VN Ren'Py Abandoned Last Call [v0.4] [Thunderline Studios]

[BisonFan02]

Sure thing, releasing content nonstop has nothing to do with success, better release an update every three months to keep people hyped, right?

Like Philly...DPC....and many devs that are more story based? Seems to work fine.

 

[Abhai]

yep, it works just fine

mtl:

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yet to not go far off topic, best of luck to TS and their project/s

 

[Ragnar]

Like Philly...DPC....and many devs that are more story based? Seems to work fine.

They have shown that they are legit and won't abandon their projects plus they have a fanbase already thanks to their first games.
Now they can release bigger updates every 2 or 3 months.
When you're the new guy you have to earn that reputation with work or being extremely lucky.

 

[ITRoy]

They have shown that they are legit and won't abandon their projects plus they have a fanbase already thanks to their first games.
Now they can release bigger updates every 2 or 3 months.
When you're the new guy you have to earn that reputation with work or being extremely lucky.

At what point do you consider a dev who releases consistently, even if it's say every two months, to have proved themselves? After a game is finished? Say 6 updates in? Not being snarky, just curious.

 

[BisonFan02]

At what point do you consider a dev who releases consistently, even if it's say every two months, to have proved themselves? After a game is finished? Say 6 updates in? Not being snarky, just curious.

Lemme rephrase this one for my own usage. Haha

Those two devs I listed have pretty much always been on that release schedule...even for their first games.

How many updates in...or proven staying power...do you wait before you open up the pocketbook and pay a dev?

In my never humble opinion, if the answer is a moving goalpost or never, I dont personally give a fuck about that opinion in the first place. It is irrelevant in the viability of a dev/studio. Haha

 

[Englen]

At what point do you consider a dev who releases consistently, even if it's say every two months, to have proved themselves? After a game is finished? Say 6 updates in? Not being snarky, just curious.

While i wasnt the one you asked id like to give my input. I would say it depends a bit on dev time vs content released and transparency and communication.

Lets take Last call as the example since you're the dev, Last Call is 2 updates deep and both releases have been nicely sized and have released with 2 months between them give or take, this is a great start and keep that up for 2 maybe 3 more updates i would say thats consistency.

You have also released 29 dev updates on Patreon and done mutiple QnA streams, this is actually something i think means way more than how many updates in how much time in terms of earning peoples trust. Transparency and communication is key in this landscape since so many games end up unfinished for various reasons, by constantly keeping your supporters in the loop most of them wont "care" if its 2, 4 or 6 months between updates.

Since DPC and Philly have been mentioned here lets use them as comparison. BADiK episode 5 has taken almost 6 months to develop but Pink has made a dev update every single friday to keep his supporters in the loop, he shows great transparency and communication and his dev time vs content released is second to none. Philly is the same, he takes 3 months roughly between updates and releases dev updates every week as well, his content vs dev time is also great.

So if you keep at for a little while longer like you have been for the first 2 releases (3 if we include your new game) i would say you're set.

 

[Ragnar]

At what point do you consider a dev who releases consistently, even if it's say every two months, to have proved themselves? After a game is finished? Say 6 updates in? Not being snarky, just curious.

You have to pick the best option for you and your team or you will burn yourself. What I'm saying is that the best way to get patrons is creating content.
For me a new dev should release an update every month until they earn a fanbase if they want to survive.

 

[msleomac]

At what point do you consider a dev who releases consistently, even if it's say every two months, to have proved themselves? After a game is finished? Say 6 updates in? Not being snarky, just curious.

In a perfect world and the dream of every gamer is weakly release . But I kid I suppose the majority would accept a monthly release as ideal.

But as I had said in a previous post you guys clearly have a structure and plan in place so you should stick to it. The truth is till you build up a couple of episodes and a fan base its going to be tough and you will probably hear more of the "taking too long" grumblings. But I see it as fans of your game cannot wait to continue to play so get impatient. If you prove to be consistant in your release and with clear communication all this stuff will disappear.

And you will be left with fans screaming how you wronged their fav character

 

[MrFriendly]

At what point do you consider a dev who releases consistently, even if it's say every two months, to have proved themselves? After a game is finished? Say 6 updates in? Not being snarky, just curious.

