not AWOL but working on bettering and polishing your game.
So the end of the month looks viable. If it gets close to overrunning then I'd just pause the patron page so no one got an October charge as it would be unfair to charge people for rework I think.
Instead of pausing the patreon page, why don't you put a poll there about it. If people feel like they shouldn't pay for the month, you'll know who they are and you can discuss it.
*stands back and awaits thoughts....*
Thus spoke
Zarathustra Huitieme
That wouldn't work. While Chapter Two took incredible 40 days to leak, Chapter 3 was out in less than 1. I think for many pirate sites it could a business to patron games, leak them first, and get ad revenue from visits and downloads.
Unfortunately, you're right about that. Most scumming sites do have a patreon profile to pay for new games when they're out and they just get a ROI by putting their shitty site behind paywall. Chapter 2 got leaked
here 40 days after patreon, but it was out on those sites way before that.