There are some online spaces where devs gather that I'm somewhat active in, and there is sometimes a level of almost 'toxic' positivity. If you're in this for the money, you're going to be extremely disappointed unless you are the 1 in a 1000 that strikes gold with their first release. I'd be better off door dashing or ubering if I were doing this for the income, and all things considered, I'm successful. That doesn't mean devs should pretend like we don't care at all about how our shit is received. We do need to be able to step back, separate the good faith from the bad faith, and not knee-jerk react to every critique, but there's no point in trying to tell a story if nobody is listening. I may or may not be doing a good job at that.
I don't doubt that there are almost toxic levels of positivity, given that devs are on the frontlines of a lot of negativity depending on the game or the subjects in the games they create, so having a personal space for devs swing in the complete opposite direction is pretty understandable, albeit potentially a bit problematic.
Oh yeah, I feel like a lot of people have a fundamental misunderstanding of how much a regular Joe Shmoe dev will earn from a game because they've already taken a gander at BDiK or Summertime Saga for that matter and see how much they're making. It's sort of the same disconnect people have when talking about OnlyFans, sure someone like Amouranth (IIRC? I think that's what she was called) could turn like 20mil in a year, but there are probably a hundred thousand OnlyFans creators besides her that earns like 600 bucks a month at most.
Well, for what it's worth, I think you're doing a good job at discerning arguments and being able to look at things from different point of views. You're already up there amongst some of my favourite devs solely due to how you're going about discussing things and your point of view on being a dev, what it means and your vision on your game.
As with most things, I understand devs that
do have a kneejerk reaction at times because at the end of the day it's still your blood, sweat and tears that ends up being under scrutiny and it can be a bit rough for people. Being able to take a step back and dissecting arguments and criticisms to get a more objective view on things rather than succumbing to emotional reactions is a REALLY good skill to have.
DigiDec said:
The Stella/Xiang diner scene is (I think) a good example of where I'm willing to adjust things after the fact. It was originally kind of confusing, and since that wasn't the intention for the scene I redid it to make it more straightforward. I'm not entirely in love with that portion (feels like there were too many cutaway scenes where the MC wasn't directly involved) and I might tweak it all again down the line but that was a good example of legit, good faith criticism where I was able to make some improvements based on feedback.
You go too far and try to please everyone, you'll please no one. You can make the kind of game that nobody talks about but rakes in the cash, you can make the kind of game that everyone talks about but doesn't make any money, or you can end up making a game that nobody talks about while making no money.
Now that you mention it, I can definitely see what you're saying about there being a lot of scenes where the MC wasn't exactly involved. That was also one of the portions where I felt the pacing was a bit frantic and it might actually very well be because the MC didn't really show up much, making it almost feel very exposition-dumpy of sorts.
Good part about being a viewer is that we're good at pointing out things that does not feel too good in the grand scheme of things, the bad part is that we're
terrible at suggesting good ways to remedy it. You're on to something there for sure, but I'm out of my element to suggest something.
And yeah, the name of the game when it comes to anything is that you can't please every demographic, the best you can do is to make what you want to make and hope that you kind find a sizeable demographic that ends up liking it.
DigiDec said:
I've learned a lot about the general audience for AVNs since I released this game. This isn't a dig or swipe at anyone, but I've come to accept that within (most of) the audience base that cares about the 'story', the kinds of stories they enjoy are mostly power fantasy/trashy airport adventure novel type stories. I will probably never tell that kind of story. I want my stories to have something to do with sex, and I want them to be about more than the explicit things that happen on the page (screen). Or maybe I'll decide that I want to make a few bucks, and my next game will be about Johnny WonderCock (former Spec Ops) going to college on a skateboarding scholarship (#1 recruit in the country) as part of his plan to get revenge on the terrorists who killed his family (they were jealous of his sick guitar skills).
Haha, yeah that's a recurring theme in most entertainment. Bottom line is that we all play games, read books and watch shows as a form of escapism. Most people use escapism to vicariously live in scenarios of wish fulfilment, thrusting them into stories where everything goes their way and they're Gigachad McProtagonist.
And then there are weirdos like myself where my escapism is just finding stories that grip me, and more often than not those tend to be either tragedies, thrillers or other books that focus more on the human element, the shortcomings and the flaws as in my opinion they are simply the most interesting parts about stories. Even in stuff like high fantasy, I tend to prefer stuff where the protagonist isn't OP as shit or can do no wrong.
A strong story with good sex scenes is far superior to a weak story with strong sex scenes, because a sex scene that you'll remember tends to need some spice in terms of build up or interpersonal friction or interest from the parties involved.
But, for the sake of earning money, Chadtholomew Thundercock with his sick guitar skills is probably the best bet when it comes down to it, which is a bit of a dreary realization but what can you do.
DigiDec said:
I take that as high praise since I've always felt that my renders were my weakest point. Aside from the marketing, music, UI, and lack of animations.
It definitely is, I've seen devs take several years of iteration to get to where you are starting out, you absolutely have a pretty strong base to work off of and the only thing I can think of on the offhand is that certain proportions were a bit weird (such as Marci, mainly around her jaw and facial length I think) but that can also be exacerbated by camera angle so I can't even say that with full certainty.
I personally don't think that lack of animations really matter much, sure animations can be
fantastic as a transitional tool or to emphasize certain scenes, but it isn't something you can't solve with just clever use of renders. Two of the most popular futa games right now are completely void of animations (Star Periphery and Eruption Immiment), and while they are backed up by catering to a specific niche, they're generally just well made and built around an interesting premise with interesting characters and that's generally all you need.
As for marketing, music and UI, it is what it is and I think it's something that'll take some time to get more experience with as it's fairly different from just writing narrative or setting up scenes. Finding the right music to fit a scene is akin to an artform as it is and I haven't found many devs able to nail that, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.