To me it's all about the strength of the updates and whether the story is progressed with each one. I really liked the initial release of this game but feel that the second update didn't do anything to further the two main plots (MC and his GF, and Max's health) instead it is filler (fun but not moving plot) that ends with the MC agreeing to go on a date even if the player doesn't want to go. I understand that in order to tell a story there have to be events that push the story forward and the date is that event. That doesn't mean I can't feel like I am already spinning my wheels waiting for something to happen and seeing nothing move forward in the first real update to the game (If the date is all that happens in the next update then it will be very disappointing as it seems we will be getting less content each update).

Then soon afterwards we are told that a new game will be developed and released which will somehow not impact the development and release of Last Call at all. It is difficult to believe that a small developer is going to be able to stick to a release schedule of every two months for two separate games and not have one delay the other. It isn't necessarily that my skepticism is directly because of anything that Thunderline has done but more because of what we've seen in the adult game community in terms of promising games that get abandoned.

You have to pick the best option for you and your team or you will burn yourself. What I'm saying is that the best way to get patrons is creating content.
For me a new dev should release an update every month until they earn a fanbase if they want to survive.

I agree with this, I also think that a dev should have the script written a bit further in advance so that only tweaks need to be made but largely the intervening month(s) should be spent on coding, rendering, etc.

In a perfect world and the dream of every gamer is weakly release . But I kid I suppose the majority would accept a monthly release as ideal.

But as I had said in a previous post you guys clearly have a structure and plan in place so you should stick to it. The truth is till you build up a couple of episodes and a fan base its going to be tough and you will probably hear more of the "taking too long" grumblings. But I see it as fans of your game cannot wait to continue to play so get impatient. If you prove to be consistant in your release and with clear communication all this stuff will disappear.

And you will be left with fans screaming how you wronged their fav character

I know of only one dev who can do a weekly release. I am fine with a month to two months, not thrilled with two months but it is what it is. I am tired of devs who promise and fail to deliver, at this point Thunderline is still too new to have earned the trust that comes from meeting and exceeding expectations. DPC, Philly, Braindrop, and some others have delivered top quality content on a fairly consistent basis. They get more leeway because of it.

 

[BisonFan02]

To me it's all about the strength of the updates and whether the story is progressed with each one. I really liked the initial release of this game but feel that the second update didn't do anything to further the two main plots (MC and his GF, and Max's health) instead it is filler (fun but not moving plot) that ends with the MC agreeing to go on a date even if the player doesn't want to go. I understand that in order to tell a story there have to be events that push the story forward and the date is that event. That doesn't mean I can't feel like I am already spinning my wheels waiting for something to happen and seeing nothing move forward in the first real update to the game (If the date is all that happens in the next update then it will be very disappointing as it seems we will be getting less content each update).

Then soon afterwards we are told that a new game will be developed and released which will somehow not impact the development and release of Last Call at all. It is difficult to believe that a small developer is going to be able to stick to a release schedule of every two months for two separate games and not have one delay the other. It isn't necessarily that my skepticism is directly because of anything that Thunderline has done but more because of what we've seen in the adult game community in terms of promising games that get abandoned.




I agree with this, I also think that a dev should have the script written a bit further in advance so that only tweaks need to be made but largely the intervening month(s) should be spent on coding, rendering, etc.




I know of only one dev who can do a weekly release. I am fine with a month to two months, not thrilled with two months but it is what it is. I am tired of devs who promise and fail to deliver, at this point Thunderline is still too new to have earned the trust that comes from meeting and exceeding expectations. DPC, Philly, Braindrop, and some others have delivered top quality content on a fairly consistent basis. They get more leeway because of it.

Whoa boy...tons to unravel here, and I'm not even sure why I bother to be honest. Let's just do bullet points.

-I'm not even going to touch the topic about story other than to "agree to disagree"...

-The script part? Dev to be unnamed (know a few of them) have a large framework...similar to Thunderline...and write as they go...update to update...and many of which have to be edited/tweaked for renders...script...and gameplay anyway. It is WAY more involved than you think to do.

-I've already hammered the release schedule part and it isn't even worth hitting again honestly...weekly releases work fine if it is a minimal story sandbox. Looks great to constantly pop up in the "latest updates" tab with 2 scenes and <100 renders. That is much more difficult to do with a real storyboard.

-Leeway? Since when? Every thread on this forum is full of whiny freeloaders that ask for updates a week or two after the dev had already released a chapter...there isn't a single dev here immune to that bullshit. That being said, as I've posted previously, it is entirely irrelevant in the development/viability of a game.


The common denominator for all of the devs that have decent financial backing is widespread visibility of their product in places like pornhub, steam, etc.....and do a good job with search engine optimization on top of it. It has NOTHING to do with likes on F95...end of story. You can hate that all you want....but the #s prove out.

All you have to do is look at ICSTOR...if you read the guys thread here, you'd think he would be absolutely tanking in support. But he's not.....and you know why? Because nobody that is bitching spends a dime with him....people chasing free links to games and unauthorized droid versions don't impact the bottom line. He'll always have a revenue stream through outside marketing.

 

[ptahn]

Does anyone know if the support tiers have changed? I believe that I supported this game at one time but cancelled after the Kelly Jo development. I was willing to support again after playing the new game, but the lowest level was $5/month. While I have supported games on their initial release at $5, typically I start out at a $1 and increase as the game progresses. I don't remember being impressed enough to start out at $5.

 

[MrFriendly]

Does anyone know if the support tiers have changed? I believe that I supported this game at one time but cancelled after the Kelly Jo incident. I was willing to support again after playing the new game, but the lowest level was $5/month. While I have supported games on their initial release at $5, typically I start out at a $1 and increase as the game progresses. I don't remember being impressed enough to start out at $5.

Sorry man, I don't know what they have now. I believe they have a $5 tier for each of the games 10 days after release or a $10 that gets you both 5 days after release.

 

[ptahn]

Sorry man, I don't know what they have now. I believe they have a $5 tier for each of the games 10 days after release or a $10 that gets you both 5 days after release.

I don't care about the release dates, I just want to encourage/support games. I've always downloaded from here regardless of my support. I just find it hard to believe that I would have started out at $5 for this particular game. I would have gone in for a buck on To Be A King, but probably not five with so little content.

 

[msleomac]

To me it's all about the strength of the updates and whether the story is progressed with each one.

It isn't necessarily that my skepticism is directly because of anything that Thunderline has done but more because of what we've seen in the adult game community in terms of promising games that get abandoned.

I totally agree with the two points you made. As you say its the content of the release and how it develops the game that hooks gamers and patrons.

Yeah that if Thunderline sticks to their schedule and delivers good content then they too will be one of the top devs by end of the year

However I found the second release pleasant too. I like a bit of storytelling in a game and I think LC is one of those who will combine both story and fap in a good way. I certainly enjoy the fap only games as well but the ones that combine story character and fap are my favorites. EVAKISS is my fav dev in that regard.

 

[MrFriendly]

I totally agree with the two points you made. As you say its the content of the release and how it develops the game that hooks gamers and patrons.

Yeah that if Thunderline sticks to their schedule and delivers good content then they too will be one of the top devs by end of the year

However I found the second release pleasant too. I like a bit of storytelling in a game and I think LC is one of those who will combine both story and fap in a good way. I certainly enjoy the fap only games as well but the ones that combine story character and fap are my favorites. EVAKISS is my fav dev in that regard.

See, I am not saying that I didn't like the second release just that it didn't advance the plots. And if the third release also doesn't advance the plots then it becomes a situation where we are left wondering how long it will be before we see any movement in the two plots. I also don't like how the MC sees a couple of photos of his GF with a guy and is "done" with her (sits out and drinks all night). I would have liked seeing in the second update that the MC investigated more - calling/texting more friends, finding out what is going on. Instead it seems that he just moves on from there.

I am not hating on the game, I like it and I look forward to more. I get the feeling that some people think I really dislike Thunderline or Last Call. Anyway, that wasn't my intent.

As for the second game, I wasn't a fan. But I am going to leave it alone.

 

[msleomac]

See, I am not saying that I didn't like the second release just that it didn't advance the plots. And if the third release also doesn't advance the plots then it becomes a situation where we are left wondering how long it will be before we see any movement in the two plots. I also don't like how the MC sees a couple of photos of his GF with a guy and is "done" with her (sits out and drinks all night). I would have liked seeing in the second update that the MC investigated more - calling/texting more friends, finding out what is going on. Instead it seems that he just moves on from there.

I am not hating on the game, I like it and I look forward to more. I get the feeling that some people think I really dislike Thunderline or Last Call. Anyway, that wasn't my intent.

As for the second game, I wasn't a fan. But I am going to leave it alone.

Relax you don't have to explain or defend your thoughts. To each his own. Yours is not a rant but a preference indicator. No different from me or any other patron of this game.

I kinda liked the slow pace of the game. It matched the ambiance of the small town setting where everyone goes at their own pace and there is no rush like the big city. Where everyone knows your name and secrets and nobody gives a damm. I know its stereotypical but thats the image that comes up. Its my own preference and I don't think you are wrong either.

However I do agree if it continues like that we might become frustrated. But I think from playing so far this is a slow burn romance game more focused on character and relationships. Hey my guess is KJ is specifically there for our "needs" while the game proceeds normally .

As for the MC and his GF situation the game clearly shows there is a complete breakdown of communication from the GF after some time. And then a mutual friend shows a possibly compromising photo. IRL anyone would think of the worst outcome in that situation. Plus the MC seems to not be fully confident in himself when it comes to relationship. Sure the choices we make in the game might make him feel more confident but thats our playing. The setup to the game seems otherwise. Anyway that's my take.

In fact i suspect their second game TBAK is more the opposite of LC and targeted to players who might prefer a faster setup. I played it and compared to LC i was not impressed. Didn't really hook me even though I loved the premise.

 

[MrFriendly]

Relax you don't have to explain or defend your thoughts. To each his own. Yours is not a rant but a preference indicator. No different from me or any other patron of this game.

I kinda liked the slow pace of the game. It matched the ambiance of the small town setting where everyone goes at their own pace and there is no rush like the big city. Where everyone knows your name and secrets and nobody gives a damm. I know its stereotypical but thats the image that comes up. Its my own preference and I don't think you are wrong either.

However I do agree if it continues like that we might become frustrated. But I think from playing so far this is a slow burn romance game more focused on character and relationships. Hey my guess is KJ is specifically there for our "needs" while the game proceeds normally .

As for the MC and his GF situation the game clearly shows there is a complete breakdown of communication from the GF after some time. And then a mutual friend shows a possibly compromising photo. IRL anyone would think of the worst outcome in that situation. Plus the MC seems to not be fully confident in himself when it comes to relationship. Sure the choices we make in the game might make him feel more confident but thats our playing. The setup to the game seems otherwise. Anyway that's my take.

In fact i suspect their second game TBAK is more the opposite of LC and targeted to players who might prefer a faster setup. I played it and compared to LC i was not impressed. Didn't really hook me even though I loved the premise.

Eh, I've been getting some push back. I won't say anymore.

I like slow burn stories but I also feel that if I was in the situation the MC is in I would be trying to reach out to everyone I knew to confirm what the one friend told me. Instead the MC gets the photos and goes on a bender. I might be inclined to do that but then follow it up with an angry text to my GF, calls/texts to other people I know, etc. Does the MC have no other friends in college? No one else he can talk to about it? No family to call and rant to about her? I may think we are done but I would want secondary confirmation beyond one friend sending me some photos.

My canon playthrough the MC doesn't have sex, doesn't flirt, declines the date with Morgan. I want him to be 100% sure that everything is over with the GF before he moves on. That may mean that he never has sex if the whole thing isn't resolved before the games ending.

(In my man-bear-pig-slut playthrough I fuck everyone, KJ, and flirt with everyone)

I want to see a strong pace, I want some real movement in the plot, if the next update comes and it once again is just the MC spinning his wheels waiting for something to happen only to end on another "cliffhanger" I will be very disappointed in the direction of the game. It had a great promising start with wonderful interesting characters and I want more to happen. I know I've said I want updates every two months but if we received a lot more content every time I could wait longer. I dislike really short updates and would never want short but frequent updates.

The other game isn't really a game right now. That was more of an introductory kinetic novel. I found the sex at the end to be a major disappointment because the character seems to want to take things slow with everyone. Yet he meets the daughter of his mentor/former commanding officer/colleague and is given the choice (only one in the entire novel) to decide to fuck her like crazy.
At no point do we get to see any of the amazing gameplay that we are promised (courtly intrigue and espionage, decision making, etc). Instead we get a lot of dry exposition and abrupt transitions from characters we don't really know or have a chance to get to know. This is completely different from Last Call. Last Call I felt had very strong character development from the very beginning and I am bouncing off this one. But then I'm not a medieval fantasy adult game fan. They tend to be so bland with very few exceptions.

 

[msleomac]

Eh, I've been getting some push back. I won't say anymore.

Understood. I've been there.

I like slow burn stories but I also feel that if I was in the situation the MC is in I would be trying to reach out to everyone I knew to confirm what the one friend told me. Instead the MC gets the photos and goes on a bender. I might be inclined to do that but then follow it up with an angry text to my GF, calls/texts to other people I know, etc. Does the MC have no other friends in college? No one else he can talk to about it? No family to call and rant to about her? I may think we are done but I would want secondary confirmation beyond one friend sending me some photos.

My canon playthrough the MC doesn't have sex, doesn't flirt, declines the date with Morgan. I want him to be 100% sure that everything is over with the GF before he moves on. That may mean that he never has sex if the whole thing isn't resolved before the games ending.

(In my man-bear-pig-slut playthrough I fuck everyone, KJ, and flirt with everyone)

I want to see a strong pace, I want some real movement in the plot, if the next update comes and it once again is just the MC spinning his wheels waiting for something to happen only to end on another "cliffhanger" I will be very disappointed in the direction of the game. It had a great promising start with wonderful interesting characters and I want more to happen. I know I've said I want updates every two months but if we received a lot more content every time I could wait longer. I dislike really short updates and would never want short but frequent updates.

As I said before To Each their Own. I'm not particularly bothered since to me I see it as just a plot to advance the story and bring all the ladies into MC orbit. But it sure makes some interesting debates on this forum.

I went with the man-bear-pig-slut playthrough myself . But I might give the GF only route if it seems interesting.

I liked the start and characters and background setting too. Thats why its one of the 5 games I really wish success and completion. Hope the updates meet our expectations. Agree with you about the TBTK game.

I saw a link where you proofread for non native eng speakers. Thats an excellent service. How do you do it? I was interested in maybe helping out myself.

 

[MrFriendly]

Understood. I've been there.



As I said before To Each their Own. I'm not particularly bothered since to me I see it as just a plot to advance the story and bring all the ladies into MC orbit. But it sure makes some interesting debates on this forum.

I went with the man-bear-pig-slut playthrough myself . But I might give the GF only route if it seems interesting.

I liked the start and characters and background setting too. Thats why its one of the 5 games I really wish success and completion. Hope the updates meet our expectations. Agree with you about the TBTK game.

I saw a link where you proofread for non native eng speakers. Thats an excellent service. How do you do it? I was interested in maybe helping out myself.

Agreed, always willing to respectfully disagree. At least we can debate the game civilly.

I consider my playthrough the "I am not doing anything until I am 100% sure that I can dump the GF" route. I am done with her just want confirmation before I do anything else. I am not a KJ fan, just her look didn't appeal to me. Morgan is more my thing, Annie seems like she would be an utter gossip and has daddy issues. The fact that after 2 updates I can make those decisions is why I feel like Last Call is such a strong game. As we've both said before as long as the plots keep moving forward I will be happy.

Perhaps TBTK will get stronger in the next update but after one I struggle to tell you anything about the personalities of the characters beyond the fact that Princess Valentina seems to be the classic stereotype of the spoiled princess.

As for the proofreading, I will often offer it but so far no one has taken me up on it. I'd happily proofread anything since I am stuck at home for the foreseeable future (I am in the high risk category when it comes to covid-19).

 

[E-Dog]

Well, i finally gave this one a shot yesterday. I like the change of pace with this game. Not too elaborate but a completely different type of story set up and execution....much appreciated. While i am here I'll just deposit a couple thoughts:

Spoiler: Brain Droppings

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